Welcome news.

May I brag for a moment? I'm gonna brag for a moment. Yesterday, the Western Washington chapter of @spj-posts.bsky.social announced the 2025 winners for the SPJ Northwest Excellence in Journalism Awards, and @thestranger.com received a heap of accolades.

I'm excited to announce that today we have filed to take Magic Beans, Inc. public. This is an important milestone for our team, our investors, and our customers. We expect to list in the coming weeks, hopefully before the general public discovers the Terrible True Cost of our beans.

Developing a ulcer thinking about how long it is going to take to undo the damage this administration has wrought www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/c...

Besides the writing, the best part of this story is that Nathalie could not access the writer, Matt Dinniman, while every person she encountered had either met him, or was friends with him. It's both a fool's errand and a hero's journey, and it made me laugh out loud.

I have only seen the trailer but.... is that Backrooms movie just House of Leaves?

I, just like everyone else, have been consumed by Dungeon Crawler Carl, which is actually a Seattle book. Here is me trying to write about it: www.thestranger.com/books/dungeo...

don't run in the scam marathon www.thestranger.com/news/hey-are...

bleak as hell www.thestranger.com/news/the-boe...

The Lady Rainier Statue Is Seattle’s Queen of Public  Transportation www.thestranger.com/city/the-lad... The old statue is oriented to the only future that’s possible—the one that transports people not as individuals but gregariously. A car can only be a sorry couch.

This is why we need independent journalism. This happened because Natalie Graham did the work. I’ll still never get over the fact that this was ever a thing. And I still want to fly a thousand drones over Laurelhurst every night for the rest of time.

BREAKING: Laurelhurst is changing its mind about the helicopters and will support Seattle Children's Hospital in ending all helicopter oversight. Sick and injured kids rejoice! www.thestranger.com/news/laurelh...

NEW: The SIFF Cinema Workers Union says management is delaying contract bargaining until after the festival and are proposing deel cuts to wages, benefits, and hours that'd leave many of their members in "financial desperation." 📽️ My story for @thestranger.com: www.thestranger.com/uncategorize...

Brava! Their meeting May 11 is from 5:00 - 6:30. It’s public and the most recent zoom link they posted is: us06web.zoom.us/j/4541109392

As bad as you thought the Laurelhurst residents were about the flights to Children's Hospital, the minutes show they were so much worse. Complaining about flights during the pandemic!

I got the Laurelhurst Community Council's meeting minutes before they took down their website. You'll never guess what they had to say about the helicopters flying sick kids to the hospital: www.thestranger.com/news/laurelh...

Thank you @gramsofgnats.bsky.social for going to the source with a question I worry about whenever I wait for a bus. True service journalism! Schrödinger’s Bus Stop www.thestranger.com/city/schrodi...

my husband just discovered Selena and in the middle of showing me his favorite songs I had to break the news about the murder

A little blog about the last time I felt furious and then felt some other emotions. They were all about the bus. www.thestranger.com/city/schrodi...

Weird guy with cat in the park started talking to me about his tattoo and I humored it because of the cat but then he wouldn’t let me pet his cat? wtf

knock it off!! www.thestranger.com/news/stop-pu...

HAIL STORM

For more than a week, Amazon has managed to keep a death at its Troutdale, Oregon, facility out of public view. Workers I spoke to are pissed.

Appreciate @gramsofgnats.bsky.social’s attention to WA’s public defense crisis. The Constitution is mostly a restraint on government. This is the rare case where it grants a positive right. That's why counties are suing and we’re going to win.

posting screenshots of my articles to Instagram stories with Dungeon Crawler Carl books in the background so people will talk to me about it

Hey, uh, public defense in Washington is teetering on the brink of disaster due to historic underfunding by the state and new caseload standards that will add further monetary stress to an already-struggling system www.thestranger.com/news/washing...

we've been here for a year :(

Threatening an action that could jeopardize $10.9 billion of income nationwide is galaxy-brained thinking from the Trump administration www.thestranger.com/news/ahead-o...

In 2024, we fought hard to elect Sal Mungia to the WA Supreme Court over conservative Dave Larson, and Sal won by only 0.51% of the vote @gramsofgnats.bsky.social is right, these races are a BFD, and we will be laser-focused on them in our Progressive Voters Guide this year.

And of course the thunderdome that is the WA state Supreme Court fight with 5 of 9 seats on the ballot, covered here by @gramsofgnats.bsky.social

A must-read

Did you know that 5 of the 9 Washington State Supreme Court seats are up for grabs this year? Well now you do. With our civil liberties on the line, it's time to bone up on your Supreme Court knowledge.

I know we all have a lot to worry about, but here is one more thing for the pile: The Washington State Supreme Court has *five* positions on the ballot this year. You can bet your ass that wealthy conservatives will see this as an opportunity: www.thestranger.com/news/the-was...

Notable that the Seattle Times Editorial Board, railing against the idea of a larger library levy, completely sidesteps what the proposed increases would DO. I don't think most Seattleites see seismic retrofits and building upkeep as "ornaments on the tree." www.seattletimes.com/opinion/edit...

ohhh we've got some stone-cold stunners, folks images.nasa.gov/details/art0... images.nasa.gov/details/art0... images.nasa.gov/details/art0... images.nasa.gov/details/art0...

mama there’s an unpopular policy decision behind you

Katie Wilson just announced as the YIMBY in chief at a public rally about zoning changes to the comprehensive plan

I love NIMBYs. In decrying zoning changes to the comprehensive plan, one woman says: "Has anyone considered what the lack of planning for off leash areas is going to do?" The horror!

Sad local journalism news. Reporting by @vivmccall.bsky.social and @suzettesmith.bsky.social www.thestranger.com/news/portlan...

Eric was one of my favorite editors I worked with when I was freelancing. Smart, thoughtful, and collaborative. This is a big loss for the Seattle Met and Seattle.

Seattle's CCTV Vendor Has Received $126 Million in ICE and CBP Contracts - Mayor Wilson Says the City Will Keep Working With Them

A very moving obituary by @gramsofgnats.bsky.social. www.thestranger.com/obits/2026/0...

I got to write an obituary for beloved community member Beau Morton. His wife, Stevie, submitted a Stranger reader valentine for Beau, but he died days before the issue was published. He never got to see it. I talked with Stevie about Beau and those valentines www.thestranger.com/obits/2026/0...

this story rules

this is a horror story nymag.com/intelligence...

sales should go toward fortifying our ferry fleet

"The civilian protection mission was dissolved as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made 'lethality' a top priority." www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Another banger from Emily Nokes: www.thestranger.com/city/2026/03...

Hannah Sabio-Howell wants to knock the crown off Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen's head in the 43rd district. This is going to be a very interesting race. My feature: www.thestranger.com/news/2026/03...

BREAKING: The City Attorney's case backlog is way more dismal than originally reported. Erika Evans unearthed about 3,800 more cases left over from Ann Davison's days bringing the total backlog to 5,100 cases thestranger.com/news/2026/03...