Totally forgot that former Stranger art guy Mike Force drew Seattles city attorney hitting a bong without a shirt on for some dumb grab bag in 2014 and felt a pang for the print edition so strong I almost died.
Totally forgot that former Stranger illustrator Mike Force drew Seattle's city attorney Pete Holmes chatting on a cell phone with C-list comedian Pete Holmes for some grab bag piece in 2014 and felt a pang for the print edition so strong I almost died. MIKE FORCE

Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes draws challengers from the left and the right: For a minute it looked like ol' Holmes was about to coast to a fourth term as the city's lawyer, but today attorney and Shitty Person bass guitar player Nicole Thomas-Kennedy filed her campaign to swipe his seat. She picked up a law degree from Seattle University in 2016, and her Instagram profile reads, "Attorney. Abolitionist. ACAB," so I'd venture to guess she would not work hand in glove with the cops if elected. Former Stranger receptionist Mike Nipper liked her band on Facebook, so that's saying something. Check Slog Monday morning for a slightly more extensive profile.

The right-wing challenger is Ann Davison, according to Seattle Times reporter Jim Brunner. The attorney, Seattle Supersonics activist, and living Nextdoor comment lost her 2019 city council bid against Seattle Councilmember Debora Juarez by more than 20 points. She then became a Republican and took a pretty distant third in the Lt. Governor's race. She's interested in a wide range of jobs, and she's finding her way.

Another mass vax site bites the dust: After the state announced plans to shutter two of its mass vax sites, today the city announced plans to close up the West Seattle Vaccination Hub on June 9 due to "a significant drop in demand." Over 75% of Seattleites over 12 have received at least one shot.

Sheriff's Office evacuates King County Courthouse after alleged bomb threat: Things are back to normal at the downtown courthouse after a woman called the cops and claimed she overheard a man outside the courthouse saying he wanted to "blow up" the building, according to a spokesperson from the King County Sheriff's Office. The Seattle Police Department told the Sheriff's Office about the call, which prompted the office to evacuate the building "out of an abundance of caution." Bomb dogs swept the place and found no devices, so the sheriffs gave the all clear a little after 3:30 p.m. The woman's description of the man who allegedly made the threat matched the description of a man who cops escorted out of the building earlier today after some kind of "behavioral health issue." The spokesperson said that neither the threat nor the behavioral health issue appeared connected to a nearby Stay Housed Stay Healthy rally in support of renter protections, which started around 12:30 this afternoon.

William Eyelash set to play the Climate Pledge Arena..............On March 25, 2022. The very good singer will stop in Seattle on her Happier Than Ever tour, the Seattle Times reports. Register for Ticketmaster Verified presale here, otherwise you'll have to wait til tix go on sale on May 28. I guess this is my favorite of her songs. And as an aside, I'll say that watching someone chug a full glass of anything contains a degree of drama and tension with an endless refresh value.

Guy apparently doing tricks on his BMX bike attacks Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department director Dr. Anthony Chen: According to Dr. Chen's blog post on the matter, the director was walking across the Chihuly Bridge of Glass in Tacoma when he saw "a man damaging public property." He asked the dude to stop. The dude escalated the situation, and so Chen walked off. After he walked off, the dude knocked him down from behind and punched him. Chen said he didn't think the guy attacked him for being Asian or for being the public health director. "I heard him say that he did not feel his actions were damaging public property. I heard his frustration that there were not places he could practice tricks on his BMX bike in Tacoma. What I do feel is disappointment that he chose to deal with his disagreement and frustration with physical violence," Chen wrote.

Justice Department charges Snohomish County Proud Boy in insurrection: Daniel Lyons Scott, known to some as "milkshake," is getting hit with "assaulting a federal officer, obstruction and knowingly engaging in acts of physical violence on restricted grounds" after apparently leading one of the many charges into the Capitol building on January 6, KING 5 reports.

Last night I watched a concert in Benaroya Hall for the first time in well over a year: The Seattle Symphony let in some journalists and some season ticket-holders to watch genius pianist Inon Barnatan conduct an orchestra of around 30 players while absolutely shredding Mozart's “Jeunehomme” Piano Concerto and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2.

All the public health measures—the digital tickets, the temperature scan at the door, the covered-up sinks in the bathroom, the laminated signs, the lack of wine to chug before the chime, the extreme distance between the ~150 audience members, the half-stocked orchestra—made me feel as if I were attending the first symphony after the apocalypse. And in a way I was. But the lack of all those bodies created space in the hall for the notes to soar, giving Inon license to play with a wild dynamism. In the unusually quiet hall, I could feel certain high notes hit me in the chest with the force of a punch. Pick up your tickets here if you want to stream the show. And get pumped for a return to a full orchestra during the 21/22 season.

It was fun to be an audience member again: Fun to eat dinner too early and worry about being late. To squeeze my tall and gangly frame into a row of seats. To fight the impulse to look at the phone. To be in public (rather than alone) with my thoughts, wondering if I, too, would have had a string of productive years in the employ of the Salzburg Court. To remember that Keats and Beethoven were writing at the same time, and to understand how much sense that made. To not take applause for granted—to actually feel pleasure in offering gratitude for a job well done, as if the act spoke to something deep in our nature, something we practice when we attend live shows and only when we attend live shows. Like I said, it was fun.

One Mariners player tests positive for COVID-19: A total of four are on the "COVID-19 injured list," reports the Seattle Times.

Pike* Place, but hell yeah:

Lego launches a new set for the Lesbians, the Gays, the Bisexuals, the Transexuals, and Queers of all kinds: According to KING 5, the "Everyone Is Awesome" set was created in celebration of Pride month. The Stranger Slack channel is lukewarm on it. I like all the new hairdos. Fox News is already faking a heart attack.

Biden cuts infrastructure plan by $500 billion to draw Republican support: Surprise! Republicans aren't biting. "The two sides were left far apart and drifting even further as an informal deadline for a deal nears," reports Politico.

Aid arrives in Gaza: "The damage inflicted in less than two weeks will take years, if not decades, to rebuild," Fabrizio Carboni, the Middle East director for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told the BBC.