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
Seattle Seahawks: Why Brock Huard says 'Draft Kelvin Banks'
It’s unclear whether Texas offensive tackle/guard Kelvin Banks Jr. will still be available for the Seattle Seahawks when it comes time for the No. 18 overall pick in next week’s NFL Draft.
A surprise player who could fall to Seahawks at No. 18
But if he’s still on the board, former NFL quarterback Brock Huard has a simple three-word message for the Seahawks.
“Draft Kelvin Banks,” Huard said during his draft profile Wednesday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.
Huard certainly isn’t the only one who shares that viewpoint. During an appearance on Brock and Salk last week, ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller was asked which offensive lineman the Seahawks should take if Banks, North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel and Alabama guard Tyler Booker are each still an option at No. 18.
“I’d want Kelvin Banks,” Miller said. “He’s my No. 8 overall player, so that’s easy. I would run to the podium. … I think Kelvin Banks could be an All-Pro guard if you want to put him at left guard. He’s 6-foot-5. He’s got a big wingspan. He’s great in the run game. Has mobility in the pass game.
“If you could put him at guard next to a good tackle? Man, you could have something really special.”
A highly accomplished lineman
The 6-foot-5, 315-pound Banks started 42 games at left tackle over a highly accomplished three-year career at Texas. Along the way, he allowed just four sacks in 1,544 pass-blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
As an 18-year-old true freshman in 2022, Banks earned second-team All-Big 12 honors. In 2023, he was a first-team All-Big 12 selection. And as a 20-year-old this past season, he was a first-team All-American who won the Lombardi Award as the nation’s top offensive lineman. In addition, he won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s top lineman on either side of the line of scrimmage this past fall.
And as Huard pointed out, he’s still incredibly young for all he’s accomplished.
“He’s not reached his ceiling,” Huard said. “To think he’s gonna come into this league as a 21-year-old with 42 starts at an All-American level, and do so as a 21-year-old, with that movement, that athleticism? You’re gonna get the best of Kelvin for the next three, four, five years.”
‘Best-case scenario’
While Banks played left tackle at Texas, some think he’s better-suited to slide inside to guard in the NFL. That versatility would benefit the Seahawks by giving them added flexibility as they work to revamp their struggling O-line.
The big question, of course, is whether Banks makes it down to No. 18.
ESPN’s Field Yates predicts the San Francisco 49ers to draft him at No. 11 in his latest mock draft. Miller ranks him as the eighth-best overall prospect, but projects in his latest mock draft that he’ll fall all the way to the Green Bay Packers at No. 23.
Huard certainly hopes the latter scenario plays out. Along with left tackle Charles Cross and right tackle Abraham Lucas, Banks could potentially give the Seahawks a formidable trio up front.
“The best-case scenario?” Huard said. “Charles Cross, you play left tackle. Abe, you play right tackle. Or maybe Abe, you slide in and play right guard and (Banks) plays right tackle. I’ve got athlete, I’ve got athlete, I’ve got athlete. I’ve got stud, I’ve got stud, I’ve got stud.
“I’ve got clay that I’ve not had to mold on the offensive line in a long, long time in Seattle. Draft Kelvin Banks.”
Listen to the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
Seattle Seahawks news and analysis
• Seahawks GM: What Lock’s return means for QB room, draft plans
• Brock: Free agents Seattle Seahawks could turn to after the draft
• Seahawks Draft Targets: Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer on his top prospects
• A dream trade-up target for Seattle Seahawks in NFL Draft
• Brock on Seahawks Draft: A Seattle native with big O-line upside
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.”
-
Health17 minutes agoDoes Berberine Aid Weight Loss? The Best Time To Take It To Boost Results
-
Lifestyle32 minutes agoJohn Cena wanted to step away from the WWE ring before he became ‘too slow for the show’ : Wild Card with Rachel Martin
-
Technology44 minutes agoHere’s a bunch of Prime Day deals on keyboards, mice, and other peripherals we like
-
World47 minutes agoIsrael slams UN report as ‘political blood libel’ for alleging deliberate targeting of Palestinian children
-
Politics52 minutes agoBiden judge rejects Trump’s sanctuary cities lawsuit, says even a win wouldn’t solve DOJ’s problem
-
Health59 minutes agoLatest COVID vaccine may have unexpected health benefit, study suggests
-
Sports1 hour agoHow to watch USA vs Turkey: Live stream the 2026 FIFA World Cup
-
Technology1 hour agoBionic hands are now teaching robots to feel
