Sad dawgs all around town today. The University of Washington Huskies lost to the University of Michigan Wolverines in the College Football Playoff National Championships last night. Gov. Jay Inslee also lost a bet over the game to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and now he has to send her some wine. The two announced the bet in this painful video exchange that sounds like what happens when two AIs have a conversation:

The decline of Council Member Andrew Lewis: Hannah wrote an exceptional story about the defeat of Lewis this week, full of incredible lines such as "a spineless ladder-climber missed a rung while trying to play both teams." Lewis blames his 400-vote loss on his first 'No' vote against the new drug law, but Hannah points out that he also disappointed an important union during his time in office, and ultimately his centrist strategies lost him support on both the left and the right. 

Speaking of our city council: Council President Sara Nelson flexed some of her newfound power by firing the head of the Council's central staff, Esther Handy, according to KUOW. Central staff help to research and compile objective reports about proposed legislation or issues the Council wants to address, similar to the Congressional Budget Office. But former Council President Lorena González hired Handy, and Handy previously worked for a couple progressive nonprofits, so Nelson's more conservative politics probably cost Handy her job. One Seattle! Nelson replaced Handy with Ben Noble, who held Handy's job for more than a decade before becoming budget director. He loves him some austerity. 

Winds, flooding, and cold temperatures today: Multiple weather hazard warnings in effect today, with the potential for wind speeds up to 41 miles per hour and some coastal flooding in some areas. High of 45 degrees and a good chance of rain.

Washington State's legislative session began Monday: State lawmakers returned to Olympia for the 2024 Legislative Session. The length of the session alternates every year, and this year the people of Washington have just 60 days to bully lawmakers into passing some stuff. 

Such as, Viv wrote about a bill proposed by Rep. Liz Berry (D-Seattle) that would make it illegal to secretly remove a condom or other sexual barrier during sex, an act sometimes referred to as "stealthing." The bill makes the act a criminal violation, but it also creates a simplified civil process for victims who want to sue.

Plus, ICYMI, I wrote about a bill to ban police unions from bargaining over police accountability issues, and Hannah wrote about some of the signature campaigns to send some conservative initiatives to the Legislature. Those initiatives will likely appear on ballots this year. 

Charles Mudede goes to New York: All our East Coast readers have the chance for one night only to see Charles give a lecture entitled, "Will AI Also Remember the Days of Slavery?" at 7 pm tonight in Brooklyn. Should be pretty fascinating. People who are unable to attend the lecture but who are dying to hear Charles talk about AI can check out his conversation in December with Blaise Agüera y Arcas.

Seattle Police Department misinforms the public: During a pro-Palestine protest over the weekend on I-5, SPD posted on social media that demonstrators had ignored two dispersal orders and that they continued to "refuse to clear the highway." However, SPD never issued dispersal orders to the protestors, according to Washington State Patrol. Nevertheless, SPD still has the false information up on its X account. 

Also, the two days of discourse on this protest have broken my brain.

Co-owner of Howdy Bagel killed in New Orleans: Jake Carter, who opened Howdy Bagel in Tacoma last year, was killed in a mugging on January 5 in New Orleans. Meg has more about Carter, who opened the bagel shop and all-ages queer space with his husband, Daniel Blagovich, in May of last year. 

More flight delays: A mass grounding order for Alaska and United Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes means flight cancellations continued Tuesday for people flying out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, according to the Seattle Times. The grounding order came after an Alaska flight out of Portland had its fuselage blow out at 16,000 feet. Additional inspections Monday revealed some of the MAX 9s had loose hardware.

Trump argues for immunity: Today, attorneys for former President Donald Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith argue before a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals over whether Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. The outcome of the appeal decides whether the criminal case against Trump continues.

2023 continues trend of a "feverish" planet: To avoid the most severe effects of global climate change over the next two to three decades, the average temperatures across the country cannot exceed a 1.5 degrees Celsius average temperature increase above pre-industrial times, according to the Associated Press. But last year, global temperatures averaged 1.48 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times. Basically, we have not curbed increasing temperatures and things look very bad. 

French President Emmanuel Macron appoints new Prime Minister: Gabriel Attal, 34, became the country's youngest-ever prime minister and the first openly gay man to serve in the office. As French education minister, Attal oversaw the banning of abaya in French schools, but he's one of the more popular members of Macron's government, and Macron needed a little boost because the far-right has gained some steam in the polls. 

Two of my good friends leave for London this week: Normally I wouldn't consider this relevant for Slog, but their chance to move abroad might apply to some of you all. In 2022, the UK started doing this thing where people who graduated in the last five years from a high-ranked college, such as the University of Washington, can apply for a work visa without already having a job offer. Seems like a cool opportunity. Safe flight to them, and hopefully you all like their music suggestion for this Tuesday. Here is Tiny Habits.