Belmont blaze: Good morning to everyone except the big fire burning on Capitol Hill. The Seattle Fire Department spent its Friday morning battling a vacant building fire on Belmont Avenue. The roof of the building is at risk of collapsing, SFD said. The fire spread to the building behind the original tinderbox building. SFD advised nearby residents and businesses to shut their windows. It's going to be smoky in the neighborhood today.
1700 block of Belmont Ave.: Flames are through the roof of the vacant building. pic.twitter.com/CQxropifQP
— Seattle Fire Dept. (@SeattleFire) August 16, 2024
A different source of smoke: If the Capitol Hill fire smoke isn't enough for you, don't worry! Seattle will likely be hot-boxed by wildfire smoke, too. The quickly growing 150-acre fire burning in Brinnon, a small town on the Olympic Peninsula, could funnel its smoke toward Seattle depending on the wind patterns. What is perhaps more alarming than a bit of smoke is that this fire is burning close to the Olympic National Forest. Fires over in that wet part of the state are rare.
17-year-old swiped by bear: A 17-year-old Roslyn girl came face-to-face with a black bear Tuesday night as she took the trash out from the cafe where she worked. The bear took a swipe at her, leaving three long gashes on her arm. After she called 911, the Department of Fish and Wildlife tracked the bear and euthanized it. Officials attribute the bear's brazenness to being accustomed to human trash as a food source.
SPS sued: This summer, a former Garfield High School student filed a lawsuit against Seattle Public Schools for "negligence, failure to report sexual abuse and 'extreme and outrageous conduct' for failing to prevent abuse and discrimination based on disability," according to the Seattle Times. The student alleged two basketball coaches at GHS sexually abused and repeatedly raped her for years, starting when she was tapped for her talent to start practicing with the school's team at age 13.
And, now the weather: Thunderstorms are on the horizon. Possibly. The weather nerds are predicting drama starting on Saturday afternoon and going through Sunday. Thunderstorms are notoriously hard to predict, though, so if nothing happens, then don't blame the messenger. In fact, if nothing happens, then you should blame god. At least, that's who gubernatorial candidate Dave Reichert will be blaming. In newly leaked audio, Reichert said he believed "God is in control of the weather." The almighty meteorologist in the sky is to blame for climate change, and we have no role in stopping it, according to Reichert.
⚡️TSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS WEEKEND⚡️
— Seattle Weather Blog (@KSeattleWeather) August 15, 2024
A favorable pattern for thunder & lightning will develop this weekend, allowing for a chance of multiple rounds of ⚡️storms in the Seattle area.
Plan on brief heavy rain, small hail & lightning … from Saturday afternoon onward! 🤞🤞
A war on drugs: The King County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) has been cracking down on drug users and sellers on public transit since May, and they're calling it, "Operation Safe Transit." Officers admit "transit is not a place where criminal activity is particularly prevalent," according to the Seattle Times, but, still, they're focusing on arresting drug users and bad actors on and nearby buses and trains. Taking this operation a step further, King County Executive Dow Constantine issued a directive to the KCSO to clean up the Third Avenue corridor together with help from the Seattle Police Department. In this Seattle Times story, the cops describe arresting drug dealers, many of whom have previous convictions. And now, they want even more arrests. What will the revolving door of the criminal justice system do? Perpetuate an existing cycle? That's certainly what the research shows! The cops have yet to involve a crisis response team to connect people struggling with addiction on Third Avenue with services—they will soon, they hope! They're too busy arresting them first.
The Safeway bill is too damn high: Kamala Harris outlined part of her presidential economic agenda. One big item is addressing grocery price gouging. Harris's plan will highlight how corporations are responsible for high food prices at grocery stores and are driving inflation. She will supposedly call for a federal ban on grocery price gouging. Okay!
Five indicted in Friends star death: Matthew Perry, 54, died 10 months ago after he accidentally overdosed on ketamine in his hot tub. Five people have now been charged in his death, including Perry's assistant, acquaintance, two doctors, and a drug dealer. Perry's assistant, acquaintance, and a San Diego physician pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine. The two biggest targets are a drug dealer known as the "ketamine queen" and a Los Angeles doctor, Salvador Plasencia, who provided Perry with ketamine after his regular doctors cut him off. Plasencia, who pleaded not guilty, took $55,000 worth of cash from Perry in exchange for large amounts of ketamine. Plasencia allegedly texted a co-defendant, "I wonder how much this moron will pay."
Mpox spreads: Earlier this week, the World Health Organization declared mpox a global health emergency after an outbreak of an infectious strain originating in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to 12 other nearby countries. On Thursday, Sweden detected the first case of the infectious strain outside of Africa. This "more grave" type of mpox is called "clade I." Mpox spreads through close contact. The 2022 outbreak of the infection was classified as clade II, a less severe strain which spread primarily through sexual contact. This current strain spreads through "routine close contact," or, in other words, it spreads faster and more easily. As of Friday, Pakistan has also detected one case of this infectious mpox strain. It's spreading.
Billionaire thinks Malibu beach is his personal sandbox: A lawsuit filed against billionaire business man and Milwaukee Brewers owner, Mark Attanasio, alleges Attanasio has been digging up sand from a public Malibu Beach known as Broad Beach and using it in an ongoing construction project at his nearby beachfront home. Attanasio's neighbor filed the suit and accused him of "public nuisance, private nuisance and violation of the California Coastal Act." My first question: what is the Milwaukee Brewers owner doing living in California? Go destroy a Great Lake!
Hey, good news: According to The Urbanist's Ryan Packer, the Washington State Department of Transportation will keep the originally planned bike and pedestrian tunnel meant to connect broader Capitol Hill to the new Roanoke Lid.
NEW: WSDOT's 520 team has announced that they will NOT move forward with plans to cut the bike and pedestrian tunnel under 10th Ave E to Harvard Ave from designs for the Roanoke Lid, as was proposed to cut costs back in May. https://t.co/qGKV3BXqST
— Ryan Packer (@typewriteralley) August 15, 2024
Disney dystopia: A man sued Disney after his wife died from an allergic reaction incurred while eating food from a Disney World restaurant. She had alerted the restaurant to her allergies and they assured her everything was fine. Disney wants the suit dismissed. Their reasoning? The widowed plaintiff signed up for Disney+ several years ago, and buried in the service's term and conditions is a section which states "any dispute between you and us, except for small claims, is subject to a class action waiver and must be resolved by individual binding arbitration." The same language exists in the terms and conditions on the tickets the man and his wife bought—and never used because she fucking died—to Epcot. The man's lawyers are fighting back against this "preposterous" reasoning. The craziest thing is Disney thinking it can insert a lawsuit-proof Trump card into its terms and conditions and have people sign away any right they have to a jury trial against this mega corporation. This is a good reminder to all the Disney diehards out there: this company does not care about you and never has. Your manufactured joy is a product to exploit and they do it easily, successfully.
Smoothies do not save lives: Sorry, a smoothie full of vitamins will not cure your grievously injured 12-year-old. A Texas family found this out the hard way. Their preteen daughter suffered severe and life-threatening injuries last week, and they treated her by feeding her smoothies. When her breathing labored earlier this week, the family called 911. The girl was pronounced dead upon arriving at the hospital. Authorities believe the family avoided calling for help because they didn't want anyone to see their house. Even when the girl's mother finally called 911, she met the ambulance on a nearby highway.
Alien awe: Here's a snapshot from a Mars rover. The sun sets over there, too. And, no one's social security number gets stolen.
We are the first human beings to see a Mars sunset. pic.twitter.com/srksfiI2Jr
— Curiosity (@MAstronomers) August 16, 2024
Sigh: Everyone in the US, UK, and Canada may have had their social security numbers and physical addresses stolen by a group of hackers. They stole the classified goods from National Public Data, a platform that conducts background checks. I can't even muster the enthusiasm to be scared or outraged about this. Enjoy my identity, it was nice while I had it.
A recommendation for your Friday: Because I love you, I'm going to share with you a treasured recommendation. This is a very special video in my household. My cat watches it several times a week. Maybe it will do for you what it does for him. It gives him a false sense of purpose and drive and distracts him from the realities of his quiet, penned-in life.