Southern resident orcas have rights, too: Port Townsend knows this. Today, the town issued a (nonbinding) proclamation recognizing orcas' legal rights, the first time an American city council has done so, reports the Seattle Times. What does that include? According to Port Townsend Mayor David J. Faber, orcas have "the right to life, autonomy, culture, free and safe passage, adequate food supply from naturally occurring sources, and freedom from conditions causing physical, emotional or mental harm, including a habitat degraded by noise, pollution and contamination." And we better respect them!

In other wildlife news: Rejoice! This year, there have been no confirmed sightings of northern giant hornets in Washington state or British Columbia, Canada, reports AP-via-MyNorthwest. Meaning that eradication efforts like traps have largely been successful after this invasive species was first found in the region in 2019. Before we celebrate too much, officials cautioned that it's still important to keep an eye out and report any sightings of these hornets, dead or alive. 

Everything is fine: Of course, nothing is fine. Today, German authorities stopped a nationwide armed plot to overthrow the government by arresting 22 suspected members and three suspected supporters of far-right terrorist organization, Reichsbßrger. The German organization is fueled by QAnon beliefs, as well as being "united by their hatred of democracy." 

And in Trumpland: More classified documents have been found in the former president's possession, reports the New York Times. A federal judge ordered Trump to extensively search his properties for shit he shouldn't have. Lo and behold, the team he hired found "at least two documents with classified marking inside a sealed box" in a federally-run storage site in West Palm Beach, FL. A Trump spokesman said Donny and his counsel will continue to cooperate with the Justice Department "despite the unprecedented, illegal, and unwarranted attack" on Trump. Okay, buddy!

TBH, I haven't been paying much attention to the World Cup: But my general rule of thumb is to always root against colonizer countries, so I was very pleased to see Morocco beat Spain in an upset to advance to the quarterfinals. So many memes most pleasing to me were generated out of this. Go Morocco!

Speaking of soccer: Ballard's new women's sports bar, Rough & Tumble, is opening on Friday. I know it's not officially a gay bar, but I'm manifesting that lesbians will take over. Can't wait to "catch a game" and "cheer on our home team" together with everyone.

In a very narrow win for humanity: San Francisco officials have decided to pause their decision to allow police to weaponize robot dogs. Again, a very narrow win for humanity—don't make me bring up Black Mirror. 

Political drama in Peru: Today kicked off with President Pedro Castillo announcing his intention to dissolve Peru’s Congress—conveniently before the legislative body was slated to vote on his impeachment. According to CNN, Peru’s Ombudsman said it was an “attempted coup d’etat” with the Peruvian armed forces refusing to heed his command and several cabinet members resigning. Congress voted to impeach him anyway and VP Dina Boluarte is now Peru’s first female president. Castillo has reportedly been detained by police. 

Don't even THINK about watching TikTok on the government's time: Gov. Greg Abbott has banned the app on State devices over cybersecurity concerns, following a similar measure announced by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan yesterday. 

Outdoor cat owners, we need to talk: Your precious lil' snookums that you allow outside your house is literally a danger to wildlife. In a shocking statistic reported by KUOW, outdoor cats are estimated to "kill 1 billion to 4 billion birds and 6 billion to 22 billion small mammals a year in the contiguous United States." !!!! Get Mr. Whiskers inside! They're called "domesticated" for a reason! 

About that 30-car pile-up on eastbound I-90: Officials believe that freezing fog was a "major contributor" to the godawful crash this morning, reports KOMO. Crews are still working on clearing all the vehicles and advise anyone planning on traveling from Puget Sound area through Snoqualmie Pass to delay or seek alternate routes. If you need any convincing:

Update: The route is clear. 

Don't cross the picket line tomorrow: Management failed to reach an agreement with the New York Times Guild on a "complete and equitable contract" and now over 1,100 union members will walk out tomorrow, reports Reuters. It's the first time since the late 1970s that the Times has seen an organized work stoppage. Workers are asking readers not to cross the digital picket line during the 24-hour strike. So you should just stick to reading local news—like us. :)

For your listening pleasure: Death Grips' "No Love." Â