Its official: Your relationship with Jesus Christ does not give you the right to deny gay couples flowers for their weddings.
It's official: Your "relationship with Jesus Christ" does not give you the right to deny gay couples flowers for their weddings. James Yamasaki

Flowers! They're for Gay Weddings, Too, Obviously: "A florist in Washington state who refused to provide flowers to a gay couple for their wedding violated state consumer protection and anti-discrimination law," the AP reports, citing yesterday's ruling from Benton County Superior Court judge Alex Ekstrom. The case was brought by the ACLU of Washington and Washington attorney general Bob Ferguson, who said in a statement, "The law is clear: If you choose to provide a service to couples of the opposite sex, you must provide the same service to same-sex couples."

Council Member Clark Isn't Running for Reelection, so Let the Conspiracy Theories Begin: As Heidi reported yesterday, Council Member Sally Clark won't be running for a citywide council seat after all. "Her fellow council member, lefty Mike O'Brien, is now considering running for that citywide seat," Heidi writes. "And so is M. Lorena González, a lawyer for Mayor Ed Murray." What happened? Theory No. 1: This is a council coup engineered by Ed Murray. Theory No. 2: O'Brien is making way for a Mike McGinn comeback in District 6. Theory No. 3: Dominic's psychic powers did it.

Facebook's New Seattle Office Will Be Designed by Frank Gehry: "The renowned architect, known in Seattle for his design of the EMP Museum, has also done work for Facebook at locations including its California headquarters," GeekWire reports. Here's what Gehry did for the company in Palo Alto.

Ron Smith, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, is talking tough to problem cops.
Ron Smith, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, is talking tough to problem cops. Ansel Herz

Get With the Times or Get Out of This City: In an interview with Ansel yesterday, Seattle's police union president, Ron Smith, said this is what he tells cops who complain about Seattle wanting its police to reflect city values: "You applied here. And you have to treat people all the same. You have to serve the community. If you don't like the politics here, then leave and go to a place that serves your worldview." That's a big change in tone from the Seattle Police Officers Guild, and a welcome one.

A Town Hall About Hate Crimes on Capitol Hill: On March 3, Council Member Kshama Sawant will host what Seattlish notes is "a really necessary discussion" about the uptick in hate crimes in the area. As we noted last week on Slog, former Stranger staffer Bret Fetzer recently reported being called a "faggot" and hit in the face with a beer bottle at 11th and Pine.

Protest Against Pasco Shooting in Downtown Seattle: "About 100 demonstrators were in downtown Seattle Wednesday night protesting the shooting death of a Pasco man by police last week," reports KIRO TV. "The rally started at Westlake Park. The protest blocked downtown streets and disrupted traffic."

WSDOTs contractor cutting out a Bertha-sized hole from inside the rescue pit, like that laser thing movie criminals do to break through high-security glass walls.
Inside the Pioneer Square rescue pit, preparations for Betha's hoped-for arrival are under way. Washington State Department of Transportation

Bertha Moves Six Feet in One Day: Is that what now passes for impressive? Guess when you haven't moved an inch since December of 2013, just about anything is impressive.

How'd Our New Earthquake Early Warning System Do Yesterday? "A magnitude-4.3 earthquake that rumbled under Washington state's Cascade Range early Wednesday was 'not a great advertisement' for an early warning system undergoing tests, an official said," according to the AP. "The system noticed the quake 18 seconds late, said John Vidale, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network at the University of Washington." (Theoretically, it would have noticed more quickly in the Puget Sound area because there are more sensors around here.)

The LA Hospital Superbug: "Nearly 180 patients at UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center may have been exposed to potentially deadly bacteria from contaminated medical scopes," reports the Los Angeles Times, "and two deaths have already been linked to the outbreak."

What Gary Shteyngart Learned from a Week Spent Watching Russian TV: "On a cold, sunny New Year’s Eve in 2014," he writes, "I am sitting at the edge of my king-size bed at the Four Seasons hotel in New York, munching through a stack of Wagyu beef slices and demolishing a bottle of pinot noir while watching a woman play a man playing a bearded woman on Russian state television."

Oliver Sacks Has Terminal Cancer: "It is up to me now to choose how to live out the months that remain to me," he writes in the New York Times. "I have to live in the richest, deepest, most productive way I can."