Several current and former employees of the moribund Seattle Monorail Project, including spokeswoman Natasha Jones and executive director Kristina Hill, have started a blog (www.themonorailstory.blogspot.com) to chronicle their experiences working with the project. According to Hill's initial post, the purpose of the blog is to "collect lots of people's stories and experiences and give us all a place to share them." Given that the former SMP officials no longer have to worry about making nice with Mayor Gridlock, we hope the blog will be a juicy, unfiltered insiders' account of what went down in the monorail project's final days. ERICA C. BARNETT

Council member Peter Steinbrueck says he'll propose significant changes to the mayor's proposed downtown height and density increases this week. The changes would decrease the maximum height of residential towers in the Denny Triangle; initiate a survey of historic buildings downtown; and increase the amount developers must pay into an affordable-housing fund in exchange for building-height increases. Under the current proposal, developers who want to build residential towers taller than the current maximum height would have to put $10 per square foot toward affordable housing. But Steinbrueck calls that figure "far too low," and says he'll propose a "significantly higher" affordable-housing mandate. ERICA C. BARNETT

On Tuesday, the council's human-services committee endorsed asking the state liquor board to impose mandatory restrictions on sales of cheap alcohol in Seattle's "alcohol-impact area," which spans most of the central city and the University District. The rules, which mirror similar restrictions in Tacoma, would ban sales of certain low-cost, high-alcohol products, including Colt 45, Steel Reserve, Night Train, and Thunderbird. Critics pointed out that imposing AIAs simply moves chronic public inebriates elsewhere, and doesn't solve the dual problems of alcoholism and homelessness—something committee chair Tom Rasmussen readily acknowledged. "I agree that what we need is intervention and treatment," Rasmussen said. "That isn't the intent of this legislation. This is an effort to help neighborhoods." ERICA C. BARNETT

The gossip at the Washington State Democrats' annual Christmas party was that 11-year party chair Paul Berendt is leaving. Berendt says the rumors are "not without substance," but adds that his departure is "not imminent." Taking an evident swipe at the cast who challenged him for the top spot last year, Berendt added: "I don't just want to turn this over to any joker."

In other D employment news: Holly Armstrong, a recent staffer for Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, will replace Kerry Coughlin as Governor Christine Gregoire's communications director. JOSH FEIT