Cal Anderson’s memorial tree suddenly removed from state capitol campus; wildfire smoke’s coming back here; 22 counties sue DSHS over ‘mental health failures;’ Republicans won’t believe Seattle’s not a burnt-down hellhole.

Spokane preacher prays for fire to ‘consume’ city (with its mayor on stage); King County considers new jail with ‘solar canopy;’ Seattle, DoorDash settle over labor violations; remembering a cancer scientist and competitive-dance organizer.

Captive orca Tokitae dies in Miami; fires scorch parts of Eastern WA while Seattle gets smoke; Julio Rodriguez and Mariners on a massive roll; after a ferry-building contract’s collapse, now what?

Developer wants 3rd Ave to be a pedestrian plaza (no buses); Inslee sued over ‘gender affirming care’ law; wildfires shut down two City Light dams; the Seattle connection to a ‘racial’ (and racist) ‘brain collection’ at the Smithsonian.

Blind painter’s touchable works; heat wave drags on at least one more day; UW report exposes ‘use of force’ incidents at Tacoma ICE jail; state claims O’Reilly Auto Parts discriminated against pregnant workers.

Kamala Harris talks in Seattle (and Dolly Parton in Tacoma); heat wave leads to stage 2 burn ban; ‘quick fix’ to Seattle drug-possession law turned down; the ice cream flavor you never knew you wanted.

Vital, historic African-American art from a sorority’s donated collection; almost every D1 council candidate endorses Megan Costa; new state drug law starts; one threatened north-end tree survives, one doesn’t.

NPR explores Seattle’s hip-hop heritage; Rainier Beach anti-violence activists resume their work after last week’s shooting; could the feds want to ‘break up Amazon’?; America’s worst wildfires this year aren’t here (tragically).

AI-written travel books with bot-posted rave reviews; historic Wedgwood tree saved; ‘stabilization workgroup’ proposes several new city taxes (not all of them legally available); right-wingers want to close one WA county’s only library.

Excavating a former Japanese American commercial nursery; AB selling Redhook, other beer brands to a ‘cannabis-lifestyle’ co.; Smith Tower for sale (again); what is and isn’t in MoPOP’s Laika Films exhibit.

Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe put up a Seattle artist’s works in their fancy new NYC abode; wildfire threatens big City Light dams; SPD officers may have detained a Black delivery driver at gunpoint; what street sex workers really need.

UW bails out of a sinking Pac-12 Conference; Seattle’s ‘urban heat island’ grows; Pierce Co. brush fire destroys nine homes, kills two residents; rival online-psychic networks in a legal dispute.

Museum of Museums closing forever (partly due to faulty plumbing); UW Regents ponder what to do if Pac-12 Conference collapses; City Council approves studying new I-5 lids; my annual defense of the hydroplane races.

The Kraken and a player’s wife don’t like explicit online sex-talk about the player; few surprises (and few incumbents) in first primary-election returns; Sawant’s rent-control bill fails; WA’s suing to stop ID’s ‘abortion travel ban.’

A couple of faves at the Seattle Art Show and its satellites; violence strikes at an anti-violence event; Amazon doesn’t want a light rail stop at Westlake & Denny; the real meaning of the Seafair parade.