There's just one week left to declare your love in the February issue of The Stranger! 

All month long we've been collecting hundreds of Valentine's Day messages from readers, and we're going to cram them all into our Love and Sex issue, which will hit stands on February 5.

So far we've received messages for "Huckleberry," "Sweet Pisces Boy," "Space Mate," "Cuddle Kitten," "Boner Monkey," "Slurpee," "Bubbarooni," "Bananaboy," "Chocobo," "Cool Bean," "Wormy," and so many more. Have you submitted your FREE Valentine yet?

Under normal conditions, there’s a standard order of operations for trans people updating their identity documents.

It begins with securing a court order to legally change their name, and then presenting it, and a handful of other identifying documents, in this order to the Social Security Administration for a new Social Security Card, state Department of Licensing for a new license, the State Department for a new passport, and a Department of Health or Biostatistics to correct a birth certificate.

Today, Seattle’s self-described Northwest Emo band Puppy Feet premiere the first two singles from their upcoming full-length. Am I writing about these songs because of the band name? Of course I am. It was the name that grabbed my attention: Puppy Feet. Cute. Disarmingly sweet. Sometimes, they smell like Fritos. And as artists continue to wade through the backwash of decent (or at least interesting) band names, it's rare to see a name that inspires confidence. Puppy Feet stood out in my inbox just enough to make me click and hope for a sweet escape. 

It's the first long weekend of the year, and we've got plenty of suggestions for how to spend it, with events from an LA Fire Relief Fundraiser concert to Wild Powwers, Prids, and Blood Lemon, plus opportunities to celebrate MLK Day like the Northwest African American Museum's King Day 2025 and United Way of King County's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. For more ideas, check out our guide to the top events of the week.

FRIDAY

LIVE MUSIC

Den Tapes Winter Jam: Prim, Pitschouse, and Fine Arts
It's the second half of January, which means it's the time of year that I put my pajamas on at 5 pm and hide indoors with my cat on Friday nights. However, I would like to challenge myself (and you!) to emerge from our mid-winter slumps to see some live music at least once before the end of the month. Local music label Den Tapes is providing a great excuse to get bundled up and trek to Ballard: its annual Winter Jam features a worthy lineup from their roster. Get ready for Prim's '90s-inspired college rock, Pitschouse's gentle dream pop, and Fine Arts' reflective psych-rock to boost your serotonin levels. Don't forget to bring cash so that you can take some tapes back home to your depression cave. AUDREY VANN
(Tractor Tavern, Ballard, $12)

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Upthegrove is speaking for the trees: On day one as the new public lands commissioner, Dave Upthegrove made good on one of his campaign promises. He announced he'll put a pause on logging sales in some old-growth forests. Conservationists are pleased Upthegrove is protecting dwindling and environmentally important mature forests. The logging industry is ruffled. Old trees are necessary for things we rely on, like utility poles and engineered wood, according to the Washington State Standard. Additionally, logging revenue supports school and county government budgets. So, it's complicated. 

The legislature wants to lower the legal alcohol limit: Once again, lawmakers in Olympia have proposed a bill to lower the legal blood alcohol level for drunk driving from 0.08% to 0.05%. Over 100 countries in the world have a 0.05% legal limit or lower. The only other US state with a limit that low is Utah. After the limit was lowered there, the state saw a 20% drop in fatal crashes. The bill's sponsor, Sen. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, is a former Washington State Patrol officer who believes "drunk drivers have made our communities unsafe." Lovick has tried this bill before, and always—thanks partly to large hospitality industry pressure—it's failed. 

Last week, the Department of Justice added six large landlords to an ongoing antitrust lawsuit, alleging that they used software to illegally fix rents by sharing pricing information among competitors. The property management companies collectively control 1.3 million units across the United States, and two of them—Greystar and Cushman & Wakefield—have sizable holdings here in Seattle.

Landlords that use software like RealPage’s YieldStar to set rents control at least a third of all apartment buildings in Seattle with more than 10 units. Their campaign donations helped install a landlord-friendly mayor and build the city council majority that delayed the vote on funding social housing and hopes to roll back renter protections.  

Yesterday, in his farewell address to the nation, President Joe Biden warned Americans about the “oligarchy” of the ultra-wealthy taking shape in the country and the “potential rise of a tech-industrial complex” that is infringing on the future of democracy. 

Needless to say, he was clearly nodding to the entrenchment of tech CEOs like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg into the rising Trump administration. And that part of his speech made me want to talk about Joe Rogan.

Let me explain. Usually, there aren’t enough Nerds Gummy Clusters in the world to bribe me into watching The Joe Rogan Experience. Maybe it’s my aversion to vitamin supplements, maybe it’s the nausea I get when I’m mansplained too much blatant misinformation. Or maybe I just don’t like MMA enough. But this weekend, for the first time ever, I watched an episode from start to finish. 

Genre-bending trio Khruangbin brings their A La Sala tour to Seattle this May. Seattle son Perfume Genius has announced his seventh studio album Glory and will play a hometown show at The Showbox. Plus, Coheed and Cambria & Taking Back Sunday will take over Chateau Ste. Michelle on a September Sunday.

ON SALE FRIDAY, JANUARY 17

MUSIC

Amaria
Neumos (Tues Mar 25)

American Football - 25th Anniversary LP1 Shows
Neptune Theatre (Thurs May 22)
Second date added

Blondshell
The Showbox (Tues June 3)

on a cap hill dance floor in mid-december

i spilled a slushy on you that night. you kissed me anyway. i found the book you recommended in a free library today. hope i can catch your eye again

Pink hat, orange plaid jacket, rose colored glasses

Saw you riding the streetcar Saturday night, maybe having an argument with someone? I love your style. Where do you shop?

Pedro Gomez, the former Director of External Affairs under Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has been accused of rape in the second degree, according to a police incident report obtained by The Stranger. Gomez, who abruptly resigned from his position last week, is now under scrutiny as the King County Prosecutor's Office Special Assault Unit reviews the allegations.

The allegation stems from an encounter between Gomez and Cheryl Delostrinos on June 18, 2024, when the two met for a planned business meeting over drinks near City Hall. According to a police report, the evening ended at a Lake Union apartment where Delostrinos later woke up, disoriented and intoxicated. She allegedly found herself in bed with Gomez performing a non-consensual sex act on her. News of the police report was first reported in the Northwest Asian Weekly.

In an exclusive interview with The Stranger, Delostrinos recounted the events of June 18 involving Gomez, her conflict as an abolitionist grappling with the criminal justice system, and her urgent call for accountability.

Back to Bobness: Bob Ferguson issued three executive orders on his first day as governor. The first directed the Department of Health to gather experts, doctors, and policymakers and come up with a plan to strengthen our strong reproductive health laws. The second told state agencies to examine, streamline, defer, or eliminate various regulations on housing, permitting and new construction. The third directs the state to speed up the permitting process and will refund application fees when the state misses deadlines. The Seattle Times reports Ferguson reiterated his three top priorities during his inauguration speech, which are housing affordability, universal free lunch, and public safety.

Not for you: After growing the power and size of the state attorney general’s office for 12 years, Ferguson wants to take away tens of millions of dollars from the office to cover the state’s budget gap. New Attorney General Nick Brown says that would directly impact the office’s ability to take on civil rights and antitrust cases. As AG, Ferguson aggressively fought the Trump administration. With Trump coming into office with more power, and serious threats of mass deportation, it seems counterintuitive to dull the state’s best defensive weapon. Republicans liked what they heard in Ferguson's inaugural speech. Ferguson didn’t mention climate once and said he wasn’t there to “defend government. I’m here to reform it.”

Governor Ferguson’s Inaugural Ball tonight is hosted by the Chamber of Commerce; with a swearing-in speech that made no mention of taxing the rich to fund services we all use, many Washingtonians may wonder whether his economic agenda is as well.

— Shaun Scott 🌹🤝 (@eyesonthestorm) January 15, 2025

To the woman at self-checkout at Safeway who threw my basket down: Have some fucking patience. 

You see me just finishing up checking out my things, I finish paying, I grab my receipt, I have yet to grab my items, and you push my basket ON THE GROUND? You couldn't wait 10 seconds for me to step away to have your turn at the self-checkout? You just HAD to checkout while I'm still there? Fuck you. I wanted to push your stuff on the ground so bad. 

WEDNESDAY 1/15  

Farewell to 1403

(FILM) The historic, volunteer-run Grand Illusion Cinema is bidding farewell to its current location. When the lease ends in February, the theater will close its doors at 1403 Northeast 50th Street and relocate, potentially staying within the U District. That means this month's screenings are your last chance to catch a flick in the beloved space. Drop by for a mix of classics and cult flicks throughout January, like Carl Dreyer's Vampyr, Ghost in the Shell, Harold and Maude, Cinema Paradiso, and the anti-patriarchal jubilee Daisies. The pick for Wednesday, January 15, is John Frankenheimer's Seconds in 16mm. (Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St, 7:30 pm, $9–$12) LINDSAY COSTELLO