Were rooting for you, Overlord Allen.
We're rooting for you, Overlord Allen. WIN MCNAMEE / GETTY

Paul Allen is battling cancer: The Seattle tech billionaire battled non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2009. It’s back again. Allen wrote in a personal statement that he plans to fight the disease hard with his team of doctors. He’ll still be at the helm of Vulcan and all his other entities. He signed off with a “Go Hawks! Go Blazers!” — the two sports teams he owns.

Workers can now use their pretax wages to pay for transit! Seattle will now require businesses to allow workers to use pretax wages to fund Orca cards. I mean, great seems like a stretch. They’re still paying for it. But, at least it’s subsidized and there will be savings. Let’s go with “this is a good alternative.” The measure passed unanimously in the city council.

Did you forget about the EpiPen shortage? How convenient for you! Seattle parents were rudely reminded of the shortage when they found out they had to provide EpiPens to enroll their kids. There were no EpiPens to be found at some pharmacies in south King County. Even when there were EpiPens available, pharmacists would only issue one per patient. The issue isn’t a lack of epinephrine but a shortage of injector cartridges.

There’s a brand-spankin' new City Light CEO: Make way for Debra Smith, the new CEO of the $1.4 billion department. Durkan chose Smith. She was approved by the city council 9-0. The department has been beleaguered with issues as of late. Read Crosscut’s exhaustive coverage here.

Idiot kids think they can beat NBA players at their own game:


A whale of a problem: But there’s no problem teamwork can’t solve!


Oregon environmentalists are fighting cyanide capsules: The capsules are partially buried in the ground and coated with stuff canines like to sniff. They’re spring-loaded and release sodium cyanide. Their purpose is to kill predators like coyotes and foxes that eat livestock. But, really, any animal that can smell is at risk. In the past, even grizzly bears—a threatened species—have fallen victim to cyanide capsules. Environmentalists want them gone!

I know you only care about The Stranger’s endorsements but here’s who Obama endorsed: Barack Obama endorsed three Democrats in the Washington state midterm elections. The lucky three are: Carolyn Long, 3rd-District; Lisa Brown, 5th-District; Kim Schrier, 8th-District.

Another late-night comedy set for Louis C.K.: Someone tell Louis C.K. that he needs to fuckin’ chill, go back to his hole in the ground and camp out there for at least a year, maybe indefinitely. The comedian, who many people thought was funny but I just want to say I never did and I think I’m right, was accused of sexual misconduct last year. One of those allegations was that he masturbated in front of multiple women on multiple occasions. C.K. tried to do a surprise comedy set at the Comedy Cellar in NYC in August. People were mad. Just last night (or is it technically today?) he came on at midnight and the audience was equally displeased.

Bird scooters hit Seattle (illegally): The Southern California-based electric scooters have been cropping up around Seattle. They’re like Lime but not. They’re also sneakily introducing their scooters to Seattle, where e-scooters are still illegal, through local “ambassadors.” Basically, they’re asking some local folk to ride around on a Bird and report on the experience.

Here’s how Birds have taken over Santa Monica:


Some cool journalism news: Sorry, this is it for LA stuff, I swear.


Palestinian women reach 93.6 percent literacy: The illiteracy rate was 15.3 percent in 2001. Now, it’s 6.4 percent.

You heard it here first, folks: