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While Mayor Nickels is hyping biotech as a potential antidote to our flagging economy (he mentioned it twice in last month's State of the City speech), Seattle biotech company ZymoGenetics lost about $80 million when its stock went public last week.

Zymo--headquartered in the fake-smokestack building on Eastlake by I-5--planned on raising about $200 million from selling public shares, but only raised $120 million. Despite the stock disappointment, biotech is still a big deal in Seattle: Companies like Zymo and Immunex employ about 16,000 people in Washington state, (a 20 percent increase since 1998), with half of those workers in Seattle. PAT KEARNEY

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The New Bomb Turks' January 26 Graceland show was infiltrated by volatile skinheads, according to a woman who got caught in the middle of a brawl. According to Deborah (she doesn't want her last name used), Graceland's security staff didn't stop the skinheads from picking fights, and she ended up with four stitches.

"Security was overwhelmed with other random brawls that night," says Graceland spokesperson Jason Lajeunesse. "We have extended our apologies to Deborah and others, and have had security meetings for the past week to discuss the issue." BRYAN BINGOLD

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On January 31, Street Outreach Services' drop-in center was supposed to leave its Second Avenue and Pike Street location, under orders from their landlord, Richard Nimmer. They refused, calling the eviction unfair. Though Nimmer wants to redevelop the whole building (so the city won't condemn it), he only kicked SOS out.

But on February 1, Nimmer agreed to let SOS stay, if the city makes a few concessions: more cops at Second and Pike, a building permit extension, and fewer threats to condemn the building. If that happens, SOS can stay until the end of April.

What are the chances? "The mayor's office has agreed to work with us to meet those conditions so we can stay," says SOS director Kris Nyrop. AMY JENNIGES