Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is ready to hand those bozo senators their lunch.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is ready to hand those bozo senators their lunch. Anna Moneymaker / Staff

So is The Seattle Times about to open a used car dealership or what? For some reason the ST has hearts in its eyes for big pavement projects lately. This weekend they ran a puff piece that originally appeared in The Columbian about a glorious freeway project that will surely not cause any climate change this time; and they ran an absolutely baffling editorial defending the mega-lane Alaskan Way Traffic Trench taking shape on the waterfront.

Lake City might get a sweep today. Conservative media is reporting that Lake City might get a sweep this morning. These events sure don't seem to be helping, do they? It's almost as if making unhoused people move from one place to another without helping them find housing is just making the problem get worse.

There's been a major plane crash in China. A Boeing 737 carrying 133 people crashed into a mountain in China. It's a difficult area to reach and weather has been poor, slowing rescue efforts, and witnesses indicated it may have broken up prior to the crash.

Have you heard? Bikes. In the interests of balance, The Seattle Times also re-ran a Bloomberg piece about a recent surge in bike popularity. Remember when Bruce Harrell promised he wouldn’t “lead with bikes”? Visionary.

Are we stuck with KOMO? KOMO’s Human Misery Correspondent Jonathan Choe took a break from snapping pictures of peoples’ tents this weekend to attend a Proud Boys march in Olympia, tweeting updates and posting pics that looked like pure PR. (Rich will have a little more on this later this morning.) People who called KOMO to complain about Choe’s weekend posts say they were told that “he was not on that story for KOMO” … despite him posting from an account with “KOMO News” literally in the name … and then there’s this video of him saying “I’m with KOMO News.” Over on Twitter, a member of Cancel Culture (that’s an organization, right?) asked “at what point does KOMO lose its broadcasting license?” I am glad you asked because I just happened to be reading up on the topic of how civil rights campaigners used FCC license challenges to help topple southern racists! I will put my thoughts in the next paragraph so you can skip it if you don’t give a shit.

In the U.S., airwaves are considered public property and companies that use them must be licensed by the FCC. The first successful challenge of a station’s broadcast license was in 1964, Mississippi, with WLBT. The station was run by a dreadful bigot, and they would do stuff like cut the national news feed any time a Black person appeared; local news anchors used racial slurs; a white power group ran a bookstore in the lobby. A coalition of civil rights leaders challenged the station’s license as not “in the public interest,” and eventually the FCC yanked the license from the bigots and gave it to a diverse board that appointed the country’s first Black station manager. Similar efforts were attempted elsewhere over the ensuing decades but it’s very very hard to prevail. Not saying it’s not worth a shot though!

Sorry to be so inside-baseball this morning. That’s it for news-industry talk, I promise. I know, we’re just a puny blog, why should a Stranger writer get so bent out of shape about the big news companies for decent-folk? I dunno, I guess I just find it depressing to watch these playground games at a time when the journalism industry’s basically been throwing a going-out-of-business sale.

Hearings have begun for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. We've already heard opening remarks, and now Senators are about to start grilling Judge Jackson ahead of her presumptive confirmation the Supreme Court. She can be confirmed without any Republican votes, so unless someone's got a surprise up their sleeve this will probably go relatively smoothly.

Elly-Smelly.
Elly-Smelly. Blaine

A horse! After I mentioned an equine illness that’s been going around last week, reader Blaine was kind enough to send a picture of their horse, 3-year-old Ellie-Smelly. Look at those pretty eyes! Please continue to send me pictures of your animals.

Hamantaschen. I have been advised that Einstein's in the U District is the place to go for Hamantaschen with fillings, jam, poppyseed, and halva.

Hey, you got your long-term use in my temporary use. Congratulations to the Seattle Parks & Rec Department for opening a wormhole in space and time with their description of new signage as being for “long-term temporary use.” The sign in question tells users of the Green Lake Outer Loop, “pedestrian use only, no wheels,” but the funny part is that wheels actually are allowed, because mobility devices and strollers are just fine. And that’s setting aside the ludicrousness of telling kids on bikes that they can’t ride in the park, instead they have to go into the 30-mph traffic lanes. Anyway, Parks & Rec is collecting feedback on this whole pot of beef.

Condolences to Uganda. This weekend it was announced that Uganda's Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanyah, passed away in Seattle. The Ugandan government had paid half a million dollars to fly him here for medical treatment.

Hey, do you want to help folks connect to the Internet? Cyberspace! The information superhighway! Modems! The city of Seattle wants your grant application for a digital equity effort to connect nonprofits with communities in need of better access to online services. The first info session is this Wednesday, and it will be held online — oh-ho, a little test of your computer skills!

No Pepsi. Coke. Say goodbye to the choice of a new generation — Coke’s the real thing now. The Mariners just signed a deal to make Coke the team’s “official fan refreshment.” Is that a bottle of water in your hand? GET OUTTA HERE WITH THAT SHIT. Just to make things more complicated, here’s a 7-Up commercial from the 1970s I’ve always liked.

Honestly, folks, the more I hear about Bothell… A bill that would have improved urban planning around climate change issues failed in Olympia this year, but Bothell will proceed with their comprehensive plan as though it passed — taking climate change seriously instead of just talking a bunch of talk about it. How is this little town running circles around us?

My wish for you is to have a meet-cute as adorable as this couple’s. I don’t know if they’re actually on a date or not, but it sure seems like it!

The audacity of this tone poem. This weekend I came across a transcript of a speech delivered by a congressman in 1950, and it’s just a HOOT. I’ve been wandering the house murmuring “he is mamma and he is papa” to myself.