It’s Election Day: Have you voted? You have until 8 pm tonight to get your ballot into a ballot box. Don’t forget to come back to the blog this evening for our dispatches on the election parties happening around town. We’ll be crashing parties from Georgetown to Roosevelt. Arson Suspect Ar rested: Police arrested a 37-year-old Spokane man seen near the starting point of the Old Trails wildfire, one of the three fires that scorched the city over the weekend. On Saturday, a day of “particularly dangerous” fire weather, a witness reported seeing the man among the trees bent over in the grass. When he stood up, he looked nervous. After the witness left the area, they saw smoke coming from that spot and called police, who detained, questioned, and then released the man. Once the fire investigation suggested arson, police arrested him on a warrant Monday evening.  Lake Jumper: Another big bad fire is burning north of Leavenworth. The Little Giant Fire has grown to 50,000 acres and jumped Lake Chelan. Normally, lakes are natural buffers for fires.  Not under these hot, windy, and excessively dry conditions. Winds carried an ember two miles northeast over the lake, where it sparked a fire on the other shore. The Little Giant Fire has become one of the biggest priority fires in the country, reports the Seattle Times.  Down South: Oregon broke its annual wildfire record with two months left of the fire season. The Beaver State set its last record when more than 40 fires burned up two million acres in 2024. The extreme drought is fueling this terrible fire season. So are humans. According to the Oregon Department of Forestry, 60 percent of the state’s wildfires have been caused by people, “including debris burning, discarded cigarettes, equipment use, and recreational activities.” Smokey Bear wants a word with you people.  Surveil Us to Safety: In the aftermath of July’s Bite of Seattle shooting that killed three people, several venue operators and organizers of big Seattle events including—ahem—“Seafair, Climate Pledge Arena, Capitol Hill Block Party, Seattle Storm, Downtown Seattle Association, Visit Seattle, Washington State Ballpark, Seattle Convention Center, Space Needle, Seattle Sports Commission and Chihuly Garden and Glass” are asking Mayor Katie Wilson to turn on the Real Time Crime Center surveillance cameras around the Stadium District and expand the police CCTV network to the Seattle Center. Surely the panopticon will save us! Wilson’s office has said the mayor will continue “to scrutinize the use of cameras.”  In-N-Out Shooting: On Sunday, a 24-year-old man opened fire at an In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho, a little over a week after the restaurant’s grand opening. He killed three people, wounded seven others, and then killed himself. Two of the wounded, a civilian and an off-duty state trooper, “diverted” the gunman by firing on him themselves. Police believe the shooter acted alone but do not yet know his motive. A guy who knew him in college described him as “a pretty chill guy.” Pervert Heroes Save the Day: Following the teachings of Andrew Tate, a young Russian man running a sex-trafficking OnlyFans operation out of rented mansions in Bellevue manipulated barely legal women to become camgirls and made them livestream for days on end with help from a crew of young male enforcers. The people who realized the camgirls needed help were the simps jerking off to them. They did their own investigation and gave their findings to the police. The Weather: It’s hot and smoky. Wildfire smoke has tanked the quality. It will get worse as Tuesday wears on.   Blanche Nomination: The Senate will probably confirm Todd Blanche as US Attorney General today. The two Republican holdouts, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, threatened to block Blanche’s nomination over Trump’s $1.776 billion fund for his political allies “unfairly prosecuted” by Biden’s Department of Justice. Blanche announced Sunday that he’d withdrawn the order to create the slush fund, which was enough for Cornyn and Tillis to support Blanche. Idiots! Legal experts and Democrats believe the slush fund is far from dead, and it can be easily resurrected by Trump.  Some Good News: UFC owners lost $30 million putting on the Freedom 250 event on Trump’s 80th birthday at the White House. Cyclosporiasis Kills Two: The forever diarrhea-causing parasite has infected more than 11,000 and hospitalized 193 people in Michigan since May. Two people have died from the disease.  Brainstorm Sesh: “We are looking for new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran,” an officer within US Central Command’s intelligence branch wrote in a message to military analysts. The intelligence officers are crowdsourcing ideas to get Iran to make a deal with Trump. The airstrikes, which have exhausted pretty much the entire US supply of long-range missiles, must not be working. Plus, the Iran war effort. Surrendering could work, but a disastrous ground invasion of Iran or Yemen is more likely. Rubio Says Hormuz Deal Is Close: Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated the US is closing in on a deal with Iran and Oman to get more ships through the Strait of Hormuz. In related news, the oil-slingers over at BP reported $5.73 billion in quarterly profits, the second-highest quarterly earnings in the company’s history.  A Mass Funeral in Palestine: Three years ago, an Israeli airstrike leveled a residential block of Gaza City and killed more than 300 people. During this current ceasefire that took effect in October, first responders were finally able to dig through the rubble of the leveled buildings and unearth the remains of 112 people, including 40 children. Though 157 bodies are still missing, mourners held a mass funeral.  We Draw the Line at Animal Cruelty: An Israeli court blocked National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s proposal to put live crocodiles in a moat outside Ketziot, the desert prison where many Palestinian prisoners are held. The reason for the injunction? Animal welfare concerns.   “Yes, it’s legal.” A South Florida steakhouse has started a nude dining night. Come eat a steak in your birthday suit; it’s allowed! The nude dinners only happen on Mondays. They also cost extra. If you want to eat beef in the buff, it costs $250 for men, $150 for women, and $300 for couples.  The post Slog AM: Suspected Spokane Fire Arsonist Arrested, Seattle Event Organizers Want More Cameras, Israeli Prison Crocodile Moat Hits Roadblock appeared first on The Stranger. ...read more read less