Biden's got a new climate plan, but he stops short of declaring an emergency: Today the president dropped some new executive steps to fight deal with climate change: Give $2.3 billion to a disaster prep program, leverage funding to help low-income families with heating and cooling costs, and direct the Interior Department to develop offshore wind areas in the Gulf of Mexico (conservatives will love that). This announcement comes as Coal Baron Joe Manchin basically annihilated the administration's climate deal last week. Is there really nothing we can do about this guy? 

Meanwhile, in western Washington: Meteorologists are forecasting that we'll hit high temperatures in the low 90s next week, reports KING 5. That's right on time for our area this time of year—you've still got time to buy a fan! But the United Kingdom is still experiencing record heat. Yesterday was the busiest for firefighters since World War II as the temperatures caused fires across London, destroying 41 properties.

Today is The Beacon Cinema's third birthday: Support the local theater by going to see a movie, why dontcha?

Gender neutral language can't hurt you: Try telling it to those binary fucks in the Buenos Aires government. The Argentine city has banned public schools from using gender-inclusive language in classrooms or with parents because "such language violated the rules of Spanish and stymied student’s reading comprehension," reports the New York Times. The ban provoked a "swift backlash," and several orgs have filed lawsuits to overturn it. If these people love masculine/feminine gender so much, why don't they just MARRY it?!

In elk news: Woodland Park Zoo's only male elk, Goodwyn, has been euthanized. The 20-year-old was put down "due to a significant decline in his health and quality of life," reports The Seattle Times. Bummer that this city has one fewer handsome dude in it. 

Fine: I really resisted watching the new Game of Thrones spinoff trailer, but I will begrudgingly include it here. Ready to have my expectations shattered, once again. Also, as a side note, sitting on the Iron Throne seems like the worst gig ever.

 

We interrupt this PM with a message from Rich, who watched the Governor deliver a general address at a press conference today. Take it away, Rich.

Thanks, Jas!

Governor Inslee demands fewer restrictions on housing construction: During a press conference this afternoon, the Governor reasserted his demand for the State Legislature to loosen zoning laws statewide. “We have zoning laws in our state that make it impossible for us to build housing for our people,” he said. Portland, OR is way ahead of us on that score, and they are already starting to reap the benefits.

For context: Last year, Inslee backed Democratic Rep. Jessica Bateman’s “missing middle” housing legislation, which would have legalized more housing options close to transit. That bill failed thanks partly to intense lobbying from the Association of Washington Cities, as Matt reported. At today’s conference, Inslee promised to meet with that group, which basically represents mayors elected mostly by homeowners who fear loosening restrictions lower the value of their homes. “If people want to reduce homelessness, people need to get behind this effort to help us get more housing,” Inslee said, calling it a “moral” imperative.

The renewed push comes, as the state prepares to dole out millions of dollars to counties to sweep homeless people from their housing on public land starting in the middle of next month. “We are accelerating it as much as humanly possible,” Inslee said of the sweeps timeline.  ETA: (A spokesperson from the Governor’s office said “the state and its partners make sure people have a safe, supportive place to go before encampments are removed,” but we’ll follow up on that!) 

He added that the Legislature invested more than $700 million into affordable housing, permanent supportive housing, and tiny shelters to provide “homes” for the people the state plans to sweep. Of course, the state will not build that housing, which only amounts to "approximately 3,890 additional housing units,” including shelter units, in time to accept the people the state cannot wait to sweep. About 40,000 people experienced homelessness in King County alone, according to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. Expect more details from Hannah about the state’s efforts after she returns from the land of the plague.

Okay, sorry, that's all! He said some stuff about more cops, but Will will have more on that tomorrow. Hope you're doin' okay! 

Tesla isn't doing so well: The electric carmaker owned by the richest douchebag in existence reported a $16.9 billion in revenue this quarter, a drop from $18.8 billion in the previous quarter, reports TechCrunch. Posting this sticker with no addition comment:

 
 
 
 
 
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Plane crash in Bothell: Last night an "experimental aircraft" crashed on 228th St in Bothell near Canyon Park, reports Q13. Two were sent to the hospital in "unknown condition," and authorities say that there was also a dog onboard. According to Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue, the plane was on its way to Paine Field when it had a complete engine failure and had to make a crash landing.

First-phase tile repair work at Columbia City Station is done a bit earlier than expected: You can expect normal 1 Line service starting tomorrow. 

NASA is going back to the moon: The space agency released a set of tentative launch dates for its first step to return to the Moon since the last Apollo mission in 1972, reports WaPo. Sometime in late August or in early September, the uncrewed Orion capsule will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to orbit the big cheese in the sky. Take me with you....

The Seahawks are going to zhuzh up Lumen Field for the 2022 season: They aren't calling these improvement "renovations," but rather, you guessed it, "fanovations." For the rest of this news, I'm going to block quote Bob Condotta from the Seattle Times, because I can't pretend to know anything about the stadium. Been there only once. 

Specifically, the stadium will debut new video boards this year that the team says are double the size of the current north video board; a new concession area in the upper concourse; and what the team is calling Cityside Bars, which the team describes as a 6,300-square foot area under the Hawks Nest that will feature 83 feet of drink rails facing the field.

Enhancements in future years will include the Tunnel Club, described as a ticketed hospitality area where fans can see players go to and from the locker room.

If you're a Rehearsal fan: You'll be pleased to know that The Alligator Lounge has become a Nathan Fielder watering hole. 

For your listening pleasure: FKA twigs' "Killer":