Slog AM: Primary Election Day Is Tomorrow, Seattle Had a Bad Weekend for Gun Violence, New ICE Officers Get Student Loan Forgiveness

Do you hear that sound? It’s nothing. The sweet, sweet absence of fighter jets rattling our windows and our nerves. But now we can all hear ourselves think again, which might not be a net positive. 

Let’s do the news.

It’s Election Day Tomorrow: Your ballots are due by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, and we’ve made it simple for you. If you love to read, you can flip through our voter guide. If you don’t, just use the cheat sheet. If you’re someone who prefers the excitement of voting on election day, that’s great! I’m one of you. Just please, please don’t leave it on your kitchen table tomorrow. If you’re someone who loves to plan ahead and get things in early, you can track your ballot here. And don’t forget to sign the envelope. So far, about one in 10 voters need to “cure” their ballots because of signature issues. 

What to Expect on Tuesday: The first ballot drop usually comes a little after 8 p.m. on Election Day. That first drop tends to be more conservative, because voters who are 65-plus are more likely to get their ballots in the mail early. We’ll have updates and analysis throughout the night!

This week is taking a little break from the summer weather. We’ll have clouds all week, temps in the low 70s. Enjoy it while it lasts. 

Destroying Evidence: The car that SPD believes was involved in the shooting outside of the Pursuit Seattle church last Thursday was found on fire in the wee hours of Friday morning. The church has identified the victim as a newly “saved” parishioner named LeBron Givaun. 

Speaking of Gun Violence: We’ve had too much in the last five days. SPD Chief Shon Barnes released a statement acknowledging that we’ve had three separate instances of shooting deaths since last Thursday: the one at Pursuit, one in SODO, and one in South Seattle. And that’s in a state with better-than-average gun laws. 

A Little Bit of Justice: The City of Tacoma has agreed to a $6 million settlement for Manuel Ellis’s death. Ellis was killed by police on March 3, 2020, after repeatedly telling officers he couldn’t breathe. All three cops involved in his death were acquitted in 2023. 

Bruce and Ann Are Scrambling: Last week, Ann Davison and Bruce Harrell sued the Trump administration for Executive Orders relating to DEI and trans rights, which Trump signed seven months ago. When the Seattle Times’s city hall reporter David Kroman pointed out that they’d made this move four days before a primary election that was starting to look a little dicey for both Davison and Harrell, Harrell replied: “The fight for social justice is not a political move, if that’s the insinuation.” Then, most of Seattle got this in our email. 

Mayor Harrell rejected my “insinuation” on Thursday that suing over 7-month-old executive orders four days before a primary might be political.  Today:

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— David Kroman (@kromandavid.bsky.social) August 3, 2025 at 8:22 PM

Have you heard the one about the osprey, the flying fish, and the power line? A little before noon last Wednesday, a fire team was dispatched to a small landscape fire in British Columbia. Once the fire was out and cooled, they tracked down the fire’s cause: A fish. Dropped by an osprey. Onto a powerline. The sparks from the falling fish caught the grass beneath it, eventually cooking up a perfectly good meal for the osprey. The kicker? The fire was probably still caused by climate change. The fire rescue team said that chances are, the osprey dropped the fish because of how hot it was that day. 

We Lost a Real One: Loni Anderson, who played the receptionist on WKRP in Cincinnati, died yesterday. She was just days away from her 80th birthday. Anderson was nominated for three Golden Globes and two Emmys for the role. 

One Way to Deal With a Bad Jobs Report: Call the numbers rigged and fire the person who produced it. That’s exactly what Trump did to Senate-confirmed Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer on Friday, which the New York Times says is unprecedented in the US. “This is the kind of thing you would only expect to see in a banana republic,” said Janet Yellen, the former Treasury secretary and chair of the Federal Reserve.

Texas Democrats Are Getting Creative: Dems in the Texas House of Representatives decided to fully leave the state on Sunday to keep the House from reaching the quorum that they would need to hold a vote this week. The move was an attempt to stop Republicans from adopting a redesigned congressional map along lines that Trump had requested, which would have likely flipped five Democratic congressional districts toward Republicans. Texas Governor and Trump Boot Licker Greg Abbott didn’t love this, and has threatened to remove every Democrat from their seat if they don’t show up for the vote. That’s very likely illegal, but so are a lot of things these days. 

ICE-ing Down Those Student Loans: While Trump rolls back student loan forgiveness for people who go into public service, he’s offering a new loan forgiveness program for his favorite gestapo soldiers: ICE agents. This is on top of the $50,000 bonuses they’ll be getting. Now we know what it’s worth to sell your soul. 

A lot is happening this week! So here’s a jam by Cate Le Bon to ease you into it.