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Ballard’s homelessness quadrupled last year, and anger is spilling over

The wave of homelessness is overwhelming charity workers and frustrating many neighbors, who are increasingly vocal about needing a hard-edged approach to policing. Our story of the crisis that’s testing traditionally liberal Ballard is part of coverage published for the Seattle Day of Homelessness in a collaboration by four local newsrooms. Above, a man moves his possessions across the Burke-Gilman Trail in Ballard. The city gave people a deadline to vacate an encampment, so they took their belongings to the other side of the trail.

 

Need to know

Russian spy intrigue with a local connection: The 2013 photo of the Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation’s Alan Gottlieb might look like any snapshot from a networking dinner. Except this photo was taken in Moscow. And it includes Maria Butina, a Russian accused of brazenly using sex and deception to infiltrate U.S. political networks. With America’s gun-rights community under a spotlight, Gottlieb says their interactions were “totally aboveboard.” Butina is jailed in D.C. after prosecutors painted a tangled tale in which one Russian official with shadowy connections exclaims: “You’re a daredevil girl!”

Seattle-area residents are stepping up to help separated immigrant families. When Betsy Hale of Seattle took in a woman from El Salvador who had been separated from her 9-year-old son, “The harsh reality was right there, staring me in the face.” Washington state has more than 50 immigrants who were detained and separated from their families, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project says, and two have been reunited with their children.

Washington voters, your ballot is on its way, and you’ll notice something different: a return envelope with prepaid postage. Making that happen wasn’t as simple as it might seem. You also may see more women on that ballot than ever before. There’s time to register to vote in the Aug. 7 primary election, but you’ll have to sign up in person. Here’s how, and here are the endorsements of The Seattle Times editorial board.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency yesterday, marking the unofficial start to a Northwest wildfire season that’s expected to be worse than normal, with a tractor operator dying in a blaze that burned 70 square miles near The Dalles. Near Spokane Valley, most of the 700 homeowners evacuated Tuesday were able to return home. Other western states, including Californiaand Colorado, have struggled with massive blazes on land gripped by drought.

 

Throwback Thursday

For sale: brick apartment building, dirt cheap. Must pick it up. Movers used oak rollers and 18- by-20-inch beams to pull this four-unit building along Seattle’s East 43rd Street in 1958. Houses cruising around on flatbed trucks and barges were a common sight in the late 1950s and early ’60s in the Puget Sound area. Can you figure out why? See if you’re right, and check out more surreal images and video.

 

What we’re talking about

Boeing is in a “race to crush the costs” to stay competitive as it moves toward building its next new plane, dubbed the 797. And one cost-driven scenario could mean a big win for the local workforce. Catch up on more aerospace news as reporter Dominic Gates covers the Farnborough Air Show.

Will downtown Seattle cyclists get a full network of protected lanes by the end of next year? That’s what a City Council majority wants. But the area is snarled up in a monster construction boom, with more big projects on the way,so the city Department of Transportation isn’t sure that plan is wise. See where the lanes would go.

“Every one of these planes has changed history.” About 60 detailers are hard at work reverently preserving aircraft at the Museum of Flight, including the first Air Force One and a World War II-era Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Armed with spray bottles and 3,000 microfiber towels, they find the work so meaningful that one master detailer bestows kisses on the planes. The photos are great.

When two rescue divers rose from the muddy waters in a Thailand cave, the boys huddled there “weren’t sure if it was for real … I was shocked,” one 14-year-old said. When they first became trapped, another boy recalled, “I was afraid I wouldn’t get to go home and my mom would scold me.” They’re finally back home, talking about their experience and honoring the diver who died trying to save them. Almost erases the bitter taste after Elon Musk called another rescue diver a pedophile (he’s apologized).

 

Worth a read

Uh oh. It was a bad idea for Amazon to use a “dwarf-tossing” sketch to illustrate a newly patented warehouse-robotics system, says Little People of America, which represents people with dwarfism.

The Mariners reached the All-Star break on pace to make the playoffs — thanks to a serendipitous stew of better-than-expected pitching, one-run wins, timely hitting, the dominance of Edwin Diaz, the consistency of Jean Segura and Mitch Haniger, and a little luck. Here’s Seattle’s report card at the semester break.

Weekend highlights: The annual Bite of Seattle is back. Here are the deals to look out for, plus an outdoor movie (with snacks) to check out during the festival. You can also head to the Seafair Indian Days Pow Wow, hosted by the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation at Discovery Park.

Another throwback: This year marks the 45th anniversary of Seattle’s P-Patch program, one of the oldest in the nation. Gardening expert Ciscoe Morris writes about how it started, and its impact throughout the city.

 

Editorial/opinion

Democrat Rodney Tom has often found himself in the middle. Now voters in the 48th Legislative District should send him back to the state Senate so he can drag a divided Legislature back to the middle, writes The Seattle Times editorial board.

 

Today’s weather

Clouds, sun, and positively refreshing. High 73. Low 56. Sunrise 5:31. Sunset 8:59.

 

Today in history

In 1949, an Air Transport Associates C-46 airliner crashes in Georgetown shortly after takeoff from Boeing Field, killing two passengers and five people on the ground, destroying seven homes and injuring 39 people. The plane carries 28 military passengers and four crew. Those killed on the ground are in a rooming house at 961 Harney St. Investigators trace the accident to the use of wrong fuel.

 

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