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Valet Parking App, a Pot Convention Starts Today & More

The top Seattle news stories you should be reading today

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There are only a few hours left to donate to the Exploding Kittens card game Kickstarter created by Elan Lee, Shane Small and Seattle cartoonist and founder of The Oatmeal comics Matthew Inman. The 56-card game is dubbed as a “highly strategic, kitty-powered version of Russian Roulette,” in which players try to avoid drawing an exploding kitten card. Drawing an exploding kitten card means you explode and “if you explode, you die and you’re out of the game.” So far the Exploding Kittens Kickstarter has about 198,000 backers and is $2 million shy of its goal.

Do we have a war on cars in Seattle? Whatever side you’ve taken in this debate, I think we can all agree that finding parking is more challenging at times than the math portion on the SATs (at least for me). A possible solution to our parking woes is this on-demand valet parking app from San Francisco-based Zirx. King 5 reports the app works similar to Uber in that “the user pulls up the app on their smart phone and pinpoints a location where a Zirx employee will meet you in minutes. Drivers, or agents, park the car in one of multiple garages partnered with the company. They are designed to be within a few minutes of the pick-up location. Users also have the option to pay for agents fill up the gas tank or get a car wash.” Zirx is getting its feet wet in South Lake Union and has certain operation times that you can check here. Download Zirx here.

Facebook is more than doubling its Seattle presence with the announcement of its relocation to an office tower on Dexter Avenue N. The social network employees will get to work in an office building designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, The Puget Sound Business Journal reports. Gehry “will design the feel and flow of the conference rooms, the outdoor decks, the full kitchen and the work spaces.” Lucky ducks. Look for the big move to happen in early 2016.

A home-and-garden-style show for marijuana? Yes. We have that. CannaCon is an open-to-the-public pot convention that begins this morning and runs through Saturday at Pier 91’s Smith Cove Event Center. It’s $10 to get in and while there will be plenty of exhibits for retailers, pot growers and processors, it’s a smoke-free event.

Last night, a crowd of about 100 people gathered in Westlake Park to protest the police shooting death of Antonio Zambrano-Montes, a homeless man from Pasco, Washington, who police said had been throwing rocks at cars and officers. (Reports had originally expected about 400 protestors to the area.) Three officers have been placed on leave since the shooting and a Latino organization has sent a letter to the Department of Justice urging an investigation. Kiro Radio’s Jason Rantz asks “Why exactly is a Latino group getting involved? Is it because the victim is Mexican-American?” Pasco is a city with a large Hispanic population; 56 percent according to NBC News, so it’s a likelihood you’ll encounter someone who is Hispanic. Is the Pasco shooting becoming a race issue? Read more of Rantz’s thoughts on the issue here.

 

Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards 

Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards 

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

YOUR VOTE MATTERS Everyone has a favorite restaurant, coffee shop, or local boutique. Call me old-school, but I will die on the hill that Caffe Vita has the best coffee in town. Disagree with me? Now’s your moment to speak up. Each year, we survey Seattle magazine readers, asking them to weigh in on everything…

Studio Sessions: Ling Chun

Studio Sessions: Ling Chun

The Seattle-based artist brings playful color to ceramics and neon while exploring memory, transformation, and life between cultures.

For Ling Chun, creating begins with something sensed before it can be named. Working with clay, glass, light, and sometimes synthetic hair, the Hong Kong-born artist gives physical form to things that words cannot always hold. “For me, the magnitude of making goes far beyond the object that is eventually produced,” Chun says. “The object…

The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever

The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever

PAX West draws more than 100,000 people to Seattle each year. Co-founder Jerry Holkins reflects on what the gaming convention set out to change, how its community has grown and why gathering face to face still matters.

Access to game news as it was happening was difficult back in the day. Even with the advent of the internet, communication between game publishers and journalists was still a very elite affair.  I used to fake credentials—via fax machine!—to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo, mostly just known as E3. It was simultaneously as loud…

Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026

Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026

Navigate Seattle’s wildest end-of-summer weekend with 20 picks spanning Death Cab for Cutie, Blood Orange, wrestling, skateboarding and—obviously—movies made in 48 hours.

Four years after Bumbershoot returned with its quirkiness revivified, Seattleites broadly acknowledge the two-day multimedia extravaganza as a welcome finale to the summer festival season. Fests like Bumbershoot are designed around a choose-your-own-adventure model, but if you’re the kind of person who looked at this year’s sprawling lineup—featuring multiple bands, artists, and exhibits happening at…