We wanted to pick your brains (not eat them, we swear), so we asked our Instagram followers which spots they’d avoid if zombies arrived. The answers were too good:

“Costco before Thanksgiving” —Clara

“Cal Anderson Park” —Laura Szkolar Sienkiewicz

“Any four-way stop” —Rebecca Rodgers

“Ballard Avenue on the weekend” —Joel

“Space Needle” —Kacie Rahm

And the most unique answer we got:

“The bulk cheese section at the Capitol Hill Broadway QFC” —Adrianna Ovnicek

Keep your heads up (and in one piece) out there.

We had so much fun with you all at last night’s Speed Friending event — thanks to everyone who came out. Here’s what’s coming up next:

🍸 Few things beat a tasty cocktail on a sunny day — and it’s even better when you craft it yourself! Join our absinthe-focused Crafting Libations class on May 21.  (South Lake Union)

🤗 Members! Your support makes this scrappy little newsletter possible. Now it’s time we celebrate you. Check out tomorrow’s newsletter for an invitation to our Member Wine Down event on May 31. Not a member yet? Let’s change that.

Rainier Beach High School is back in the spotlight after it was featured in a new episode of comedian Wyatt Cenac’s HBO series “Problem Areas.”

The episode focuses on inequities in our public school system and zeroes in on the South Seattle school as a place where limited budgets create tough choices that schools in wealthier areas don’t have to face.

Despite those financial constraints, Rainier Beach has been a local success story as of late. Back in 2015, The Seattle Times’ Education Lab project examined how the school’s International Baccalaureate program set new academic standards for students, driving up enrollment and graduation rates. KNKX also highlighted the initiative in an hourlong radio documentary.

But, as Cenac’s show points out, the turnaround at Rainier Beach isn’t guaranteed to continue without a sustainable funding source.

Education budgets are extremely volatile these days, and with just $2,000 in the school’s PTA account — compared to $3.5 million at Roosevelt High School in northeast Seattle — there’s not a lot of emergency funding for Rainier Beach staff and parents to draw from, if and when cuts happen.

In other news…

There’s a fine line between picking up trash at homeless camps and sanctioning their existence. In recent years, that political messiness has kept city officials from taking on major clean-up efforts, so nearby residents and nonprofits are taking matters into their own hands. (The Seattle Times)

Public genealogy databases are solving cold cases all over the country — including here in Seattle. After more than five decades, police were finally able to provide some answers to the family of a 20-year-old woman who was murdered in a Seattle Center parking garage back in 1967. (Associated Press)

The new baby giraffe at the Woodland Park Zoo is donning some new kicks. The calf, who doesn’t have a name yet, was outfitted with specially-designed shoes to help him recover from a birth abnormality that causes the rear legs to be out of alignment. (KIRO)

Want to get your weekend started early? Seattle Beer Week — which is actually 10 days, but who’s counting — begins today, and the schedule includes special tastings and parties at breweries and bars across town.

Cheers to the almost weekend, y’all. We’ll see you tomorrow. 🍻

— The Evergrey