Good morning, Seattle. It's National Get Funky Day, which seems ambitious for a Monday.

✈️ This day in history: On Oct. 5, 1931, pilots Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon Jr. completed the first nonstop flight from Japan to the U.S. — belly-landing their plane in Wenatchee after crossing the Pacific, per HistoryLink.

⛅ Today's weather: Partly sunny, with a high of 66.

Today’s newsletter is 902 words — a 3.5-minute read.

University of Washington researchers are closing in on a vaccine that could help prevent fentanyl overdoses by teaching the immune system to stop the drug before it reaches the brain.

Why it matters: Washington has been hit hard by the fentanyl crisis in recent years. And though overdose deaths involving the drug have fallen since 2023, they remain well above pre-pandemic levels.

• The sheer potency of fentanyl makes it especially dangerous — even a small amount can suppress breathing enough to cause a fatal overdose.

The latest: The UW's Pravetoni Research Group is preparing to ask the Food and Drug Administration for permission to begin testing their fentanyl vaccine in human trials, a major step after years of laboratory development, per OPB.

How it works: Because opioid molecules like fentanyl are so small, our immune systems don't notice them in time to create protective antibodies before they reach the brain.

• To help the brain spot fentanyl, UW researchers created a harmless lookalike — "a copycat molecule" attached to a much larger protein the immune system already detects, chemist Courtney Marecki told OPB.
• This trains the immune system to make antibodies that recognize fentanyl.
• So when the real drug later enters the bloodstream, those antibodies can latch onto it, creating a bundle too big to slip into the brain.

Plus: Early research in preliminary animal trials suggest those manufactured antibodies can reduce cravings and dependency by stopping fentanyl from producing its usual effects in the brain.

• Researchers say vaccine protection can last up to a year.

Yes, but: UW scientists don't see the vaccine as a cure-all for addiction.

• Lab director Marco Pravetoni told OPB he hopes the vaccine could be used alongside medication-assisted treatments including buprenorphine and methadone, as well as behavioral health care.
• Pravetoni also understands most people with substance-use disorder use more than one drug at a time. That's why his team is also working on a vaccine that tackles multiple substances, too.

What's next: The UW research team's oxycodone vaccine is already in human trials, and its heroin vaccine recently got approval to begin them. The fentanyl vaccine still faces years of human testing and development before it could win final approval.

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🚔 Seattle wants more than 900 police officers to repay a combined $13 million after a payroll error inflated retroactive raises, with some officers owing $10,000–$20,000. (KOMO)

🏛️ Texts from U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal show she privately questioned Mayor Wilson's handling of the Bite of Seattle shooting response, writing to Gov. Ferguson that night, "I'm not confident she knows what she is doing." (KING 5)

🏗️ Seattle software engineer-turned-contractor built a free AI tool to help navigate the region's patchwork of building permit rules. (GeekWire)

🎓 Seattle University dropped an optional admissions essay about equity, inclusion and belonging, joining a growing number of colleges — including the University of Washington — that have removed diversity-related prompts. (KUOW)

🐶 A 119-pound Bernese Mountain Dog named Pickle is turning heads around Seattle riding shotgun — goggles and all — in her owner's cargo e-bike. (Seattle Refined)

Pierce County is about to get trolled.

What's happening: Danish artist Thomas Dambo's "Trolls: A Field Study" opens Oct. 15, with eight of the 7- to 9-foot sculptures at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park and four at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium.

• Built largely from reclaimed wood, including fallen branches, scrap wood, pallets and twigs, they'll hide among the parks' forests and wildlife habitats through Jan. 24.
• One will even hang out in Northwest Trek's free-roaming area alongside bison, elk, moose and other wildlife.

Zoom out: Dambo has scattered more than 180 of his whimsical recycled-material trolls around the world.

• Six of them are in Ballard, West Seattle, Issaquah, Bainbridge Island, Vashon Island and Portland.

What's next: The Tacoma and Eatonville parks are also planning dog-friendly troll hunts, Halloween events and chances to see some of the giants after dark.

Tell a friend

The Seahawks are 3-1 after beating the Los Angeles Chargers 30-23 Sunday at Lumen Field.

State of play: Both Sam Darnold and Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert threw interceptions on their teams' first offensive plays, the first time that's happened since at least 1978, per ESPN Research and Elias Sports.

The bottom line: Darnold recovered to throw two touchdowns as Seattle built a 30-13 lead by late in the third quarter, then held off a Chargers comeback.

• Emanuel Wilson scored twice and Rashid Shaheed broke loose for a 28-yard touchdown run.

🍝 Melissa is making spaghetti sauce and freezing it.

🥣 Clarridge is marveling at the soup-transforming powers of an onion, celery, carrot mirepoix.

This newsletter was edited by Geoff Ziezulewicz.