Oh! Glorious day! Wake up and feel the sunshine on your face. Quit groaning about that hour, that sweet, precious hour, daylight savings brutally snatched from you yesterday. Itâs March 12th and itâs spring! Iâm obligated to clarify that spring isnât technically until March 20th, but itâs going to be 70 degrees today. Heck, itâs basically summer! What a perfect way to celebrate Mitt Romney's birthday. Also, Jack Kerouac's birthday. And, my birthday. Shout out to Sydney Brownstone whose birthday was yesterday. The Stranger loves Pisces.
Using records going back to 1894, Seattle has a 7% chance of hitting 70° prior to March 15th. Also known as a higher chance of success than my NCAA brackets. But equally capable of producing some March Madness. #wawx
â NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) March 12, 2018
This is what it looks like from space! Whoa, no clouds.
A day this clear wouldn't be complete without a view from space. So, here's the view of the Pacific NW earlier today from NASA's MODIS satellite. #wawx pic.twitter.com/I82hI0Jt5P
â NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) March 12, 2018
Navy training in Washington state parks: The Navy wants to use Washington parks to train its SEALs on land and in water. There are 29 parks it wants to set up special-operations trainings in, but the state parks havenât begun they review process. Approval is no sure thing since critics worry having literal Navy SEALs training at any time could disrupt public usage of the park. Imagine camping on a beach and the team that took out Bin Laden rolls up on the shore.
Check your pension plan: About $5.3 million of Washington stateâs pension funds is invested in stocks of ammunition and gun manufacturers. Itâs a small portion of the $98 billion in total assets managed by the Washington State Investment Board that oversees 17 retirement plans for teachers, firefighters, law-enforcement, and other public officials, the Seattle Times reports.
Two free years of college under Durkan: The plan is to one day make community college free for all Seattle high school graduates. Currently, it will expand upon an idea first launched in 2008 called the 13th Year (no, not the Disney Channel movie about the boy who becomes a mermaid during puberty). In that program, six Seattle high school graduates received a free first year, as well as extra support to ensure success, at the three Seattle Colleges. Starting this fall, Durkan will give those students a free 14th year as well. In 2019-20, all Seattle School District high school graduates will be able to attend any Seattle College for free. It will be open to all students regardless of citizen status.
The children are our future: Washington state students are planning a statewide school walkout on Wednesday, the one month anniversary of the Parkland, Florida school shooting. They will leave their classes at 10 a.m. and stand outside for 17 minutes in remembrance of the 17 people who were killed in Parkland. Students also plan to participate in the Seattle offshoot of March For Our Lives on March 24th. During both events, students will call upon elected officials to step-up gun control policy like banning assault weapons and the sale of high-capacity magazines.
In case you werenât sad enough: Thereâs a dog in Brazil who has been waiting for its owner outside a hospital for four months. Its owner, a homeless man, was stabbed and rushed to the hospital where he soon died. The dog has never tried to go into the hospital. It just sits and waits for the day its owner will return. It was even taken to an animal shelter but escaped after three days and walked two miles back to the hospital where it took up its vigil again.
Speaking of dogs who are better than all of us: Remember Rex? The dog who was shot two to three times during a home invasion while he protected his 16-year-old owner? Yeah, Rex is a good boy. He won a âHeroic Dog Awardâ from PETA. Heâs doing well after surgery but has to see a dog therapist for PTSD.
â10 Things I Hate About Youâ House in Tacoma for sale: Youâre envious of all your friends who went to Stadium High School. Youâll never be able to play paintball with Heath Ledger at Gasworks Park because thereâs no paintball at Gasworks Park. And also Heath Ledger is dead. But, you could buy the Tacoma home where Kate Stratford (played by Julia Styles) lived in the 90s classic â10 Things I Hate About Youâ for a mere $1.6 million.
Hereâs nature being cool: Remember those fires that devastated Southern California (my home) for months? Here are those fire-stricken hillsides now after mother nature graced them with a little bit of well-deserved rain. Southern California is always parched.
Heat from sunlight on the mountains blackened by the Thomas Fire along the 101 freeway near Ventura turns rain water in the soil into water vapor/steam Sunday afternoon between storms in Southern California. pic.twitter.com/IgvNVLNt0s
â Al Seib (@AlSeibPhoto) March 11, 2018
People in Washington are stealing from Girl Scouts: How low can you go? One girl scout troop was paid with three counterfeit bills. They didnât realize until the troop leader took the money to the bank. An Edmonds troop lost $100 to a counterfeit bill, as well. Other troops have experienced issues with people taking boxes and bolting. That one dollar price hike really drove people to a life of crime. Thin Mint theft is an epidemic.
Fatal New York helicopter crash: The helicopter plunged into the East River. All five passengers died. Only the pilot survived.
DEVELOPING: FDNY and NYPD responding to reports of helicopter crash in the East River off Manhattan. https://t.co/W2eF2urOcK
There are no reports of injuries at this time, authorities say. pic.twitter.com/xN3f5EBoxK
â ABC News (@ABC) March 11, 2018
Betsy does her best: Devos, the Secretary of Education, probably, most likely, knows what a school does. She at least knows the word school. Sheâs seen one, maybe in a movie once. Those kids in that Stranger Things show went to one sheâs pretty sure. Thatâs about it, though.
Sec. of Education Betsy DeVos struggles to answer fairly basic questions on school performance on 60 Minutes pic.twitter.com/lFVq3USwUW
â Axios (@axios) March 12, 2018
March Madness is starting: I should not be your source of information on this one. Virginia is the top seed, I can tell you that much. To fill out your bracket, please just consult this New York Times article.
The best entertainment options for your Monday night in Seattle include: An evening with Whose Line Is It Anyway? funnyman Greg Proops, Caela Bailey's theater show Who In The World Are You?, and a photography presentation in National Geographic Live: A Wild Life.