Seattle’s LGBTQ community members say they hope that this Friday’s World Cup “Pride Match” between Egypt and Iran, two countries where homosexuality is criminalized, can be an opportunity to change minds.
Seattle, WA
Salk: Why Seattle Seahawks may get better without rebuilding
The Seattle Seahawks are not rebuilding. That has become crystal clear in the days following their roster shakeup, which began with the trades of Geno Smith and DK Metcalf.
Seattle Seahawks Offseason Tracker: Free agency, trades and more
This could have gone either way. With their starting quarterback gone and an offense that as of Monday contained legit starters at maybe four or five positions, a rebuild wouldn’t have been out of the question. They had added salary cap space and draft picks. They had a coach that had spent a year building credibility that could have helped get them through a lean year or two. There was no obvious elite franchise quarterback available.
It’s probably what I would have done.
In this alternate, hypothetical reality (in which I was in charge of the Seahawks!), I would have signed Daniel Jones to be the quarterback at something like the $14 million, one-year deal he took in Indy. He might have even taken less given a better opportunity to start and play here. I would have tried to structure it so that the team had a second-year option if he played well.
Jones would have been a likely downgrade from Geno Smith, but I’d be banking on one of two things happening. Either he becomes the next Sam Darnold, thrives in this system, and the team uses the savings to build up the rest of the roster. Or he struggles, the team loses, and then picks a quarterback in the top 10 of the NFL Draft next year.
The idea behind my plan would be to give the team multiple bites at solving the quarterback problem. It would be risky, but the goal would be to wind up with either quality quarterback play for small money or a chance at an elite franchise quarterback in the draft.
The Seahawks had a different plan. It might not have quite the same upside as mine, but it’s safer and probably smarter and easier to achieve in reality.
In trying to understand what the Seahawks have done in the past week, it has helped me to think of the two trades (and the Darnold signing) in a slightly different way.
The first trade could be viewed as Geno Smith straight up for Sam Darnold. This is, quite simply, a smart trade. The Seahawks get a similar-tiered quarterback who is seven years younger and will cost a smaller percentage of their cap than what Geno wanted to be paid.
The Seahawks may lose some accuracy and there is obvious risk in bringing in a quarterback who has only shown one year of success after lots of struggles. But that is balanced by the age, money, and locker room advantages that Darnold brings with him. I think most NFL executives and coaches would make that swap in a heartbeat.
The second trade would then work out to be DK Metcalf for a second and third-round pick (counting the pick from the Geno trade here). That would be a lot closer to the value we had hoped to see for the mercurial wide receiver and gives the team the chance to backfill the position while using at least one pick and the cash/cap savings to reallocate resources on your roster into more important positions.
Sign me up for that one too.
The Seahawks end up with the No. 6 free agent (Darnold, according to NFL Network’s Gregg Rosenthal) and save enough money to re-sign Nos. 27 (linebacker Ernest Jones) and 53 (defensive lineman Jarran Reed), sign No. 48 (pass rusher DeMarcus Lawrence), plus add receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Oh, and they still have resources left to be in the running for Cooper Kupp and are better situated to extend Charles Cross and other young players soon to outgrow their rookie contracts.
Is WA native Cooper Kupp now a fit as Seahawks WR?
Here’s what I like:
• They have a quarterback that seems to be liked by his teammates, doesn’t create much drama, and could continue to progress in his mid-career resurgence.
• They continued to invest in making the defense elite. Yes, you have a flaw to fix on the offensive line, but the quickest path to being great is to be elite somewhere and the defensive line is where they are already closest. Signing Lawrence gives them so much flexibility in the draft.
• By adding MVS (and hopefully someone like Kupp), they get wide receivers that fit their new scheme, won’t need a high volume of passes, and keep them from immediately needing to fill the position with a top draft pick. This is a weak draft if you need a top wideout – there is no reason to take a second receiver in the top 20 in three years.
• They create a roster that is more indicative of what coach Mike Macdonald wants and is relatively free of drama.
It is very possible the Seahawks could end up being a significantly better team in 2025 than they were last season. But for that to happen, we all know what is left to do:
The Seahawks need to address the interior of their offensive line. This isn’t a debate. I don’t think there is another side to this where you point at the existing players and hope that new coaches and technique fixes the problem. This needs both that and better talent.
Seattle has already watched the best free agents go elsewhere (Will Fries, Drew Dolman, Joe Thuney). The Seahawks need to upgrade either the center and/or guard position before the draft to avoid having to rely on rookies to step in and succeed immediately.
If they can do this – and I believe they still can – this will be the best free agent signing period the team has had since the Cliff Avril/Michael Bennett steal of 2013.
All that with five picks in the top 92? That is how you get better without rebuilding.
More on the Seattle Seahawks
• Schlereth: New Seahawks QB Darnold’s resurgence didn’t start last year
• Instant reaction: What WR Valdes-Scantling brings to Seahawks
• Rost: Seattle Seahawks’ free agent strategy hasn’t been a strong suit
• Which version of Sam Darnold are the Seahawks getting?
• Bump & Stacy: Why Seattle Seahawks are in a ‘retool,’ not a rebuild
SEATTLE — Seattle police are investigating a shooting that left a 17-year-old boy injured early Thursday morning in the High Point neighborhood.
At about 12:48 a.m., dispatchers received multiple reports of rapid gunfire near Sylvan Way Southwest and Southwest Morgan Street.
Officers arrived and found a 17-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound to the hip area. Medics transported the teen to Harborview Medical Center in serious but stable condition.
Before officers located the victim, they found a car that had crashed and become disabled near Sylvan Way Southwest and Delridge Way Southwest. Police said multiple suspects were seen running from the vehicle through a nearby Home Depot parking lot.
Officers cordoned off the area and searched for the suspects with assistance from the K-9 Unit, but were unable to locate them. Police recovered the vehicle and impounded it for processing.
During the incident, gunfire struck at least three vehicles and two buildings. No other injuries were reported.
Officers processed multiple nearby scenes and recovered evidence before clearing the area. Detectives with the Gun Violence Reduction Unit will lead the investigation.
Seattle, WA
Council eyes street barricades in fight against violence, sex trafficking in north Seattle
SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council is expected to vote next week on a plan that would give the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) the authority to close off street access for public safety reasons.
The proposal comes after months of outcry from residents in north Seattle who say sex traffickers and sex buyers are looping through the streets surrounding Aurora Avenue North.
The street-closure proposal passed the council’s Public Safety Committee on Tuesday and is expected to be voted on by the full council next week.
“I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say the crime has gotten much worse, much more violent, and much more predator,” said District 5 councilmember Debora Juarez. “I think that we do have the authority to shut down a street for bullets flying and endangering the lives of those who live there.”
Frustrated neighbors have installed their own homemade barricades after a spate of gun violence between sex traffickers in May.
RELATED | SDOT removes street barricades near Aurora Ave; neighbors doubtful of temporary measures
Councilmember Bob Kettle says street closures will help tamp down sex buying in certain areas, but he emphasizes it must be accompanied by an increase in outreach and enforcement.
“We have to have a sustained effort,” Kettle told KOMO News. “My concern is for every action, there’s a reaction. We need to take this flex and then really attack it … because if we do just a bit and our attention wanders, we could have this conversation three months from now and we’re talking about the same thing.”
A 15-year-old boy was shot near 95th Street and Aurora Avenue North around 10:45 p.m. last night. The teen initially claimed he had been shot while walking down the street, but investigators now say he was shot by a passenger in his car.
RELATED | Seattle police say ‘drive-by’ on Aurora Ave. was actually passenger shooting teen driver
Kettle credited the city’s Real Time Crime Center cameras with helping investigators quickly piece together the events of the shooting.
“Just as important to finding out what happened, the cameras help police determine what did not happen,” Kettle said.
According to Seattle police data, reports of shootings and shots fired in the north precinct area are at their lowest levels since 2021.
Through the end of May, there were 48 total reports of shootings or shots fired, with one fatal shooting and seven nonfatal injury shootings.
That’s down from 63 total reports of shootings and shots fired – one fatal and seven injuries – in 2025; and 64 shootings or shots fired reports – one fatal and 17 injuries – in 2024.
At Tuesday’s committee meeting, councilmembers pointed out residents are calling for a new police precinct to be built on Aurora Avenue.
Ten years ago, a new North Precinct building was slated to be built at 130th Avenue and Aurora Avenue North to replace the existing precinct building, which was decades old and did not have enough space for the department’s needs.
Led by former councilmember Kshama Sawant, the “Block the Bunker” movement successfully got the North Precinct replacement project killed in city council.
Kettle said the city’s current financial issues make it essentially impossible to bring back a project similar to the one the previous council defeated.
“We have to connect the dots back,” Kettle said. “If we want to know why we are where we are today, we have to look at decisions made over the last two councils.”
Seattle, WA
Iran and Egypt to play in Seattle ‘Pride Match’ despite earlier complaints | The Jerusalem Post
Seattle revels in its reputation as a welcoming place and Pride flags are visible all over the city, all year round. Its June Pride weekend is one of the biggest in the United States.
So, ahead of December’s World Cup draw, it was only natural that local organizers designated the June 26 match to be held in the city as a “Pride Match.”
Then the draw happened — and the two teams scheduled to play the game were Egypt and Iran.
Egypt’s Football Association urged global soccer governing body FIFA to prevent any Pride-related activities, arguing such events clashed with the Muslim-majority country’s cultural and religious values. The governing body in Iran, where same-sex relations can carry the death penalty, filed an objection with FIFA.
Some in Seattle have doubts over the teams in the ‘Pride Match’
But in Seattle, there is no question that the Pride Match will go ahead as planned.
“The World Cup is going to come and go in three weeks,” Hedda McLendon, from Seattle’s local World Cup organizing committee, told Reuters. “The Pride celebration … has happened on this weekend for 50-plus years.
“It is going to happen this weekend, it is going to happen long after the World Cup.”
Some in the city’s LGBTQ community had mixed feelings given the participants, said Jon Cairns, 49, manager of local LGBTQ+ club Kremwerk.
Cairns, however, said his own view was that it provided a platform to promote acceptance that only the world’s biggest sporting event could offer.
“My reaction is let’s have them,” he told Reuters. “International sports is one of the biggest brokers historically of social change and individual rights and freedoms worldwide, including in the U.S.”
He cited black U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens’ four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi Germany and Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ raised-fist protest in 1968 as moments where “only international sports could reach that big of an audience.”
“They’re not going to turn off the World Cup on state television in Iran or Egypt to block out a Pride flag in the audience,” Cairns said.
The Pride Match is “a host city initiative” and separate of FIFA, a spokesperson for soccer’s governing body told Reuters.
Seattle’s LGBTQ community sees an opportunity
Egypt and Iran’s involvement in the Pride Match is not the first time the World Cup has grappled with stark differences in attitudes between hosts and visitors.
In 2022 World Cup host Qatar, the emir said visitors should “respect our culture” when asked about gay people attending the tournament.
FIFA threatened yellow cards for captains wearing the “OneLove” armband, citing its rules against political slogans. Teams including England and the Netherlands that had been planning to wear the armbands to protest Qatar’s laws against same-sex relationships abandoned the plan.
For Ryan Webster, a 40-year-old lifestyle manager who was at Kremwerk the weekend before Pride, Seattle’s “Pride Match” was an opportunity to show solidarity with people in countries where their sexuality was outlawed.
“I’m choosing to believe that this is our moment to allow the members of the LGBTQ community that come from those countries to have the opportunity to celebrate themselves in totality that they might not have otherwise,” he said outside the club, which will host a watch party for Friday’s game.
Inside, ‘Venus Fengz’ lip-synced to Cher’s “Believe” before introducing fellow drag performers to the stage, clapped and cheered by a raucous crowd.
Fengz, who only wanted to provide their stage name, said Pride coinciding with the World Cup would bring increased visibility, anticipating perhaps some new audience members.
“I think it’s always great for us to be able to share space and share places with people who don’t have the same experiences as us,” they told Reuters.
“Sometimes you just have to be the bigger person and show grace where you can and know that everyone is a human learning (from) different experiences, but also it can get hard — because you’re on the shorter end of the stick, always trying to have to explain yourself around people who don’t grow up with the same worldview.”
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