Good morning! Memorial Day was the unofficial start of summer and the weather got the brief. It’s going to be a balmy 72 today, and it’ll climb into the 80s tomorrow. (A little rich for my taste, if I’m being honest.)
Let’s do the news.
At Least We Still Get the Sunset: It’s official. After several years of pilot programs, our beaches are permanently closing early. After what the Seattle Times described as “general melee in warm weather,” Alki Beach and Golden Gardens will close at 10:30 p.m. this summer, instead of 11:30. The Magnuson Boat Launch will close at 10. And what always paired with curfew enforcement? Cops.The Parks department contracted with SPD to enforce the new rules, so expect red and blue lights to enthusiastically rush you out at 10:30 sharp.
That’s a Wrap! The Seattle International Film Festival’s finale was on Sunday, and some of our favorites took home trophies. Suburban Fury, co-written by our very own Charles Mudede, won the Grand Jury Prize in the documentary category. Stranger contributor Mindie Lind’s animated short, View From the Floor, got a Special Jury Mention. And one of the Must See documentaries in our SIFF Notes, Seeds, took home the Official Competition Grand Jury Prize.
Realizing you missed out? Don’t worry. This week, SIFF is letting you stream many of the festival films at home. No sticky floors or dude sucking chewy candy out of his teeth during the while the movies is trying to build tension. Just you, some microwave popcorn, and that spot on the couch that’s molded perfectly to your butt. You can see the full list here. If you ask me, don’t sleep on New Jack Fury. It only takes two scenes for a cop to get hit in the face with an 18-inch dirty dildo.
Also, look at the goddamn capybara. Look at him.
Speaking of Film: Something weird happened to Scarecrow Video. Yesterday, they discovered that a huge swath of their exterior wall had crumbled to the ground. They don’t know what happened yet, but the structural engineers are on the case. They’ll at least be closed through today, so hang on to your video rentals for now. They promise you won’t get charged for it.
ICYMI: On Saturday, an extremist anti-LGBTQ, anti-abortion group called Mayday USA took over the center of Cal Anderson Park. What’s worse? The 15-hour prayer rally at the center of Seattle’s queerest neighborhood was permitted by the city. Ministers spoke in tongues; people gave anti-gay, anti-trans testimony about how they found jesus; I got “Our God is an Awesome God” permanently stuck in my head. There were at least two counterprotests organized by LGBTQ advocates. Dozens of cops showed up, held a stiff line “protecting” the religious zealots from the protesters, and arrested 23 people. To avoid escalating any further, SPD asked the event to close up shop three hours early, at 7 p.m. They left, but now they're crying victim and holding a "worship rally" on the steps of City Hall tonight. Read all about what happened this weekend here.
It's been five years since Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd. The Stranger's social media editor, Christian Parroco, photographed the 2020 protests. “Five years after George Floyd’s murder and the protests that took over Seattle’s streets, I’m still unpacking the trauma I carried from covering the frontlines—fighting for my right to live here as a Black man,” he wrote this weekend. “I didn’t have a choice but to document it. As a Black photographer, I felt a moral imperative to be there, to capture the raw truth. I saw a man get shot five feet in front of me for stopping someone from driving a car through a crowd. I watched cops tear-gas a child — a child — because they didn’t know how to defend themselves against a five-year-old holding flowers. I watched peaceful protests escalate under the heavy hand of the police, only to be twisted into 'riots' for the cameras.” See his coverage of the protests here.
Since yesterday was the end of a long holiday weekend, Viv and I are pain-splitting Slog this morning. She’ll take it away.
Driver Plowed Into Liverpool Crowd, Injuring Dozens: The 53-year-old driver, a white British man, acted alone when he drove his minivan into a crowd of soccer fans celebrating the city’s Premier League championship. Police say it’s not being investigated as terrorism, but arrested the man on suspicion of attempted murder. Fifty people were hospitalized, according to the BBC. Eleven people remain in the hospital, all in stable condition. The AP reports that firefighters lifted the car to free four people trapped beneath it.
E. coli Made Nearly 90 People Sick and You Probably Didn’t Know: E coli., the bacteria from shit that makes people shit (and die, etc.), can be very dangerous. So dangerous, in fact, we’re supposed to warn people of outbreaks. But the results of an investigation linking a single lettuce processor to cases in 15 states didn’t reach the public. The Trump administration decided not to identify the grower because the product was no longer on the market. This break with common practice is a consequence of this administration cutting a public health infrastructure it doesn’t understand to ribbons. Consumer advocates, researchers, and former US Food and Drug Administration and US Department of Agriculture employees told The Washington Post Trump is unravelling a critical system that keeps our food safe.
Swiper Stop Swiping: President Donald Trump plans to sever the federal government’s remaining $100 million in contracts with Harvard University, according to a letter sent to federal agencies Tuesday. On Monday, the President posted Truth Social that he’s considering taking “THREE BILLION DOLLARS” in research grants from the “very antisemetic” university and giving it to trade schools, but gave no details. Sunday, he complained Harvard wasn’t giving him the names of its international students. A judge has blocked his administration’s order to bar Harvard from enrolling international students.
NPR Sues Trump: The federal filing from National Public Radio and three local stations argues Trump’s executive order barring the use of Congressionally approved federal funds for PBS and NPR violates the First Amendment. The suit called the order “retaliatory, viewpoint-based discrimination” and named President Donald Trump, White House Budget Director Russel Vought, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Maria Rosario Jackson, the chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, as defendants.
Grimes Cancelled World Pride Show in DC: She cited family issues (she has three children with Elon Musk).
Groan: An Atlanta-area private Christian high school expelled a high school senior for bringing a trans date to prom, according to her family. Emily Wright told Fox 5 Atlanta she was called into her principal’s office ten days after prom, which was held at a venue off-campus. The principal asked if there was anything he should know about her date (a friend, she said). Yes, she said, he is transgender. The principal called Emily’s mother and told her that her daughter had been expelled. With only weeks left in the school year, she had to quickly enroll in a public school to graduate.
