SPD officer hit cyclist Credit: Seattle Police Department
SPD officer hits cyclist
SPD officer hits cyclist a few months ago. Seattle Police Department

Want to see a cop hit a cyclist? Back in April, a Seattle police officer hit a cyclist while turning across a bike lane to go into the parking garage by the East Precinct fortress. We just got the precinctโ€™s security footage of the collision โ€” Iโ€™m putting the video after the jump, in case you donโ€™t want to start your day by watching a police officer injure someone. As a sidenote, my hat is off to whoever hopped into the corral to spray-paint the inner wall, unless the cops just reused some of the ecoblocks from CHOP without cleaning them.

Why are police? Here’s some Seattle cops making good use of their time by washing away chalk Black Lives Matter messages on the sidewalk outside the East Precinct. Great optics here folks, job well done.

Itโ€™s gonna be hot in this big silver pot. This weekend temperatures may get up into the 90s, which is to say 90 degrees, not wearing bucket hats and listening to grunge. It wonโ€™t be as bad as Juneโ€™s heat wave, but you might want to prepare by putting some damp washcloths into plastic bags and then into the freezer โ€” a handy way to cool off when it gets unbearable.

Here it is: The cyclist sustained a cut to the hand and damage to the bike.

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Abolish design review. Last night a bunch of housing advocates with the patience of ten thousand saints sat through an interminable meeting of the Design Review Board, which for some reason has the power to delay the construction of desperately-needed housing because they donโ€™t like the color of the bricks or whatever. The project in question is a big boxy building that would replace a little ugly parking lot, and while itโ€™s not perfect, for Godโ€™s sake who cares? Letโ€™s stop dicking around and just BUILD. Hereโ€™s a play-by-play of the highlights/lowlights.

TL;DR: “MINOR CONDITIONS BUT PROJECT PASSES DESIGN REVIEW SEATTLE WINS THANK YOU EVERYBODY CONGRATULATIONS THE MEETING IS OVER.” CHS Blog has more here.

Another Ruckus sighting! West Seattleโ€™s celebrity elephant seal continues to enjoy himself on a private beach (how it pains me to say that Seattle has private beaches). Meanwhile Seattle Parks has tracked down and eradicated a pesky waspโ€™s nest near Lincoln Park. Despite our best efforts, the natural world will always intrude on the human environment.

Country music is gay. So says John Waters, who spoke at a country concert about how Elvis, Gene Autry, and Jerry Lee Lewis stirred something in his loins. Waters has previously spoken about how Little Richard inspired him (and not just in the mustache department). Could he perhaps also be a fan of Washingtonโ€™s own Lavender Country?

Who needs air? Seattle lags when it comes to indoor air filtration. Last yearโ€™s fires are estimated to have killed 200 people. You can prepare for future smoke events by connecting a cheap filter to a cheap box fan. To be honest, though, this is one area when I will begrudgingly say that spending more money on a proper air filter is worth it. I got a Coway filter a few years ago, and it makes a noticeable difference in how I sleep.

Drivers face a terrible threat on local roads: Other drivers. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission says that cellphone use by drivers on city streets has risen significantly in the last year, from 6.3% of 11.7%. Distracted drivers cause about a quarter of serious crashes, which is why King County cops will embark on an enforcement blitz. While that might help in the short term, distracted driving will probably always be a problem. The solution seems clear: Ban driving.

Workplace abuse is not a game. A large group of Blizzard employees organized a walkout yesterday following allegations of workplace toxicity, including some pretty egregious accusations of harassment and discrimination. So far 2,000 of the companyโ€™s 10,000 employees have signed a letter criticizing the companyโ€™s response, which was basically to downplay the problems.

This is the weirdest possible way to reboot a Star Trek. Hey, remember those episodes of Star Trek: Voyager where Tom would go onto the holodeck and do a goofy black-and-white 1930s-style sci-fi serial adventure? I canโ€™t believe Iโ€™m saying this, but they might be rebooting that, of all things, and my heart is bursting with joy. BRING BACK QUEEN ARACHNIA! I love this scene so much because it is EXACTLY what introducing a new friend to Dungeons & Dragons is like:

Bob Odenkirk is oden-kay. America breathed a collective sigh of relief at the news that our national sweetheart, Bob Odenkirk, is in stable condition after collapsing on the set of Better Call Saul. No word on exactly what happened, other than a โ€œheart related incidentโ€ โ€” though really, itโ€™s his entire career that has touched all of our hearts.

Not sure about that wig. The Internet is abuzz about Gonzo wearing a dress in a recent episode of Muppet Babies, but did you know that he has a long history of wearing femme outfits? Here he is on Wheel of Fortune, and the fact that Gonzo is wearing a dress is the LEAST strange thing about the clip.

Matt Baume covered geek culture, queer news, and city infrastructure, and would leap at the flimsiest of excuses to write about furries. A writer, podcaster, and videomaker, he resides on Capitol Hill...