Wave hello to the heat wave.
Wave hello to the heat wave. TOMMASO79/ GETTY IMAGES

Seattle City Council expected to vote on the Showbox's fate: Things are not looking great for the downtown music venue, but its fate for the near future rests on a vote by the city council later today. They're deciding whether to extend temporary protections for the venue another six months, which would prevent the property owners from demolishing it and building a 44-story apartment building. Even if they vote to extend its protections, it's still in a state of purgatory, mostly waiting for a magnanimous buyer to come along and do the right thing. Calling all local multimillionaire music lovers!

It's a busy day for Seattle City Council: With a second hot-button issue on the table. They'll be voting on a plan to move forward with turning Fort Lawton, the retired military base in Discovery Park, into affordable housing. The council is expected to vote overwhelmingly for the plan, despite a whole bunch of pushback from community members worried about "public safety," a phrase that gets thrown around a lot when affordable housing gets brought up. The plan would create 237 affordable housing units and primarily be open low-income seniors and people making 60 percent of the median income.

Mass shootings on Yakama Reservation kill five people: Two suspects are in custody following several shootings late Saturday, but authorities are being very tight-lipped about what exactly happened and who these shooters are. The FBI usually handles homicide cases on reservations and has joined the investigation, according to the Seattle Times.

Canada will be banning single-use plastics by 2021: That's right, Canadian Slog readers, say au revoir to plastics. We're talking straws, single-use water bottles, and plastic bags at the grocery store all becoming obsolete in just two short years. They were inspired by the European Union's recent move to ban single-use plastics. It doesn't ban them completely, but it's a framework for transitioning the system away from the most common forms of plastic garbage. China's decision to no longer accept plastic waste helped inspire these changes, because rich Western countries didn't have a good way to get rid of plastics anymore.

We've got a heat wave on the way, people! Time to stock up on Otter Pops and buy one of those little hand fans that sprays water. And for the love of god, don't forget to put on deodorant. We're in this together. Wednesday is shaping up to be a record-breaking day for heat, with temperatures expected to climb to the mid-80s. Tuesday will be hot too, but Wednesday will be oppressively so. Brace yourself for a few more heat waves this summer.


A crane fell onto a residential building in Dallas: Authorities are reporting one person was killed and at least five others were injured when a crane was blown down during a heavy rainstorm, landing directly on an apartment building. It is not yet clear why the crane, which is designed to withstand heavy winds, fell down in the first place, but investigators are looking into it. The crane took out nearly 10 apartment units and destroyed a good chunk of the parking garage, leaving a rubble-filled cavern with a pile of cars at the bottom.




If you're looking for the Democratic presidential candidates, they're all in Iowa: You can all shit on the Midwest for being flyover states, but Iowans know who really holds the political power in this country. About 20 candidates went to the state this weekend, whose caucus has become something of a kingmaker in recent decades, to campaign and try to break out of the overwhelmingly crowded field. One glaring absence was Joe Biden, the current front-runner in the campaign. What game are you playing, Joe?

More than one million people protest in Hong Kong: They're speaking out against a new bill that would allow China to extradite Hong Kong residents accused of committing crimes to mainland China. The one million people protesting represents a mind-boggling one in seven residents on the island. Protesters see this bill as just another way for the Chinese government to exert power over the island, which is technically part of China but is run by a separate Democratic government. China is slowly trying to incorporate it into their communist system with increasingly authoritarian moves like this one. This is the biggest protest they've ever had since the territory was handed back to China in 1997.


The Women's World Cup started this past weekend: And you better be watching! Stranger writer Nathalie Graham sure as hell will be. Today's games are Argentina vs. Japan at 9 a.m. and Canada vs. Cameroon at 12 p.m., so take your pick (but also go USA)!

In other mostly uninformed sports news: The Toronto Raptors have the chance to win the NBA Finals today after going up three games to one in the series on Friday. They are poised to beat the Golden State Warriors, who have been an unstoppable winning machine for the last few years. I like the idea of a Canadian team winning—so much for Make America Great Again!


Speaking of Toronto: Police there have resorted to an age-old tactic to stop illegal pot shops from reopening after police raids. They are simply stacking giant concrete barriers in front of the doors. A loophole in Toronto's laws makes it impossible for police to remove people from these illegal dispensaries, so they're just making it impossible to go inside in the first place. Is it cheap? Yes. Effective? You betcha. Is it dumb? Oh yes, very dumb.


Now listen here, you $#!%: This week, I want to hear what music YOU want to hear! Enough of me jamming musicals and Ween down your throat, time for you all to become the Slog AM DJ for a day. Comment on this post with your favorite songs to listen to in the mornings, and I'll choose a few of my favorites every day. You can also tweet the song to me at @timothyfkenney on Twitter. Since I'm just starting this today, here's the song I will 100 percent be playing at my wedding.

Tonight's best Seattle entertainment options include: A show with the Cowboy Junkies, a staged reading of The Other Season: Joe Turner Vino y Se Fue, and a talk with William Shatner.