BMW Considers Entering Seattle's Booming Car Share Market: The city council's Transportation Committee unanimously approved a new law on Tuesday allowing up to three new "car sharing pilot programs," besides Car2Go with their ubiquitous Smart cars, to operate in Seattle, with up to 750 cars in each company's fleet. "If the regulations move forward, Seattle would be a great city for us to enter," BMW's DriveNow CEO Rich Steinberg tells Geekwire. The law, which still needs approval from the full council, is also designed to push companies to expand service to poorer areas of the city, Capitol Hill Seattle notes.

Did a Downtown Developer Get Special Treatment? That's the question a new legal petition, directed at the City of Seattle and Triad Development, is asking. Here's the lowdown.

The State of the State, According to Governor Jay Inslee: "Washington has the nation's most unfair tax system," Inslee said in his annual speech. "Our lowest-paid workers pay nearly 17 percent of their income in taxes while the top 1 percent pay less than 3 percent." The whole thing is here, in case you missed it. Applause in the legislature was reportedly split along party lines.

Against the Keystone XL Oil Pipeline: "It doesn’t matter how many times Congress puts forth legislation," said Seattle-area indigenous activist Matt Remle during a demonstration last night, according to organizers 350 Seattle, "to approve the construction of the Black Snake pipeline (Keystone XL), it will never cross Lakota lands. We stand ready to protect our lands and waters." The pipeline project is currently under consideration in the Senate.

Charges Against Hope Solo Dismissed: The star goalkeeper for the US women's soccer team was accused of assaulting her nephew and sister in June in Kirkland, but a Seattle judge has thrown out the charges after witnesses reportedly refused to be deposed. "I always had faith that once the facts of the case were presented," Solo said, "I would be cleared of all charges and I am so happy and relieved to finally have it all behind me.

Couple Says Bank Is Trying to Foreclose on Their Home: ...but the bank has the wrong home in its crosshairs. Larry and Stephanie Flanery are retired and living at their home in rural Pierce County. But a bank based in Pennsylvania claims the property line of a neighboring foreclosed house runs right through their home, too. "The bank wants both properties," reports KING 5.

Seattle's Homeless LGBT Youth Speak Out: "I came out as gay and then he tried to kick me out, and after he kicked me out, he called the cops on me... then he beat me up, and I ran away," 27-year-old Tyler tells Crosscut. According to surveys, roughly one out of every five homeless people in King County identifies as LGBT.

Qui Sommes Nous? French comedian Dieudonne has been arrested for posting a comment on Facebook. "Tonight, as far as I’m concerned, I feel like Charlie Coulibaly," he wrote, "mixing the slogan “Je suis Charlie”, used in tribute to the journalists killed at magazine Charlie Hebdo, with a reference to gunman Amédy Coulibaly," the Guardian reports. Coulibaly killed four people last week. Glenn Greenwald tears apart the news.

NYPD Police Union Meeting Turns Into Brawl: Remember NYPD union head Pat Lynch? He's still demanding an apology from Mayor Bill de Blasio for his remarks about police brutality and race, prompting some within the union's ranks to question his agenda. "This is what my members want: they want more cars, better vests, more manpower,” one police officer reportedly yelled. "They don’t want an apology." A fight broke out, and "Lynch’s guys got up and there was shoving and pushing. It got ugly.” This is the same union president with which the Seattle Police Officers Guild, currently embroiled in contract negotiations with the city, says it stands shoulder to shoulder.