Upthegrove is talking for the timber: On day one as the brand new public lands commissioner, Dave Upthegrove made good on one in every of his marketing campaign guarantees. He introduced he’ll put a pause on logging gross sales in some old-growth forests. Conservationists are happy Upthegrove is defending dwindling and environmentally necessary mature forests. The logging trade is ruffled. Previous timber are mandatory for issues we depend on, like utility poles and engineered wooden, based on the Washington State Customary. Moreover, logging income helps faculty and county authorities budgets. So, it is difficult.
The legislature desires to decrease the authorized alcohol restrict: As soon as once more, lawmakers in Olympia have proposed a invoice to decrease the authorized blood alcohol stage for drunk driving from 0.08% to 0.05%. Over 100 international locations on the earth have a 0.05% authorized restrict or decrease. The one different US state with a restrict that low is Utah. After the restrict was lowered there, the state noticed a 20% drop in deadly crashes. The invoice’s sponsor, Sen. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, is a former Washington State Patrol officer who believes “drunk drivers have made our communities unsafe.” Lovick has tried this invoice earlier than, and at all times—thanks partly to giant hospitality trade stress—it is failed.
Burrrrrito: Winter is so right here, Seattle. Now, we merely want a snowstorm or two.
🥶CHILLY WEEKEND AHEAD🥶
Cool, dry air will overtake the area this weekend, dropping temps into the 20s at night time.
Daytime highs will proceed to be nippy, too—topping out close to 40°
— Seattle Climate Weblog (@KSeattleWeather) January 17, 2025
See?
A colder air mass will settle into western Washington over the weekend, and mixed with northerly winds, temperatures will really feel very chilly! 🧊 You should definitely bundle up and gown in layers. #WAwx pic.twitter.com/mVbwgCVcJK
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) January 16, 2025
Nonetheless no arrests in poll field blazes: Police could have decided the career of the person who set three poll containers on fireplace throughout Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, through the lead-up to the contentious election. The incendiary gadgets used within the assaults contained thermite. They haven’t any recognized suspects, however police nonetheless assume they’re on the lookout for a welder for the reason that suspect “welded the outer casings of the incendiary gadgets utilizing scrap metallic after which inserted what was possible a ‘coffee-cup-sized portion’ of thermite into every system,” based on KING5.
Dangerous time for gentle rail closures: Heads as much as any Folks’s March-goers, the sunshine rail will shut Westlake, Symphony, Pioneer Sq., Worldwide District/Chinatown, and Stadium stations from 10 pm Friday, Jan. 17 till 5 am Monday, Jan. 20. That would intrude with the members’ skill to simply get to and from the re-branded Ladies’s March which begins at Capitol Hill’s Cal Anderson Park on Saturday and ends on the Seattle Middle. I gotta think about this march taking place proper earlier than Donald Trump’s impending presidency of doom kicks off will draw lots of people. The excellent news is the sunshine rail might be again in motion in time for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day motion at Garfield Excessive College on Monday—also referred to as Inauguration Day. The unhealthy information is the sunshine rail doesn’t go wherever near Garfield Excessive College.
RIP David Lynch: The visionary director identified for creating the Americana-surrealism infused worlds of “Twin Peaks,” “Mulholland Drive,” and “Misplaced Freeway,” is useless at 78. The movie world is mourning Lynch and the lack of a creative powerhouse who nonetheless had tales to inform. I am going to spare you my eulogy so you possibly can learn what longtime-Lynch star and collaborator Kyle MacLachlan needed to say. Take it away, Coop:
Kyle Maclachlan’s tribute to David Lynch🕊️ pic.twitter.com/b74gynz6Yt
— cinesthetic. (@TheCinesthetic) January 16, 2025
Do not be too unhappy: Hearken to the Log Woman.
“You already know about demise; that it’s only a change, not an finish.” pic.twitter.com/KKSCjuVaTG
— PoorQuentyn (@PoorQuentyn) January 16, 2025
Israel safety cupboard approves cease-fire: The discussion board of senior ministers gave the cease-fire and hostage launch settlement a thumbs up. Now, the 30-minister full Israel cupboard should approve the deal. Hamas mentioned it had no extra obstacles to approving the deal. If it goes by means of, the ceasefire may lay the groundwork for the top of the 15-month struggle. First, although, the cease-fire will mandate a six-week truce, Israel will take its troops out of populated areas, Hamas will launch 33 hostages, and Israel will launch lots of of Palestinian prisoners.
The clock is ticking for Tik Tok: On Friday, the Supreme Court docket unanimously voted to uphold banning Tik Tok if Chinese language mum or dad firm, ByteDance, does not promote the app. No gross sales appear imminent, so the Tik Tok ban will take impact on Jan. 19. Nevertheless, President Joe Biden signaled he would not implement the ban that begins on his final full day in workplace, leaving it as much as Trump to resolve TikTok’s destiny on American telephones.
Oh no: A federal Texas choose dominated a lawsuit proscribing entry to abortion tablets can go ahead. The assault on mifepristone fizzled final 12 months when the US Supreme Court docket dominated unanimously that the anti-abortion activists who sued the Federal Drug Administration over the drug “didn’t have standing” to take action. Not able to let turning our nation totally into The Handmaid’s Story slip by means of their fingers, the attorneys normal of Idaho, Kansas, and Missouri have since joined the case to offer it new life. Regardless of Biden’s justice division asking for this case’s dismissal, it will possibly now proceed. A renewed assault on the capsule beneath a Trump justice division and a Trump FDA can’t imply something good.
I hope that is foreshadowing: Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship launch didn’t go swimmingly. An explosion destroyed the craft, however the ship’s booster was recovered. This marks Starship’s seventh failed launch.
BREAKING: Particles seen over the Caribbean after SpaceX’s Starship falls aside throughout take a look at flight pic.twitter.com/wVgGW2k98Z
— BNO Information (@BNONews) January 16, 2025
You deserve house greater than Elon Musk: So, look skyward this weekend. You could possibly see Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus on Saturday. When you’re actually severe about it, make a visit to the coast. In fact, cloud cowl may upend any celestial spectating.
Music in your Friday: Fairly jazzy, huh?