There are no secrets when someone owns your genome.
There are no secrets when someone owns your genome. KTSDESIGN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

One fourth of downtown apartments are empty: Apartment vacancy rates are at their highest point since the recession in Seattle. The rental market has cooled and landlords are scrambling to fill up dozens—sometimes even hundreds—of apartments. There are freebies and incentives galore! According to the Seattle Times, at 112 different apartment buildings in Seattle, the most common concession advertised was free rent.

After 32 years, DNA finds a suspect: That little double-helix is putting in work these days. Adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine are a firing on all cylinders in old, unsolved murder cases. Michella Welch, a 12-year-old Tacoma girl, was raped and murdered in 1986. On Friday, Gary Charles Hartman, 66, was charged with the crime, according to the Tacoma News Tribune. Using a DNA sample from the crime scene, a genealogist was able to construct the suspect’s family tree through public websites. One of Hartman’s family members had submitted a sample to a genealogy database. With the sample linked to Harman, detectives tailed him. They snatched his DNA off a napkin he'd used at lunch and matched it with the sample from the crime scene.

Parking payment system is changing: The current parking pay stations are a soon-to-be relic of Seattle's past. In a couple of months, all parking will shift to a pay-by-plate system. Besides having to actually remember your license plate number, what are the ramifications of this? Well, you can’t pay for parking in one place, stick the sticker on your car, and then park somewhere else and still be covered. Unused time will no longer be portable. It’s meant to streamline the process for meter-maids — uh, I mean, parking-enforcement officers.

Man channels Stand By Me in Shoreline, dies: Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to walk on the train tracks? I honestly don’t know if mine did because I didn’t grow up near any tracks, but it seems like a common refrain. Or, really, just common sense. A man in Shoreline was traipsing along some tracks in Shoreline, possibly listening to music, and was struck by a freight train. It tried to emergency brake. It tried to warn him with a whistle. He died. This is the eighth death this year from people trespassing on BNSF tracks in Washington state.

Did you see that delicious crack of lightning last night? I was sleeping. The lightning lit up the sky and the thunder rattled my house. I woke up in a panic, convinced that this was the end. Then it was all good, the apocalypse wasn’t nigh, and the rain was cascading down. It was nice.

This wasn’t the one, but it was a precursor:


Protesters set up camp outside Tacoma’s Northwest Detention Center: They’re holding loud rallies every day at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the hopes that the detainees inside can hear and know that they’re not alone. They’re encouraging anyone who shares their message to join them.

Norovirus strikes on cruise from Seattle to Alaska: The outbreak on the Holland America ship has caused 73 people to fall ill.

Fires are ravaging Northern California: Can’t they catch a break?


It’s a rainy morning, how’s your commute? Even Seattleites forget how to drive in the rain. Factor in delays into your morning commute.


Or, improvise: Like this guy.


Saudi women can drive legally: Starting Sunday, Saudi women were able to drive in their country for the first time after the decades-old ban was lifted. This is a huge step for equality in one of the world’s most conservative countries. It will also allow women more autonomy—they will no longer have to hire a male driver to travel short distances and many more will be able to enter the workforce.

Think of the cheesemakers: The American dairy industry is feeling downright churned spurned by Trump’s tariffs. They’re not gouda for business and are adding more hurdles to an already intensely competitive global market. The cheesemakers fear they’ll lose access to Canada and Mexico as Trump threatens to pull the US out of the Northwest Trade Free Agreement. What’s a cheesemaker to do?

Harley Davidson is going to move some production out of the US: The motorcycle manufacturer is in the same boat as the cheesemakers. Harley Davidson said it will be shifting some of its production outside of the US so it can avoid European Union tariffs.

Trump wants to skip due process: Donald Trump wants to just turn immigrants away at the border and send them back. His seemingly foolproof solution to his administrations abhorrent immigration policy is constitutionally dubious. No due process and no appearance before a judge seems to violate some core American values.

Hungary fears Billy Elliot musical could turn children gay: Ticket sales plummeted after a media campaign called the musical a propaganda tool for homosexuality. It’s about a northern English boy in the 1980s who chooses to pursue his dream of ballet instead of boxing. The Hungarian State Opera House has cancelled 15 shows.

The World Cup is still happening: I love it. Do you love it? The only answer is yes. Iran and Portugal are facing off today. Iran’s fans kept the Portuguese team up late last night.


Tonight's best Seattle entertainment options include: A garage-pop show with Peach Kelli Pop, a Pride installment of Re-Bar's Collide-O-Scope film montage, and the "dim sum style" Mexican food pop-up WOW