More serious than a backdraft.
More serious than a backdraft. ArishaRay / Getty Images

City intends to pass local improvement district to raise funds for new waterfront: The LID “would raise $200 million from nearby property owners to help build a new park promenade along the downtown waterfront,” reports the Seattle Times. The waterfront improvement construction will cost somewhere around $700 million. That money will come from the LID, the state, local philanthropists, and the city. The LID is crucial and waterfront property owners are already displeased. The amount they have to pay varies on how close they are to the waterfront and whether the property is commercial or residential. The resolution passed the council 8-0. Council member Sally Bagshaw wasn't able to vote since she owns a condo on the waterfront.

Fire Station 31 known as the “Cancer House”: One Seattle fire station has a terrible reputation. From when it opened in 1975 to 2003, there have been 119 employees and former employees diagnosed with cancer. Investigations yielded no answers and the problem persists to this day. Firefighters who work at Station 31 get cancer. In just the last year, three people have gotten sick. The Seattle Fire Department is partnering up with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to conduct a comprehensive study comparing Station 31 and the rest of Seattle firefighters from the early 70s until now. The study will cost $400,000. Maybe that Grey's Anatomy spin-off about the Seattle firefighters will steal this as a plot line.

Marysville School District Superintendent resigns: Becky Berg is known for her leadership after the 2014 shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School when a freshman student shot five of his friends and then himself. Berg made sure everyone received the support they needed. She did small things like changing the sound of the alarm so it was different from how it sounded that day. Berg is resigning after surgery to remove a noncancerous tumor from her brain. The procedure was a wake up call for Berg, who is now “taking stock of [her] life.”

Girl Scouts rule Scouts BSA drools: Forget the now all-inclusive Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts are seeing a rise in membership. Sure, the BSA may have dropped the “boy” from “Scouts” but they tacked the “BSA” onto the end. It may allow girls, but it's still a boy's organization says Megan Ferland, the CEO of the Girl Scouts of Western Washington. Ferland told the Seattle Times,“With the Girl Scouts, girls aren’t an afterthought.” Girl Scouts is an investment in a young girl’s future. According to Ferland, “80 percent of all female business owners were Girl Scouts.” I never did any type of scouting so I am probably destined for failure.

Death at Bellevue light rail construction site: A construction worker fell from a 40-foot column early this morning. The crews have been placing girders at the east side light rail extension in Bellevue over the past few days. The man fell and was rushed to Harborview. He was pronounced dead there.

Magnolia bridge slated for demolition: Ever since the Nisqually quake the bridge has been unstable. It undergoes regular safety inspections. However, in the long term, the bridge needs to be replaced. The only problem is that there are no funds to replace it. SDOT announced that the bridge will eventually need to be demolished and that they didn’t have a plan in place to rebuild it. Magnolia residents are furious. Some are saying they don’t know how to get to Magnolia without the bridge.

Redbox releases 4K Ultra HD content in Seattle: Redbox, the dvd rental kiosk, is bringing higher quality to some test markets. Seattle is one of them. Somehow Redbox has managed to stay afloat despite streaming competition. That blows my mind. I have never seen anyone use the Redbox at my local Safeway. I don’t even have a dvd player.

Beginner’s luck: Are police dogs officers? Are they units? What’s the correct nomenclature here? Anyway, K9 Rye is the newest addition to the West Covina Police Department. Rye just made a huge drug bust at a traffic stop where he found 60 pounds of methamphetamine. The meth was hidden in two secret compartments under the driver and passenger seats.

LeBron James is pretty good at basketball: The last time LeBron missed the NBA finals was in 2010. This guy has been in the finals every year for seven years. That’s nutty. According to sources, aka my friend Tonio who loves basketball, this Cavaliers team is the weakest “supporting cast” LeBron has ever had. He’s single-handing clawing his way to his eighth consecutive finals with his team on his back. I like that they call the team a supporting cast, it’s like basketball is performance art. Cleveland tied up the series against Boston last night. It's now 2-2.


Joey Gibson and other far-right activists brought guns to UW: They were detained by UWPD. According to UWPD, the men were going to do “some kind of open carry thing on campus.” UW prohibits fire arms on campus. Full report here.

Sanctions against Venezuela “close off avenue of corruption”: Trump signed sanctions against the South American country yesterday after the President Nicolás Maduro secured a second term in an allegedly rigged election. Neighboring nations are also refusing to accept the election as legitimate.

Seattle Chamber of Commerce totally within its rights to create sneaky ad campaign: A mysterious online ad campaign decrying the head tax and urging people to contact council members was made and run by the Seattle Chamber of Commerce. According to Wayne Barnett, director of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, it’s perfectly within the rules for the Chamber of Commerce to influence public opinion through a shady campaign of targeted Facebook ads. During non election times, this kind of anonymous online pressure campaign is not regulated. So, let me get this straight, it's not okay when Russia does it, but when it’s the Chamber of Commerce that’s fine?

Rudy Giuliani allowed maker of OxyContin to keep doing business: Purdue Pharma was convicted of fraud over OxyContin’s “safety and effectiveness,” reports The Guardian. Giuliani reached a deal with the government to allow the company to keep doing business. Giuliani was able to convince the prosecutor to put the parent company’s name on the conviction. Purdue Frederick was convicted. That left Purdue Pharma to run business as usual and allowed the opioid crisis to blossom and spiral out of control.

GOP gets a peek at Russian investigation: Republican congressional leaders will be allowed to see some of the most classified information in the Russian investigation. Until yesterday, Republican demands were shot down and resisted against. The deal comes as Trump ramps up his own investigation against the DOJ and the FBI.

Did you hear about the Texas politician who gave his children incentives for marrying white people? Vicker Cunningham, yes that’s a real name, a candidate for council commission in Dallas, has come under fire for revealing the trust fund system he set up for his children. When his kids reach certain milestones in their life — like, say, getting an advanced college degree — they get a chunk of change. Sounds great. One of the milestones is marrying someone who is of the opposite sex, Caucasian, and Christian. Specific. I’d expect nothing less from you, Vickers.


Tonight's best Seattle entertainment options include: Taylor Swift's Reputation Tour concert, Sustainable Scoops: An Evening with Molly Moon’s, and Karen Hartman's comedic play Goldie, Max and Milk.

Reminder! Send your breakfasts to me tomorrow by 8 a.m. to be featured in Slog AM. Send them to ngraham@thestranger.com