Ride the death traps ducks!
Ride the death traps ducks! Roman Babakin / Getty Images

Some news for detained parents in Tacoma: They’ll be headed down to Texas where they’ll be reunited with their children. Around 10 of them will be transferred today. The details, of course, are vague. It’s assumed that the parents and children will be transferred into a facility together. I guess that’s the lesser of two evils, but it’s still pretty fucked up.

More duck boat carnage: Aurora bridge, 2015, 4 dead, multiple injured. In Missouri, divers are searching for four people who are missing after a full Ride the Ducks boat capsized and sank on Table Rock Lake yesterday. Thirteen people are confirmed dead. Stormy weather reportedly made the boat capsize. This is the third deadly duck boat incident — 13 died in 1999 when one sank in Arkansas. I dunno about you, but that looks like a pattern. Duck boats are cursed. Some malevolent spirit of an angry local haunts them to get back at tourists. Or, uh, they’re just dangerous.

Pike Place fish throwers now own the fish market: Talk about upward mobility! Those guys flinging fish left and right down at Pike Place Fish Market aren’t some lowly fishmongers. Nope, they’re the official new owners. Earlier this month, four of the longtime employees bought the almost 90-year-old business from the original owner, who they’d worked under for decades. The original owner, John Yokoyama, 78, made sure the business went to the employees.

Grizzled response to grizzly reintroduction: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wants to reintroduce the grizzly bear back to the North Cascades. Rep. Dave Newhouse, a Republican from Sunnyside, introduced an amendment within a House appropriations bill that bans federal funding for reintroduction efforts. He argued that the reintroduction would threaten the way of life for his constituents. Conservationists are sad because without help the grizzly bear population will never recover here.

We’ve got a wildfire, folks: The I-90 is shut down in both directions around Kittas. That’s because there’s a 58,000-acre brushfire wreaking havoc in the area.

We love transit! Sound Transit has reported that the Link light rail has surpassed more than 80,000 weekday boardings this year. That’s a 10.2 percent increase from last year. Fund transit because people like it and people use it!

Convention Place Station to permanently close on Saturday: Kiss the longtime downtown bus terminal goodbye. Also look for the new one on Ninth Avenue on a map. The Downtown Transit Tunnel will eventually evict buses completely next March. For now, it’s the only tunnel in the world shared by buses and trains. That explains why my brother was so perplexed when I took him down there for the first time.

The national anthem thing with the NFL is getting out of hand: Yesterday, the Miami Dolphins announced they would be suspending any players who protested during the national anthem. The NFL and the Players Association (NFLPA) are halting the policy for now. I would think because it violates the First Amendment. But that’s just my guess.

‘Nado season: Do people call them ‘nados? I’m coining the phrase.


Hey, we landed on the moon 49 years ago today: July 20th, 1969 was a big deal for Stanley Kubrick when he successfully directed the moon landing film that would fool the masses NASA when Apollo 11 successfully landed on the moon. It was the end of the Space Race, a test of science, ideology, and will between Russia and the United States during the Cold War. Next year is the big 5-0. Who’s planning a moon party?


Trump’s intelligence chief blindsided by Putin invite: Trump wants to bring his new pal over for visit to Washington this fall. Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, found out about that when he was being interviewed on NBC by Andrea Mitchell. “Okay,” he said, processing live on air. “That’s going to be special.” He chuckled awkwardly, the New York Times reports. Trump still hasn’t told intelligence officials exactly what he and Putin discussed earlier in the week in Helsinki.

Orcas are harassing fishermen: In Alaska, Orcas are taking their fish back. They’re organized and they’re turning against fisherman for the first time. Gangs of orcas surround boats, forcing them back into the port leaving 90 percent of their catch behind. Sperm whales are also pillaging fishing lines.

No dark forces in ominous Egyptian sarcophagus: Archaeologists hoped Alexander the Great’s body would be inside. They also hoped their faces didn’t melt off a la Raiders of the Lost Ark and were only slightly concerned they would unleash an ancient curse like in the Brendan Fraser masterpiece The Mummy. All that was inside was old bones and red liquid.

Fun fact for your Friday: When you lose weight, that excess weight mainly leaves your body through your breath or through your urine.

This weekend's best Seattle entertainment options include: The Capitol Hill Block Party, the Bite of Seattle, and lots and lots of other festivals.