What has she got planned?
What has she got planned? NATE GOWDY
Mayor Durkan is dropping her 2022 budget plan this evening: And she wants more cops AND affordable housing, baby! In a preview of the plan by Daniel Beekman at the Seattle Times, Durkan's proposed budget would "allow the Police Department to add a net of 35 officers (35 more than the department expects to lose)." Durkan also wants to spend $50 million of COVID federal assistance on "the construction and acquisition of affordable housing" with smaller sums allocated to "shelters, food relief, and other needs."

The plan needs to be approved by the city council: And they will spend the next few months combing through the proposal. Watch Durkan present her proposed 2022 budget below if you're into that kind of thing:

And in more city news: The Seattle City Council is expected to vote on two new renters' protection proposals this afternoon. One would require landlords to let tenants know six months in advance of any rent hikes, and the other would require landlords to pay relocation assistance if monthly rent goes up by more than 10 percent. Many small-time landlords are upset that their source of passive income might become disturbed as renters in the city desperately need more humane housing policies. As of this writing, the council has yet to vote on the measure, but I'm sure my colleague Rich Smith will have more on the decision tomorrow morning.

Who thought this was a good idea? Instagram is putting a hold on plans to develop a version of their app for kids between 10 and 12, reports The Hollywood Reporter. The decision comes after reports came out that internal research done by Instagram and its parent company Facebook showed that the photo-and-video sharing app has a "a harmful impact on the body image and mental health of its younger users, particularly teenage girls." Ummm fucking duh???

The trailer for the new Paul Thomas Anderson joint just dropped: It stars Alana Haim and Copper Hoffman (son of PTA's muse Philip Seymour Hoffman, yes I'm crying) as two kids runnin' around San Fernando Valley in the early '70s. I'm not sure I how feel about the premise or this specific mixture of stars, but I'm DEFINITELY watching. Will it be as good as Phantom Thread? What do y'all think?!?

Long read for later: New York has a profile on Simone Biles that touches on what was going through her brain during the Tokyo Olympics earlier this summer.

R. Kelly is one guilty motherfucker: Today, a jury found the disgraced R&B singer guilty of racketeering and eight counts of violating the Mann Act, which Buzzfeed News explained as "a federal law addressing sex trafficking." Kelly was accused of "running an 'enterprise' through which he exploited his star power time and time again to prey on underage girls, young women, and at least two male victims." After a month of excruciating testimony from some of his victims, we will now have to wait until May 4, 2022 for his sentencing.

Judge recommends that the Makah Indian Tribe should be allowed to continue their traditional gray whale hunting practice, reports KING 5. The last time the Makah hunted a whale was over 20 years ago in 1999 on live TV, which sparked a long legal fight with environmental groups decrying the tradition. Now the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration needs to sign off on the judge's recommendation.

Has Seattle reached peak fried chicken? Apparently not! Tomorrow, Momofuku's chef David Chang is bringing Fuku, his fried chicken sandwich, to our rainy city. But it's only available for delivery in downtown and South Lake Union through a ghost kitchen to manage demand, reports the Seattle Times. Never fear! For Fuku management says the plan to "gradually expand" their delivery radius, meaning you can get your paws on one of these bad boys soon enough.

Weather update: I'm taking down my quilt from my closet! Fall hath fallen.

John Hinckley Jr. is a free man (starting next year): The now 66-year-old man who tried and failed to assassinate Ronald Reagan has been granted unconditional release, reports NPR. He has already been living independently after spending several decades inside a mental health facility, working in an antique mall before COVID. If the Justice Department has any other concerns about Hinckley, they will file a motion before his release in June.

Welcome to the club, California: Our West Coast friend has now made their pandemic-era move to mail-in voting permanent, reports the L.A. Times. Now, the state will mail every registered and active voter a ballot, taking the pressure off day-of, in-person voting. Texas next!

Murder rates are up across the country: According to new data released by the FBI, our nation experienced its "biggest one-year increase on record in homicides in 2020" with the higher rates continuing into this year, reports the New York Times. The rise matches the onset of the pandemic, with 21,500 people murdered last year (though major crimes are "down overall.") Before you go pointing a finger at "defund the police" for this mess, the Times notes that a "number of key factors are driving the violence." Read more here.

Ol' Joe got his booster shot: Our 78-year-old president got his third jab live on television this afternoon, days after the federal government gave the ok to give another shot to those who qualify. "We know that to beat this pandemic and to save lives ... we need to get folks vaccinated," Biden said before getting his shot, reports CNN. I am now, unfortunately, thinking about Biden's bare shoulders:

And in Washington state: If you are: over the age of 65, over the age of 18 and living in a long-term care facility or between the ages of 50 to 64 with an underlying medical condition AND it's been six months since you got your second shot, you qualify for a booster right now. KING 5 has compiled a list of places where you can get one here.

For those of you still watching Saturday Night Live: Beck Bennett is bidding adieu to the comedy behemoth this season, which is welcoming three new players.

The Seattle Times is annoyed that, predictably, no one is taking the new ferry naming contest seriously: Of the 330 submissions to name the new ship, NONE met the state's Transportation Committee's thoughtful guidelines for submission (I, personally, like the industriousness of "The Sea Hag"). In any case, the state has extended the deadline for the naming contest to October 8. C'MON you guys, FOCUS.

For your listening pleasure: New Order's "Thieves Like Us."