Ballard Warehouse Fire: A three-alarm fire at the Consolidated Supply Co. warehouse in Ballard sent black plumes of smoke into the air Thursday evening. Over 100 firefighters responded to the blaze. The fire collapsed the roof and blew out the windows before firefighters got it under control around 8 p.m. The cause is still unknown.
What is going on at City Hall? Mayor Katie Wilson asked her communications director, Seferiana Day, to resign, reports Publicola. She’s the third mayoral staffer to resign or be removed from their role since Wilson took office. Day had been out of the office for around two months due to a medical issue and has been on intermittent leave. Wilson was allegedly frustrated that she hasn’t received enough positive press for her wins, like when the City stepped in to save the Graham Street light rail station. Wilson also announced a “reshuffling” of staff and will move four staffers into “subject-matter Director” positions.
Wilson Closes Streets Near Aurora Ave: Residents and businesses in North Seattle say gun violence on Aurora Avenue has gotten worse. Police data backs it up; gun shots in the area are up. In recent weeks, neighbors installed makeshift barriers on residential streets off Aurora to prevent cars from circling the neighborhood. They staged a march last weekend. Mayor Katie Wilson responded by announcing the city would officially close the streets between 96th and 102nd.
Meanwhile, City Attorney Erika Evans announced a plan to use Extreme Risk Protection Orders to strip pimps and human traffickers of their guns even if criminal charges haven’t been filed. It’s a novel approach. These orders are usually used in domestic violence or mental health cases. But Evans said “it is a measurable strategy to get guns out of the hands of people who pose extreme risks in our communities.” The strategy would allow prosecutor intervention with a lower standard of evidence. But, to really do this, Evans needs a full-time prosecutor focused solely on gun removal, and she’s asking the city for those funds.
We’re So Cooked: Literally. Eastern Washington’s fire season will be particularly bad this year. Lower-than-usual snowpack also melted earlier than usual, exposing normally snowcovered timbered areas sooner, and drying them out. The early snowmelt also accelerates the growing season. When grasses and foliage grow earlier, they dry earlier too.
The Weather: The sun is not a devil yet. It will be soon. Friday will be nice and warm, but we shall bake throughout the weekend. A heat advisory is in effect from Sunday through Tuesday.
RIP David Hockney: The famed British artist known best for his vibrant paintings of California landscapes and a whole lot of swimming pools has died at 88.
Cops are Using Flock Cameras to Stalk Their Exes: At least 18 cops, who do not need a warrant to use the surveillance system, have been caught using Flock to stalk their partners, their exes, and their families, reports 404 media. One Florida cop looked up his ex-girlfriend’s license plate number on the Flock automated license plate reader system 69 times. He checked her mom’s plate 24 times and her dad’s plate 15 times.
Deal or No Deal? President Donald Trump says he’s close to a peace deal with Iran two days after he promised to hit Iran “hard.” Oil prices plummeted in response. Will the Strait of Hormuz finally reopen? Iran state media made it clear that Iran will maintain control of the waterway and the US will play no role in its future management. Iran also said the deal would remove the sanctions on their oil. Trump fumed about this on Truth Social on Friday: “The terms that Iran leaked out to the Fake News have NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing… Very dishonorable people to deal with. With them, there is no such thing as dealing in good faith.” So… maybe no deal?
The First Trillionaire: Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX goes public today. It’s the largest initial public offering in history, selling 555 million shares at an initial price of $135 a share. The IPO raised $75 billion for the company and put its valuation at $1.77 trillion. The stock buyers seem optimistic about SpaceX and Musk’s grandiose plans to colonize Mars, launch data centers into space, and cram AI down our throats. Forget that SpaceX lost $8.7 billion between 2025 and March 2026. The future is now! Musk’s net worth reached a trillion dollars this morning.
Good Job, Dweebs: All that location data you racked up catching Woobats and Ponytas on Pokémon Go was used to train models for military drones and robots. You can blame game maker Niantic Spatial for teaming up with defense and intelligence firm Vantor. A real “prepare for trouble and make it double” situation.
US Bans Somali Ref: US border officials barred 34-year-old Somalian referee Omar Artan from entering the country to officiate a World Cup match. The Trump administration claimed Artan had “association with suspected members of terror organizations.” FIFA did not stick up for Artan and Artan will not be refereeing the World Cup. He’s returned to Somalia. There’s a slight bright side. On Thursday, The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) announced it had selected Artan to ref August’s UEFA Super Cup, the big game that kicks off the European soccer season.
Even though FIFA and the US are evil, the World Cup persists. Take this headline for example: “Planes from Scotland running out of beer as Tartan Army arrive in US.”
Are you watching any of the games? Tell me where.
The United Nations of Fighting: While signing a memorandum of understanding to form a public-private partnership with UFC for Sunday’s White House UFC birthday bash, Secretary of State Marco Rubio likened UFC to the moon landing. “When President Kennedy announced that we were going to put a man on the moon and return him safely to the earth, no one thought that was possible, and we did it,” Rubio said. “We are a nation founded on doing what no one else dared to do, and no one else aspired to do. And at some level, that’s what this whole company, what UFC has been.”
