Former Expedia CEO Peter Kern leaves board | Steve Ballmer brings facts to The Daily Show

The CEO of Starbucks is no regular Joe. And coffee is no regular business in Seattle. So a photo of the new boss holding a giant cup of coffee got us buzzing this week, and we had to know Brian Niccol’s go-to order — especially at a time when Starbucks is facing criticism for its overly complicated menu. Read more. 

Tech Moves: Former Expedia CEO Peter Kern left the company’s board; RealSelf has a new CEO; PATH hires an AI chief; and more key personnel changes. 

SkyKick acquired: The Seattle-based cloud infrastructure company sold to Tampa, Fla.-based IT management firm ConnectWise. Read more.

• Stay updated on the latest acquisition deals across the Pacific Northwest with our M&A tracker.

A collection of Paul Allen’s stuff, including vintage computers, historic letters, space-related artifacts and more fetched $10 million at auction Tuesday in one of three Christie’s sales featuring items owned by the Microsoft co-founder.

• Check back this week with GeekWire to see how we did in our bid to outbid others on a piece of Paul Allen history.

Steve Ballmer brought the facts — the USAFacts — to “The Daily Show” in a deep dive with host Jon Stewart on government policy and efficacy, and data’s place in helping Americans sort through all the political noise. Read more.

Schools are closed in the Highline district south of Seattle for a third straight day after a cyberattack impacted systems used to manage transportation, attendance, emergency communications and other functions. Read more.

Mariners Day: We’re excited to welcome the Seattle community to our sold-out annual summer rooftop party later today at Slalom’s new headquarters in Pioneer Square. Here’s what to know if you’re going.

Hot Links:

• "Acquired," the hit podcast that started in Seattle, hosted an arena show in San Francisco with Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Spotify’s Daniel Ek, and others. (LinkedIn)

• Amazon is starting to open more Fresh grocery stores, but many locations still remain vacant. (CNBC)

• T-Mobile conducted its first wireless emergency alert via Starlink satellite technology. (T-Mobile)