Regime change may be coming to Brazil. The country held a presidential election this weekend, but no candidate got a majority, so they’re headed to a runoff. The contest will pit former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (who picked up 48% of Sunday’s vote) against current President Jair Bolsonaro (43%). Over the last few years, Bolsonaro has overseen Brazil’s largest deforestation in over a decade.

Time for trolling. The Kraken, Seattle’s hockey team, have unveiled a new mascot: A cute troll-looking thing called “Buoy.” Said to be a cousin to the Fremont Bridge troll, Buoy lives in the “caverns” below the hockey theater and appears to have a single tentacle growing out of his head.

A nice little cleanup. This weekend SDOT sent a work crew out to clear some overgrown vegetation encroaching on vehicle space. Looks good!

Another nice little cleanup. SDOT does not send crews to clean the overgrown vegetation encroaching on sidewalks, so this weekend a group of neighborhood volunteers stepped up and cleaned a few blocks themselves. Now, where should they send the bill?

Two weeks without power. Puerto Rico is still struggling to restore electricity two weeks after Hurricane Fiona. Joe Biden will visit the island today and announce $60 million in aid. He'll visit Florida on Wednesday.

Who's to blame for this smoke? The heavy layer of smoke that continues to sit over Seattle comes largely from the Bolt Creek Fire, which officials now say was caused by a person or group of people. It's still only 36% contained. With generally low winds, we're likely to have moderate to unhealthy air for the start of the week.

Mayor Bruce says he’ll “lead with people.” The Mayor spoke at a memorial service Friday evening for Robb Mason, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver this summer. In his speech, Bruce pledged to achieve zero traffic fatalities. He didn’t join the memorial ride, but SDOT director Greg Spotts did, and says that he’s serious about prioritizing pedestrian safety over traffic flow. A few hours later, a driver hit and killed a 21-year-old pedestrian in the U District. The driver was not arrested. 

Imagine taking a high-speed train from Seattle to Portland in under two hours. Well, keep imagining, because something like that is at least 15 to 20 years away at best, according to Senate Transportation Committee Chair Marko Liias. But Portugal just unveiled a plan to build a rail line from Porto to Lisbon (approximately the same distance as Seattle to Portland), and they’re expecting to get it done within the decade. Meanwhile, Paris is on track to build 112 miles of permanent protected bike lanes between 2021 and 2026. For comparison, Bruce Harrell’s proposed budget increases Vision Zero funding by enough to build about 13 blocks’ worth of sidewalks. 

Here’s a theater full of people having the absolute time of their lives. Let’s see Nicole Kidman top this.

Plan ahead. Next Monday is Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and many offices and workplaces will be closed. (The Stranger is not among them! News never sleeps! Except on Thanksgiving, we’ll be off for that.) All public libraries will be among the places closed in Seattle. If you need to find shelter, the library maintains a list of websites that they say has information about “current open shelters.” Unfortunately, neither of the two pages that they link to actually has that information. Information about available shelters can be found here.

They did the mash. It’s spooky season, and that means it’s time to plan your Halloween movie lineup. Fortunately, SIFF’s done the legwork for you with a screening series that highlights some classic Universal horror films from The Invisible Man to The Wolfman to Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Of note is Dracula’s Daughter, starring Gloria Holden, one of the very few Hays-era films that manages to slip some subtle lesbianism onto the screen. Fun fact: They painted Holden’s face green in the final scenes of the film to give her skin an unpleasant pallor in black-and-white. Oh hey, maybe next year let’s do a Hammer Horror series?

Speaking of gay vampires... I've got a new video over on YouTube about Interview With the Vampire, Anne Rice, and a century-and-a-half of queer vampire lore going back to Victorian times.