County Councilmember race-baits a (white) election rival; SPD prepares for firings of unvaxxed cops, while Inslee might impose a private-sector vax mandate; Melinda French Gates joins ‘Forbes 400’ on her own.

‘Alice in Wonderland’ themed cocktail ‘experience’ coming to Seattle; Amazon’s openly playing Seattle against the suburbs; a major labor union may cut back on Sawant support; many police and sheriff’s employees are still un-vaxxed at the mandate deadline.

More light rail (at long last); Ms have a real playoff chance (at long last); UW study shows a lot more people are killed by cops nationally than are officially counted as such; Rep. Jayapal’s personal abortion story.

Local 9/11 remembrances; autumnal weather’s welcome return; a passenger’s anti-mask tirade stalls a Fauntleroy ferry run; Wilson and Seahawks’ triumphal season debut.

A Tacoma park’s old storybook statues are up for auction; Cafe Racer’s ready for its re-re-reopening; Microsoft’s keeping office workers at home for ‘the foreseeable future’; and, yes, there’s that grim anniversary.

The ex-Baltic Room’s got a new name; the ‘Nirvana Baby’ resurfaces; determining the ‘pandemic’s toll on kids’ brains;’ Microsoft AI software’s programmed to impersonate a local writer.

Art-world celeb and UW grad Chuck Close dies; frustration among doctors, nurses as delta variant rages on; why encampment residents don’t want to move into shelters; Redhook (and the Seattle microbrew scene) turn 40.

Historic/kitschy Admiral Benbow Inn to reopen; Inslee mandates masking for all and vaccines for school/college workers; ICUs fill to capacity again with COVID patients; Pike Place Market turns 114.

Wing Luke group exhibit ponders Asian American beauty standards; music fest at the Gorge linked to 160+ COVID cases; wildfire smoke makes COVID worse; more on the trends seen in the new census data.

New magic-themed bar prepares to open; Census data reveals how much we’ve grown around here; state Supreme Court rules in favor of vehicle dwellers; non-teaching Seattle school workers will need vaccines this fall.

Pop-art posters honor Indigenous women preserving the planet; Edgar Martinez gets a statue; WA COVID cases surpass a half million; ACLU sues to stop the city charter-amendment drive.

The new ‘Skid Road’ book’s parallels to the older one; more institutions impose vaccine requirements; controversial PCC president quits; city attorney Pete Holmes is out of the general-election race.

Henry Weinhard’s beer to vanish; few real changes in latest the primary-vote update; why Amazon likely won’t demand its workers be vaxxed; local anti-ICE activist says she’s being targeted for retaliation.

Seattle Deconstructed Art Fair returns; feds find ‘improprieties’ at Alabama Amazon union vote; city eviction moratorium extended two months; Seattle Rep to stage a musical named after the mechanical shark from ‘Jaws.’

Water-themed playground coming to new Waterfront Park; does Seattle’s ‘urban village’ zoning perpetuate inequality?; the heat wave sickened Columbia River salmon; nine bars are or were temporarily closed due to COVID exposures among staff.