Fearing for my life: Excuse me for having a super mild opinion on what weather conditions I personally prefer, which has NOTHING to do with my belief in climate change, but I’m sad about the rain today. Weather.com said that the rain will continue into the evening and temperatures will hold steady in the low 50s. You can expect about the same Saturday, just without all the rain. The rain will return on Sunday and it’ll be ever-so-slightly colder. I would tell you about Monday’s weather, but then I’d have to pay for Weather.com's Premium Pro membership to unlock the 192-hour forecasts. Maybe next time!

Be careful out there: Floods, landslides, avalanches, Western Washington’s got them all thanks to the atmospheric river passing over us! KOMO will tell you more.

WEEKEND: Okay, now that we know to pack an umbrella tonight and Sunday, I once again recommend you check out EverOut’s very good list of cheap shit to keep you entertained this weekend. Some of the best recommendations include a Beyoncé-themed dance party at Nuemos, a free Lunar New Year celebration in Bellevue, and, of course, the grand reopening of the Northwest African American Museum on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

My recommendation: I went out last night (on a school night, I know) and was reminded of how fucking good the cauliflower wings at Life on Mars are. I shared the sampler platter, and by "shared" I mean the tray was in the middle of the table but I definitely ate most of it. Absolutely not sponsored, but go there, eat a wing, and think of me. 

New candidate pending: On Monday, small-business owner, former basketball player, and food justice advocate, Joy Hollingsworth will announce her campaign to represent District 3 on Seattle City Council. Here’s her pitch from the press release:

"A third-generation Central District neighbor, Joy enters the race focused on a healthy and safe city, youth enrichment, supporting our small business owners and equity for our community.  The product of a long line of educators and civil rights leaders, she works to build community by establishing relationships based on trust and commitment. Joy wants to return these values to the district and fight for the District 3 communities she has known and loved all her life. "

D3 is going on a wild fucking ride. Lots of people will announce in the coming weeks if my 🔮crystal ball🔮isn’t totally busted. Plus, we still don’t know if the incumbent, Council Member Kshama Sawant, will run again.

RIP trees: 

She’s back, baby: The West Seattle low bridge reopened this afternoon. These West Seattlites are used to their bridges giving out, but this comparatively brief closure was certainly less of a pain than when the *other* bridge closed for what felt like a lifetime. 

AP Gov but make it actually make a difference: The AP Gov students at Lake Washington High School convinced Sen. Manka Dhingra to run a bill targeting the pink tax, a pattern of charging more for products marketed toward women than for their marketed-to-men equivalents. Basically, they want to make sure the lavender deodorant costs the same as the cedar wood one. Love to see it! 

Give poor people money: Spokane has dumped millions into mitigating Camp Hope, a huge encampment in the eastern part of the city. Inlander reporter Daniel Walters pointed out that the City could have just given the unhoused residents money. You can rent in Spokane on a $55,000 salary. And having a place to live makes it much easier to find a job and take care of day-to-day needs. Not to be all “housing first” on the blog, but housing first, y’know?

Yikes: Today, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress that by Thursday the US will reach its “statutory debt limit.” If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry. I just learned today too. The statutory debt limit is the total amount of money the federal government is authorized to borrow to pay for its legal obligations: social security, medicare, interest on the national debt, etc. Yellen told House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to either suspend or increase the debt limit to avoid defaulting on the government’s obligations. 

They're after you, Joe: President Joe Biden keeps fucking up how he handles classified documents. Now, the House Republicans have launched an investigation

Don't fuck with E. Jean Carroll: The public can now listen to snippets of former President Donald Trump's wild, five-and-a-half-hour deposition as part of columnist E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit, accusing Trump of raping her. He called her a "nut job" and "mentally sick," and he said she enjoyed being sexually assaulted while still somehow denying it happened in the first place. 

BRB gonna scream at the sky: The horny losers in Missouri's House of Representatives started the session with the energy of a middle school principal who is constantly on the razor’s edge of a major HR violation. The lawmakers set a stricter dress code – but just for the women. Nice! 

The 6-year-old with a gun: More details emerged last night about the tragic incident in Virginia where a first-grader shot his teacher in the chest during class. According to a school district official, a school administrator got tipped off about a possible weapon in the student’s backpack, but they didn’t see the gun when they checked the child’s backpack that morning. NBC News reports that the 25-year-old teacher is now in stable condition. 

I cannot express how excited I am: Yellowjackets, one of my favorite TV shows of all time, will return for a second season at the end of March. I cannot wait to have nightmares after every episode! 

Miley, I love you: