[wheezing] My dying wish is—come closer—to be on a municipal flag.
[wheezing] "My dying wish is—come closer—to be on a municipal flag." DAVID NEIWERT

Happy post-primary day: Anyone else exhausted? Emotionally and physically? Just me? We have a whole post on what it all means right here. You can also read what each of the Stranger Election Control Board was up to last night (this post reads from bottom to top, FYI). But, the big thing is that our picks beat out the Chamber of Commerce picks in most races. Big PAC money and the Seattle Times Editorial Board can put that in their juice box and suck it. The general election is about to be a good, old fashioned Battle for Seattle.

Another important Seattle election: This Seattle Flag Re-Design Contest is all anyone can talk about. Are you tired of your friends only gabbing about how awesome all the flags submitted to The Stranger are? Yeah, psh, tell me about it. A new movement is forming online to make the orca flag—the flag that is literally just a giant orca face—the new Seattle flag. And, you know what? I'm team orca flag now. Look at that baby wave. I feel civic pride just looking at it. I bet more young people would vote in primary elections if that orca flag was our orca flag.

Southern Resident killer whales keep dying: Three more whales, each from a different pod, have turned up dead. The matriarch and mother of the orca who lost her daughter last year is one of the dead. She was malnourished. This is bleak. According to the Orca Network, "the L pod is down to 34 killer whales, the J pod is at 22, and the K pod is down to 17." Would having an orca flag memorialize these orcas or just remind us that we're killing one of the species that is most special to us?

Some weather:

Seattle-based company on second thought won't host 8chan: The hate-filled forum website that has bred harmful rhetoric, extremism, and that has been a petri dish for mass shooters was kicked off its web services platform. Epik, a Seattle web services company with a dumb name, briefly helped 8chan get back online. But, Epik won't host the site. I guess you've got to draw the line somewhere. A quick reminder that Epik provides service for the Daily Stormer, the neo-Nazi website.

Young people better fucking vote in the general election: Honestly, I'm pretty encouraged if last night's results were mostly the Silver Wave's choices. That means some 30+ year-olds voted for two socialists to helm their districts. That was enough to scoot some of the progressive candidates through the primary but they'll actually need some young blood in the voter base if they're going to beat their Chamber of Commerce-funded opposition.

Police officer who let his dog bite a suspect is off the hook: Police Chief Carmen Best has done away with a misconduct filing for a police officer who let his K-9 unit (this means dog) bite a robbery suspect for more than 30 seconds. The suspect was on the ground and had stopped resisting yet the officer did not release the animal. This is apparently protocol; the officer is trained to wait for back up to release the dog. Still, the suspect had to get stitches for the wounds.


Trump is on his way to speak about the mass shootings: He will be visiting El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio today. Both were the sites of extreme gun violence last Saturday. He's taken the time before leaving to pin this seemingly entirely on mental health issues. Sure, I mean, mental illness could be a factor. But the big thing is the SOUL-CRUSHING RACISM that, at least in the case of the El Paso shooting, was LITERALLY SPELLED OUT for us in a manifesto written by the shooter. But sure, yeah, go off, Donald.

Cyntoia Brown released from prison: She was supposed to serve life behind bars. She was found guilty for murdering her sex trafficker when she was 14-years-old. She served 15 years behind bars in the Tennessee Prison for Women before Gov. Bill Haslam granted her clemency in January. Cyntoia was released from prison on Thursday.

A Boy Scout "pedophile epidemic": That's never a good sentence to see. A new lawsuit has been filed against the Boy Scouts of America is representing 800 victims who experienced sexual abuse while in the BSA. They have also identified 350 abusers who were not in the BSA's database (dubbed the "perversion files"). The lawyers filing the suit have alleged that BSA "is continuing to cover-up a 'pedophilia epidemic within their organization,'" NBC News writes.

Are we... actually doing something about gun control? Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio proposed a "red flag" law after the shooting in his state. It would mean that law enforcement could take firearms away from anyone the court had deemed a threat. It's gaining momentum with Republicans (gasp) and is looking good to move in the House. If this passes it will be the most the country has done for gun control in 20 years.

This entire country is on edge: A motorcycle back-fired in Times Square. Everyone thought it was pop of a gunshot. People stampeded their way the fuck outta there. Twenty people were injured.

The stampede from outside:

The stampede from inside:

More on the "men hurling small boys places" beat: A Montana man threw a 13-year-old boy to the ground because he didn't' remove his hat during the National Anthem at the rodeo. When the man asked the boy to remove his hat the boy cursed at him. So, naturally, the man—a 39-year-old full-grown man—grabbed the kid by the throat and slammed him down. The boy was flown to a Spokane hospital for a possible skull fracture and concussion.

Hong Kong protests continue, escalate: A Chinese official has called the turmoil in Hong Kong, which started over a controversial extradition bill and has been going on for months now, worse than when the British returned Hong Kong to China in 1997.

Look at this very strong raccoon:

Tonight's best Seattle entertainment options include: The Silent Reading Party, the Williams Project's The Bar Plays, and an evening of funk and jazz with Ghost-Note.