Gird for Gridlock: Freeways are so dumb. Unfortunately, we are stuck in a world where we rely on them. And, in this world, they are old and broken and need a whole lot of fixing. This weekend will kick off 30 days of the northbound lanes on I-5 to repave the Ship Canal Bridge. That’s only the first stage of the project, though. This 30-day closure only fixes a 900-foot-long section. To tackle more construction necessities, the bridge will be closed occasionally for construction until 2027. According to the Seattle Times, the freeway will be closed starting at “the I-90 junction to Northeast 45th Street, from 11:59 p.m. Friday, July 18, until 5 a.m. Monday, July 21.” Maybe think twice about those out of town trips this weekend. Or, take a bus or train.
Colbert Canceled: Stephen Colbert announced at The Late Show Thursday that CBS will end his show in May. He will not be replaced, the Late Show will simply end. The decision came suspiciously soon after Colbert criticized Paramount Global, CBS’s parent company, for coughing up $16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump who alleged election interference over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, Paramount Global is also in the middle of seeking “Federal Communications Commission approval to merge with Skydance Media, a $8.4 billion agreement,” NPR reports. It is not a sign of a democracy’s health when the late night comedy shows start being muzzled.
Speaking of NPR, Media Muzzling, and Healthy Democracies: The spineless ghouls known as the House Republicans officially approved Trump’s $9 billion funding cut proposal. The cuts mean an end to $8 billion in foreign aid funding and $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS. This will be especially devastating for rural NPR stations that rely heavily on federal funds.
The Weather: We are leaving the scorchers behind for now. Today and this weekend temperatures will only flirt with the low and mid-70s.
Did we all see this? A Coldplay concert seemingly outed an affair between the CEO of a company called Astronomy and the head of HR. The two got caught on the Jumbotron and, instead of playing it cool, they reacted in the most guilty way. The internet has had its fun with this story. When rich philanderers get their comeuppance, it feels like punching up. But there is something to be said about this moment and the internet doxing of regular people. Ruining people’s lives has become a game made easier with facial recognition tools and AI. Adding a layer of grossness to this dystopia, cryptocurrency gambling site Polymarket has bets up about whether the CEO will lose his job. 404 Media has more.
a software ceo got caught in 4k on the jumbotron with the company’s chief people officer at a coldplay concert
— Brian Floyd (@brianmfloyd.bsky.social) July 17, 2025 at 5:14 AM
The Pinnacle of Good Health: A doctor diagnosed Trump, who is 79 years old, with chronic venous insufficiency, a typical illness in elder folk. As one of the elderly, Trump has been experiencing swelling in his legs thanks to the valves in his blood not working properly to fight against gravity. Could the weird bruises on the back of his hands covered up with the wrong shade of concealer be part of the same problem? No, you idiot, obviously those are workplace injuries born of “frequent handshaking,” as press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
The Epstein of It All: I can’t even keep up with this Jeffrey Epstein business. Piecing together recent updates, it seems the Wall Street Journal published a letter from Trump to Epstein for the latter’s birthday album. The letter bears Trump’s name and includes the outline of a hand drawn naked woman around the text. It ends with “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.” The Journal described the contents of the letter, but didn’t publish it. Trump promised legal action, saying “These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures.” Meanwhile, caving a bit to outcry from his own base, Trump asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of the grand jury statement in the Epstein prosecution. That’s a small bone to throw for people obsessed with secret pedophiles who want to sift through all the investigation materials.
I believe Don Jr. that his dad has never sent him a handwritten birthday card.
— Molly Knight (@mollyknight.bsky.social) July 18, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Big Dumps Only for Cal Raleigh: Cal Raleigh, the major league baseball home run leader known to fans as Big Dumper for his sizable backside, just signed an advertising deal with HoneyBucket. The port-a-potty company. Way to lean in, Cal.
Trash Talk: If your garbage is rotting on the curb, waiting for somebody to pick it up, blame Republic Services. The company is fighting its union on contract improvements, and over 2,000 Republic Services workers nationwide are striking. In Western Washington, Republic services a mess of towns across the region. You may need to take the trash out—like, to a dump—yourself unless the company gets its priorities straight.
City Councils Chooses Moore Replacement Finalists: Council member Cathy Moore resigned. Her seat opened up. The City Council will appoint one of six finalists they selected for the job. It will probably be former City Council president Debora Juarez, whose ideology aligns with the majority of the current council. Even though Juarez is basically a sure thing, the other finalists include: James Bourey, who led the Office for Planning in the 1980s, Katy Haim, employee at the Office of Planning and Community Development, Nilu Jenks, the political director for rankchoice voting advocacy group FairVote Washington, Julie Kang, Seattle University’s director of professional education and faculty, and Robert Wilson, a Navy veteran and senior manager at Amazon.
ICYMI: Thousands of Bruce Harrell employees do not want their boss to win re-election. PROTEC17, the union representing more than 3,000 city workers, endorsed Katie Wilson. Hannah Murphy Winter has more here.
In Their Own Backyard: The Denver Museum of Nature and Science found a partial fossil underneath its own parking lot.
Please help look for Blewett: Capitol Hill, keep your eyes peeled for this beloved cat!
ATTN CAPITOL HILL! Blewett, famous porch sitter of 14th (you’ll often see him with his brother Snoqualmie), is missing. Check your basements and laundry rooms, where he has been known to frequent!
— Sydney Brownstone (@sydbrownstone.bsky.social) July 17, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Now, a moment of grief and legacy from Charles Mudede after the passing of Stranger family member Bradley Sweek.
Bradley Sweek’s last day in time is now known: July 17, 2025. He was born in 1961. He was raised in Portland. His political condensation was accelerated, as I understand, in Olympia. He was an artist with a first-rate visual mind, an impeccable human being, and the husband of Gillian Anderson, the former copyeditor of The Stranger. In fact, for reasons that are obvious, I know his wife better than him. But some time in 2011, he approached me out of the blue and talked me into not only visiting Oriental Mart in Pike Place Market, but also writing about it. The Philippines, I learned as we ate at the mart, was in Sweek’s blood. He knew not only what to order but the history of each dish.There is, for sure, nothing we can do about death. But we can recognize and celebrate, while we are in time, while we are not among the shades, those who were once here and spent their time here becoming a real human being. Such was Sweek.
A song for your Friday: Light, ethereal. May it ease you through whatever is to come.
