It’s Election Day! Yes, in February. It’s one of our Very Special Elections—the lower-turnout elections where our city council tends to shove progressive projects they want to let die. This time, that project is social housing. So don’t let them kill it. As of this morning, voter turnout was only at 21 percent, which is bad even for a non-November election. And based on this poll at least, this election is tight. So go find your ballot under that pile of bills and coupons you swear you’re gonna remember to use, fill it out (here’s how), and get it in the ballot drop box before 8 pm tonight. You also get to vote to fund our schools! Yay!

Ballot Troubles? We got you. If you didn’t receive a ballot in the mail, you can still go to the vote center in Renton to register and vote day-of. Need a quick and easy runthrough of the ballot? We got you there too. Feeling like school funding and social housing are pointless when the whole country is kinda on fire? Say the serenity prayer a couple of times, grab a blue or black pen, and remember that local elections still matter even when the world is burning.

Weather: It’s still cold! Unusually cold. Highs around 38, lows in the mid to low 20s. We’re in a cold weather advisory until tomorrow morning—teetering on the edge of hitting record lows for February. So the usual reminders: If you have them, wear all the cute winter accessories you never get to wear in a typical Seattle winter; Keep your pets in a warm, cozy place; And use the King County Regional Homelessness Authority’s resources if you need them.

Planes Keep Crashing: I think I speak for everyone what I say: what the actual fuck is going on with airplanes right now. Yesterday, a private jet was landing in Scottsdale, AZ, when part of its landing gear failed. It veered into a parked jet, killing one person on impact. This is the fourth fatal airplane crash since the year began (FIVE WEEKS AGO). In January, a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet collided mid-air near Dulles, killing all 67 people on those aircraft. Seven people were killed after a plane crashed near a shopping center in Philadelphia. And 10 people died in a plane crash in Alaska last Thursday. Experts say air travel is still technically the safest form of travel, but I’m still googling Amtrak ticket prices these days.

Quick Hits: Trump’s administration is moving so quickly that it can feel impossible to keep up, but because most of the coverage is guessing what he might do next, some of them really can just be one liners. Let’s get through those first: Trump has been joking about running for a third term again, but the Times isn’t sure if it’s a joke. New tariffs are likely to make anything made of metal more expensive. Trump is meeting with Jordan’s King today to put pressure on him to accept displaced Gazans. And JD Vance, Stephen Miller, and other members of the administration are bristling at the judicial branch’s ability to halt some of their agenda, posting things like: “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.” It’s spooked some observers, who think they might be gearing up to ignore the courts’ rulings, which would really mess up that whole “checks and balances” idea the founders had.

Flu Under the Radar: Okay, now into some more detail. The Trump admin has been restricting the flow of health information. And well, if you’re old enough to read this, you also recently lived through a global pandemic, so we all know that’s bad news. Worse? We’re in the middle of a massive, nationwide flu surge. At least 24 million cases, 310,000 hospitalizations, and 13,000 deaths have been reported this flu season. Nearly a dozen schools around the country have closed because of it. Washington isn’t a hotspot yet, but I’m guessing we all know someone who’s been miserably sick for the last two weeks. So if you haven’t gotten your flu shot yet, doctors say it’s still worthwhile to do it. And thanks to that global pandemic we lived through, we know what else to do: Stay home if you’re sick, wear a mask, and social distance when you need to.

A Little Good News Buried in the Bad: For the last few weeks, it’s been unclear if the Trump Administration would invalidate passports with X gender markers. Yesterday, they finally confirmed that they would remain valid until they expire or are renewed. After that, people will be forced to get a binary “sex marker,” but for now, your passport is a valid form of identification to get you out of the country. In case that’s on your mind for some reason.

Speaking of Passports: ICYMI, The Stranger’s Vivian McCall is tracking the challenges trans people are hitting when trying to renew their documentation. “The thought of an American citizen being denied this and that being okay with people—not just my son, but all trans and non-binary kids and adults,” said one parent of a trans kid. “To oppress a whole group of people on a federal level. That’s what scares me.” Read more about it here.

Elon Tries to Buy Open AI? Musk put an unsolicited $97.4 billion offer on the table to try to buy control of OpenAI, the nonprofit that owns ChatGPT. Their response? “No thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”

Ye’s Offline: In his latest public insanity plea, Ye bought an ad spot at the Super Bowl advertising a website that, shortly after it aired, exclusively sold a white t-shirt with a black swastika on it. But apparently, at least some tech companies haven’t fully bought into our new wave of white nationalism. As of this morning, Shopify has taken the site down.

ICE Update: Last week, La Resistencia observed more than 200 new detainees coming into Tacoma’s ICE facility—the most they’ve ever seen in a 72 hour period since they started observing flights in 2023. According to La Resistencia, there were already 900 people incarcerated inside the Northwest Detention Center. Now that number is likely over 1,228. The facility is currently suing to try to block the release of photos of the inside of the detention center, which is always a good sign. 

The Furry Hackers Might Save Us All: Hackers released a huge cache of data from Lexipol, a Texas-based company that develops policy manuals, training bulletins, and consulting services for first responders. From Daily Dot: “The data, a sample of which was given to the Daily Dot by a group referring to itself as “the puppygirl hacker polycule,” includes approximately 8,543 files related to training, procedural, and policy manuals, as well as customer records that contain names, usernames, agency names, hashed passwords, physical addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers.”

Love Is in the Air: Our Love and Sex issue is all over the city. Pick it up, hold it in your hands, scour I Saw U and the reader valentines for your crush. Wanna know how to get or abet an abortion? It’s in there. Want to know what we can learn from the safe sex movement of the early 80s? It’s in there. Want to know what weed you should smoke on Valentine’s Day? It’s in there. 

Some SZA, as a Treat: In a move that oozed confidence, SZA slipped four new tracks into the two-year-old SOS Deluxe: Lana on all platforms, right before her performance at the Super Bowl. Here’s one of them: