An insurrection rioter got sentenced to seven years. Guy Wesley Reffitt brought a gun to the insurrection in DC, and after he learned he was under investigation, he insinuated that he might shoot his kids as traitors. Prosecutors wanted him put away for 15 years, but the judge reduced it to seven. Donald Trump is still at large.

Lol, rich Laurelhurst neighbors accidentally complained about the wrong cars. Some guy in the super-expensive Laurelhurst neighborhood has been renting out cars from a fleet of several dozen, and neighbors complained about his vehicles blocking sidewalks and streets. But when the City investigated, they found all his cars following the rules, not blocking anything, and leaving ample parking available. It seems that the disgruntled neighbors may have actually been complaining about cars parked by people visiting the nearby childrenā€™s hospital; or maybe they were complaining about their own cars without realizing it. Anyway, congratulations to Laurelhurstā€™s beleaguered millionaires on discovering that cars suck and take up too much space.

Moisture! It didnā€™t last long, but there were a few droplets of rain this afternoon. You may remove your stillsuit.

Nancy Pelosiā€™s going abroad. Specifically, sheā€™ll be visiting Taiwan as part of a tour of multiple countries in Asia. Thatā€™s not sitting well with officials from China, which claims ownership of Taiwan. Chinese officials called the visit ā€œegregiousā€ and hinted that the military will be ready to respond to Pelosiā€™s visit. Could the world please just CALM DOWN for a MINUTE.

How long have some people been sounding the alarm about monkeypox? Five years. Five years! Thatā€™s how long ago a boy showed up at a clinic in Nigeria with the now-familiar lesions, and that's when doctors and scientists there tried to alert others. At the time, they were told by "someone" to keep quiet about possible sexual transmission of the virus. Even worse: After all that time, vaccines still arenā€™t available in Nigeria.Ā 

Not the first time the Sara Nelson camp has written a vexing email. Thereā€™s a curious detail in a Seattle Times story about the illegal use of concrete blocks to force unhoused people to move locations. Sara Nelsonā€™s husband, Matt Lincecum, suggested in an email that the City told him they would not enforce a ban on concrete blocks outside the family business, but SDOT says they are indeed still enforcing the rule. Hm!Ā 

Bothell: Why the hell not? The Urbanist is fully aboard the Bothell trainā€”which I mean metaphorically because there is no train to Bothellā€”with a nice story about the townā€™s plans to transform from a suburb that teenagers canā€™t wait to leave into a livable destination.

Heathcliff, itā€™s me, Iā€™m Cathy. I donā€™t even want to admit to you how old I was when I realized Wuthering Heights was not about comic strip characters.

Feeling cautiously optimistic about this Greg Spotts guy. Weā€™re keeping a close eye on the new head of SDOTā€“and so far, so good. He spent this weekend biking around town, admiring pedestrian-friendly installations, observing areas in need of safety improvements, discussing better mobility in underserved areas, and retweeting The Urbanist. He says to say hi if you see him.

Sure are a lot of Gregs going on here. Greg Wong is Seattleā€™s new Deputy Mayor of External Relations, moving from his previous interim position with the Department of Neighborhoods. This comes just one week after Greg Spotts was named the new head of SDOT. Henceforth all City employees will be referred to as ā€œGregs.ā€

Looking for tips to keep cool? Consider freezing a mouse in a block of ice and being a small marten at Northwest Trek in Eaton, WA.

How much does Seattle Pacific University hate the gays? A lot, I would guess, since theyā€™re suing the state in an attempt to maintain policies that discriminate against LGBTQ+ employees. The conflict stems from an incident in which a professor says he was denied a promotion because heā€™s gay; Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is investigating. The school says that nondiscrimination policies violate their religious beliefs. Iā€™m reminded of Bob Jones University, which cited religious justifications for waiting until the year 2000 to lift its ban on interracial dating.

California fires are looking bad. Two burned bodies were found in a car parked in a residential driveway after a wildfire swept through Northern California, just south of the Oregon border. Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate, and the fire is zero percent contained. Elsewhere, sixty hikers were rescued. Down by the Nevada border, thereā€™s a flash flood warning in effect.

Blue Angel noise starts tomorrow. The planes arrive on Tuesday and will be flying around town all week, replacing leaf blowers as the chief disrupter of podcast recordings.Ā 

Youths love trains. Or, at least, they hopefully will once they start getting free passes to ride Sound Transit starting September 1. The Board of Directors unanimously approved free passes for 77,000 young riders late last week. The move was spurred by the transpo bill passed by the State Legislature earlier this year.Ā 

Visit beautiful Des Moines. If youā€™re tired of spending all your free time visiting Bothell, consider taking the new passenger ferry to Des Moines. Service starts August 10, and it will allow Seattle residents to visit the townā€™s many scenic strip malls and gas stations.

Not that thereā€™s anything wrong with that. Iā€™ve got a new video over on YouTube! Itā€™s about how a struggling, obscure sitcom called Seinfeld tackled a risky real-life rumor and created one of TVā€™s most famous catch phrases.