Dow Constantine wants to keep the Emerald City green. Credit: chinaface/Getty Images
Dow Constantine wants to keep the Emerald City green.
Dow Constantine wants to keep the Emerald City green. chinaface/Getty Images

Conservation initiative would protect 65,000 acres of open space in King County: Dow Constantine, King County Executive, is expected to announce the initiative today. It will save important natural and open spaces from development. Constantine will introduce legislation that will “allow King County to sell more bonds backed by the existing Conservation Futures tax, providing an ongoing source of revenue for conservation acquisitions” reports the Seattle Times. Examples of places that would be protected are the Lakeshore forests and trails, a half-acre park in Tukwila that’s the only spot for local kids to play, and more.

I-5 flooded with chicken feathers: There’s a 7-mile backup around Federal Way on the northbound I-5 because a truck carrying chicken feathers overturned when the driver fell asleep. The feathers were wet and smelly.

New Seattle sewage tunnel cost escalates: Sewage floods into the ship canal during storms. That feels like a big problem. Seattle Public Utilities and the City Council attempted to solve it by charging SPU customers more for utilities starting back in November. Those additional funds would pay for a new sewage tunnel between Ballard and Wallingford. The original price tag for the project was “$423 million, within a range of $339 million to $550 million” reports the Seattle Times. It’s raised to $570 million due to design refinements. SPU will cover the added costs.

Attempted arson at new youth jail construction site: Multiple molotov cocktails were thrown into the construction site in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Most failed to explode. An SPD officer notified the East Precinct that molotov cocktails had been thrown at around 3:30 a.m. Seattle Fire dealt with a small grass fire. There was minor damage to a trailer on the site but not to the building under construction. No groups have taken credit for the attack.

Someone bitten by rabid bat at UW: It’s not clear who the victim was. A group of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity members attempted to remove the bat from the victim. The bat latched onto the victim’s fingers. The victim sought professional medical care and is okay. People and animals in the bat’s path were likely exposed to rabies as well. Maybe Lambda Chi Alpha will hold a rabies awareness fun run race for the cure in the person’s honor. That’s a joke.

Seattle biotech journalist summits Everest for the cure: Luke Timmerman, 42, is an avid mountaineer and has topped Mount Rainier, Alaska’s Denali, and Argentina’s Aconcagua. He can now add Mount Everest to that list. Timmerman didn’t just do it for the thrill. No, he raised money for cancer research at Fred Hutch. His goal was to raise $375,000. So far, he’s raised $337,810. Go Luke!

Seattle World school educates immigrant and refugee children: The school is located in Capitol Hill. It has 350 students who speak 38 different languages. Most of them are learning English for the first time. The school struggles with attendance and has poor academic scores compared to other schools in the area, which doesn’t seem like a fair comparison. Still, it has the resources immigrant children need in order to learn in a new country.

Bad year for planes: I feel like there’s been a plane crash every week. This one was a small jet that overshot the runway in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Everyone was okay. Here’s a video of the wreckage and the plane that basically snapped in half. My roommate Nicole (she’s afraid of flying) is going to hate this.

Couple busted at Sea-Tac Airport for smuggling ivory: They were coming in from the Philippines. I bet they wrote “nothing to report” on their customs form when in fact they had $25,000 of ivory to report. Nope, I’m wrong. They reported that they brought back “pickled mango.” When officials searched their bags they found a box containing 16 pounds of carved ivory and tusks. They were fined $500. Was there any pickled mango? Or was that all a lie, too?

Related:

Here, I know you need this today: Watch it. It’s medicine.

Pompeo says U.S. won’t stand for Russian interference in 2018 elections: The new Secretary of State firmly stated that the administration will take measures to fight Russian meddling. Unfortunately, the U.S. hasn’t developed any “effective deterrent” to stop it.

Vancouver’s transit system continues to surpass us: We’ve already established that Vancouver, B.C. has it pretty figured out when it comes to transit. The Seattle Times describes their transit system as “like Seattle’s, just a couple decades in the future.” If that wasn’t enough, their transit system is going to be voiced by Morgan Freeman.

There’s a legitimate swamp around the White House: It’s responsible for a sinkhole that opened up on the North Lawn. Last year, around this time almost exactly, a sinkhole opened up in front of Mar-a-Lago. That was apparently due to a new water main. Hm.

Tonight’s best Seattle entertainment options include: A conversation with former astronaut and engineer Captain Scott Kelly, the Moth Mainstage, and the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Daydream Machine at the Showbox.

Now, what you’re eating today:

Tonio ran out of food. That’s his dog on his mug.

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Tonio C

This is an anonymous submission. Looks tasty.

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Ed’s breakfast is a little strong for my taste.

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Ed B.

From Jim: Today I decided to exercise first. Here’s some of what I am going to eat after I get back. I get organic bananas but non organic avocados even though both have thick skins that protect the consumable parts from pesticides.

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Jim C.

Nathalie Graham covers anything she finds fun, weird, or interesting. You can find a lot of that in her column, Play Date. Her work has also appeared around town in The Seattle Times, GeekWire, and the...