Its time for your initiation into the task force.
It's time for your initiation into the task force. RIEGSECKER/GETTYIMAGES.COM

Saving the baby salmon: In a move to help save young salm-baes and orcas, the Seattle Times reports that “a landmark agreement supported by states, tribes and federal agencies is expected to change how water is spilled at Columbia and Lower Snake River dams.” The agreement is in line with a recommendation to boost spill in order to increase the survival odds of chinook salmon. It came from Governor Jay Inslee’s “orca task force.” They’re probably my favorite current task force. Orca task force unite!

Oh boy, that’s a lot of dead baby salmon… This is not the news I wanted to be telling you directly after the last bit of good news, but here it goes. 6.2 million baby salm-baes died in last weekend’s windstorm when power was cut off to a hatchery in Pierce County. You may be asking, “did they not have a generator?” They did, but the backup generator failed too. Of the death toll, 507,000 were White River spring chinook fry meant as food for the endangered Southern Resident killer whales.

Yikes. Travel advisory.


Governor Inslee wants to do something about the opioid crisis in Washington: He has proposed a $30 million budget to fight the epidemic. The budget would put money towards such things as non-pharmaceutical pain treatments, as well as drug kits for users to identify whether or not drugs obtained on the street contain fentanyl. In the first six months of 2018, “81 people died from fentanyl-related overdoses” according to the Seattle Times.

Seattle to spend $75 million on affordable housing: In a city that is relentlessly pushing out residents, everything we can do helps, and as Mayor Jenny Durkan said, “We need affordable housing in every part of this city.” While $75 million is a big number, last year Seattle allocated $95.7 million for affordable housing. The city reassures us that while the amount is less this year, “a record number of new apartments will be built.”

The deadline has been extended to get some of that sweet, sweet Obamacare: That’s right! It looks like if you still want to get in on it this year you should call the Washington Health Benefit Exchange’s Customer Support Center by Thursday. Info can be found here.


They say they’re fighting: I say they’re making love! What do you say?


Man killed in hit-and-run: Earlier this morning a man who was walking in Kent was hit and killed by a driver near the intersection of 84th Avenue South and southbound Highway 167. The driver fled the scene.

Have you noticed stocks dropping? Alan Greenspan has. This morning they’re up a bit, but with articles with headlines like “The stock market is on pace for its worst December since the Great Depression,” overall confidence is not high at the moment.


Flynn to be sentenced today: Narcissist-in-Chief Donald Trump’s first National Security Advisor Michael Flynn will be sentenced today for lying to federal investigators. As the New York Times reminds us, “federal prosecutors said he deserved little or no prison time because he had provided “substantial help” with multiple criminal inquiries.” It’ll all go down today at 11:00 a.m. eastern time.

And the space force is official: There you have it, folks. As ABC News puts it, “It's an effort to better organize and advance the military's vast operations in space that could cost as much as $800 million over the next five years.”


Tonight's best Seattle entertainment options include: A Christmas concert with R&B crooner John Legend, a chance to see landscape paintings by Margie Livingston, and a multi-genre reading at Lit Fix 24: Braving the Chill.