Washington bivalves are on a slippery slope.
Washington bivalves are on a slippery slope. ian600f/ Getty Images

Amazon moves first jobs to Phoenix: So maybe Phoenix wasn’t all talk when it said it was in talks with Amazon about moving jobs there. Amazon is moving a team of 130 people who support and coordinate delivery drivers to Phoenix. The starting salaries there “start at about 75 percent of Seattle’s minimum wage,” writes the Seattle Times. A spokesperson for Amazon said the move was unrelated to the head tax.

Opioid crisis hits Seattle mussel population: These Roman-documented aphrodisiacs may get all the necessary juices flowing but they’re packing a bit more of a punch these days. That’s because Puget Sound mussels “are testing positive for a slew of contaminants and personal care products, including opioids,” writes KING5. I like that sentence because it sort of sounds like opioids are a personal care product. I suppose you can make an argument that they are. Specifically, Oxycodone was found in the oysters. It was only found in three of the 18 sets of mussels examined and a human would have to eat 150 pounds of those mussels to get a minimal dose. Good. We’ve established how inefficient it is to try to get high off of mussels.

Harvey Weinstein turns himself in: He has been arrested and “charged with rape, a criminal sex act, sex abuse and sexual misconduct for encounters with two women, according to a statement from the NYPD,” reports The Hollywood Reporter. Earlier in the week, the NYPD launched an investigative probe into allegations against Weinstein. He is expected to be charged specifically for assaulting actress Lucia Evans who says Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. He will post $1 million bail and wear an electric monitor.


Who will be Seattle’s next police chief? Three finalists are expected to be named today. Mayor Durkan started the search to fill the position earlier this year when Katherine O’Toole stepped down. The Interim Police Chief, Carmen Best, is one of five people being considered for the job. No one knows who the other four candidates are. The announcement about who made it to the top three will occur at 2:30 p.m. today.

This one is fucked up: A homeless man was likely crushed to death. His name was Jay F. Parker. His body was found among the garbage of the Cascade Recycling Center in the sorting area. Parker had been homeless for two years. It’s unclear when exactly he died but there was no foul play involved, says the medical examiner.

A road guide for Memorial Day Weekend: The Washington State Department of Transportation is expecting pretty normal traffic levels on I-5 north and south during the weekend. There will be a spike in northbound traffic on Monday. Really the freeway you have to worry about is I-90. Peak time for traffic today is 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. That’s good news for me. I’m going camping this weekend and am packing up and shipping out just as soon as I write this. There’s no way I’m going to make the 8 a.m. departure time that I agreed upon with my friend.

A weather guide for Memorial Day weekend: Check out that forecast!



Talk about defensive driving: Thoughts and prayers.


Construction inflation a threat to light rail: Sound Transit might hurry along the process of selecting bidders for the Northgate-Lynwood extension of the light rail. The $1.1 billion in federal funds has not been awarded yet. If they don’t nail down a deal this summer, the company will face financial risks in the fall. The main risk is more inflation. “Transit-board members voted unanimously Thursday to establish a $3.2 billion budget and a tentative opening date of July 17, 2024,” reports the Seattle Times.

Oh no: There are reports of an active shooter at an Indiana middle school. Authorities have detained the suspect. Two victims are heading to the hospital.

Schrödinger's North Korea summit : Is it dead? Is it alive? Trump says the U.S. is talking to North Korea again after canceling the summit. “Everyone plays games,” Trump said. He said yesterday the meeting wouldn’t take place but is now saying, hey, maybe. This comes after North Korea issued a placating response.

Russia formally accused of shooting down Malaysia Airlines passenger jet: The 298 people on the plane were killed when it was shot down by a missile as it flew over rebel-held Ukraine. Investigators determined Thursday that the missile came from Russia.This is obviously being vehemently rejected by Russia. Australia and the Netherlands say Russia violated international law. Out of the dead, there were 193 Dutch nationals and 27 Australians killed.

New York train rider charged with a hate crime: This fucking asshole, Edward Ruggiero, from Long Island unleashed a litany of vitriolic comments at a 25-year-old black woman. He told her to shut up and that she was a “loudmouthed monkey.” If convicted, Ruggiero could face a year in jail. Watch the video. Warning: it’s awful.

Rachel Dolezal accused of welfare fraud: Ah, Rachel. We’re familiar with her. You remember, she was a former NAACP member who was outed as not black. She’s a white woman who identifies as black. Dolezal “illegally received $8,747 in food assistance and $100 in child care assistance from August 2015 through November 2017.” She has been charged with “ theft by welfare fraud, perjury and false verification for public assistance,” according to KHQ-TV in Spokane.

Facebook wants your nudes: In an attempt to stop revenge porn, Facebook is asking users to send their nude photos so Facebook can block them if someone else shares them. The pilot program is being conducted in Australia.

Fun fact for your Friday: In the entire state of Wyoming there are only two escalators.

It's a long weekend, which means there's more time to check out entertainment options like: The Northwest Folklife Festival, the Seattle International Film Festival, and the Sasquatch! Music Festival.