Dammit, Punxsutawney Phil.
Dammit, Punxsutawney Phil. mirecca

Seattle rapper gets visit from the Secret Service: Guled Diriye, a familiar name in the Seattle hip-hop scene, believes his anti-Trump social media posts caused a visit from the U.S. Secret Service. They showed up to his mother’s house in Kent and were adamant about searching the place even though they didn’t have a warrant. They apparently also inquired about the family’s immigration status. They are all U.S. citizens but fled from terrorism in Somalia when Diriye was 7. He takes offense to being investigated as if he were a terrorist.

955 trapped Gold Miners freed from South African mine: They were trapped since Wednesday night when a storm caused a power outage. The mine shafts are 3,280 feet deep. Power was restored Friday and the workers were rescued.

Happy Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil — a remarkably hard name to spell at 6 a.m., mind you — saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter. Huzzah. Did you know a groundhog is a type of large squirrel and belongs to the marmot family? This is a weird tradition.

UW Huskies beat the Arizona State Sun Devils in close game: The UW men’s basketball team won their third straight game last night against the ASU Sun Devils. It was a defensive game that resulted in a close victory.


Beware of overnight I-5 closures: Starting Saturday night, parts of I-5 will be closed so crews can replace green overhead signs near Green Lake and Lake Union. At 9 p.m. on Saturday, the northbound lanes will be reduced to a single lane. Southbound gets the same treatment on Sunday night.

The bid for universal screening to find gifted students: Is being considered for all of Washington State. The Northshore School District used to only screen children for giftedness based on teacher recommendations and parent referrals. This year, they opened up the testing for every student. As a result, 500 low-income students will now be considered gifted. With their old system, many of these kids would never have been tested. A bill is in the Legislature to make this type of screening status quo statewide.

Crowdfunding is hit or miss for Seattle’s homeless: The most recent Project Homeless story from The Seattle Times discusses homeless people who have used crowdfunding to get back on their feet. There are a few success stories, but there are many more failures. Many of the popular crowdfunding sources that people donate to take a cut of the profits, as well. The article recommends people who want to practice more equitable funding to do it through nonprofit crowdfunding apps like Watsi.

Middle school shooting in Los Angeles was accidental: Four children were wounded when a gun in a student’s backpack went off accidentally, according to the Associated Press.

Ed Murray pension gets him more than $100,000 a year: The disgraced former mayor has some lofty retirement benefits. Monthly, he gets $8,460 from the state and $1,200 from the city. He’s going to get $115,920 a year for the rest of his life in pension payments alone. The Seattle Times has the full breakdown.

Remember those two 12-year-olds that stabbed another 12-year-old 19 times in the woods? If you don’t, the two girls did it to appease “Slender Man,” a fictional character born out of an Internet meme. Now, they’re 15 and have been sentenced for attempted homicide. Yesterday, Morgan Geyser was sentenced to 40 years under a mental health institution’s supervision. In December, Anissa Weier was sentenced to 25 year under a mental institution’s supervision.

Who will replace Dave Reichert? The race for Washington’s 8th Congressional District is hot. Republicans are pushing hard to replace Reichert with another Republican. Reichert has held the position in the traditionally conservative district since 2005. In 2016, the district voted for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. Democrats — four of them, specifically — are scrambling to fill the seat. The Republican candidate, Dino Rossi, has raised $1.3 million so far. The leading Democrat, Kim Schrier, comes in a distant second with nearly $595,000 raised.

Hit-and-run near SeaTac airport: A 44-year-old man has died after a truck struck him in Burien. The truck fled the scene. Several items fell off the suspect’s vehicle including a winch, toolboxes, and rugby equipment.



Father of three victims lunges at Larry Nassar during hearing: Two of his daughters had given testimony about how Nassar had molested them. Their father, Randall Margraves, asked the judge to let him have five minutes alone with Nassar. Unsurprisingly, she refused. Then, Margraves charged at the former doctor. He was wrestled to the ground.


The Super Bowl is on Sunday! Are you a Patriots fan? Or do you want to see those Eagles fly? Maybe you’re just in it for the commercials. To get you hyped for a weekend of football, watch this clip of Jeopardy!


My 12-year-old brother forecasts a big win from the Eagles: He took the time out of his busy schedule to give me his expert opinion on Sunday's Super Bowl.

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Here’s a fun fact for your Friday: There are more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way.

Congratulations—you made it to Friday! Some of this weekend’s best events include Belltown's Root Pie Groundhog Day (today), Literary Career Day (Saturday), a Shelby Earl concert with our own Sean Nelson (Saturday), and the Seattle International Dance Festival Mini Winter Fest (Saturday and Sunday). Rather stay inside? You can also check out one of these critic-picked movies, or use the weekend to plan ahead for the rest of February.