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
TEREN’S TAKE: It Will be Tough, But Seattle Mariners Can Right The Ship
Coming off a 1-5 homestand, the Seattle Mariners are set to embark on their most difficult stretch of season thus far.
After being swept by the Toronto Blue Jays and losing a three-game series against the New York Yankees, Seattle will play 10 straight road games from Friday through May 25. That road trip starts at 6:40 p.m. PT on Friday in Game 1 of a three-game set against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. The Mariners will follow that with a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox from May 19-21 at Rate Field, and will conclude the trip with a four-game series against the Houston Astros from May 22-25 at Minute Maid Park.
Entering Friday, the Mariners are 23-19 and have a half-game lead over the Texas Rangers in the American League West. During their 1-5 home stretch, they were outscored 36-16 and scored more than three runs just once.
On top of that, pitcher Bryce Miller joined fellow starters Logan Gilbert and George Kirby on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation.
It’s hard to have an optimistic outlook on Seattle, especially with the daunting road trip. But it’s not time to hit the panic button yet.
Firstly, the Mariners have already been here this season. They started the season 3-7 after splitting a series against the Athletics, losing a series to the Detroit Tigers and getting swept by the San Francisco Giants. Seattle ended up winning nine consecutive series for the first time since 2001 in the immediate aftermath.
“We already have experience feeling this way, kind of like nothing’s really going your way,” Julio Rodriguez said after a 3-2 loss to the Yankees on Wednesday. “But I think that this group does really well that. Just kind of finding a way, even if it’s hard. We’ve been here, we just got to continue to put one foot in front of the other and see what happens next game.”
Even if the Mariners offense doesn’t consistently return to the form they had during their series win streak, there’s hope the starting rotation can get back to the level it’s been accustomed to.
Kirby could be activated off the injured list during the road trip, and there’s optimism Miller’s stint on the IL will be minimal after he received a cortisone shot and an MRI revealed no structural damage.
Gilbert likely won’t be too far behind Kirby and Gilbert.
If the offense can weather the storm until the three make their return, then Seattle could be in a good position to go on a run for the rest of the first half. At that point, Luke Raley will likely be back in the mix from his strained oblique, and Victor Robles could be back around the All-Star break.
In the latest episode of “The Cal Raleigh Show” With Shannon Drayer, Raleigh reaffirmed the team’s mindset even with their recent struggles.
“We just got to keep hammering it home. … It’s not about reinventing the wheel, it’s not about trying to do more or trying to do something different. It’s just continuing to lean on what we’ve talked about and the identity of who we are and just trying to always, consistently be that. Especially when things aren’t going your way, or you start wavering a little bit, just always trying to go back to that identity.”
All the Mariners have to do is not fall apart. The AL West has been extremely competitive in the first quarter of the season. Every team, with the exception of the fifth-place Los Angeles Angels, has had solid stretches. A 4-6 or 5-5 road trip would be a success for Seattle. Anything else would be a bonus.
We’ll see how they respond beginning Friday. After all, they’ve been here before.
FORMER MARINERS BROADCASTER HIGHLIGHTS FORMER COLLEAGUES: Former Mariners and current New York Yankees broadcaster Dave Sims posted photos on “X” with his former co-workers after a series between the two teams. CLICK HERE
PITCHING MATCHUPS FOR SERIES BETWEEN MARINERS, PADRES: The two sides will play the first part of the Eddie Vedder Cup and the Mariners will have tough pitching matchups in front of them. CLICK HERE
J.P. CRAWFORD DAY-TO-DAY AFTER MISSING SERIES FINALE: The Mariners longest-tenured position player missed the team’s series finale against the New York Yankees on Wednesday with shoulder tightness. CLICK HERE
Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following Teren Kowatsch and Brady Farkas on “X” @Teren_Kowatsch and @RefuseToLosePod. You can subscribe to the “Refuse to Lose” podcast by clicking HERE.
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.”
-
Minneapolis, MN3 minutes agoMinneapolis City Council approves 5-month pause on data center development
-
Indianapolis, IN10 minutes agoIndiana veteran completes 250-mile march for semiquincentennial
-
Pittsburg, PA13 minutes agoHoffmann family makes very good first impression: ‘You will win in Pittsburgh’
-
Augusta, GA18 minutes ago
Nancy H. Bowers Obituary Jun 24, 2026 – Platt’s Funeral Home
-
Washington, D.C25 minutes agoWatch: Americans visit Great American State Fair in Washington DC
-
Cleveland, OH28 minutes agoU.S. Marshals arrest suspect in murder of Northeast Ohio rapper
-
Austin, TX33 minutes agoNew podcast searches for accountability after 2025 Central Texas flood
-
Alabama40 minutes agoMillions in SNAP Overpayments: Alabama and Florida Required to Submit Corrective Action Plans
