SIFF Layoffs: The nonprofit that runs the Seattle International Film Festival (and many cool movie theaters in town) is laying off nine full-time workers across multiple departments, according to a post on its website that makes me want to scream. SIFF Executive Director Tom Mara wrote the 21 percent reduction in administrative staff was “necessary” during a “financially challenging time for SIFF and for arts nonprofits across the country.” In an FAQ, SIFF wrote that revenue has not kept up with expenses since the pandemic and has “low confidence” in any 2026 award from the National Endowment of the Arts Trump is destroying. SIFF also wrote that it doesn’t know how these layoffs will affect the reopening of the Egyptian Theatre in Capitol Hill, which closed after a pipe burst last winter.
FBI Raid on Lacey Home Finds Guns, Armor, and Nazi Crap: Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders wrote on Facebook that the army’s criminal investigation division asked for his help as the FBI searched a Lacey home in connection to an assault at Joint Base Lewis-McCord on Sunday. Two people were arrested on fire-arms related offenses and are expected at the federal courthouse in Tacoma today. Sanders wrote they were “actively involved in Nazi White Nationalist efforts.” Agents seized 35 guns, including an MG42, a machine gun Nazi troops used during World War II.
Three Wenatchee Girls Allegedly Murdered By Father, Police Say: On Monday, Police found Olivia Decker, 5, Evelyn Decker, 8, and Paitlyn Decker, 9 dead near the Rock Island Campground west of Leavenworth. The girls were found not far from their father Travis Decker’s white pickup, each with a plastic bag on their head and zip-tied wrists. Police say Travis Decker, 32, kidnapped his children during a planned visitation Friday. The Washington State Patrol didn’t issue an Amber Alert because Travis Decker had custodial rights and no history of violence, they say. He’d never failed to return the kids before. The girls’ mother did not believe him dangerous. Police are still looking for Travis Decker. He’s been charged with murder and kidnapping.
WA Superintendent and Student Die in Ocean off Long Beach: On May 23, the Friday night before the State 1B baseball quarterfinals, the Northport Mustangs went to the beach. Some of the boys had never seen the ocean. Large, cold waves throttled 15-year-old Noah Heberling. A couple boys swam out and reached him, but Noah let go when he saw a big wave coming. He wanted to plug his nose. The coaches, Northport School District Superintendent Don Baribault, and Noah’s father Ronnie Heberling went into the cold water after him. A bystander called 911. The Coast Guard rescued the men, by then hypothermic, but couldn’t find Noah (his body is still missing, The Spokesman Review reports). Baribault was flown to a Portland hospital. He died three days later. To honor Noah, the Mustangs still played. They lost. That Sunday, the small town of 300 held a candlelight vigil. More than 200 people came.
The School Formerly Known As: Seattle University has officially absorbed Cornish College of the Arts. Cornish shut down as an independent nonprofit on Monday and is now Cornish College of the Arts at Seattle University, which is a bit of a mouthful. The Seattle Times reports Seattle U has rehired most Cornish faculty. Brian Harlan, provost of the old Cornish, dean of the new Cornish, gave no updates on merging departments, tenure tracks, or curricula.
FBI Arrests Kent Man For Car Bombing at Palm Springs Fertility Clinic: It’s not yet clear what the 32-year-old man arrested at John F. Kennedy airport in New York City has been charged with, but two sources familiar with the investigation told The Los Angeles Times he allegedly provided the bomb parts. The Kent man will appear in a Brooklyn federal courtroom today. The bombing itself was allegedly carried out by Guy Edward Bartkus, who died in the explosion. He was an anti-natalist who opposed childbirth and population growth. Investigators haven’t said if Bartkus intended to die or why he targeted the facility.
ICYMI: Before rejoining our ranks as a staff writer, Nathalie Graham dug into the Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire for Seattle Met. Turns out, it’s become a bit of a Midsummer Night’s Mare for its volunteer performers.
Weather: Sunny with a high of 69. Nice.
ICE Arrests Family of Boulder Attack Suspect: Department of Homeland of Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on X that ICE agents had taken Mohamed Sabry Soliman’s wife and five children into custody. Soliman has been charged with a hate crime for allegedly throwing molotov cocktails at a demonstration for Israeli hostages in Gaza. Noem says Homeland Security is investigating the family’s role, if any, in that attack. But Soliman’s family is also being processed for expedited removal, so the government can deport them without a hearing. So what’s the real motivation for detaining them? Immigration and criminal defense attorneys couldn’t tell The Washington Post of another time a whole family was detained for deportation immediately after a relative’s crime. It’s also unclear if they’re even eligible for removal in the first place, experts told The Post.
(N)ational (P)ublic (R)evenge: President Donald Trump asked Congress to cancel $1.1 billion for NPR and PBS over their super mean (accurate) coverage of him. A few weeks ago, Trump tried to block the congressionally approved funding through Executive Order. NPR sued to block it, calling it “textbook retaliation.” Now he’s doing this. Trump is also asking Congress to rescind $8.3 billion for global aid, including resources for HIV/AIDS care and funds for the World Health Organization. Foreign aid is a political boogeyman. This “waste” made up less than a percent of federal spending last year. In the short term, the US will save barely any money and people will die. In the long term, disinvesting in global health puts us all at risk. Disease knows no border.
How About the “USNS Super Straight, 8 Inches Soft, Macho Muscle Warrior Man”: The Navy, which isn’t gay at all, plans to rename the USNS Harvey Milk. Assassinated in 1978, Milk was the first openly gay man elected to public office in California. Milk is much too gay for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The Pentagon said in a statement Tuesday that DOD names should reflect Trump’s priorities, US history, and the “warrior ethos.” The Navy is also considering new names for the USNS Thurgood Marshall (too Black), the USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg (too woman), the USNS Harriet Tubman (too Black and too woman, even though she led a raid in the Civil War that freed more than 700 slaves), and others. Democrats like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issued strong rebukes. Surely, after such a fiery, powerful display of resistance, Hegseth could barely enjoy flexing in the mirror before bed.
Museum Displays Condom Even Older Than the One in Your Wallet: Fashioned from a sheep’s appendix around 1830, the wrinkly old prophylactic at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum has something I’ve never seen on a condom. A fun print. A nun, habit hiked above her knees, waves her hand toward three clergymen who’ve also lifted their robes to present three rock hard erections. Below this scene is the phrase “There, that’s my choice” in French, a reference to the Renoir painting “The Judgement of Paris” where Paris, the Trojan prince, judges the beauty of three goddesses. Likely, the condom is a “luxury souvenir” from a Paris brothel. They just don’t make them like they used to.
RIP Edmund White: The author of “Forgetting Elena” and “The Joy of Gay Sex” is dead at 85. Thanks for the stories. And the sex advice.
Check Your Closets: The cherry red Gibson ES-345 Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) played at the “Enchantment Under The Sea” dance in Back To The Future is missing and Gibson, Universal, and filmmaker Doc Crotzer are on the hunt. The guitar that makes every kid want to play guitar was rented from Norm’s Rare Guitars in Tarzana, California and hasn’t been seen in decades. If you’ve got a lead, call 1 (888) 345-1955 or send a message via www.LostToTheFuture.com.
Regarding Nathalie’s article “A Midsummer Nightmare” at Seattle Met (since comments are not allowed there):
“The life Hague created for herself was threatened when, according to police records, her partner was allegedly attacked by another faire volunteer whom Hague had also been living with and in a romantic relationship with at the time.”
Is this some kind of “polyamory” stuff? Very confusing.
Then, much later in the article, ah, there it is:
“HAGUE, A.K.A. Fairy Princess Lolly, lost her faire family too back in the spring of 2022.
Hague, who is polyamorous, participates at faires with her primary partner, Michael Cowan. He regularly assists with her production. In 2021, Hague brought her other partner of four years, John Switzer, to Washington Midsummer for the first time as a volunteer. Everything seemed good. Maybe he would join again next year.
According to court documents, in the spring of 2022 John Switzer allegedly became violent.”
Why wasn’t this part of the article adjoined to the first part about Hague? What a confusing mess (kind of like “polyamory”, lol).
Anyway, let’s continue:
“He described Cowan as being 6 feet 2 inches and weighing over 400 pounds. Switzer measures in at 6 feet 7 inches and weighs 240 pounds, he says. During that struggle, according to Switzer, Cowan put his hands around Switzer’s neck which is what prompted him to attack Cowan.
Switzer allegedly shoved Cowan to the ground and punched him in the face “with a closed fist” eight times, according to Cowan’s report to police. Switzer claims Cowan slipped on “cat shit” in the hallway—Hague had five cats at the time—and fell.”
All of that is exactly stereotypical of how I picture RenFaire people to be, and live, in their lives outside of the “Faires”. Imagine the smell!
“Both Hague and Knight-Richards believe the worst of each other.”
– Very odd, since they look almost exactly alike, not just physically, but also in their personal style. I would have thought they were the same person in the photos at the article, if they were not named in the photo captions. I’m sure they both think they are totally unique and alternative though. They also look a lot older than they are, which is sad.
“And there’s a RenFaire we should check out
Where the other nightmare people like to go
I mean nice people—baby wait, I didn’t mean to say nightmare”
“laying off nine full-time workers across multiple departments, according to a post on its website that makes me want to scream.”
Why do you want to scream, are the 9 laid off workers transgender?
@2:
Why would that be your first response? Are you really that terrified by the concept of people altering their bodies? I can only imagine how you must run hysterically to your safe room every time you see a photo of one of the Kardashians, amiright?
“I can only imagine how you must run hysterically to your safe room every time you see a photo of one of the Kardashians, amiright?”
I don’t know about “speaking up”, but personally, I want to vomit when I see a photo of any of the Kardashians. High five brother! Good one!!!
lol. I completely skipped the link in the renfaire paragraph because I haven no interest in those but damn now I have to read it.
https://www.patriciarobertsmiller.com/2025/06/04/consumerism-and-democracy/
“At various moments in my career, I was the Director of the first-year composition program, and so dealt with grade complaints. My sense was that about 1/3 of the complaints were misunderstandings; in about 1/3 the instructor had really screwed up. For both of those, I was grateful that a student (or several) had complained, since it was an issue that needed to be resolved at the institutional level.
But the other third was … something. There were all sorts of odd things. But MTG’s defense of her failure to do her job competently reminds me of something I ran across when responding to some students in that other third. More than once, I found myself talking to a student who had not read the assignment sheet (let’s forget reading the syllabus) or paid attention in class, and who therefore failed to meet the assignment criteria. They were complaining to me because they sincerely believed that their not having met the assignment criteria was the fault of the teacher. They didn’t dispute that the information was in writing that they had been given and told to read, nor that other students understood the assignment just fine. In other words, there was never any claim that the information (about due dates, grading criteria, and so on) hadn’t been communicated. They admitted that they hadn’t read/listened. But, their argument was that the instructor was at fault for the student having ignored the information they’d been given, because the instructor’s rhetoric wasn’t good enough.
That narrative of causality–the student failed to meet the criteria of the assignment because the teacher/rhetor wasn’t persuasive enough–is an instance of the transmission model of communication (a good rhetor transmits the message effectively to a passive recipient). It’s also a consumerist model of education: students are consumers, passively waiting to be sold a product. The teacher’s job is to sell the product effectively.
But students aren’t consumers, and teachers aren’t selling a product. You can talk and think about education this way, but that doesn’t make it good.”
When will The Stranger call for background checks, mental health screening, and licenses for those purchasing zip ties and plastic bags?
If it saves just one life …
That nazi guy in Lacey was using a huge book of the collected poems of Keats and Shelley as a platform for a window gun emplacement which cracked me up.
I was so upset about the USNS Harvey Milk. It is just such a shitty thing to do. The Husband thinks that all the Lewis Class ships will get the same treatment since they are all named after people this administration hates, right down to the fact that the class itself is named after John “Good Trouble” Lewis.
The way right wing media has indoctrinated conservatives into thinking about the genitals of every person even vaguely referenced in a news story speaks to the power of propaganda. It’s one thing to have weird obsessive thoughts you keep to yourself but people will freely admit their mind is consumed by strangers’ genitalia because their politicians and media figures have normalized this once taboo and deeply antisocial behavior.
No. It’s just that when a “token” writer is hired… they/them usually try to frame everything around their horrible life choices. Thats all.
After a decade-plus of a certain highly influential segment of the Left engaging in endless campaigns to rename ships and mountains and buildings and bodies of water, the Trumpist Right is gleefully joining in the fun under the banner of being “anti-woke” or whatever. So we can look forward to endless rounds of renaming stuff according to prevailing mores for the foreseeable future. What a sane and productive use of time and resources!
@9, So in addition to the people in the story you’re thinking about the author’s genitals, too. Incredible stuff, man.
All it took was a decade of constant vilification of a tiny minority in the right wing media to trigger what is easily the weirdest case of mass hysteria in human history. What a time to be alive.
@8: Which news item is this about?
@12, The one about people being laid off referenced @2. Curious why it matters though. Is there a particular category of news story where you need to know about nameless individuals’ genitals?
“SIFF wrote that revenue has not kept up with expenses since the pandemic…”
Sounds like Seattle’s movie goers stopped going to the movies and never went back. Figuring out why those people did not return might be a good use of SIFF time, no?
@10 renaming things to no longer honor generals who fought against this country, renaming things because you hate the gays, same same right?
barth dear, it’s a well-established fact that Republicans are perverts. They have unhealthy obsessions with children, and lots of other sex problems, including urges to know about stranger’s private parts.
I blame their mothers. It’s not normal for a woman to be a Republican, and they have very…….unorthodox ideas about toilet training. If you’ve ever seen the movie “Sybil”, it will give you an idea.
In regards to the FBI, with the Lacy Home and Kent Man, am I the only one mildly encouraged that they seem to be prosecuting the individuals, rather than recruiting them?
@16: Ahem, it wasn’t a toilet training exercise Sybil’s mother was conducting with poor Sybil tied up above the kitchen table with all the window shades pulled down.
re @18 – Oops, now I remember – it’s the scene with Sybil is tied to the piano and she must “hold her water” until her mother finishes playing until the “very last note”.
There are realms where condoms sit in plain sight. In the wastes of Turkmenistan and mountains of Kyrgyzstan, nomadic folks often keep DIY condoms made of sheep intestines in little pans bathing in oil. I observed these near the thresholds of many a yurt.
Sybil was a hoax. And the political affiliation of the real life Sybil’s (Shirley Mason) parents is speculative.
If Hegseth is so insecure about his gender, he should rename the ship after the Wanna-Be-King …wait for it…The Turd.
@21: Wow, you’re right – and about her parents too. I wonder if Joanne Woodward is furious over it since Dr. Wilbur’s deceit was exposed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Ardell_Mason
Sybil may have been a hoax, but the author no doubt got his inspiration from Republican mothers.