Jeff is flexing the choice to finally give all his employees a livable wage.
Jeff is flexing the choice to finally give all his employees a livable wage. DREW ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES

Amazon wants you to know what their typical employee makes: The median (not the average) income for Amazon workers in the U.S. is $35,096, which is a pretty significant rise over 2017 median wages. Amazon implemented a nationwide $15 minimum wage last November for their employees, even in states where the minimum wage is much lower. We talk a lot of shit about Amazon here on Slog, and there’s plenty more to talk about, but it’s hard not to see this as a good thing for workers. Though, the change did come about because of intense scrutiny over Amazon's poor working conditions for its low-wage workers.

City officials consider “pop-up pallet shelters” to expand homeless services: No these aren’t a hip pop-up shop, these are a hot new trend in temporary housing. Pallet Shelter, an Everett-based company, makes 64-square-foot houses that can accommodate up to a family of four with heat, air conditioning, and electricity. They’re even cheaper than the tiny homes that have become so prolific in Seattle. The question, as always with any homeless service, is where to put them and who will pay for them. The answer, as almost always, is nobody knows.

A lumber truck flipped over on I-5 near Everett: Isn't that like that old saying goes? “How much wood could a wood truck chuck if a wood truck could chuck wood?” In this case, a whole lot. The right two lanes of I-5 are shut down following a four-car collision of sorts where a semi truck was forced into a ditch. The driver has serious injuries but is expected to make a full recovery. If you have to drive that way, I’m sorry but you’ll be sitting in traffic for a while. Maybe double up on those podcasts.


Officials still don’t know why more than two dozen light poles fell down: Seattle City Lights still has no answer for why these poles, one of which fell onto a moving car and another narrowly missing a passing biker, randomly fell down. At this point, they can neither confirm nor deny it was ghosts. Some of the polls were 65 years old, but still weren’t at risk of splintering like they did. City Lights is hiring a contractor to investigate and their first question: which of these fucking poles fell first?

Mike Pence is fighting with democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg: Not exactly a surprise, they are going to be running on opposing tickets. It’s even less of a surprise when you remember that the South Bend, Indiana Mayor is openly gay. In a CNN interview, Pence was asked about Buttigieg’s comments criticizing his track record of being an absolute asshole to the LGBTQ community. Pence said Buttigieg has the right to be a Christian, but when pressed on whether that includes believing that being gay is a sin, he doubled down and said, “I'm a Bible-believing Christian. I draw my truth from God's word." That feels like code for, “yes, being gay is a sin.”

More clouds, maybe rain: I got dumped on last night and was very much not prepared.


Game of Thrones starts again on Sunday: If you’re a fan then you probably already know this and have been waiting two years for the final season of dragons, zombies, and just so much incest. If you’re not a fan, then what the fuck is wrong with you? It’s a cultural phenomenon! Just bend the knee already (you would get the joke if you watched the show). If you need a quick refresher on where every character stands going into Sunday’s premiere, then read this.

The new cold war is well, cold: It’s in the Arctic, where climate change-driven sea ice melt is leaving vast portions of the Arctic Ocean open through the summer. No nation has set claim to these areas because, until recently, they were locked underneath ice year round, but now Russia sees an opportunity to grow its military influence. They’ve built island communities at very high latitudes and are starting to encroach on Canada’s north border. Russia is building up its military capacity in the high north, so NATO is responding similarly with more investment in military infrastructure on Canada’s arctic borders.

This will never stop being cool to me:


Now listen here you $#!%: We'll round out our week of Chicago music history looking forward with one of the rising stars in Chicago hip-hop and one of my favorite young rappers: Nnamdi Ogbonnaya."

This weekend's best Seattle entertainment options include: A reading with the Kenyan genius playwright and novelist NgĆ©gÄ© wa Thiong’o, the Ballard Brewed Spring Beer Festival, and Record Store Day 2019.