Good morning! It’s the hottest day of the week already. Highs in the mid-80s without a cloud in the sky. So consider this your monthly reminder that street end parks are open to the public. Go find one.
Until then, let’s do the news.
Here’s What’s Getting More Expensive Tomorrow: Heads up, drivers. Both the gas tax and the toll rate on the State Route 99 tunnel are going up tomorrow. Toll rates are increasing five and ten cents for off-peak morning and peak evening hours, respectively, and the gas tax is going up six cents per gallon.
Remember the Tree Protestors? Back in May, environmentalists moved into a big ol’ fir tree to block an old forest near Port Angeles from being logged. Well, ICYMI (like we did), the protestors were forced out of the tree on the 40th night of their protest when two people began to dismantle parts of the protestors’ platform. “One activist present said the driver of the Jeep screamed death threats at him, including vowing to gut him like an animal. He and another activist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid legal consequences, said they did not know who the people were in the Jeep.”
Seattle 1, NIMBYs 0: Starting today, a new state law allows developers to build up to four homes on city lots that are zoned for single family housing. The Seattle Times reported that generally, new construction is lagging, so we’re not likely to see a huge boom in new housing immediately, but we’ll take the W.
Shooting in Idaho: A gunman set a brush fire to lure first responders to Canfield Mountain in Northern Idaho, and then shot at them when they arrived at the scene. Two firefighters were killed and one was seriously injured. The standoff lasted several hours, until authorities were able to use cellphone signals to track the shooter. He was dead when they found him.
BBB Marathon: After fighting about it all weekend, the Senate is set to vote on Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill today. There are a huge slate of amendments to consider, so it’s expected to be a long one, and it’s definitely not guaranteed to make it through. Republicans only need a simple majority, but that still means they can only afford to lose three votes. Two GOP senators have already said they won’t vote for it (including Senator Thom Tillis, who said he wouldn’t run for reelection after he announced his opposition to the bill, because that’s the sign of a healthy democracy). In case you’ve forgotten amongst all the other chaos, this bill sucks. It extends $4 trillion in tax cuts, and to pay for them, includes almost $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, defunds federal nutrition programs, and restricts trans healthcare. It’s such trash even Republicans hate it.
When ordinary Republicans understand how Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” would affect the after-tax incomes of American families, it turns out they don’t find it beautiful at all.
“I was really shocked.”
— Mother Jones (@motherjones.com) June 29, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Housing Not Handcuffs: In legislative news that doesn’t make you want to scratch your eyes out, Representative Pramila Jayapal introduced a bill that would make it illegal for federal agencies to remove homeless people from federal land if they don’t have another place to go. She introduced the bill just before the anniversary of Grants Pass v. Johnson, the Supreme Court decision that said it was constitutional to criminalize camping—which some South King County cities have really run with. Immediately after the decision, Auburn eliminated the need to offer people overnight shelter before charging them with a misdemeanor for sleeping on public land. And Burien enacted an outright ban on living outside.
Tariff Threats, Again: Trump’s back on his geopolitical nonsense. Apparently our negotiator-in-chief is sick and tired of negotiating trade deals, and he told Fox News yesterday that he’d prefer to just send every country a letter. “We made deals, but I’d rather just send them a letter, a very fair letter, saying ‘congratulations, we’re going to allow you to trade in the United States of America, you’re going to pay a 25 percent tariff, or 20 percent, or 40 or 50,'” Trump said, like someone who totally understands how trade deals work. He’s made the same threat twice before and never followed through. Let’s see if he does this time!
Gallup Figures Out What We Already Knew: A new Gallup poll found that Democrats aren’t proud to be American. Unsurprisingly, 92 percent of Republicans are “very” or “extremely” proud to be from the US, but Democrats come in at a cool 36 percent. No one asked that 36 percent what they found to be proud of.
The Fuck? Police are investigating performances by Bob Vylan and Kneecap from this weekend’s Glastonbury festival. They must’ve done something super fucked up, right? Like, sacrificed a sheep or kicked a baby or something? Bob Vylan allegedly criticized the Israel Defense Forces by chanting “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces],” and Kneecap allegedly called Israel war criminals and led a “Free Palestine” chant. Glastonbury organizers have said they were “appalled.” Both groups have a history of political, and pro-Palestine commentary, so we’re not sure what they expected? Unclutch your pearls, Glastonbury.
It’s the Last Day of Pride Month: And we had 30 days of recommendations for Big Gay Shit to do all month. But today? Today is for a big, gay nap.
