Xmas tree ornaments feed pix to smartphones; two judges nix big grocery-merger plan; Amazon starts selling cars in some US regions; ‘being able to read’ isn’t the same thing as ‘wanting to read books.’

Frank Herbert wrote a gay-coded villain while disowning his gay son; local newspaper chain’s mysterious new owners; traffic deaths set a recent record; MacKenzie Scott gives big (again).

A history of Black student movements at UW, WSU; Legislature OKs three conservative initiatives; King County launches new anti-fentanyl efforts; MAGA candidate in SW WA invokes racism to oppose a new I-5 bridge.

Etailer Zulily’s final days; Denny Blaine Park won’t be de-nuded for a kiddie playground; Starbucks wants to talk to unions again (under certain conditions); UW QB Michael Penix Jr. doesn’t get the Heisman Trophy.

David Lasky’s haiku comics; would-be laws against outdoor drug use ‘not likely’ to have much ‘visual impact’; texts reveal more about SPD/city responses in June 2020; should you or shouldn’t you eat WA salmon now?

Mourning ‘outsider artist’ Gregory Blackstock, Screaming Trees cofounder Van Conner, and author Jonathan Raban; Grand Illusion Cinema could be razed in two years; Microsoft confirms 10,000 worldwide layoffs.

‘Fatlesque’ celebrates diverse bodies ‘in a big way’; we’ve got lots of ‘house rich/cash poor’ folk; new Public Health boss warns about COVID funding cuts’ repercussions; what some folks want from the now-underway Legislature.

New performance venue at ex-Can Can site aims to ‘rekindle Seattle arts scene’; big midterm races go down to the wire; SPD’s ‘history of killing people with knives;’ Dungeness crab dying off due to lack of oxygen.

Gillian G. Gaar on Elton John (and much else); Inslee wants more housing, shelters, and sweeps; city issues a ‘dire’ revenue forecast; Amazon’s ‘Treasure Trucks’ grounded for good.

A conversation confab with human ‘books;’ the entire ‘aPodments’ chain’s for sale; Facebook found guilty of 822 campaign-finance violations; the Mariners’ postseason return stars today at last.

A Stranger writer’s history of queer comedy in TV sitcoms; school in Seattle starts at last; NYT essay lauds Seattle’s JustCare housing program; Starbucks to spend millions on store automation (while still union-busting).

Garfield High’s COVID-delayed centennial; overdoses up, here and around the NW; female Nintendo game testers allege sexual harassment by male staff; Danny Westneat’s mistaken again.

Charles Johnson co-creates an Afro-Futurist-Buddhist graphic novel; Teatro ZinZanni’s post-COVID, post-Woodinville comeback; wildfire forces evacuations near Soap Lake; a pro-choice state constitutional amendment isn’t likely.

Short fictions based on people’s digital data; big pro-Roe rallies coming up; possible property-tax hikes might force more homeowners to sell; Seahawks face ex-QB Russell Wilson in 2022 season’s first game.

Redmond bans, then allows, the word ‘Palestine’ on a public art display; what Sawant’s victory doesn’t really mean; schools react to national social-media threats; poetry bookstore moving to Pioneer Square.