For science!
For science! dottedhippo/Getty Images

Most kids are headed back to school today: But the vast majority of school districts are still starting a few hours late. You might even be able to hear an audible sigh right around 10 a.m. today when parents drop their kids off at school and can finally get some peace and goddamn quiet. But they better enjoy it while they can because the snow is coming back this Friday and, knowing Seattle school districts, could easily cause another snow day.

Discovery Park could be latest site for affordable housing: Mayor Jenny Durkan is moving forward with a plan to redevelop Fort Lawton into housing for seniors, low-income individuals, and also single-family homes. You know those decrepit, yellowish buildings you pass on your way to the lighthouse? They’re the ones that make you think, “If CSI Seattle was a thing, they would totally find a body there.” That’s Fort Lawton.

Putting the cold in cold open: This weather could end up being the coldest two week period on record, even beating out 2008 which I hear was cold (I was in Chicago where it’s always cold in February). Now that we have snow I think we can all appreciate this piece of ART from our neighbors to the north.

A clapback enshrined in history: Nancy Pelosi’s sarcastic clap managed to overshadow President Trump’s entire speech. If that doesn’t tell you all you need to know about the State of the Union then I don’t know what will. For all those playing SOTU Bingo at home, Trump called for unity, he still wants a wall, he pleaded for congress to avoid “partisan investigations,” and the Republicans started chanting “U-S-A, U-S-A!” like they just drank their first beer at a high school football game.


You should all watch Stacey Abrams’ speech: It’s only 10 minutes long and inspiring as hell.


What’s next for the carbon tax? I-1631 didn’t pass last year but that doesn’t mean it never will. Organizers and policy makers alike are reflecting on what exactly tanked the effort to implement the first state carbon tax in America. It seemed to have everything going for it: a good economy, political support from prominent leaders, and the heart wrenching image of an orca whale carrying her dead calf. “If a carbon tax cannot pass in good economic times, in a pro-environment state like Washington, then action on climate is far more difficult than it used to seem,” said UW climate policy researcher Nives Dolšak. The next effort might have to fight even more uphill.

I thought the Squeeze was over: If you’re wondering why traffic on I-5 was an absolute shitshow last night it’s because a man drove at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour into a semi-truck which pushed it across the median into oncoming traffic. The man then refused to exit the vehicles and threatened his own life with a knife. For everybody who reads Slog PM, I can update you that it all ended peacefully and nobody was seriously injured but clean up crews were left with a big ole mess.

NASA is going to shoot an asteroid: These extraterrestrial rocks are an existential threat to humanity. Don’t believe me? Go ask a dinosaur. Oh wait, YOU CAN’T! NASA has been working on a planetary defense system that can knock an asteroid off a collision course with earth. To test it, they are going to launch a rocket at an asteroid the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza to try and knock it off its orbit. Let’s hope it works!

The blue planet might not be blue much longer: Oceanic shifts caused by climate change may drastically change the color of our oceans over the next few decades. It’s like earth is one of those pH strips and we’re getting way too acidic. Or basic. It doesn’t matter. You may ask, “what scientific hacks came up with this mumbo jumbo?” That would be MIT so put that in your pipe, but don’t smoke it because we’ve got enough shit in the air as it is!

This is probably how parents felt during the snow day:


Tonight's best Seattle entertainment options include: A Civic Cocktail with Rick Steves, a concert with A$AP Rocky, and the Silent Reading Party.