I, Anonymous Yesterday 12:00 PM

Bus Seat Hog

I see you on a full bus, sitting in the aisle seat while the inside seat is empty. You might as well tape a sign to the seat next to you that reads, "My Comfort Is More Important Than Anyone Else’s."

Sometimes people have lots of stuff that takes up a seat on a crowded bus, and that’s the unfortunate reality of life. But you? This? This is different. 

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Olympia Yesterday 11:00 AM

New Law Requires More Inclusive School Curricula in Washington

Lessons to Include Contributions from LGBTQ People and People of Color

This month, Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill that requires Washington schools to incorporate into lessons the history and contributions of people from marginalized groups–including LGBTQ people, people of color, and people with disabilities. 

Under Senate Bill 5462, the Washington State School Directors Association, with help from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, must review and update its model policy and procedures on course design and the selection of instructional materials by June of 2025. 

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Elections 2024 Yesterday 10:00 AM

Josh Binda Launches Progressive Challenge to Rep. Rick Larsen

With a Crowded Left Lane, the Incumbent May Face an Easy Battle Against a Freedom Caucus Wannabe

In his 23 years in office, US Rep. Rick Larsen hasn’t had much reason to fear for his seat. A Republican hasn’t come within striking distance in Washington’s 2nd Congressional District since 2010, and a leftward challenger has never made it through the primary—that’s a worse record than WA02 libertarians. 

This year, Lynnwood City Council Member Josh Binda, who made history in 2021 as the youngest BIPOC elected official in the state of Washington, pledges to bring Larsen his most serious leftward challenge to date. But Binda’s not alone in the quest to bring new, progressive leadership to WA02. Jason Call, a Green party candidate who has run against Larsen twice before, announced a third challenge against Larsen last April.

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WEDNESDAY 3/27 

Tales of Lust & Madness with Lydia Lunch & Joseph Keckler

(MUSIC) Here's your chance to see a living legend in the flesh! Counterculture icon Lydia Lunch is best known for her '70s no-wave band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, as well as her later collaboration with Sonic Youth (their song "Death Valley '69" was named one of the "50 Most Evil Songs Ever" by Kerrang!) Nowadays, Lunch spends the bulk of her time leading self-empowerment workshops and performing spoken-word poetry. For these performances, she will be joined by fellow New Yorker and multi-hyphenate Joseph Keckler for two intimate evenings of "musical and linguistic intrigue." (The Rabbit Box Theatre, 94 Pike St #11, 8-11 pm, $30-$35, 18+) AUDREY VANN

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While Transgender Day of Visibility happens annually on March 31, this year it’s happening against a backdrop of state officials legislating transgender people out of public life. Right now, more than 140,000 transgender adolescents have lost or are at risk of losing access to best-practice medical care due to bans in 23 states. Health care providers in Washington have a chance to help save transgender lives.

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Ashley rode along with Seattle’s dual dispatch team: By “rode along,” I mean they didn’t get a single call in five hours because the City hasn’t fully bought into this pseudo police alternative. The six social workers who compose the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) team are supposed to respond to low-priority calls alongside cops and then take over the scene if the cops say it's okay. The program aims to save police a little time so they can focus on higher-priority calls. Read more about it here.

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Sex Tue 11:00 AM

Pal Power!

With Rhaina Cohen of The Other Significant Others

So, is he gay? The evidence: He likes sucking wieners, anal play, and he has a sex machine that he uses on his butt. Also, he is showing less and less interest in having sex with the caller, and when she asks him about it he responds, “Is sex all you care about?”

An anxious cougar is suspicious of the young men who hit on her. Why would they want to be with someone twice their age? She knows she should count her blessings, and her friends all roll their eyes at her discomfort. How can she get out of her head about this and enjoy the youthful dick already?

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Film/TV Tue 10:00 AM

Netflix's 3 Body Problem Turns Out to Be Porn for Conservatives 

The Political Movement that Brought You Climate Denialism Somehow Thinks the Show Owns the Libs

How to begin? Well, last week, Netflix dropped its bold adaptation of the first book of Liu Cixin's trilogy, Three Body Problem. This version has eight episodes (the Chinese TV adaptation, which also covers the first book, has 30 episodes), and it has its pluses and minuses.

On the plus side, for example, the series accurately portrays the opening of the science fiction novel, which is set during the Cultural Revolution in the mid-1960s. On the minus side, this opening scene really excited, delighted, and validated the Musk-loving right.

They equated the "struggle session" that kills a Chinese physicist for believing spacetime composes the fabric of the universe with the "woke mind virus" that's stunting, stifling, and castrating Western Civilization. Behold, with a content warning for ableism: 

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News Tue 9:00 AM

Seattle’s Dual Dispatch Program Is Underutilized

We Could Unleash It If the Mayor Would Stop Letting the Police Union Run the Town

Seattle’s Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) team launched in October of 2023 as a pseudo policing alternative composed of six social workers who respond to low-priority calls alongside police and firefighters. At launch, Mayor Bruce Harrell said the City’s 911 center would dispatch the crews to nonviolent, non-emergent, and non-medical emergency calls that required no law enforcement action, such as “person down” or “welfare/wellness check” calls. 

Cities across the country initiated similar programs in recent years, with some mayors referring to them as “force-multipliers” because they’re supposed to allow cops to focus on higher-priority emergency calls. The CARE team should act as that force multiplier for the Seattle Police Department (SPD), but Harrell and the previous city council caved to police union demands to hobble Seattle’s version of the program, which has drastically limited the ability of the city’s “third public safety department” to actually help reduce the workload of officers. 

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Rainy, but then sunny: Grateful this morning for a little cat purring in my lap and keeping me cozy. It's supposed to be rainy and cold today before 3 pm, but then the weather should turn and the sun should return if you want to take a slightly chilly afternoon walk. High of 53 degrees.

Governor Jay Inslee signs the Strippers' Bill of Rights: Washington's Strippers' Bill of Rights has become state law. That means no raids for lewd conduct in gay bars, alcohol coming back to strip clubs, and a promise for more protections and limited house fees for dancers. Inslee called dancers "working folks" who deserve safe workplaces. Exciting to watch Washington zip from the 1920s to 2024 with a single signature.

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Politics Mon 2:15 PM

Polls Show Nearly a Quarter of Washingtonians Support Secession

But the Union Isn't Screwed. Probably. 

Alex Garland’s Civil War, a film that premiered at South by Southwest this month, imagines a near-future where the collective “Western Forces” of Texas and California are engaged in a second American Civil War with a United States government led by a three-term president, placing viewers with three journalists chronicling what appears to be a climactic end to the union. 

Critics assume the premise exploits the boiling tensions months ahead of a round-two election with an autocratic-minded insurrectionist, but writers such as Peter Debruge at Variety say it’s actually questioning the futility of sides altogether. Regardless of that message, critics also predict the provocative Civil War will be controversial. The Hollywood Reporter is anticipating production company A24’s biggest-ever opening weekend at about $20 million dollars. 

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Music Mon 12:29 PM

The Indie Rockers Are All Right

Mary Timony Proved There's Still Vitality in the Venerable Genre at Clock-Out Lounge

Mary Timony should not be sounding this good at this late date. Most rock artists who are over three decades into their career are on the decline, mired in a grim cycle of diminishing returns. But not this masterly guitarist/vocalist, who since 1991 has led excellent, idiosyncratic bands such as Autoclave, Helium, and Ex Hex, as well as being a part of the Wild Flag supergroup and maintaining a sterling, if sporadic, solo career.

Timony and her current group—guitarist/backing vocalist Betsy Wright, bassist Chad Molter, and drummer David Christian—brought the leader's unconventional yet catchy songs to vivid life at a sold-out Clock-Out Lounge on Friday. Newsflash: indie rock's not dead; in Timony and company's hands, at least, it's in positively radiant health.

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EverOut Mon 10:00 AM

The Top 38 Events in Seattle This Week: Mar 25–31, 2024

Dr. Jane Goodall, Laurie Anderson, and More Top Picks

Without further ado, we're presenting you with the best things to do during this final week of March. Click through to peruse events from Dr. Jane Goodall to PDX Jazz Presents: Laurie Anderson and from Willow Pill presents God’s Child to Black Punk Weekend.

MONDAY

LIVE MUSIC

Chelsea Wolfe
On her new album, She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She, Chelsea Wolfe channels the goth trip-hop and effortless cool-factor of Portishead and PJ Harvey (à la To Bring You My Love). Reflecting the album's unending title, the album chronicles a cathartic rebirth that frames healing as cyclical, as opposed to a simple linear process. She will support the album alongside doom metal duo Divide and Dissolve. AUDREY VANN
(Neptune Theatre, University District)

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Moscow terrorist attack: On Friday night, four gunmen opened fire inside a suburban Moscow concert hall and detonated explosives, killing 137 and injuring nearly 200 people. Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted that the attack may be linked to Ukraine. However, American officials said the attack came from Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K, an active offshoot of the Islamic State. ISIS-K claimed responsibility in a video. In early March, the United States reportedly warned American citizens in Moscow about a potential terrorist attack targeting large gatherings and specifically concerts. Putin received a similar tip from the US but dismissed the warnings. 

The four gunmen suspected of carrying out the attack are migrant laborers from Tajikistan working in Russia. They face a life sentence in prison. When they appeared in court late Sunday, they looked as though they had been severely beaten. 

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Elections 2024 Mon 8:00 AM

Alexis Mercedes Rinck Launches Progressive Challenge to Tanya Woo

She’s a Renter, a Transit Rider, a Policy Wonk, and a Nose Ring-Haver

On Monday morning, 28 year-old Central District renter and homelessness policy wonk Alexis Mercedes Rinck announced her campaign for the Position 8 citywide city council seat, making her the first (and long-awaited) challenger to appointee Council Member Tanya Woo, who announced her run to retain the seat earlier this month.

Rinck was born in Pacifica, California (home to the world’s most beautiful Taco Bell and actual taquerias, she assured me) to two teenage parents who met in a gang. “That sounds like the start of a gritty, Oscar-award-winning movie, but it was a really hard start to life,” she told The Stranger. Her father spent her whole childhood incarcerated and went on to face chronic homelessness and substance abuse disorder. Her mother ended up losing custody in the throes of the juvenile detention system, so Rinck went to live with her grandparents.

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