#BeerStrong

We are all Czechs: A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the beer-loving Czech Republic, where drought has devastated the 2015 hop harvest.

Responding to the emergency, Ireland has agreed to host up to 10,000 displaced Czech beer drinkers at its pubs. The U.S. may follow suit, as soon as the State Department figures out how to prevent the Czechs from accidentally being served Bud Light Lime.

This monkey chow was processed in a facility that may contain tree nuts: A sea otter named Mishka at the Seattle Aquarium has been diagnosed with asthma and is being trained to use an inhaler.

Because we’re talking about Seattle here, The Buzz predicts a rash of peanut- and gluten-allergy diagnoses at the Woodland Park Zoo, followed by a ban on peanut butter sandwiches.

Big blue: IkeaEA has begin work on a new 406,000-square-foot store that will replace its current outlet in Renton.

The retail giant says the new store will offer what it calls a “more current layout,” which The Buzz presumes to mean Ikea has developed new ways for shoppers to become hopelessly lost.

— Mark Carlson, Herald staff

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