A relic of Tacomas past.
A relic of Tacoma's past. Photitos2016/Getty Images

Tacoma is always on the up and up: This week Tacoma passed gender-neutral bathroom rules! The rules require “restaurants and shops to label single-user restrooms with gender-neutral signs rather than one for male and one for female patrons.” Seattle set a nice example for Tacoma, having set gender-neutral bathroom rules back in 2015.

Everett is on the up and up too! They banned plastic bags! No more dog-poop-bag freeloading for you! Now customers will have to either pay 5 cents for single-use bags, or learn how to use reusable bags. Say it with me now, re-use-a-bull bags.

The Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Lacey went up in flames: KING5 reports that the fire started around 3:30 a.m. The roof has collapsed and the whole building is toast. What’s more, “The Thurston County Sheriff's Office called the fire suspicious and called upon a local taskforce to investigate its cause.” So far this year, five fires have been set at three different Kingdom Halls in Thurston County.


The green stuff is coming: And there’s some blue, and pink too! My analysis of this forecast is that you will not want to be caught outside walking your dog at 12:00 a.m. unless you have a damn fine raincoat.


Washington is a bastion of global health: Well, a bastion of global health organizations, we should say. GeekWire reports that Washington state boasts a robust “global health ecosystem,” that employs 14,000 people and “contributed about $8.8 billion to the state’s economy in 2017.” It looks like Washington global health organizations operate in all 195 countries in the world!

Ew, ew, ew! Cigarette companies are investing in cannabis. Marlboro cigarette-maker Altria Group Inc is pouring $1.8 billion into Canadian Cannabis producer Cronos Group Inc. It is a smart business move, as cigarette smoking is in decline, but knowing how predatory, careless, and generally horrible cigarette companies are, this news is further reason to know who your cannabis producer is. Sooner or later, these sharks are going to try to be everywhere, and they aren’t going to do anything good for the cannabis industry.

TrumpWatch; Another day, another horrible nomination: President and narcissist-in-chief Donald Trump will nominate William P. Barr as the next Attorney General, according to the New York Times. In fact, Trump told reporters that “He was my first choice since Day 1.” Kind of a poor deal maker if he can’t get his first choice first, right? Sad.

Another impending resignation too. Who’s resigning now? White House sources reportedly told CNN that John Kelly, Chief of Staff, will be resigning in the coming days. The most likely frontrunner to replace Kelly is Nick Ayers, who is currently serving as Vice President Mike Pence’s Chief of Staff. We await hearing Trump’s almost-guaranteed decree that Ayers was in fact his first choice since Day 1.

But, oooh, get ready for another drop: Mueller is set to reveal more details about the Russia investigation today. The memos that Mueller and prosecutors will be disclosing should shed light on two areas of interest. The first will have to do with Trump’s ex-legal-fixer Michael Cohen, and the second will disclose whatever it was that Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied about during his plea deal a month ago. Grab some popcorn and maybe a puke-bag.

That was fast: Kevin Hart, the comedian chosen to host the Oscars, has stepped down from his role, following backlash over his resurfaced homophobic tweets. After announcing that he was stepping down, he went on to say this:

This is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past. I'm sorry that I hurt people... I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again.
The lesson is simple. Don't act like a bigot, or be a bigot, and you have a chance to host the Oscars.

Gold Star Comment:

Treacle: Practice, practice! We're all gonna die someday anyway, might as well practice and get good at it now before it happens!

This weekend's best Seattle entertainment options include: The Judy Garland Christmas Special with Crabgrass Productions, Everyone's Floored at the Alice (along with other Georgetown Art Attack events), and Jose Gonzalez trio's performance of A Charlie Brown Christmas.