Explore how on-target precision therapies improve patient outcomes and drug tolerability.

Compartmentalized protein expression in the spider silk gland provides clues to spinning more sustainable materials. 

This handbook is designed to empower both new and seasoned flow cytometry users who are curious about the unique capabilities of HTS cytometry.

Zymo Research, Unravel Biosciences, and Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute team up to combat increasing cases of domoic acid poisoning in sea lions.

New 3D blueprints that highlight tumor complexity reveal several new discoveries, some of which challenge existing theories of cancer progression.

Alexander Fleming’s 1928 discovery of a mold with antibacterial properties was only the first serendipitous event on the long road to penicillin as a life-saving drug.

Dysfunctional neurons in the cerebellum, a brain region that controls motor functions, reduced REM sleep in mice.

Collaboration enables customers to securely and confidently use AI to accelerate drug research and discovery.

The steps leading up to the Lincoln Memorial were vandalized with a message that read “Free Gaza” in red paint.

Washington, D.C., Councilman Charles Allen is facing a recall effort led by a former government worker, who cited that the representative of Ward 6 should be more focused on curbing crime.

Washington, D.C., is on track to follow several states in implementing California's electric vehicle mandate to eliminate the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035.

The home team wasn't going to win every game in the NBA playoffs, anyway. The defiant and defensive-minded Chicago Bulls also might've been the easiest to predict as the first visitors to get a postseason victory after higher seeds went 8-0 in Game 1s over the weekend.

The Angels took pitcher C.J. Wilson and outfielder Josh Hamilton from the Texas Rangers each of the last two winters. But those poachings don't seem to have hurt their A.L. West rivals. Instead, Texas was off to a 14-7 start entering play on Thursday and has already swiped four of six games from Los Angeles this season.

Serving up four home runs and losing 15-0 in Cincinnati was an inauspicious Nationals debut for veteran Dan Haren. Four weeks later against the same Reds, Haren found himself in a pitcher-friendly park, aided by the force of a powerhouse team gathering momentum.

The locker sat empty in the happy clubhouse, its contents packed away and its occupant gone. Danny Espinosa has been a key contributor to the Nationals since his first promotion from the minor leagues late in the 2010 season. He has played 390 games for Washington, most of them at second base. But on Tuesday he was absent, a glaring void next to his normal spot alongside teammate Ian Desmond’s stall. Around the room loud music blasted from the stereo system after a thrilling 3-2 comeback win over the New York Mets on Tuesday night. Espinosa wasn’t there to enjoy it.

Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa underwent MRIs on both his left shoulder and his right wrist on Wednesday.

BRETTON WOODS, New Hampshire — Former Vice President Mike Pence met with local New Hampshire politicians during his crisscrossing of the Granite State on Wednesday as speculations mount over his 2024 ambitions.

A judge ordered Cowboys for Trump co-founder Couy Griffin to leave his Otero County commissioner post effective immediately.

Run GenZ advises young Republican candidates on everything from website building to fundraising plans.

(The Center Square) — A legislative task force "to study the dissolution or absorption of fiscally distressed municipalities" set the tone in its first meeting with a vote to change its name.

Science and exploration "are the two things that I'm more excited about in the world," according to "Titanic" director James Cameron. "I do those movies to get a little money so I can go do exploration. That's the fun stuff."

Hillary Clinton's first reality show pitch is "a go," according to Bravo executive Andy Cohen. The former secretary of state hit it out of the park with the "Project Pantsuit" idea she joked about earlier this month.

A federal judge weighing Amtrak's bid to seize the historic Washington Union Station wondered whether those plans are consistent with Congress's intent under a 1981 law that requires the station to be managed with "maximum reliance" on the private sector, given the railroad service's desire to have sole domain over the property.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is holding a hearing examining the General Service Administration's site selection for the FBI's new headquarters.

An alliance of top automakers urged President Joe Biden to reconsider rules that would prop up electric vehicles at the expense of gas-powered ones.

KinectAir, an on-demand private air travel company, is now booking budget-friendly private planes.

The Washington Commanders announced on Thursday that its marching band would make a return for the 2022 season.

After former team owner Daniel Snyder sold the Washington Commanders, many people foolishly hoped that the new ownership group would entertain the idea of returning the longtime Redskins name to the franchise. This wishful thinking was egged on after a group known as the Native American Guardian’s Association created a petition that has nearly 131,000 signatures to bring back the glorious Redskins moniker.

A Native American group filed a lawsuit against the Washington Commanders after the team alleged the group, which is advocating that the team revert to its "Redskins" title, was "fake."

A tech conference meant to be the largest gathering of female technologists faced backlash when biological men identifying as "nonbinary" were seen attending the event.

The United States Coast Guard says it has recovered the remaining debris from the site of the Titan submersible that imploded four months ago while visiting the site of the RMS Titanic shipwreck.

Former President Barack Obama encouraged coders to join the Biden administration's artificial intelligence team.

Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, experienced a stroke during his trip to Mexico on Wednesday.

(The Center Square) - How should researchers measure the populations of migratory birds? Researchers developed an idea around a campfire that was put to the test for the first time in Bosque Del Apache earlier this month, according to the University of New Mexico.

One of America’s enduring strengths has been its long embrace of technological innovation. From the widespread adoption of groundbreaking technologies such as the automobile and airplane, to the invention of common household appliances such as the dishwasher and microwave, America has never lost sight of technology’s critical role in driving economic development and societal progress.

The Senate confirmed Harry Coker Jr. as the new national cyber director.

A horned "devil comet" barreling toward Earth is set to explode in the coming days.

The Biden administration announced a $162 million investment in microchip technology on Thursday in an attempt to boost domestic production of computer chips.

The Nobel Prize-winning discovery of microRNA has reshaped our understanding of gene regulation. Learn what these tiny molecules mean for cancer research.

Small settlements scattered throughout the region show signs of trade, fortification.

Progressive newcomer Alexis Mercedes Rinck absolutely bodied Council appointee Tanya Woo in the August primary, scoring a cool 50.2% to Woo’s 38.4%. Rinck has every reason to measure drapes for the new office in City Hall she will probably move into, and it looks like the deep-pocketed outside spenders who got Woo’s buddies elected last year are counting her out too. Proportionally, Woo’s Independent Expenditure (IE) has spent 90% less this year than a similar IE did in her initial council bid. by Hannah Krieg

Progressive newcomer Alexis Mercedes Rinck absolutely bodied Council appointee Tanya Woo in the August primary, scoring a cool 50.2% to Woo’s 38.4%. Rinck has every reason to measure drapes for the new office in City Hall she will probably move into, and it looks like the deep-pocketed outside spenders who got Woo’s buddies elected last year are counting her out too. Proportionally, Woo’s Independent Expenditure (IE) has spent 90% less this year than a similar IE did in her initial council bid. 

Woo’s campaign has raised $453,000 from 7895 donors, averaging approximately $57 per contributor, according to the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission. Her contributors include the real estate industry, CEOs, lawyers, retirees, and some of the conservative council colleagues who appointed her such as Council Members Bob Kettle and Maritza Rivera.

But typically, big IEs spend an ungodly amount of money in the last few weeks of a race on mailers, TV ads, and other strategies to get their preferred candidate's name and face in front of voters before the election. Last year, IEs backed by business or labor or both spent $1.6 million across the seven City Council elections. The candidate with the most outside spending through IEs won in every race besides Woo's failed bid for District Two. Between her campaign and IEs, she outspent her opponent, incumbent Tammy Morales, two to one. 

But IEs don’t seem as interested in burying progressive competition with their cash this time around. 

Many of the same donors who backed Woo in 2023, funded the victorious conservative slate that appointed her, and the previous three mayors. They collectively contributed more than $130,000 to Woo through the Friends of Seattle. This includes the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, Seattle Hospitality for Progress PAC, R.C. Hedreen Company, Goodman Real Estate, and HomeStreet Bank. 

But they don’t seem to be trying as hard this go round. 

A 2023 IE, Friends of SE Seattle, spent $168,000 on her bid for the District 2 seat where she had to win over a majority of the 67,000 registered voters. That’s an investment of $2.50 a voter. Now, in 2024, for her citywide campaign, she’s trying to capture the majority of 485,000 voters. A $130,000 investment from the current IE shakes out to about a quarter spent per voter. That means IEs, who successfully bought every seat besides Woo’s last cycle, have spent 90% less on Woo than they did in her last election where she lost despite spending twice as much as her opponent.

This marks a shift in behavior from corporate donors when compared to the last time Seattle voted on citywide council seats in 2021. An IE called Change Seattle pooled $414,000 for Council President Sara Nelson’s bid for a citywide seat or about three times as much as they are spending on Woo. 

What does any of this mean? Well, it could mean those conservative donors are stretched thin funding the awful, Republican-backed Let’s Go Washington Initiatives, the Republican candidate for governor, or maybe even President Donald Trump’s third shot at the White House. Or, it could mean these corporate donors are saving up to support their darlings, Nelson, City Attorney Ann Davison, and Mayor Bruce Harrell, when they go up for re-election next year. 

Either way, progressives aren’t really beating conservatives at the fundraising game. Rinck's campaign has raised $460,790 from 8,637 contributors, averaging slightly more than $53 per contributor Her contributors include unions, labor organizers, every progressive politico you can think of, and politicians including King County Executive Dow Constantine, Woo’s old foe Morales, and many state lawmakers representing Seattle.

Rinck also found support in a new IE, Progressive People Power (P3), that spent more than $190,000 this cycle. P3’s donors include SEIU 775, which made up more than half of the pot, some other unions, several failed left-lane candidates, and King County Democrats Chair Carrie Barnes who gave more than $42,000 herself. Didn’t know you had it like that, Barnes!

But as P3 Board Chair Ry Armstrong said at a fundraiser last month, progressives don’t need as much money to win — their ideas are just better. A recent poll by the Northwest Progressive Institute found only 28% of respondents voted or will vote for Woo, while 52% voted or will vote for Rinck.

Worried about Tuesday? Here's something to look forward to via @nwprogressive! pic.twitter.com/LQrEh7GSfV

— Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) November 3, 2024

Mute Steve Kornacki, unclench your jaw, and scroll through these sweet scenes from Sea-Meow. by Megan Seling

Photos by Madison Kirkman

Sea-Meow, which bills itself as Washington’s largest cat convention, invaded Seattle Center’s Exhibition Hall over the weekend and brought with it appearances from the Two Crazy Cat Ladies, Moshow the Cat Rapper, and Christopher Watson aka the Catluminati, as well as a cat costume contest, a cat-calling contest, cat bingo, and dozens of vendors slinging everything from cat beds to catnip to cat coffee. (That is, cat-themed coffee that benefits cat rescues and not, like, coffee for cats.)

But most importantly, there were cats. So many cats. Old cats, young cats, kitten cats. Cats available for adoption, cats available for snuggles, and cats being pushed, carried, and cradled in backpacks and strollers and those bags with little clear bubble cutouts that make them look like grumpy-faced astronauts. 

Election results won’t be in for several hours, and even then, it may take days to know who won. So close Twitter (what are you still doing on that hell site anyway???), mute Steve Kornacki, unclench your jaw, and scroll through these sweet scenes from Sea-Meow.

Seattle's only news roundup. by Charles Mudede

We wake up today with this certainty: None of it mattered. The secret documents, the sky-high covid deaths, January 6, racist statement after racist statement, the economic crash, the sexual assault allegations, the pussy grabbing, Moscow,  Roe v. Wade, the conviction, and what have you. All of it amounted to a hill of beans. And there will certainly be more outrages in years to come; and once again, they still will not matter one dot. If we, on the left, come to this understanding, we can move on by simply asking: What, then, does matter? What truly counts in American politics? What is its actual ground? This kind of clear thinking might prove to be invaluable.

We also have to accept the fact that California no longer represents the future of America. In the past it did, but not anymore. The future is now found in Texas. Elon Musk knew this. He relocated himself, Space X, and X to what has become our whole country: the Lone Star State.

Kamala Harris only won deep blue states: And Trump is going back to the White House because millions of people decided to "sit this one out." And the Senate returns to the GOP. As for the House, its final composition is yet to be known. Now, how are we to read all of this, and, particularly, the outcome of the presidential race? Well, Trump's first term in office is something like the first book in Octavia Butler's Parable series, Parable of the Sower, which was published in 1993 and features a Trump-like president who basically strips America of its economic assets. The second term will be like the second book, Parable of the Talents, which was published in 1998 and features an out-and-out Christofacist president who promises to “Make America Great Again.” Butler never completed the third book in the series.   

"Welcome to how our only world ends. It will be like this every summer: getting worse, and worse, and worse until there’s nothing worse left."https://t.co/vs5HAmUloY

— The Stranger ???? (@TheStranger) July 23, 2024

Florida and South Dakota gave abortion access the middle finger. But Arizona, Colorado, New York, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, and Nevada protected reproductive rights. However, with the Senate, and possibly the House, under GOP control, the whole states’ rights business might turn out to be worth no more than the salt you put in greens.

The Stranger Election Control Board had a good night. Alexis Mercedes Rinck is going to beat incumbent Tanya Woo for Seattle City Council Position 8. The same goes with Democratic Socialist Shaun Scott. He will certainly beat Andrea Suarez in the race to represent Washington’s 43rd Legislative District. And the man who did not catch the Green River Killer isn't going to Olympia. Bob Ferguson handily defeated Dave Reichert for the governor seat. Sen. Maria Cantwell gave her opponent nothing but the boot. And, altogether, it seems Washington became bluer, saner, a little world, a precious stone, set in the reddest of seas.   

Now that the whole country is basically Texas, Seattle might consider not staying in bed with conservative council members. Now is the time to get up and go hard to the left.   

Voters showed Washington State Ferries (WSF) some love this time: The Prohibit Carbon Tax Credit Trading initiative  went down in flames. This means WSF will get electric ships and some badly-needed government cheese. However, the Ensure Access to Natural Gas measure , which wants to decelerate Puget Sound Energy’s departure from carbon liberation and protec the buyers and sellers of natural gas statewide, left the gate in the lead: 51% to 48%.

Joe Kent is facing a second round of wound licking. His opponent in Washington's 3rd Congressional District race, Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is, at this point, ahead by 4 points.

The sun will be out today. That's something.

A termite mound that's been around for something like 34,000 years was recently discovered in South Africa. Of course, termites haven't called this mound home for thousands of years. And this is a shame, because termites are really delicious. You catch them during the rainy season; this is when termites take to the sky with lots of fat in their bodies (they are trying to start a new colony—the circle life, that sort of thing). A little cooking oil and a few minutes on the burner turns these brown critters into a tasty snack.

Let us end with this scene from Downtown 81. Ronald Reagan is president. Hip-hop is emerging. And Jean-Michel Basquiat is getting his groove on in the ruins. What I want to point out is the way he moves. So smooth. So cold. So internal. This is being with others to be by yourself. This is exactly how I feel today. Dancing to the aftermath.    

The Stranger's morning news round-up. by Hannah Krieg

A perfect day for a biiiiiig walk: We could all use a little sunshine right now. Today, Seattlites can expect on-and-off sunny skies—I think the weather nerds of the PNW call it “sunshowers”—and temperatures in the high 50s. 

Council President Rinck: We got another ballot drop last night! Here in Seattle, Alexis Mercedes Rinck has only expanded her decisive lead on the City Council’s faildaughter Tanya Woo. And it's not just Woo that Rinck’s got beat. Her vote count trumps the combined total of the 2023 City Council victors and she’s got a 26,000-vote lead over Council President Sara Nelson’s 2021 campaign. Rinck may be a minority opinion on the council, but she represents more of the electorate than any other member.

Nail-biter: Washington’s 3rd Congressional District is still too close to call. U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez leads her far-right challenger Joe Kent by about 12,000 votes. We should have a clearer picture in the coming days, but for now the whole country is watching—this race is among the handful that will decide if Republicans retain their majority in the House. 

Another close one: It’s still a tight race for I-2066, the hedge fund millionaire's initiative that would ban the state from encouraging electrification.

Something good on Twitter: After a landslide victory, State House elect Shaun Scott has earned a meme.

???????? pic.twitter.com/RNI4iERKsK

— Shaun Scott ???????? (@eyesonthestorm) November 6, 2024

Joever: Yesterday, Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the nation to concede she had lost the 2024 presidential election. She kept her remarks very positive, very boilerplate Democrat. If she truly believed  Trump is the threat to the American people he is, she should have come for blood. But, no. The Democrats love to capitulate to the right. And, it's part of why they lost so spectacularly. They championed an extreme and inhumane immigration platform, shrugged their shoulders at Israel’s utter decimation of Gaza, and totally abandoned working people crushed by the weight of the affordability crisis. I know you’re smart and you already know this, but as the #Resist libs start to re-recognize the ever-present threat of fascism—the precarity of reproductive access, queer and trans liberation, immigrants’ rights, workers protections, and more—remember that the Democrats' constant sidesteps to the right landed us here. 

well, as long as you had fun! https://t.co/FtJ9HJ4T8P

— Lead Actor from Pixar’s Sodas (@ByYourLogic) November 7, 2024

Trump transition begins: President-elect Donald Trump’s allies have started lobbying for positions in his administration. According to CNN, Trump will use these positions to “reward” those who have remained loyal to him. That’s also a key feature of his plan: make the administrative state, or what they often call the “deep state,” more friendly, thus radically expanding the executive's power and efficiency. Some top positions seem narrowed down. Trump’s likely considering 2024 co-campaign manager Susie Wiles, his former budget director Russ Vought, CEO of the America First Policy Institute Brooke Rollins, or his former US trade representative Bob Lighthizer for White House Chief of Staff. Rumor has it he will also find jobs for loathsome little rat Elon Musk and anti-vax nut job RFK. Cool.

Off the hook: Trump’s victory may mean the end of his two federal criminal cases related to his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his mishandling of classified documents. His team delayed the cases until after the election, banking on a victory so Trump could fire special counsel Jack Smith and end the cases. As for his New York hush money case, Trump is scheduled for sentencing later this month, but his team will likely argue he’s entitled to constitutional protections afforded to sitting presidents after his election. 

Solidarity: Yesterday, Cascade PBS workers staged an informational picket outside their workplace to pressure their bosses to meet their three demands in their contract: higher wages, better benefits, and strong workplace protections. And, boy, do they deserve higher wages. According to their press release, the Cascade PBS CEO made nearly seven times the average unit member’s salary in 2023. Greed is a fucking disease.

Today at noon, @CascadePBSUnion members used our lunch break to rally for fair wages and a fair contract. If you’re in the area, drop by and say hi - we’ll be the ones in the bright red shirts ✊ pic.twitter.com/ZR9pEwK6jV

— Cascade PBS Union (@CascadePBSUnion) November 6, 2024

In honor of our incoming commander-in-chief: He’s a theatre girly.

In an email sent to all Seattle Police Department (SPD) officers on Tuesday, SPD Deputy Chief Eric Barden celebrated the end of King County Jail’s misdemeanor booking restrictions and told officers to immediately begin increasing arrests. Barden called the decision “another great step forward for the City and, particularly, for Seattle PD.” by Ashley Nerbovig

In an email sent to all Seattle Police Department (SPD) officers on Tuesday, SPD Deputy Chief Eric Barden celebrated the end of King County Jail’s misdemeanor booking restrictions and told officers to immediately begin increasing arrests. Barden called the decision “another great step forward for the City and, particularly, for Seattle PD.” Not so great for Seattle’s poorest and most vulnerable residents, who will comprise the “overwhelming majority of people” jailed under this change, said King County Department of Public Defense Interim Director Matt Sanders in a statement to The Stranger Thursday.

In September, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and King County Executive Dow Constantine announced an agreement to lift booking restrictions, which had previously prevented SPD officers from jailing people pre-trial for low-level and non-violent crimes such as low-value theft, criminal trespass, and public drug use. The restrictions went into place because of COVID-19 and remained active due to low staffing at the jail, which is a predicament still plaguing the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention (DAJD). Department spokesperson Noah Haglund said that the jail has 60 staffing vacancies as compared to the start of 2024 when it was closer to 100. But with those 40 additional guards, Constantine believes the new agreement balances booking needs with the wellbeing of jail staff, Haglund said.  

The agreement, which took effect November 1, increased the number of jail beds the City could use for misdemeanors to 135. Barden explained in his email Tuesday that in the six months prior, SPD held on average about 90 people a day on misdemeanors at the jail, so the increase would mean an additional 45 beds available to officers per day. The jail held well over 200 people on misdemeanor charges per day in 2019, according to Barden.

“So, while we are moving in the right direction, we are nowhere near pre-pandemic capacity,” Barden said.

With booking restrictions lifted, Barden told officers to book people into jail “whenever there is a public safety interest.” The only time officers should not consider booking someone, Barden counseled, was when the City reached or neared its 135-bed capacity. “Otherwise, booking decisions consistent with pre-pandemic assessments should be utilized.” The email made no mention of considering diversion options.

In a call with the Stranger, Barden explained that "public safety interest" meant officers should arrest if they believe a person could continue to be a problem for a business, the community, or residents in the area, and said officers should not arrest if those factors aren't present. Barden argued that arresting people can both remove them from a cycle of crime, prevent further decompensation for people in a mental health crisis, and set them on a path toward recovery.

Sanders disagreed with that perspective and pointed to studies that show jailing people pre-trial undermines public safety in many cases, and increases the chances that someone commits another crime. Even one to two days in jail can disrupt a person’s life, making it difficult to maintain stable housing, secure medical care for behavioral health conditions, or hold down a job. Lifting the booking restrictions means people presumed innocent might spend time in jail for the lowest level of crimes that might not even end up charged, and still have their entire lives disrupted, Sanders said.

Barden said he understood that perspective, but as he drives around Seattle he sees more disorder than he did before the booking restrictions went into place. As a result, even while the restrictions remained in place in 2023, property and violent crime in Seattle fell compared to 2022, and homicides fell in 2024, which speaks to an empirical improvement in public safety, if not a subjective cosmetic change to downtown Seattle.

The City has made it clear in the past two years that it plans to use cops to address substance abuse, poverty, and people with mental illness, all issues many argue would be better addressed through social services and unarmed alternative response teams. The City has tried to establish new diversion paths, and when it created its drug law earlier this year it came with a policy requiring SPD to consider diversion before booking someone in jail for drug use. Barden said that lifting booking restrictions would not change that. 

Returning to a pre pandemic booking mindset means potentially returning to the days when officers threw people in jail for stealing $30 sleeping bags and souvenir pennies. We reached out to City Attorney Ann Davison to ask her perspective on whether she also planned to crack down on prosecuting low-level, misdemeanor crimes, as she’s advocated for in the past, but she declined to comment. 

Update: The Mayor's Office told the Stranger that it believes the City needs an adequate number of jail beds and the ability to book people into jail and people who cause harm in the City should be held accountable. But, "jail is not always the first or most appropriate option," and Harrell has strongly advocated "for diversion and treatment options to help nonviolent offenders get the services they need."

Just over a year ago, Sara Nelson was flying high, practically waving from cloud nine on election night. She'd pulled off a conservative coup of Seattle's City Council. After two years as a conservative outcast, she now had a majority of fellow business-friendly colleagues who were set to remake local politics in their image —the city’s progressive constituency be damned. Down with police defunding, social housing, and new business taxes. Hello, drug ordinances, SODA zones, and rollbacks to gig worker pay. But her rise might be shorter than a Seattle summer. by Hannah Krieg

Just over a year ago, Sara Nelson was flying high, practically waving from cloud nine on election night. She'd pulled off a conservative coup of Seattle's City Council. After two years as a conservative outcast, she now had a majority of fellow business-friendly colleagues who were set to remake local politics in their image —the city’s progressive constituency be damned. Down with police defunding, social housing, and new business taxes. Hello, drug ordinances, SODA zones, and rollbacks to gig worker pay. But her rise might be shorter than a Seattle summer.

The Seattle Times officially called the City Council Position 8 race for progressive newcomer Alexis Mercedes Rinck last Thursday night. Unofficially, politicos are calling next year’s race for City Council Position 9 for anyone who challenges current Council President Nelson. Rinck’s decisive defeat of the council’s nepo baby Tanya Woo marks not only a second rejection of Woo, but a sign of voters’ dissatisfaction with the conservative council they only recently elected.

“People are fed up with Nelson’s bullshit,” said Carrie Barnes, a major contributor to the Progressive People Power PAC that supported Rinck. “And we aren’t going to let corporate interests sneak her back into office in 2025 when less people vote. [Rinck] is just the beginning.”

The “It's So Over” to “We Are So Back” Pendulum 

The 2023 elections left Seattle progressives devastated. Big business and real estate interest poured more than $1 million into the seven council races. Without organized labor —the city’s other monied interest — counterbalancing them, the corporate PACs bought all but one of the seven seats up for grabs. Those PACs lobbied the council they bought to appoint Woo, their only failed candidate, to the citywide council seat ditched by former Council Member Teresa Mosqueda at the beginning of 2024. Five council members voted to install Woo and she quickly announced her intention to run that year to retain the seat. 

Enter Rinck. 

“I’m of the belief that big business shouldn't be deciding who represents this City,” Rinck told The Stranger when she announced her candidacy in March. “You know, Woo was appointed by five people. I'm looking to be elected by 100,000 people.”

And as of Friday afternoon, 197,000 people voted for Rinck. She won 57.9% of the vote to Woo’s 41.6%. Her vote count trumps the combined totals of the 2023 city council victors and she scored 58,000 more votes than Nelson in her citywide race in 2021. The math is clear — Rinck represents more of the electorate than any other member and it's not particularly close. 

Rinck benefited from higher turnout driven by the presidential race at the top of the ticket. People of color and voters under 40 made up a slightly higher proportion of the electorate in the 2024 general than in 2023, according to Washington Community Alliance (WCA) data analyst Andrew Hong.

Nelson and, more recently, the Seattle Times Editorial Board, have argued against a popular democracy reform to combine even and odd year elections. They agree with proponents that this would increase turnout, but they don’t trust voters are smart enough to decide on so many elections at once. So while a higher quantity of voters cast a ballot in even years, Nelson reasons the votes are lower quality. It all sounds pretty damn racist, classist, and paternalistic when considering that more people of color, renters, and young people vote in odd years. 

While the even-year boost helped Rinck, Hong says she didn’t need it to win. Her success in the primary actually reflects a turnabout in the electorate. A nearly identical voting bloc came out in the 2023 election as in the 2024 primary. So Hong deduces that Rinck somehow “convinced people who voted for moderates in 2023 to vote for her in 2024.” 

Girl Bossed To Close To The Sun

That shift spells trouble for Seattle’s conservative-majority council as Rinck ran as a clear referendum to the newly elected council. Advocates warned that this council would attack renters’ protections, workers’ rights, gut funding for affordable housing, and bend over backwards to give the cops whatever they ask for. And as the year went on, the City Council proved those advocates right. 

Nelson put herself in a position to shoulder unique blame for any perceived failures of the council. She played kingmaker, recruiting and supporting many of the 2023 winners. Then her stooges elected her president after spending two years as the body’s conservative outcast. And she immediately started making power moves, including firing the head of central staff Esther Handy.  This is the precise shit that new, insecure leadership does when they want to ensure total loyalty. But Nelson may have power tripped flat on her face.

“The issues that this City Council has taken up under the leadership of Council President Sara Nelson are not popular amongst Seattleites,” says MLK Labor Council Executive Treasurer Katie Garrow. “In the 2025 campaign, we don’t need to persuade voters on our ideas. We just need to make it clear that Nelson was the leader of the council while these already unpopular positions have been pursued. It seems clear from Rinck’s success that they're with us, not the council majority.” 

Most notably, she’s burned any possible bridge with workers. SEIU 775 Secretary-Treasurer Adam Glickman said there’s nothing Nelson can do to win back support from labor, one of two major players in local political PACs. 

Nelson wasted months on a controversial crusade against a newly passed minimum wage for gig delivery drivers. And as president, she oversaw Council Member Joy Hollingsworth's “political suicide,” a short-lived attempt to permanently enshrine a tip punishment system for workers.

“It was sort of unbelievable that our leaders thought that was a position that Seattleites agreed with,” says Garrow from MLK Labor.

Even for voters who may not have workers' rights top of mind, Rinck’s consultant, Erin Schultz of NWP Consulting, says voters might be frustrated by the fights Nelson and her majority picked. 

The council did not explicitly campaign on wasting half their first year engaged in career-ruining battles against workers' rights. They ran as a backlash to the collective hallucination that the previous council defunded the Seattle Police Department (SPD) — the City allocated $398 million to SPD in 2019 before the protests and have proposed $457 million in 2025. Voters may have expected to see more change to public safety. 

At the same time, the City Council has not done much for the corporate donors who bankrolled their last campaigns – if only by virtue of not accomplishing much in general. Still, 

Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce CEO Rachel Smith told The Stranger earlier this year that the business community felt satisfied with the council they bought. They may even gladly reward Nelson and the rest of the majority for stalling efforts to increase corporate taxes to address the budget shortfall in the ongoing negotiations

On The Flip Side

Not everyone forecasted Rinck’s win as a death knell for Nelson. 

“Seattle City Council never really stopped being unpopular,” says Nelson’s consultant, Ben Anderstone of Progressive Strategies Northwest. 

Anderstone echoed Hong’s analysis. Many of the same voters who went center in 2023 picked Rinck in 2024 and for “not-especially-ideological reasons,” according to Anderstone. 

Rather, the data points to an anti-incumbent bias, rather than the electorate’s true progressive nature, says Hong. 

“Seattle voters are uniquely reactionary,” says Hong. “They want change, and they're impatient for change, so they're not going to wait that long to vote out whatever the majority is.”

The 2023 council represented a backlash to the 2019 council, which rode into office on the backlash against Amazon’s attempt to buy the election. Hong says this trend indicates that centrists and progressives have both failed to solve the issues that voters care about most, particularly the housing and homelessness crisis. 

Anderstone says that incumbents are not destined to lose, “but any incumbents need to effectively message around [voter’s] frustrations.”

Choose Your Fighter

Over the next few months, the chattering class will vet and prop up candidates to take on Nelson. It’s critical that consultants and endorsing bodies back the right candidate. If a progressive beats Nelson – and if Rinck resists the council’s conservative gravitational pull — the balance of power shifts. Right now, the council has enough conservatives to pass whatever legislation they want. But three progressives in Council Members Tammy Morales, Rinck, and the Nelson challenger could sway more moderate council members to join them in passing more progressive policies or blocking the most egregious legislation. 

So far, it seems they are on the hunt for someone like Rinck. 

Rinck’s consultant Schultz tells The Stranger Rinck is a “unicorn” of a candidate.

“It's very rare that you have someone that brings real policy experience, is rooted in their values, and is connected with community,” says Schultz.

Schultz also commends Rinck for running a “badass” campaign. She earned early support from a broad coalition, which Schultz says helped legitimize her as a relatively unknown candidate. 

Glickman says Rinck threaded the needle of appealing to progressives without losing moderates to Woo’s conservative campaign. When asked how she pulled that off, Glickman said, “If I had a total answer to that, I'd be the richest political consultant in the country.”

It won’t be hard to have a broader coalition than Nelson. As Upper Left consultant Michael Charles says, “Nelson has done no favors for herself by making allies that lead me to believe that she'll run a strong campaign next year.”

But Nelson won’t rely on her merit to win anyway. Outside spending plays a huge role in who wins the election. Nelson had almost five times as much money behind her as her opponent Nikkita Oliver in 2021 and she won by about seven percentage points. Business way outspent labor in 2023, buying their corporate takeover. In 2024, business and labor spent roughly the same amount on their candidates, and labor won Rinck’s seat. 

SIEU 775 will certainly play ball this go round. Glickman concedes that labor may have been a little “naive” for investing so little in the left-lane candidates in 2023, giving rise to the new corporate council. Now with more energy around fundraising with the launch of P3 PAC, designed explicitly to never let a corporate takeover like the one in 2023 happen again, progressives seem better positioned to compete with big business. But Glickman says Seattle can expect a “big, bitter, expensive” race.

Salami Rose Joe Louis plays Madame Lou's on Monday, November 11. by Dave Segal

Recording for Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder label, Salami Rose Joe Louis (Lindsay Olsen) has blazed a distinctive trail in that fertile sector of California's underground where electronic music and jazz converge. On early releases by this multi-instrumentalist and producer—such as 2019's Zdenka 2080—Olsen sings in a hushed, dulcet manner over sparse, melodious electronic music that wears its jazz inflections gracefully. Faint echoes of '90s and '00s introspective, minimalist IDM (intelligent dance music, if you don't know) acts such as Múm insinuate themselves, too. It's ultimately dream pop, but not in the cloying way manifested by the genre's try-hards.

With 2023's Akousmatikous and this year's collab with Flanafi, Sarah, SRJL's rhythms get jazzier and the instrumentation fuller, with help from Soccer96 and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, among others. The songs are more kinetic while the vocals retain their breathy, Julee Cruise-like sweetness. The music's levitational feel and smooth propulsion belie lyrics about catastrophic ecological degradation and the dangers of propaganda/disinformation. Enchanting listeners through understatement and mutedly sparkling tones, Olsen offers the most pleasant dystopian sci-fi soundtracks extant. For this show at Madame Lou's tonight, she'll be joined by guitarist Flanafi, bassist Tone Whitfield, and drummer Luke Titus—most of whom played on the exceptional new Salami Live at 2131 North Kacey Street EP.

<a href="https://salamirosejoelouismusic.bandcamp.com/album/salami-live-at-2131-north-kacey-street">Salami Live at 2131 North Kacey Street by Salami Rose Joe Louis featuring Flanafi, Tone Whitfield, Nazir Ebo</a>

Salami Rose Joe Louis plays Madame Lou's Monday, Nov 11, 7:30 pm, $21, 21+.

The Stranger's morning news round-up. by Ashley Nerbovig

Goooooood morning: The National Weather Service predicts a 50% chance of rain today, with a breezy evening ahead. Meteorologists expect wind speeds to possibly top 29 miles per hour, so batten down your rotting porch pumpkins people!

Time to talk dollars: Want to tell the City Council how to spend your tax dollars? Go to public comment tonight at 5 pm at City Hall. Or you can participate remotely. You can go to tell them to support a capital gains tax, or oppose cuts to tenant services. Or tell the Council to respect the Jumpstart spend plan and actually use the payroll tax to pay for affordable housing, as it was intended. Check back on the blog for more coverage of the budget from Hannah. 

ICYMI: With the blowout loss for former Council Member Tanya Woo, Hannah tells City Council Member Sara Nelson to count her days. Local politicos plan to mount a serious challenge to the conservative Council President Nelson next year in the hopes of ousting her and her pro-cop, pro-business agenda out of office.

Rob Saka Seeks Street Car phase-out: Saka proposed phasing out the South Lake Union streetcar and redirecting the funding to bus service in the City. The budget for the street car is about $4.4 million, which isn't a whole lot of money when you consider Saka wants $2 million to remove the Delridge median so he can take a left turn.

Last week, the Office of Police Accountability (OPA) completed its investigation into Seattle Police Department (SPD) Officer Kevin Dave, who hit and killed 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula as she crossed through a crosswalk in January 2023. The OPA found Dave violated the department's driving policies as well as its policies requiring officers to follow the law. The City must hold a Loudermill hearing for Dave, which allows him to tell his side of the story before deciding on his discipline, so it may be a couple months before we know the final outcome. In the meantime, Dave continues to fight the traffic ticket Republican City Attorney Ann Davison issued him for his killing of Kandula. Seattle Municipal Court shows Dave's next hearing is scheduled for 8:30 am on December 18 in courtroom 301. 

BREAKING: OPA concluded its investigation into SPD Officer Kevin Dave on Friday and sustained policy violations for breaking the law and vehicle operation. Next step will be deciding discipline for him.

— Ashley Nerbovig (@AshleyNerbovig) November 11, 2024

What's your plan for this week anyway? Maybe you're checking out Christmas Dive Bar? Or maybe it's too soon? Maybe you're trying to enjoy something with more Thanksgiving vibes? Well, as always, our sister publication EverOut has you covered with the top 41 things to do this week in Seattle.

Republicans likely to control the US House: As it stands, Republicans have won 214 seats in the House, with Democrats at 205, and 16 races yet to be called. To control the House, Republicans need only to pick up another four seats, which they seem highly likely to do. Congress returned to Washington this week, ready to start setting Trump's right-wing agenda into motion.

Trump plans to pick Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State: The worst people in American continue to jockey for a position in Trump's new administration, with Florida Republican Rubio possibly securing the role of America's top diplomat, according to Politico. We're sure to hear more names in the coming days, including people such as Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, who Trump may consider for Secretary of Education. The nightmare continues. 

Israel kills 14 in Gaza: Two Israeli strikes killed 14 people in an area Israel had mostly declared to be a humanitarian zone. The deaths included at least two children, according to the Associated Press. 

Migos’ “Bad And Boujee” (Feat. Lil Uzi Vert): Been a minute since I checked out Tom Breihan's the Number Ones column, and I'm glad I plumbed it for a song today because I normally wouldn't think about Migos around holiday season, but that's when "Bad and Boujee" climbed to the number one spot on the charts, so I suppose that makes it a holiday classic.

This week the Seattle City Council will discuss and vote on a long list of amendments for the 2025-2026 budget. Here are the big fights to look out for. by Hannah Krieg

This week the Seattle City Council will discuss and vote on a long list of amendments for the 2025-2026 budget. Here are the big fights to look out for. 

Capital Gains: Comrade Cathy Moore (she’s earned the title until she pisses me off later in this same post) proposed a 2% tax on profits exceeding $262,000 from the sale and exchange of stocks, bonds, and business interests. The tax could generate anywhere from $16 million and $51 million in its first year and would only apply to about 860 of the city’s wealthiest residents, according to central staff analysis.

Moore wants to use that money to pay for fund rental assistance, homeownership programs, and to fight food insecurity. However,  my typical expert sources on progressive revenue declined to comment on Moore’s proposed spending priorities. Notably, Moore did not propose explicitly codifying those priorities and it's not like anyone respects spending plans anyway! 

Moore’s tax would be a local expansion of the statewide capital gains tax that the good people of Washington overwhelmingly voted to protect from a right-wing attack earlier this month. That same attack, an initiative backed by hedge fund millionaire Brian Heywood, stopped the previous council from voting on a capital gains tax in their last budget process. At the time, The Stranger (me, it was me) lamented that the incoming conservative council would decline to take up the fight, or if one brave member did, they simply wouldn’t have the votes to pass it. Council Member Tammy Morales and Rob Saka are co-sponsoring the amendment, a collaboration that signals broad support. Morales represents the leftmost voice on the council and Saka usually aligns with the conservative majority. If you want the amendment to pass, my best advice is to urge Council Members Joy Hollingsworth and Dan Strauss to vote yes — they seem the most likely path to a majority. 

Other revenue: Morales has her eye on other revenue streams. Even though the Mayor proposed a balanced budget, filling the looming deficit largely by raiding JumpStart funds that ought to pay for affordable housing, the City will still face another, smaller deficit in 2027. Morales requested Central Staff to write plans implementing a digital advertising excise tax and an excise tax on “professional services” such as realtor, accountant, architect, and other services. Thinking ahead. We love to see it. 

SLUT shaming: Saka proposed an amendment asking the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to make a plan to retire the South Lake Union Streetcar, which people sometimes call the “SLUT” even though the acronym would actually be “SLUS.” 

In a press release, Saka said he’s “deeply concerned that residents aren’t getting what they paid for” from the SLUT. Before the pandemic, the SLUT saw 500,000 riders a year, but in 2023, it only saw about 175,000, according to the Urbanist. 

“There are much more effective ways we could be investing our transit dollars and that’s why I’m proposing the executive take a serious look at alternatives with my amendment,” Saka said in a press release. “This isn’t about killing transit – it’s about ensuring our transportation dollars are wisely spent on expanded transit service in the area that people will actually use! At its core, this is a 1-for-1, transit-for-transit investment that would require a thoughtful transition of service.”  

He and his cosponsors Moore and Bob Kettle also proposed an amendment to scrap the plan to connect the two streetcars from the Capital Improvement Program. 

For Our Boys In Blue: If you thought the Mayor’s budget and the Chair’s subsequent balancing package couldn’t get any friendlier to the Seattle Police Department (SPD), you would be wrong. Moore proposed an amendment to ask SDP to draft a plan to provide officers with childcare, possibly run by the City. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of public childcare for everyone, but the City Council and the Mayor consistently give special treatment to the cops over other City workers and Seattle residents. Moore will likely make a feminist appeal over the amendment because figuring out officers’ childcare woos may encourage more women, often saddled with more responsibility in raising children, to join the force. 

Renters rights: Morales answered one of the loudest calls from the working people of the budget — reverse Harrell’s defunding of renters services. Her amendment would fully restore tenant services to the tune of nearly $1 million over the biennium. Since all amendments must come with a funding source, Morales suggested taking the money from the Office of Economic Development and reducing funding for the Mayor’s Downtown Activation Plan. Guess we won’t get a second Space Needle anytime soon, but the amendment just might save your housing. 

However, Moore proposed a proviso that limits funding for eviction legal services to those who make under 200% of the area median income. That’s inline with State law and while City law provides some flexibilty, the Housing Justice Project says they haven't taken on clients above 80% this year at all. 

The proposal mirrors one introduced earlier this year by King County Council Member Regan Dunn. Both of them must have been following the conservative media circus around the landlord in Bellevue who claimed his tenant was loaded, but choosing not to pay rent. That narrative of the freeloading tenant has gained popularity with landlords, most notably the Low Income Housing Institute. 

Speaking of provisos: Moore also partnered with Council Member Martiza Rivera on a proviso that would hold hostage $29.5 million —or six months of funding —earmarked for shelter services through the Human Services Department (HSD). HSD can lift the proviso by submitting a report and answering a list of questions. You can read up on all the amendments up for individual vote here. Over the next few days, watch the council discuss final amendments in real time on the Seattle Channel or follow my play-by-play on Twitter.

Cory Doctorow: "I will never again devote my energies to building up an audience on a platform whose management can sever my relationship to that audience at will." It's a good practice, and while I completely support it, I am part of several communities that could remove me without recourse. I do it because I value the people in the community, and feel that life is too short to wait for everyone to get it right.

Doctorow was writing about Bluesky, and once again, on Bluesky a discussion starts on what it would take for Bluesky to attract developers, and each time I am told that they have done enough, and I go away thinking that their pitch is a scam, and they're building value in a user base that they will sell. They certainly could do it, and for all we know the founders may have already sold some of their stock in the latest investment round which valued the company at $x billion. (I did a search to find the evaluation but it appears to have not been announced.)

I gave them a roadmap, again, of how to demonstrate that they're open, and finally concluded that the only way to really do it is to "provide a download that you can install on any popular operating system to get an instant blue sky network, running on its own without any help from anyone else. Then you can claim to be really open and until then there will be a lot of confusion." (And I was generous at that. More accurately, people with experience in tech will be certain this is yet another deal where the founders get rich, where the users are the product and have read too much into their promise of being open.)

I'm still on Bluesky but I expect them to be another Twitter, which btw had an open API too, and it's pretty good, but they never offered the option of people running their own twitters. That would have been good protection against a Musk buying them out and turning us into pawns in his plan for world domination. Do we really want to help someone else build one of those?

In early 2017 I observed that Twitter had just been used to route around journalism and elect a president. This value wasn't on their balance sheet as an asset. I felt its stock was vastly underpriced. Exactly as it turned out when Musk bought it. Everyone still thinks he paid too much, at this moment it could possibly gain him control of part of the US government's $6 trillion per year budget early next year, and if they start selling the assets of the government he could be in the best position to buy them at pennies on the dollar, or take a percentage of each saleAt this point it doesn’t matter what the NYT says. Either way they jumped the shark for the last time in this election.. He could probably start borrowing against it the day after the election is called for Trump.

In the title I ask if a Musk could buy Bluesky, it's possible they have a way to prevent that in the design of their corporation, that's why it's a question. But if the price were right maybe the founders would sell out even if they didn't have to.