The Ins & Outs for the coming year of imperative action (and, we hope, some fun along the way).

A big weekend in these parts; more GOP Legislative priorities; Sawant bashes mainstream Dems one last time; will higher King Co. arts funding save local arts orgs?

City removes BLM Garden at Cal Anderson Park; delivery co. leaves Seattle rather than heed new labor laws; AI data centers use a helluva lotta water for cooling; the state won’t get new ferry boats for a long time.

Local sociologist says AI’s just an extension of human nature; five conservative state initiatives’ signatures are sent in; Starbucks, Amazon unions ‘are in limbo;’ fewer Seattle residents than (almost) ever are from here.

Shaun Scott book recounts the age-old sports/politics interface; more reaction to acquittals in Manny Ellis’ killing; the complicated truth behind that ‘nightmare tenant’ story; what Boxing Day means to me.

Frustration after not-guilty verdicts to Tacoma officers in Manny Ellis’ death; Seattle Children’s won’t rat on trans patients to Texas authorities; state tells for-profit ICE jail to pay detainee workers; city ‘safe RV lot’ finally opening.

Local young geneticist turned shoegaze singer; a big (non-musical) ‘metal shredder’ proposed for Bellingham; more threats against synagogues; Biden admin vows to preserve old-growth forests here and elsewhere.

Molbak’s garden store in Woodinville, no longer part of a new development, will now no longer exist; award-winning Junebaby restaurant closing; state ferries’ boss quitting; what’s left of ‘the left’ in Seattle?

HBO doc on the theft of a historic bonsai tree in Federal Way; Sound Transit CEO quits after 16 months; Tacoma officers’ lawyer claims Manny Ellis caused his own death; Zulily claims it was murdered by Amazon.

Local Jews hold Hanukkah rally for a Gaza ceasefire; some of the new year’s new laws; Boeing may get its first female CEO (just not yet); SCOTUS upholds WA ban on anti-LGBTQ ‘conversion therapy.’

Etailer Zulily’s final days; Denny Blaine Park won’t be de-nuded for a kiddie playground; Starbucks wants to talk to unions again (under certain conditions); UW QB Michael Penix Jr. doesn’t get the Heisman Trophy.

Black-owned theater co. hopes to reincarnate; Seattle e-tail outfit Zulily rumored to be closing; pro-Palestinian protest shuts down UW admin building for hours; the ‘color of the year’ and its discontents.

UW prof on how every version of a song becomes its own work; rain/flood effects continue; SPOG head bashes police accountability agency; King County Council warns of ‘dire’ budget cuts ahead.

Heavy, warm rains bring floods, landslides, and stuck vehicles; many hospitals require masks again; WA population keeps getting bigger & older; Microsoft employees must return to the office or lose their desks.

Can ‘Boys in the Boat’ movie spur UW applications?; some already disappointed in Legislative session that hasn’t started; bad early reviews for Amazon chatbot; Bezos’ yacht has to dock with oil tankers.