The Who’s Who of the SPD January Sixers: After a lengthy court battle to keep their identities secret, we now officially have the names of four of the Seattle Police Department cops who went to the insurrection a week after they dropped their lawsuit. Drum roll please. The democracy denying boys in blue aaaaare…. Sgt. Jacob Briskey, Sgt. Scotty Bach, Detective Michael Settle, and Officer Jason Marchione. Two other SPD cops, Officers Alexander Everett and Caitlin Rochelle Everett, were identified earlier after being fired since they trespassed on the US Capitol during all of the insurrection festivities. Of course, this is hardly news since Divest SPD, released the names of these cops years ago, but this is the first time we’ve had confirmation from the City.
Light Rail Has Gone to the Dogs: We are a dog city. A dog county, really. Sound Transit’s board green lit policy yesterday to let all leashed pooches on light rail trains. Frankly, I didn’t know there was a dog ban given all those rule-breaking pups I’ve seen catching a ride on the 1 Line. The new dog decree was born out of the freshly minted Marymoor Village Station which is close to the 40-acre off-leash area in Marymoor Park. “It’s time for walkies,” Sound Transit board Chair Dave Somers said. I hate that he said that.
In Other Light Rail News: The extension to Federal Way could open as soon as this winter, according to the Sound Transit Board. That would unveil stops in Kent, Des Moines, Star Lake, and downtown Federal Way. One day, if we’re good, maybe we will even reach Tacoma. And will the light rail ever stretch across the lake to link up with the 2 line in Bellevue? Maybe! In the meantime, Sound Transit is trying to deter thievery after a few bandits stole away with copper wire from the eastside tracks on two different occasions earlier this summer, causing power outages on the line. They’re installing security cameras.
A Bear! Near Golden Gardens! Neighbors near Golden Gardens in Ballard spotted a bear this week. They believe it was a black bear. The sighting isn’t officially confirmed, but if it is true, this would be the first bear sighting in that area since 2009. You can’t blame a bear for wanting a good bonfire spot. The Department of Fish and Wildlife said the bear likely ended up in the area by taking the series of greenbelts along Puget Sound. Well, he probably didn’t take the Burke Gilman with that missing link, right? Right??
A Fire! Near the Columbia River Gorge! A fire that sparked around a week ago is now the largest in the state. The Burdoin fire currently takes up 11,000 acres. That is, I’m told, a lot of acres. The Burdoin fire is one of four other large fires raging statewide. This is climate change, baby. Summers are for burning now. And we aren’t even close to done with fire season.
France Recognizes Palestine Statehood: In the midst of war crime-caused famine where special food for malnourished children is weeks away from running dry, French president Emmanuel Macron said he will recognize a Palestinian state, becoming the first western power to do so. This recognition won’t officially happen until September at the United Nations general assembly.
No Quick Bucks for Chuck: Florida police arrested a man for credit card fraud while he was at his job. Unfortunately, his job was dressing up as a big gray mouse. You may know him. “Chuck E., come with me,” the cops said as they entered the Tallahassee Chuck E. Cheese. The suspect allegedly did the credit card fraud while working at Chuck E. Cheese. You can’t trust anyone these days. Not even Chuck himself. Sigh.
A Chuck E. Cheese employee in full costume was arrested by Tallahassee officers for credit card fraud
www.tallahassee.com/story/news/l…
— Phil Lewis (@phillewis.bsky.social) July 24, 2025 at 10:41 AM
ICYMI: THING, the music festival, cancelled its upcoming festival date showcasing Latinx and Spanish-language artists, due to concerns about Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. “Community safety concerns have greatly reduced ticket sales, and the uncertainty about artists’ ability to secure the necessary visas has led to our decision,” they said in a statement. This isn’t the first local event to shut down for these reasons. In June, the Duwamish River Community Coalition canceled the Duwamish River Festival due to concerns that ICE might target it, and earlier this month, the Burien nonprofit Joyas Mestizas announced that they would cancel the Pacific Northwest Folklórico Festival this year. Stranger Staff Writer Julianne Bell has more here.
Closing Walls and Ticking Clocks: Kristin Cabot, the human resources executive caught in the embrace of her CEO at the Coldplay concert, has resigned from her role at Astronomer. Her resignation follows CEO Andy Byron’s own resignation.
Hold on. Charles Mudede has something to say.
Did I see that? Did I see Trump’s hard-on yapping in the desert? Yes, I did. His sunbaked business appeared on a new episode of South Park, a show I thought was history a long time ago. But apparently it’s still around. In fact, Paramount just paid the show’s creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, a cool $1.5 billion for “50 new episodes over the next five years.” Yes, the same Paramount that, on July 2, paid Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit concerning an episode of CBS’ “60 Minutes.” South Park‘s season premiere even has a scene with the presenters of “60 Minutes” cowering to Trump (sorry, cows, I didn’t mean to disrespect you like that). We also see Trump trying to have sex with Satan, Trump fucking a sheep, Trump suing a painter for making his business too small in a portrait. And then the desert scene. And then it—Trump’s penis—talks. How will I ever get that out of my mind?
Um, thanks for that, Charles. Back to me.
Were you at Candidate Survivor last night? If not, you missed a lot. We learned that Seattle City Council District 2 candidate Adonis Ducksworth is too cool to have fun. (He at least made a cool song and read a bad poem.) We learned that his competition, Eddie Lin, can juggle and walk on his hands. We learned that Mayoral candidate Katie Wilson used to busk at Pike Place. (She demonstrated her act, playing the harmonica and guitar simultaneously.) We learned that City Attorney Erika Evans always knows the assignment. (She made a diss rap about incumbent Ann Davison, and ultimately won the competition.) And we learned that Jamie Fackler knows how to commit to a bit. He didn’t officially make it on stage because his campaign hadn’t reached the fundraising threshold when event invitations went out, but he still showed up outside dressed as Shrek with a rented donkey, and even jumped on stage with City Attorney candidate Rory O’Sullivan to try to hype his performance.
I Hate When This Happens: Race officials shortened the 19th stage of the Tour de France to avoid climbs in the mountainous areas “where an outbreak of nodular dermatitis affected a herd of cows.” The contagious lumpy skin outbreak resulted in their culling. May they wear the king of the mountain’s polka dot jersey in heaven.
A Song for Your Friday: It just seems appropriate.
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I recall the other day our friend Max Solomon was lamenting that Slog comments just aren’t fun anymore. This got me to thinking why anyone might come to a Slog comments thread anymore. And here’s my best answer.
Let’s set aside the libertarian, contrarian cranks who just can’t help themselves with their incessant trolling. Or their enablers who just can’t help themselves with their compulsive responses.
No, the real reason to come to a Slog (or Slog AM) comment thread anymore is to get to know what MAGA wants the rest of us to hear. The Slog AM comments have morphed into the perfect platform for the Trump trolls with their vast amounts of free time to run amok with their lies, disingenuousness, flights of fabulation, and bad-faith arguments before a non-MAGA audience.
This is a stark contrast now with the Seattle Times comment threads where it’s clear that the Trump trolls have been thoroughly marginalized and the dominant voices now are the moderates, liberals, progressives, and other regular people who don’t align themselves with MAGA. Why is this? It’s clearly a function of the ways the Times manages its comment threads. Suffice it to say, if you don’t assiduously tend your garden, it’s going to get overrun by invasive species.
Bad move Sound Transit. How long do we have before a pit bull attack on light rail. NYC subways doesn’t allow it, we shouldn’t either.
@1 I kind of assumed NotMyopic was you posting under another name to maintain your “I’m too busy with work” schtick on this one, and this purposeless whining about how The Stranger manages its comments makes me even more suspicious
In 7-10 years when a new generation of Antifa anarchists are spraying “ACAB” all over Tallahassee remember we have the local cops to thank for arresting Chuck E. Cheese at work in front of multiple birthday parties’ worth of kids back in 2025.
Why are we still droning on about Jan 6ers? Democrat protesters, Gaza protesters commit new insurrections seemingly every week.
France has been completed and totally invaded by Muslims (some are nice people, I’m sure), so I guess it makes sense they would back a Palestinian state. But does anybody really think a two state solution will ever materialize? I sure don’t.
The fire near the Gorge has very little to do with climate change and very much to do with poor forest management. If we want to stop all that carbon from entering the atmosphere, perhaps some more logging is in order.
At least now humans won’t be the only ones pissing and shitting all over the train seats, I guess…
@1 I come here every day to remind myself that there truly are people as stupid as WereBackBaby and NotMyopic in our city and that it’s not as safe as some of us always thought.
@7 – you don’t have to worry about me, Tbass, buddy. I don’t use violence against people that disagree with my viewpoints, unlike Democrats. You are perfectly safe. Unless your virgin ears simply can’t tolerate opposing opinions. In that case, therapy (and drugs, in extreme circumstances) may help.
@8 You just asked why we’re still talking about January 6th where you guys literally beat a cop until he had a stroke and died and then claimed that Republicans don’t use violence against people all within 10 minutes. Thanks.
Ireland recognized Palestine as a state months ago. If you don’t think Ireland is a Western power, you need to flush out your headgear.
thirteen12 @3: “… and this purposeless whining about how The Stranger manages its comments makes me even more suspicious”.
Not sure why you’re so offended by my pointing out how Slog has become such a perfect platform for Trump trolls. And it’s not that I’m whining or complaining. I’m just dispassionately observing that these comment threads do serve a purpose as a window into MAGA messaging, even if that’s maybe not fun for folks like Max and me.
You do have a point to be pushing back at my mentioning how much free time people have. Clearly I have enough free time to be posting here when I do.
Re #2 – Dogs in NYC subways must be in a carrier. Service dogs ok.
Baby@5- “insurrections every week”?? You folks cheapen the language to the point where your comments are meaningless.
Despite the continued idiocy on display here, the most offensive component of this post is choosing Clocks.
@11 I’m just saying neither of you discuss the actual SLOG, they complain about what wasn’t included and you complain about the commenters. You two are kindred souls at the very least
Can we have designated Doggie Cars? You know, to protect those with allergies and to segregate those inconsiderate dog owners? I am sure your dog is fine, but that other guy? Well, he’s an AH.
@1, you need to be a paid subscriber of the Seattle Times to comment.* And yet, there are many “cranky” comments there too. I think there is an inherent crank bias in commenting anywhere; happy people just move on with their life — perhaps they are happier for not reading news in the first place!
*What I find shocking is that sooo many readers who claimed to have moved away from awful Seattle keep purchasing the Seattle Times and making their cranky comments from their bland suburban relocations.
Finally! A bearable SLOG from The Stranger to prepare us for the weekend.
Happy Friday everyone.
I love eating nachxs and burritxs and chimichangxs while drinking some cervezx on a buenx patix with my hermosx esposx, I am so progressive. If you have a problem with that, come cacx
@10, How many nukes does Ireland have? How large is their Army? Their Navy?
When has Ireland been able to use their trade or other soft power to have a decisive influence on anything?
“Western?” You bet. “Power?” Perhaps, given enough time.
@17 Does NotMyopic regularly comment on the Seattle Times whenever the Stranger happens to post a random story that the Seattle Times missed, or no?
@3 – always funny when the Left eats its own shit
Circular Firing Squad
@17: What you see as cranky they see as important.
@2 Dog owners have been able to take their pets on Metro buses for years, and I’ve never heard of any dog attacks on buses. Keep them on a short leash and away from other dogs, problem solved. The relatively few dogs on buses are kinda stressed out by the whole experience, and will just sit on their owner’s lap or between their legs to feel safe.
https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/metro/rider-tools/how-to-ride/accessibility-on-buses
Ana Kasparinan goes on Tucker!
https://youtu.be/Uyh62MUEC3o
Were those police officers ever convicted or even charged for any offenses on jAnUaRY SiXtH? The most horrible thing to happen in the USA since 9/11????
@19 That joke wasnt funny when you did it on the original article either. Congrats.
@26 – Soy lx personx más progresistx de lx Tierrx, nadie en el universx es más progresistx que yo.
YOU WHITE-GUILT DUMBASS
Well well well:
“President Donald Trump has directed federal agencies to find ways to make it easier to forcibly hospitalize homeless people with mental illness and addiction for longer periods – an effort to fight what the administration calls “vagrancy” threatening the streets of U.S. cities.”
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/trump-order-pushes-forcible-hospitalization-of-homeless-people/
From Israel to immigration to now involuntary commitment, it’s wild how many of Trump’s priorities mesh perfectly with the so-called pragmatic liberals who comment here.
Even the lameos at NPR haven’t used “Latinx” in a couple of years
Seattle is always 5 to 10 years behind on fashion so it makes sense
@10 Ireland is certainly Western, but I wouldn’t exactly call it a “Power”.
@#3: As far as I can tell “Cressona” is another “identity” for the execrable Tensorna. Both of those names have, on multiple occasions, responded to commenters who critique the other as if they themselves were the critiqued. Additionally, the two monikers sound suspiciously alike.
Hold on, let me get this straight. One of our resident right-wing influencers @3 is accusing me of being NotMyopic. Another one of our resident right-wing influencers @31 is accusing me of being tensorna. Hey, maybe that averagebob character can come back and weigh in on which other commenter I’m doubling as.
I can understand that, if one doesn’t like the message, one would want to discredit the messenger. What I don’t quite understand is why these individuals are so sensitive to my dispassionate observation that, even if Slog ain’t much fun anymore, it is a great place to go to find out what MAGA wants the rest of us to hear–unless of course they are indeed right-wing influencers.
Please forgive me paranoia ahead of time.
Correction 1 @32: “What I don’t quite understand is why these individuals are so sensitive to my dispassionate observation that, even if Slog COMMENTS ain’t much fun anymore, it is a great place to go to find out what MAGA wants the rest of us to hear–unless of course they are indeed right-wing influencers.”
Correction 2 @32: “Please forgive MY paranoia ahead of time.”
Please forgive my needing to make corrections. I’ll do better copy editing next time.
@5 The area where the Burdoin fire is burning is primarily privately owned grasslands. What sort of logging do you envision in that area, and what would allow government agencies to force landowners to cooperate with your proposed forestry management plans?
@33: If thirteen12 is right wing, the surely Auntie Griselda pure MAGA. Mercy!
*Grizelda with a Z
@33 – funny, when I looked at the fire map on watchduty.org it sure appears to be a forested area with some areas of shrub steppe.
I assume most grass fires would never grow to become the largest active fire in the state due to less fuel availability. Although clearly fire can race through dry grass very quickly.
Regulating private landowners is of course trickier than state forest land. But we could establish rules for maximum vegetation density. My insurance company has no problem telling me to trim back my trees when they get too close to the house.
@28 well, well, well – looks like Trump is the shitty president most mainstream democrats said he would be (still not sure why a bunch of progressives / MI voters thought he would be better for Palestinians). I’m still awaiting his catchy moniker akin to genocide Joe but I won’t hold my breath.
I know it’s late so this comment is probably in vain, but did you see that Covid study out of Stanford? 100,000 jabs amongst 30-40 year olds to save 1 life from Covid in that cohort. And some of those who did get the vaccine suffered debilitating side effects.
Didn’t protect the individual from contracting the disease. Didn’t slow the spread. And hardly effective at saving lives…
People wonder when I’ll turn on Trump. We’ll, I already did. Years ago. When he started Operation Warp Speed. Worst decision of his Presidency.
@28
You know who else advocates for laws to make it easier to forcibly hospitalize homeless people with mental illness and addiction for longer periods?
Gavin Newsome, Democratic Governor of California.
Of course I’m sure you would argue it’s more humane to let them die slowly and miserably on the streets with their civil rights intact.
@31: Thanks for giving us an admission of your true perspicacity. After problems with my personal IT locked me out of my “tensor” account, I created a new one, tensor’s new account, or “tensorna” for short. It has nothing to do with anyone else.
The late and unlamented kristofarian used to accuse me of sock-puppetry as well, and although he was not original with that accusation (nor with anything else), you really should not go further down his path, seeing how it seems to have ended for him…
Honestly, I don’t think any of the current trolls are sockpuppets of any current nyms. There’s enough assholery to go around.
It seems that Mike Blob has nailed down NotMyopic, and I think Lissa got it right with WBB being the “period” troll.
Haven’t seen anything that looks like Raindrop, maybe he’s dead like Kristofarian (I still haven’t seen confirmation of that).
Vall-job dude really just needs to smoke better weed.
@37 so do you acknowledge that forcing people into compulsory treatment is “shitty” or do you, like Aguecheek and so many local Dems, walk in lockstep with Trump on this issue?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/25/israel-deflect-blame-starvation-gaza-hunger
Food for thought
@42
So it seems you are totally okay with addicted and deranged individuals dying in the streets so long as their civil rights aren’t violated.
Good to know.
@44 I mean I wouldn’t put it that way but I’m sure Trump, and apparently you, would
@38 the paper is open access & everything you said about it is wrong
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2836434
@42 can’t think of anything I agree with the orange piece of shit – that’s why I supported his opponent, something a bunch of progressives couldn’t lower themselves to do.
@47 are you sure because here’s a quote from you where you really seem to agree:
“Allowing folks to overdose on the streets is not compassion – most of these folks need treatment, that should be the focus (hopefully voluntary but state imposed if necessary).”
https://www.thestranger.com/news/2023/06/29/79057318/stop-the-sweeps-protesters-drown-out-the-mayors-boring-downtown-press-conference/comments/14
Do you now take back the “state imposed if necessary” part or, again, are you in agreement with Trump on this issue?