In your big holiday-weekend MISCmedia MAIL: The Pike Place Market’s new part, or at least part of that new part, is now open; Folklife’s last hurrah?; the White House hates rail transit and old people getting jobs; Nike’s overseas labor policies are back in the news; and gazillions of weekend activity listings.

An oh-so-Seattle-esque alt-dating site dies, due to a lack of (promised) investment. It’s on the same day that the Viaduct-replacement tunnel finally officially exists; two different outfits say they want to run a “solidarity rally” the same day as a big LGBTQ event in DC; Rep. Jayapal sez she wants more of us in college; and Titleist and Costco continue their golf-ball war.

It’s just a coincidence that there’s a computer-animated feature out now called “The Boss Baby,” and that the title role is voiced by Alec Baldwin, and that ads show the baby in a suit and tie with orange-ish hair. Really. In more deliberate occurrences, we note Daniel Ramirez’s freedom (at least for now); neighbors who want more public amenities in the expanded Convention Center; Jeff Bezos’ even greater (on paper) wealth; and the little Belltown restaurant that got big.

An Italian band was supposed to start a US tour at KEXP. Instead, it got handcuffed, interrogated, searched, and jailed by immigration cops, then shoved on a plane back. Not a happy tune. Further e-missive subjects include a war of spray-painted slogans; a “compromise” about the (really wide) new Alaskan Way; a revolution in comics distribution to match the revolution in the works themselves; and the precarious state of some sewage-eatin’ microbes.

International Women’s Day, and the call for a “Day Without a Woman” strike, have caused disunity and charges of “white privilege.” I also turn my eye to the White House’s war against Planet Earth; anti-Sikh violence a century ago and now; the city “sweeping” the homeless from a site the city had originally encouraged; and an impasse over the “levy cliff.”

A hundred and two years back, Seattle had the nation’s first citywide general strike. Now some folks want to stage another one as the next big national protest. We speak as well of Chris Hansen’s latest arena-scheme revival; legal action against Five-Hour Energy; weird eyeglasses with built-in video cams; and Seattle’s last full-time newspaper art critic leaving.

The city on Monday was a temporary paradise of whiteness and silence and joy, a sign that brighter spirits and brighter times are indeed still possible. We’ve also got the latest of our Washington’s righteous fight back against that Washington; potential good news for oil-train opponents; the Port of Seattle’s now ex-CEO defending his record; and the most epic version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” you’ll ever hear.

We finally have something to look forward to this year! (Two things, if you count the possibility of a little snow on Tuesday.) Additional topics include a local eco-activist’s part of a global effort to keep once-futuristic electronic gadgets out of dumps and landfills; the just-started and already deadlocked Legislature; how urban growth affects plant/animal evolution; and Teatro ZinZanni’s site getting sold off.

Instead of insulting and dismissing rural/suburban voters, I’ve got a better idea: reach out to them! Support the people there (and they ARE there) who’ve been struggling for freedom and equality, against entrenched social/political/economic machines. Back in newsier news, we’ve got a big-big solar farm for Eastern Washington; a one-day walkout by what we used to call “community” college faculty; and a Presidential medal for the Gateses.

Teenagers from all over the area gathered to protest the potential coming of evil unleashed. Further subjects include another threatened grocery store; a horrid crime against one of the “Deadliest Catch” guys; a temporary victory for pipeline opponents; and a potential Port of Seattle “solar farm.”

Mukilteo inventors have designed a sturdy, spherical refuge for humans in case of tsunami. Further subjects today include a really wide waterfront highway plan and its discontents; Paul Allen’s settlement over his mega-yacht’s coral-reef trashing; Amazon’s real-life bookstore quietly raising its prices (to non-“Prime” people); and an opera with only one man and one woman playing one role.

Chris Hansen now says he can build a basketball and/or hockey arena without tax $$. Other stuff today:  Google assembles its own e-tail program; more landlords kick out Section 8 tenants; a lawyer turned slam poet; and the Old Spaghetti Factory will serve its last Spumoni in December.

Could Amazon be establishing a new techie beachhead in Portland? Besides that, we view the huge Tulalip fireworks bazaar; celebrations for the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling; more trouble for prosecutor Mark Lindquist; a bigger Panama Canal’s existential threat to our seaports; and a change of heart on the Viaduct park initiative.

A “slow news” weekend ends with the the Viaduct’s surprise early reopening (unless they’d secretly planned it this way all along). Also: Creamed Cornish?; Boeing’s greatest fiscal hits and misses; the potential start of another Wash. wildfire season; and how to sneak an arena proposal past today’s City Council.

For your perusal, we have we have bigger things made of wood than have been made before; an attempt to bring back nuclear power; Portland’s “toxic moss;” Foo Fighters’ non-breakup; and a tragic update to one of the Sonics’ movers.