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EPA Rollback Could Bring Dirtier Air To Black Communities

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a decision to delay or adjust stricter diesel emission standards, a move the agency projects will save the trucking industry billions. However, public health advocates contend that this rollback disproportionately harms Black communities, who are already overexposed to traffic-related pollution near freight corridors due to historical inequities.

We Expect More From Jay-Z. Why Not BET?

Journalist Julienne Louis-Anderson highlights a perceived inconsistency in public scrutiny, contrasting the lack of political discourse at the recent BET Awards with the intense criticism directed at Jay-Z for his collaboration with Target, a retailer that faced a Black consumer boycott over its revocation of DEI policies.

Saving Black Mothers Starts Outside The Hospital

A recent Word In Black livestream event convened experts, including Dr. Kaytura Felix and Tamara Mason, to address the disproportionately high maternal mortality rates among Black women. The panel concluded that systemic issues, rather than biological factors, drive these disparities, advocating for community-based solutions such as expanded midwifery care, mental health support, and financial stability initiatives.

The Growing Cost Of Homelessness

San Francisco residents and hotel owners have initiated legal action against the city, alleging the Tenderloin district has been permitted to become a containment zone for rampant illegal drug use and other illicit activities. This development coincides with analyses, such as that by author David W. Marshall, which link the modern homelessness crisis to policy shifts under the Reagan administration, including significant reductions in affordable housing funding and social safety-net programs.

SGN Endorsements Kelabe Tewolde (Washington State Legislative District 37 Position 1)

Our endorsement for the 37th Legislative District Position 1 is Kelabe Tewolde! Tewolde has a life's experience and working-class politics that are as rooted in the 37th as they come. Looking to challenge incumbent Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, Tewolde offers a boldly progressive and grassroots alternative for the district. Tewolde is another younger, progressive challenger looking to replace a 28-year incumbent and shake up the status quo in Olympia. Raised in Seattle by an Eritrean refugee single mother, Te

DOOM LOOP: Gettin' Stuff Done!

Counclimembers share their ideas for the mayor's Transit Measure.

The Roundup: Black Panthers Had It Right — Feed All Kids

In this week's edition of The Roundup, Mike Davis talks to Councilmember Dionne Foster and Mayor Katie Wilson about free meals for schoolchildren.

Street Cheese Goes for (Dairy) Gold

Courtney Johnson brings championship cheesemongering to Beacon Hill.

Indigenous Violence Survivors See Fewer Services After Federal Cuts

Nolan’s Odyssey is a modern trek of ancient majesty

Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer, The Dark Knight) achieves something monumental and magnificent with his robust, stridently adrenalized adaptation of Homer’s eighth-century BCE epic poem The Odyssey. In this modern interpretation that still pays exhilarating homage to old-school sword-and-sandal classics like Jason and the Argonauts and Ben-Hur, the writer-director uses a mixture of gritty realism and unabashed melodramatic excess to bring his saga to life. The film’s three-hour running time vanishes in the

Michael Gerard Stegmann, April 28, 1961–July 11, 2026

Michael Gerard Stegmann died in Seattle on July 11, 2026, following a head injury, surrounded by his family and close friends. He was 65. Mike grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona, and graduated from Saguaro High School in 1979. He moved to Seattle in 1987 and made the city his home for the rest of his life. For decades, Mike worked as a waiter in some of Seattle's best-loved restaurants, including The Surrogate Hostess, Café Septieme (in both Belltown and Capitol Hill), St. Cloud's, and Redwing Cafe. He was love

Cyclospora: Public Health – Seattle King County issues update

Public Health – Seattle & King County issued the following information July 16 about a national outbreak of Cyclospora, aka explosive diarrhea: