Upthegrove is speaking for the trees: On day one as the new public lands commissioner, Dave Upthegrove made good on one of his campaign promises. He announced he'll put a pause on logging sales in some old-growth forests. Conservationists are pleased Upthegrove is protecting dwindling and environmentally important mature forests. The logging industry is ruffled. Old trees are necessary for things we rely on, like utility poles and engineered wood, according to the Washington State Standard. Additionally, logging revenue supports school and county government budgets. So, it's complicated.
The legislature wants to lower the legal alcohol limit: Once again, lawmakers in Olympia have proposed a bill to lower the legal blood alcohol level for drunk driving from 0.08% to 0.05%. Over 100 countries in the world have a 0.05% legal limit or lower. The only other US state with a limit that low is Utah. After the limit was lowered there, the state saw a 20% drop in fatal crashes. The bill's sponsor, Sen. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, is a former Washington State Patrol officer who believes "drunk drivers have made our communities unsafe." Lovick has tried this bill before, and always—thanks partly to large hospitality industry pressure—it's failed.
Burrrrrito: Winter is so here, Seattle. Now, we simply need a snowstorm or two.
🥶CHILLY WEEKEND AHEAD🥶
— Seattle Weather Blog (@KSeattleWeather) January 17, 2025
Cool, dry air will overtake the region this weekend, dropping temps into the 20s at night.
Daytime highs will continue to be nippy, too—topping out near 40°
See?
A colder air mass will settle into western Washington over the weekend, and combined with northerly winds, temperatures will feel very cold! 🧊 Be sure to bundle up and dress in layers. #WAwx pic.twitter.com/mVbwgCVcJK
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) January 16, 2025
Still no arrests in ballot box blazes: Police may have determined the profession of the individual who set three ballot boxes on fire across Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, during the lead-up to the contentious election. The incendiary devices used in the attacks contained thermite. They have no identified suspects, but police still think they're looking for a welder since the suspect "welded the outer casings of the incendiary devices using scrap metal and then inserted what was likely a 'coffee-cup-sized portion' of thermite into each device," according to KING5.
Bad time for light rail closures: Heads up to any People's March-goers, the light rail will close Westlake, Symphony, Pioneer Square, International District/Chinatown, and Stadium stations from 10 pm Friday, Jan. 17 until 5 am Monday, Jan. 20. That could interfere with the participants' ability to easily get to and from the re-branded Women's March which starts at Capitol Hill's Cal Anderson Park on Saturday and ends at the Seattle Center. I gotta imagine this march happening right before Donald Trump's impending presidency of doom kicks off will draw a lot of people. The good news is the light rail will be back in action in time for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day action at Garfield High School on Monday—also known as Inauguration Day. The bad news is the light rail does not go anywhere close to Garfield High School.
RIP David Lynch: The visionary director known for creating the Americana-surrealism infused worlds of "Twin Peaks," "Mulholland Drive," and "Lost Highway," is dead at 78. The film world is mourning Lynch and the loss of an artistic powerhouse who still had stories to tell. I'll spare you my eulogy so you can read what longtime-Lynch star and collaborator Kyle MacLachlan had to say. Take it away, Coop:
Kyle Maclachlan’s tribute to David Lynch🕊️ pic.twitter.com/b74gynz6Yt
— cinesthetic. (@TheCinesthetic) January 16, 2025
Don't be too sad: Listen to the Log Lady.
“You know about death; that it’s just a change, not an end." pic.twitter.com/KKSCjuVaTG
— PoorQuentyn (@PoorQuentyn) January 16, 2025
Israel security cabinet approves cease-fire: The forum of senior ministers gave the cease-fire and hostage release agreement a thumbs up. Now, the 30-minister full Israel cabinet must approve the deal. Hamas said it had no more barriers to approving the deal. If it goes through, the ceasefire could lay the groundwork for the end of the 15-month war. First, though, the cease-fire will mandate a six-week truce, Israel will take its troops out of populated areas, Hamas will release 33 hostages, and Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
The clock is ticking for Tik Tok: On Friday, the Supreme Court unanimously voted to uphold banning Tik Tok if Chinese parent company, ByteDance, doesn't sell the app. No sales seem imminent, so the Tik Tok ban will take effect on Jan. 19. However, President Joe Biden signaled he wouldn't enforce the ban that starts on his last full day in office, leaving it up to Trump to decide TikTok's fate on American phones.
Oh no: A federal Texas judge ruled a lawsuit restricting access to abortion pills can go forward. The attack on mifepristone fizzled last year when the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the anti-abortion activists who sued the Federal Drug Administration over the drug "did not have standing" to do so. Not ready to let turning our country fully into The Handmaid's Tale slip through their fingers, the attorneys general of Idaho, Kansas, and Missouri have since joined the case to give it new life. Despite Biden's justice department asking for this case's dismissal, it can now proceed. A renewed attack on the pill under a Trump justice department and a Trump FDA cannot mean anything good.
I hope this is foreshadowing: Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship launch did not go swimmingly. An explosion destroyed the craft, but the ship's booster was recovered. This marks Starship's seventh failed launch.
BREAKING: Debris seen over the Caribbean after SpaceX's Starship falls apart during test flight pic.twitter.com/wVgGW2k98Z
— BNO News (@BNONews) January 16, 2025
You deserve space more than Elon Musk: So, look skyward this weekend. You may be able to see Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus on Saturday. If you're really serious about it, make a trip to the coast. Of course, cloud cover could upend any celestial spectating.
Music for your Friday: Pretty jazzy, huh?