‘Mario’ games you’ve probably never seen; state tries to speed up vaccination pace; ‘Twin Peaks’ Roadhouse might close for good; Nikkita Oliver to teach Seattle U law students about ‘abolition.’

Two Bells demolished three years after it closed; SPOG head Mike Solan refuses to quit; activists claim the FBI had a role in suppressing local summer protests; a post-COVID national recession could make homelessness a whole lot worse.

Local reactions to the DC coup attempt (plus a smaller break-in at the Governor’s Mansion in Oly); UW expert on predicting the pandemic’s decline; Teresa Mosqueda won’t run for mayor; one of the last 747s is being sold as parts on eBay.

Remembering past women’s-rights leaders; WA’s got the nation’s 3rd lowest COVID rate (though WA GOP apparently wants to make it worse); regional cooperation on homelessness goes awry; can Seattle get real police oversight?

Our 35th (Yes!) annual list of trends that will soar and decline over the coming 365.

Year-in-review punditry galore; dumped logs temporarily disable a ferry dock; a third COVID vaccine’s in local testing; a right-wing militia plans to ‘occupy’ the state capitol when the next legislature opens.

Seven Gables Theater movie memories; the local COVID curve’s still ‘flattening’ for now; Seahawks clinch division title; ‘excessive force’ lawsuit against the SPD could cost the city $600,000 or more.

Cal Anderson Park encampment swept, 21 protesters arrested; ‘J.P. Patches’ costar Bob Newman dies; some restaurant workers say they don’t necessarily want to go back to indoor-dining work yet; the ‘Twin Peaks’ connection to tonight’s planetary conjunction.

Views of an empty Microsoft campus (except for construction crews); the state passes 200,000 COVID cases; the first vaccine doses are on the way; another shooting at another right-wing Olympia protest.

A quiet, (very) socially distanced holiday time; COVID cases cancel a UW football game (and maybe the rest of the season); 45 percent of state’s restaurants could fold within a year; new push for NW light rail.

Inslee keeps restaurants, bars, etc. closed three more weeks (restaurant industry assn. doesn’t like it); Seattle School Supt. Denise Juneau won’t ask for another contract; big-biz group wants city’s big-biz payroll tax tossed out.

Woodland Park Zoo’s new walk-thru light show; where most new COVID infections occur in King County; Amazon Web Services has a big outage in the east; a street sign honors a late local Black theater producer.

‘Cascadia’ group wants four big, all-new cities; City Council passes budget with some SPD cuts; a massive (but multi-day) state COVID case count; an appropriate Christmas carol for this ‘bleak” year.

Big new book captures old local metal bands; Seahawks’ stadium has its fourth name (but only one ‘name sponsor’); SPD budget to be cut but not ‘defunded;’ West Seattle Bridge to be fixed (but it won’t be quick).

A bizarre concept for an imagined futuristic high-rise; 737 MAX is approved to fly again; state budget forecast improves; state officials really want you to stay home for Thanksgiving.