Re-bar is the venue where Nick Garrison starred in Hedwig in the early 2000s.
Nick Garrison, performing Hedwig at Re-bar in the early 2000s, is one of many Seattle artists associated with the venue. Others include Riz Rollins, Sarah Rudinoff, and Dina Martina. PHOTO BY AJ EPSTEIN/COURTESY OF NICK GARRISON

Re-bar says good-bye, and hello: The arty dance club and performance venue in the Denny Triangle will reopen in South Seattle in 2021, according to a message that appeared on the venue's Facebook page over the weekend.

For a mini oral history of Re-bar, which opened in 1990: Start here. Includes the story of the time Nirvana got kicked out. Re-bar's new incarnation will be a "7-day-a-week bar and nightclub with full food service. We'll be rising like the phoenix. We love feedback. If you feel called to, let us know at info@rebarseattle.com."

Record-setting heat yesterday: Temperatures at Sea-Tac Airport reached 87 degrees, beating "the previous record of 86 set last year." An ominous accomplishment.

Creepy cracks in West Seattle Bridge.
Creepy cracks in West Seattle Bridge. SDOT

"Creep" may be to blame in West Seattle Bridge: Seattle Times reports "a hidden problem in the bridge’s original design" may be contributing to the weakening of the 220,000-ton bridge. An "innate behavior of concrete" called creep "causes some bridges worldwide to sag by middle age. A crossing between islands in Palau even imploded after repairs."

60 Minutes confronts Amazon about how it treats its workers: Lesley Stahl's first question to the head of operations for Amazon was, "Amazon is seen as an essential service through this pandemic. But you have been very slow to install your workers' protections. And it's hurt your reputation. You've been seen as a company that puts profits ahead of people." Amazon's operations chief responded, "I could not disagree more strongly."

The cartoonist Richard Sala: Has died at the age of 61. "Our hearts are with his close friends and family who are grieving this insurmountable loss," says Fantagraphics.

Yakima is for dumbshits: It's a hotbed of resistance to Inslee's orders, and—gee, what do you know—cases out there are surging.

"Doctors keep discovering new ways the coronavirus attacks the body." And symptoms of COVID-19 now include "covid toes" and pinkeye.

Joe Biden "knows he can’t be an average-Joe Democrat anymore." I hope you're right about that, New York magazine.
 They say he is planning "an FDR-size presidency."

Cowardly man scared of Trump continues to be scared of Trump: "Vice President Mike Pence is not planning to enter self-quarantine after his press secretary tested positive for coronavirus."

Did you hear the thing about llamas? ICYMI: "Antibodies found in llamas have the potential to fight the virus."

Speaking of adorable quadrupeds: Have you ever heard of donkey nannies? I had not. Look!

UW's national death toll projection is up: "A leading model has increased its US coronavirus death toll projection again as governors continue lifting measures toward a reopening."

Lotsa fires in the last couple days: "A man was seriously injured and several others are now left homeless after a two-alarm fire burned an apartment complex in Lakewood Monday morning," KOMO reports. Unrelatedly, over the weekend, "a man was seriously injured in an overnight fire at a residential building near Lake Union," and a "home was destroyed in a fire early Sunday in Lake Stevens."

"You want a piece of me?" Jerry Stiller, best known to people who were born after 1980 as Frank Costanza on Seinfield, "passed away from natural causes," according to his son, Ben Stiller.

Here he is... cracking up Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jason Alexander:

The next Silent Reading Party: Is in two days! Wednesday at 6 pm. Get your ticket here.