Girmay Zahilay Sworn In: King County has a new boss for the first time in 16 years. As Staff Writer Nathalie Graham reported yesterday, not only is he the youngest ever King County Executive, he’s also the first immigrant to lead the county. During his speech, Zahilay said his priorities include “addressing homelessness, addiction, and incarceration; expanding housing, child care, transit, and infrastructure; making King County government more visible, connected, and community-driven; delivering a government that is more transparent, efficient, and accountable.”

I Hate Pete Hegseth: Last week, six Democratic lawmakers who once served in the military or intelligence community released a video telling troops that they don’t have to follow illegal orders. “Threats to our Constitution” are coming “from right here at home,” they said in the video, and “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law, or our Constitution.” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is pissed. He has referred to the participants as the “Seditious Six,” and CNN is reporting that he is considering punishments for participant Sen. Mark Kelly specifically, “that range from reducing the retired US Navy captain’s rank and pension to prosecuting him under military law.” That sounds like something a dictator-loving bootlicker would do, Pete!

Well, Looky Here: Our very own editor in chief, Hannah Murphy Winter, is in the Guardian this morning. The newspaper partnered with The Stranger for a piece about Mayor-elect Katie Wilson and how her years of organizing experience helped her win the mayoral election. (Despite Mayor Harrell’s multi-million dollar attempts to paint Wilson as an inexperienced, gasp, mother.) Read it in the Guardian! Or read it in The Stranger, too. Read it in both places, actually. Support indie journalism. Every click deposits $1 directly into all of our bank accounts. Cha-ching!

The El Rey Is Saved: Remember back in March when Common Area Maintenance was working to save the historic El Rey building in Belltown in hopes of turning into artist-focused affordable housing? Good news! CAM bought it! For a whopping $20.

 

 

Washington State Sues Trump: Our very own (very handsome) Attorney General Nick Brown is leading a multistate lawsuit in response to the Trump administration’s new homelessness funding restrictions, the Seattle Times reports. A policy shift could deny $120 million in annual homelessness funding for Washington State, and, Brown said, “tens of thousands of people would likely have nowhere to live.” This is the 45th lawsuit filed by Brown against the Trump administration—the AG office has a tracker here. Get ‘em, Brown. More on this from Staff Writer Micah Yip later today!

Speaking of Pacific Northwest States Suing the Trump Administration: Yesterday, our besties at Portland Mercury reported that Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield and district attorneys from Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington Counties sent a joint letter to the US Department of Justice demanding that they “immediately halt unlawful and reckless actions by federal officers operating in Oregon.” The letter went on to say, “Any such investigations revealing criminal conduct by individual federal officers will be referred to the district attorney to evaluate for prosecution.” A US DOJ spokesperson confirmed they received the letter, but declined to comment. Get ‘em, Oregon.

 

Oregon's Attorney General and Portland area DAs just told the feds they'll prosecute excessive force by federal agents in the state—citing evidence from the trial that shut down Trump's National Guard plan for Portland.

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— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) November 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM

 

Deadly Fire Destroys Hong Kong High-Rises: At least 13 people are dead, including one firefighter, after a fire tore through several high-rise apartment buildings in Hong Kong. The New York Times says the towers, known as Wang Fuk Court, include about 2,000 apartments, and were sheathed in bamboo scaffolding. Firefighters have not been able to access many parts of the buildings due to the high temperatures and falling debris, and it’s not clear how many people may have gotten trapped inside.

A Grifter Grifts: Elon Musk’s Tesla tunnel in Nashville is a total disaster. The excavating company working on the Boring Company’s Music City Loop walked off the job Monday after “months of safety and financial issues with Musk’s company.” Willie Shane, leader of the crew hired to dig the nine-mile tunnel, told the Nashville Banner: “We were really skeptical from the beginning, and then since then, things pretty much just went downhill.”

Park Prices Soar: Starting January 1, foreign tourists visiting National Parks will be charged a $100 “America First” surcharge. The NYT says that’s “three to five times the typical entry fee for US residents.” Of course, US tourism is already down. This probably won’t help the fact that, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council, “the United States was the only one of 184 countries projected to have a decline in international visitor spending.” The Trump administration is full of geniuses.

Zahid Chaudhry Could Be Home by Thanksgiving: The Army veteran and husband of former Congressional candidate Melissa Chaudhry has been detained by ICE since August despite the fact that he’s a legal permanent resident. And because he suffers from thyroid eye disease and hasn’t had treatment while detained, his vision is deteriorating. He may be released as soon as this week, but it may be too late to save his eyesight. Stranger contributor Carolyn Bick has more here.

How ‘Bout Them Epstein Files? On Monday, the US Justice Department “renewed its request to unseal grand jury transcripts from Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking cases,” according to the AP. The Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed last week, requires that the Justice Department” release Epstein-related files in a searchable and downloadable format by December 19.”

BOOOOOOOO: Cowards.

 

JUST IN: The historic Georgia election interference case against President Trump and allies for their efforts to overturn the 2020 election is no more.

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— NPR (@npr.org) November 26, 2025 at 8:25 AM

 

In Other “President Attempts a Coup” News: Yesterday, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro began his 27-year prison sentence “for attempting to overthrow Brazil’s democracy following his 2022 election defeat.” Can’t we have a liiiiiittle justice for Trump attempting to dismantle democracy? As a treat?

We’ve Got Crabs: An invasive species of European green crabs, specifically. They’re “one of the world’s most harmful marine species,” and researchers say they’re in the Salish Sea. According to the Seattle Times, Tulalip Tribes also reported “detection of a green crab in the southern Whidbey Basin at Mission Beach” earlier this year. They “damage bed sediments, leading to the loss of eelgrass, an essential habitat for Dungeness crab and Pacific salmon.” Get outta here, crabbies!

By Now We All Know Thanksgiving Is a Bullshit Holiday: But food is delicious. I hope you and yours get to have as much pie and potatoes as you can physically fit in your body.