… Donald King thinks that’s the wrong question. The architect and longtime Central Area resident (that’s him in the photo above giving a tour of the neighborhood) says that what he and his neighbors should be asking is how they can make gentrification work for them. We asked him what that means, and he gave us some things to think about. Check it out, and hit reply to tell us what you think.

‘That’s practically an endorsement of Nazi-punching.’ Three things just happened that put free speech front and center in our state: State democrats asked the WSU college president to disband the WSU College Republicans, Evergreen State College settled a lawsuit from a professor who was harassed on campus for his opinion, and here in Seattle, a guy punched a man wearing a Nazi armband. Columnist Danny Westneat is having none of it, and thinks we’re losing our way on a basic American right. “It’s hard to believe this column has to be written in year 241 of our national experiment,” he wrote. (The Seattle Times)

Want some plastic with that oyster? Little plastic particles are all over our shellfish, according to researchers up in British Columbia. Exactly how much plastic is floating around off their coast? “About the equivalent of emptying a salt shaker into a large moving box.” Oh, and a UW researcher found a bunch of plastic microfibers on our Puget Sound beaches. (NPR)

No more ‘starving artists.’ Rent hikes, tension with techies, and that daily struggle to get around this crowded town has some local artists worried about how to make their lives in Seattle work. Here’s a look at how a bunch of local art communities — music, theater, opera, dance, visual art, and comedy — are handling it all. (The Seattle Times)

‘It’s been a little bit overwhelming.’ One week since former mayor Ed Murray stepped down, our new mayor Tim Burgess is settling into his 71 days on the job. Kind of. While his colleagues hope he can calm things down in City Hall, he told KING 5, “I keep wondering if I’m calm myself.”  And speaking of the mayor, here’s something wild: Eli Sanders, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editor of The Stranger, is going to leave his job, work for Mayor Tim as his deputy communications director, then come back and write a story about it. “Wish me luck!” he wrote. “I’m going in.” (The Stranger)

Oktoberfest like a boss. Why is “Oktober” such a big beer month? Who knows and who cares! Here are six ways to quench that hoppy thirst this fall. (Seattle Met)

THE LITTLE BUS STOP THAT COULDN’T 🚌

A tiny bus stop in South Seattle is in the running to be named “America’s sorriest bus stop” by the transit news site StreetsBlog USA. What’s so bad about it? It’s in a sad-looking patch of grass in a lonely industrial area, for one. And King County Metro told The Seattle Times that it’s used by a grand total of zero riders per day. So… yeah. Give it some attention for a change? Voting is open through tonight.

See you tomorrow. — The Evergrey