Fight for your right to party... during a pandemic
Fight for your right to party... during a pandemic HENRIK SORENSEN/GETTY IMAGES

College Kids Spreading Coronavirus at Washington State University: It’s back to school time for many of us, including for the virus that has killed nearly 200,000 Americans. After reports of large parties at frat and sorority houses, health officials have seen a rise in collegiate coronavirus cases.

Businesses May Have Helped Write Coronavirus Reopening Plans: If you found various states’ plans for business reopenings a little confusing, maybe it’s because emails show that some governors just did whatever business interests told them to do. The owner of Brown Bear Car Wash says Inslee seems to have just copied the recommendations made by a car wash industry group.

Another Outrageous Police Shooting: This weekend cops shot Jacob Blake in front of his children as he was walking to his car in Kenosha, Wisconsin. After outraged neighbors gathered, cops shot tear gas at them. There’s video. It’s horrible.

The Breakthrough that Wasn’t: Trump announced a “breakthrough” in treating coronavirus that involves convalescent plasma. But experts say it’s not new, it’s not tested, and it doesn’t look like it’ll make a big difference. Meanwhile Stephen Hahn, the head of the FDA, is making weird claims about plasma that don’t seem to add up.

$100,000 to Keep Local Venues Afloat: I’ve been scared to say out loud just how worried I am about some of our precious local music venues like Neumos and The Century Ballroom. Fortunately, they’re getting a little cash infusion to keep the lights on (or at least, keep the mortgage paid) until we can all get together and dance again.

Everything’s on Fire: With smoke blotting out California, fire crews are mobilizing to stop the Rattlesnake Fire in southern Washington and northern Oregon. It’s been difficult for crews to reach because a bridge leading to the area was washed out in a flood a few months ago.

Get Your Bike Fixed or Help a Stranger Get Back on the Road: Seattle Bike Repair Mutual Aid connects people who need bicycle repairs with people who can perform them. This is the sort of grassroots community-building that will get us through these dark times, and possibly also form the backbone of whatever new society eventually replaces the United States.

TikTok “Trend” is World’s Worst Idea: In the same vein as “kids are eating tide pods,” a handful of outlets are reporting that TikTok teens have embraced a new fad of creating videos in the guise of Holocaust victims. Obviously this is a terrible thing! But how widespread is it really? Ehhhh, I suspect not very, but it’s fertile outrage-bait.

Mysterious Plaques in Toronto ID Streets Named for Slavers: Some brilliant Torontonian has placed guerilla plaques around town to draw attention to just how many places are named after guys who enslaved people. It’s fantastic stuff that I hope someone replicates here. You might be wondering: Is there anything in Seattle named after someone who enslaved people? Oh … oh dear.

ACLU + Britney Spears: The American Civil Liberties Union has pledged their support for Britney’s attempt to remove herself from a conservatorship that for the last 12 years has severely limited her ability to control her finances and, alarmingly, decisions about her health. It’s a super weird situation that’s probably nobody’s business but Britney’s, whose personal life has been dragged out in front of the public since before some of you were born, but it’s nice to see the ACLU has her back.

Food Trucks are Thinking Small(er): With cities shut down, food trucks have been heading for smaller suburbs, cruising up and down the streets of Seattle’s bedroom communities where many folks are stuck working from home. It’s like an ice cream truck, but for hamburgers.

Last years CHOMP -- did we really used to stand this close together?
Last year's CHOMP — did we really used to stand this close together? CHOMP

King County’s Online Summer Camp Starts this Week: King County’s annual summer festival to support local food producers, CHOMP, is going online this year with videos, classes, and even an Animal Crossing event on Saturday. Meet some local farmers and learn a few recipes or two while you wait for Dow Constantine to accept your Nintendo Friend Code.