Unfortunately, the following story is not a plot-outline for next weeks Law & Order or CSI. Rather it's the gruesome fate a young army couple met this weekend in Parkland, WA. Randi and Timothy Miller were shot in their home this weekend and then doused in muriatic acid, in hopes that the evidence of their killing would be destroyed. The suspect, Spc. Ivette Gonzalez Davila, also kidnapped the couple's young child, Cassidy. Davila was......

As an alumnus of Centralia Community College (out of boredom, we took a Latin class there one fall) and former southwest Washington resident, we've been following the flooding thataway with interest. A friend of ours just passed along two emails from K. in Centralia, and they can't be beat for a you-are-there feel that balances some of the apocalyptic news coverage -- let's face it, if nothing terrible happened to you, you aren't news. On......

Once upon a time Seattlest considered North Aurora to be a shithole, to be avoided at all costs. But, eventually, we had to go to Home Depot and a used car lot, and that car rack store, and (doh) the unemployment office, and the movie theater, and IHOP and the European deli and Computer Stop and Chubby & Tubby (so far not Stupid Prices, though) and Kmart, Burgermaster, the cemetery and a hundred other tiny......

Considering this is Pride Weekend, you've got a bevy of options for live music in between bouts of sodomy, muff-diving, tina-using, and/or trips to Home Depot. -Seattle Men's Chorus explores the complex love-hate relationship between God and the gays in Scared Faithless at McCaw Hall. Friday-Saturday // 8pm // 321 Mercer St // $15-$57 -The Wildrose (and dragtastic Ursula Android and Jackie Hell) hosts their annual all-weekend party, with approximately nine million performances by......

Urban mythology loves The _____ Guy. Seattle's got The Link Guy and used to have those motorcycle / thrash guitar guys although both seem to be in either remission or retirement. Seattlest just received via email the second mention of The Duct Tape Guy that we've come across recently. I was in Home Depot a couple of weeks ago when I saw him, the guy with the duct tape mask. He walked up to one......

Last night we were standing on our back porch-like thing (which is actually more related, in terms of dimensions, to a hallway except instead of a bathroom at the end of it there's a Weber) in Wallingford. It was raining and we were drinking a can of beer and wondering where all the T-storms and hail were. Never showed, Double Doppler. And we thought back on some of the heavy weather that did show up......

Wednesday, November 15 >>>UW iSchool at Kane Hall, 7:00-9:00pm. "Voices in an Empty Room: Five Apologies for the Narrative": Children's author Richard Peck discusses his writing and teaching careers, and his experiences with the kids today. He'll read from On The Wings Of Heroes, his new novel about a World War II childhood. Free with RSVP. Kane Hall, Rm. 220. >>>Third Place Books, 7:00pm. We saw this book talk about adoptive parents and thought......

If Governor Gregoire had her way, United 93 would have been in theaters September 12th. Just a few months after a car ran over their their dog Franz, and weeks after they sent Dean Logan to a farm near Los Angeles where he can run and frolic with other election officials, the first family acquired a new pet. Gregoire and her husband Mike bought a Japanese Shiba named Trooper this week. The First Family said......

In which Seattlest contributors divulge their weekend plans and disclose their favorite things to BBQ. Friday afternoon means it's time for the MADCAP Hill Farmer's Market at Madison and 20th, 3pm - 7pm, so MvB is off to find ingredients for his mad scientist smoothies. Saturday at 4pm The Real Dirt On Farmer John plays at the NW Film Forum (free if you RSVP). MvB grew up on a farm, and you'd think he'd be......

Are you ready for a brand new state legislative session?…We can't hear you! We said, are you mo-fos ready for a new state legislative session? Wow, that was even quieter than the first time. Well, regardless of your enthusiasm, the 2006 Washington State Legislative Session is underway. Sunday's Seattle Times provided its readers with a crash course on the session. The Stranger also published their own overview, and explained why this session may be tamer......

Seattlest has long been vexed by the disappearance of hardware because we own a toolbelt and we need to keep a certain supply of nails in the pouch or it won’t jingle satisfactorily as we walk about, assessing DIY projects around the home. 2001 marked the local hardware store odyssey, when gruff, snippy, "no-piercings-no-service" City People’s Mercantile left 15th Avenue. The Fred Meyer’s on Broadway used to have a hit-or-miss selection, but that’s gone, too.......

Seattle used to be a company town, and the company was Boeing. Nowadays you could argue that Starbucks and Microsoft co-own this place. Call us a heretic, but we use a Mac and don't drink coffee. Before you run us out of town, check out Delocator. It's a funny/serious website created by an arts group called Finishing School. Delocator takes the Locator from the Starbucks website--where you input your zip code and get back......

Our own Alex lives on another week after a relatively unimpressive showing on The Apprentice. This week, the challenge was for each team to create an in-store "how-to clinic" at Home Depot. (Home Depot, by the way, is all over the reality TV product placement this season, what with their superbarge on Survivor a couple of weeks ago.) Alex bummed us out by doing a lot of behind-the-back squawking about his team leader's decision......

After a week of stellar performance followed by almost total disappearance a week later, Seattle's reality-TV contestants are back flying under the radar. On The Apprentice, Seattle's Alex was a pleasant presence in the background--think wallpaper--as his Magna Corp "book-smart" team absorbed two "street-smart" players and pulled out a win. The teams had to convince mid-level musical celebrities to donate prize packages to an AIDS charity auction. Imagine uncomfortable scenario after uncomfortable scenario--Moby being......