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.

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.

Art installation juxtaposes items of the ancient and recent past; AI art banned from Dungeons & Dragons; reiterating why Bartell’s is really shrinking; what Seattle can learn from Cleveland (really!).

Forgotten ‘90s band’s unreleased album, released; Native American homeless shelter to become King County parking lot; chain-owned commercial museum closes; awaiting a verdict on Manuel Ellis’ killers.

‘Ghosts of Belltown’ group show opens new art space; ‘Jewish Voices for Peace’ mach closes University Bridge; city drug-treatment program already near capacity; could the feds order Starbucks to reopen unionized-then-closed stores?

Film, memories, and the ex-Cinerama’s reopening; Inslee’s big budget proposal includes $$ for opioid treatment and encampment sweeps; Boeing wants workers back in the office; Microsoft says bots can get past those ‘prove you’re human’ tests.

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.

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.

Shaun Scott book tells Seattle history via Seattle sports history; Burien allows a ‘pallet shelter’ after all (with restrictions); Amazon’s got its own AI chat bot ‘for business;’ Broadway’s ex-cinema pharmacy RIP.

Local TV legend Steve Pool dies; UW football finishes an imperfectly-perfect regular season; evictions on the rise after pandemic protections end; pro-ceasefire protesters show up at Westlake Xmas-tree ceremony.

Are taprooms ‘the new coffee houses’?; Sam Altman’s back at OpenAI (so he’s not going to Microsoft); anti-Israel slogans tagged on Mercer Island synagogue’s walls; Pac-12 football’s demise draws near.

Business-backed candidates leading City Council races in early returns; protester fights back against extremist provocateur Jonathan Choe; another installation art space closing; two new Pike/Pine nightclubs opening.