The Roundup: What If I Don't Want to Say No to the Blue Angels?

From the Editor

What's up, South End?

Summer is in full swing, and that means a Seattle summertime staple is underway. It's time for Seafair — and the city feels divided.

I'm here to tell y'all straight up: I'm a hypocrite. I'm not a fan of war, I don't agree with supporting foreign wars, I wish my tax dollars didn't support bloodshed — but there is no way I can take a stance against Seafair.

Every year, people submit op-eds to the Emerald that are anti-Seafair. People hate the militarism of the Blue Angels, they hate the noise pollution, they hate the damage the planes and boats do to the environment. All valid reasons, and I typically publish these op-eds.

This year, I've decided to pivot and instead talk about what Seafair means to me. A South End kid.

When I was young, I looked forward to Seafair. (My friends and I thought Seafair was only the Weekend Festival and the Torchlight Parade.) I have a lot of fond memories of those days. When I was a day camper at Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club, they took us to Seafair every summer and we got rides on the backs of Jet Skis — the only times in my life that I've been on a Jet Ski. They took us on board the hydroplanes. We ate lunch with Blue Angels whizzing overhead, with no idea that they were war machines. To us, they signified summer.

This year, I received the annual anti-Seafair op-ed from Glen Milner. I declined to publish the op-ed, but I asked Milner if he would be open to an interview.

Milner lives in Lake Forest Park. He grew up in Seattle (born in 1951, just after Seafair got started), and he fondly remembers the early days of parades and the milk carton derby at Green Lake. He lost love for the event when it became militarized in the early 2000s.

"It's disgusting, and may be the largest military recruitment tool on the West Coast," he said.

Milner has been protesting the event for over two decades. He's part of Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, a group dedicated to a world without nuclear weapons. He assisted Airshow Climate Action coalition with securing the billboard in the South End that reads, "SAY NO TO BLUE ANGELS."

Milner didn't say anything in our conversation that I disagree with. I care about the climate. I know how terrible it is for people who escaped war zones to have to see — and hear — warplanes swoosh through the sky.

But, I just can't put two and two together. I don't see Seafair as a method to get me to join the military — and I never have. I see Seafair as a nostalgic slice of my childhood, with hydroplane races, a nighttime parade, a place where pirates and clowns dazzle crowds.

I'm curious if any other Seattleites feel conflicted like I do? If you have thoughts, send me an email.

The Roundup Rundown

COLUMN | Masked Men Are Detaining People. When Will Washington's Leaders Protect Us?

In her latest, Emerald columnist Lilly Ana Fowler tackles a tough topic: the stories flooding all of our news feeds of masked men detaining people in public.

A quick scroll through the comments the article has garnered on Emerald socials shows how touchy the subject can be. But wherever you stand on immigration, I think we can all agree that unidentified, ununiformed, masked groups of men snatching people off the streets is not ok.

Lilly did a ton of reporting here, and she got quotes from Gov. Bob Ferguson, Mayor Bruce Harrell, the Seattle Police Department, and both local and national nonprofits.

Read Lilly's full report on what is being done, and what should be done, about masked ICE agents detaining people.

How Indigenous Youth Transformed a Community Project Into an Act of 'Rematriation' in Rainier Beach

I love a good Rainier Beach story. This article by Emerald contributor and semi-retired substitute teacher Mark Epstein covers two beloved nonprofits and a group of kids coming together for a really cool project.

The yəhaw̓ Indigenous Creatives Collective and Sawhorse Revolution worked together with South End youth on a design project. Both groups focus on food sovereignty and assumed the youth would build a shed for garden tools. But the youth thought bigger.

The resulting project was a rematriation welcoming center, designed and built by the youth — with the help of some expert adults.

Read all about the project, and learn what a rematriation welcoming center is, here.

Editors' Note: This article was updated on July 28, 2025, to clarify the position of the Airshow Climate Action coalition.

Mike Davis is the newsletter editor and Voices editor at the South Seattle Emerald. Born and raised in Seattle's South End, Mike is a longtime journalist who's covered everything from arts and culture to sports to politics.