At least we wouldnt have to worry about how many lanes wide Alaska Way is anymore
At least we wouldn't have to worry about how many lanes wide Alaska Way is anymore jhorrocks / getty images

Incredible flooding in Europe. Massive floods have killed hundreds and displaced thousands across Europe, from Germany to the Netherlands. To give you an idea of just how bad it is, Chancellor Angela Merkel said this weekend that “the German language doesn't have words for the devastation.” In totally unrelated news, Governor Jay “Mister Climate” Inslee called for more spending on highways this spring.

More climate casualties: Baby hawks jumping out of nests to escape heat. Unfathomably hot weather prompted baby hawks to jump out of nests around the Pacific Northwest, with many dying from impact or requiring euthanasia from their injuries. In totally unrelated news, WSDOT just awarded $50.4 million for expanding highways in Kirkland.

Australia slammed by windstorms. This weekend cold weather and wind storms blasted southeastern cities in Australia, with severe weather warnings issued for Sydney. Also there was super rare Arctic lightning in Alaska this weekend, Ireland’s in a heat wave, and Mumbai experienced a “monstrous” rainstorm. In totally unrelated news, construction crews are in the process of planting a handful of trees along Alaskan Way (.docx file for some stupid reason), which when complete will look very pretty next to eight new lanes of traffic coming soon to the waterfront.

No new highways. Democrats in Congress are pushing a bill that would make it harder for states to build new freeways and easier to build transit. Highway construction lobbyists say that it would harm the industry. Good.

No big deal, just a little building collapse. A downtown structure being demolished started to tip over into the street this weekend — no injuries, miraculously. Many people learned of the incident from a somewhat cryptic Metro tweet referring to a “building collapse,” which was maybe not as specific as it could have been. Once the debris is cleared from the scene, work can begin on the replacement — a 36-story highrise that will, hopefully, not tip over at all.

You know the old saying, one bad apple has no effect on any of the other apples. Cops got violent again this weekend in LA, firing on local LGBTQ organizers. The whole situation is a mess: A few weeks ago a TERF made a video in which they harass spa employees for allowing trans customers to use the facilities, which then blew up online and turned into recurring protests outside the business. Here you can see a cop shoot a protestor who is holding up their hands and begging for them to be peaceful. Surely that cop is just one bad officer and the rest of the LAPD are totally trustworthy.

Facebook is an anti-vax site. After Biden said that Facebook is killing people for allowing disinformation to propagate, the company spun into damage-control mode by claiming that they took down some anti-vax information and put disclaimers on other posts. (Why leave those other posts up???) Is there anything more that Facebook could do? Well, a recent study shows that just 12 people are responsible for 65% of the anti-vax lies on the site, so, yeah, probably.

Sawant recallers generate even more unwanted noise. If it seemed like your home was getting repeatedly buzzed by a low-flying plane this weekend, it’s not your imagination. A small aircraft towing a “RECALL SAWANT” banner spent several hours circling over and over and over again. On average, private jets emit 2000 kilograms of carbon dioxide every hour, so if that thing was running on jet fuel, then thanks for that. Jet fuel also releases lead particles into the air, for which there is no safe level of exposure. This is definitely a movement that has Seattle’s best interests at heart.

Masks are back on in California. Los Angeles is returning to mandatory-mask status, with cases skyrocketing and hospitalizations up 27 percent. LA Sheriff Alex Villaneuva says he won’t enforce the mask mandate because “it’s not backed up by science.” Several people are planning to challenge him in the next election.

America is founded on genocide. The remains of nine children who were killed by schools run by the United States government were returned to their tribes for a proper burial this weekend. Tens of thousands of kids were taken from their families in the late 1800s and early 1900s and forced to renounce their culture in Carlisle schools, many of them dying from mistreatment and disease.

A hit-and-run driver killed Mat George. He was crossing a street in one of those unmarked crosswalks that Los Angeles loves so much when a driver in a BMW hit him and then sped off. Mat hosted a super popular, funny, kind podcast called She Rates Dogs and it’s just an awful, awful tragedy, but he left us a lot of wonderful stuff by which to remember him.

We’re on fire. Various fires are growing across the state, with air quality getting worse in Eastern Washington. Here’s a video from Stevens County this weekend. “Everything is gone.”

Update Chrome. There’s a newly-discovered security bug in your browser and you should do an update right now.


Elephant seal watch continues! There’ve been more sightings of an elephant seal around West Seattle — if you see him, take pics from a distance and do not approach. Obviously. Incredibly, watchers have not given the animal a name yet. Please tweet your suggestions at me and I’ll pick my favorite.

Wear something nice. This information will come as no surprise to gay men but women of a ~certain age~ are wise and fascinating.