There's having a shit day, and having the kind of day where you jam your ship sideways into the Suez Canal
(đˇ: Julianne Cona/fallenhearts17 via Instagram) pic.twitter.com/MHLENxE1pB
â Prof. Paul Byrne (@ThePlanetaryGuy) March 23, 2021
The Suez Canal is stuffed: Late last night, a container ship clocking in at over 1,300-feet
long ran aground in the Suez Canal and blocked traffic in the shipping artery that connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. As of Wednesday morning, the boatânamed the Ever Givenâwas still blocking the canal. Around 100 ships were stuck at either end. The latest development is that officials were able to partially re-float the ship, which means it could be freed soon.
Seattle finally opens a hotel for homeless people: Starting today, Seattle will move 140 homeless people into the Executive Hotel Pacific downtown, following in King County's footsteps months after they opened hotels to those without a roof over their heads. In the last year, King County leased 800 rooms for homeless people. Seattle is starting with the Executive Hotel Pacific and will open up space at the Kings Inn next week. The first hotel will cost $8.3 million to run with full-security and live-in staff from the Low-Income Housing Insitute, the Seattle Times reported.
Second batch of stimmies coming today: If you haven't received your $1,400 in Biden bucks yet, don't worry. The IRS said the second batch of stimulus checks should show up in bank accounts today. The check could show up in the mail, or as a prepaid debit card.
Boulder shooter charged with 10 counts of murder. Police still do not know the man's motive for gunning down shoppers in a Colorado grocery store on Monday. He will make his first court appearance on Thursday morning.
Typically anti-vax Vashon Island is pro-vax now: Vashon Island is home to parents who are very loud about not vaccinating their kids. The island's old people are a different story. Seniors on Vashon are getting vaccinated at higher rates than most other places in King County.
A rainy Wednesday: I do appreciate that the spring weather keeps things interesting.
Rain returns today. But it'll be a short visit. Drier conditions return Thursday through Saturday. đ§ď¸âĄď¸âď¸ #wawx pic.twitter.com/sRVFepYFYr
â NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) March 24, 2021
NASA is going to fly a small helicopter on Mars: The $80 million Ingenuity helicopter tagged along with the Perseverance rover on the rover's trip to Mars. The helicopter will make the first powered takeoff and landing on another planet when it's ready to take flight sometime around April 8. If the helicopter's flight in Mars' thin atmosphere is successful it could have huge implications on the future of space exploration.
Seattle City Council starts to roll back some planned police budget cuts: The debate around whether to cut $5.4 million from the Seattle Police Department to account for the department going over overtime spending last year is ongoing in the council's Public Safety & Human Services Committee. But, yesterday, the council moved to approve a substitute bill that would only cut $3 million from SPD's budget and give the rest of the funds back to the department. Councilmembers Kshama Sawant and Tammy Morales voted against that decision because they said the substitute bill goes against last year's council commitments to cut SPD's budget and reimagine policing. More here.
Here is a fast dog video: This is Gabby. She competed at Westminster Kennel Club dog show in 2019.
now this lil mf was MOVING! đđ pic.twitter.com/I4EM4jhUdF
â T R E Y âĄď¸ 3 K (@Trey3K__) March 23, 2021
A big ol' Bellevue drug bust: According to KOMO News, in a drug bust on Tuesday, authorities "discovered 410,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl, 908 grams of heroin, 787 grams of cocaine, two handguns, one of which was reported stolen and nearly a quarter-million dollars in cash."
Maybe now you'll care about the environment: Pollution from plastic manufacturing may be causing penis size to shrink in babies. Chemicals called phthalates are used in the plastic-creation process and may disrupt the body's endocrine system. Male babies exposed to the stuff are at higher risk to have a smaller member, a new book on the subject argues.
Michigan COVID-19 cases shoot up: Michigan reported nearly 17,000 new cases last week, which is an over 300% increase in cases from last month. Officials say slow vaccine rollout coupled with COVID-19 fatigue, reopening schools, more contagious variants, and loosening restrictions are to blame for the increase in cases. Is Michigan a sign of what's to come in more states country-wide as we prematurely relax COVID-19 restrictions?
Do you have skin hunger? Boutique "stretch labs" where you pay someone to stretch your body for you are rising in popularity during the pandemic because people's bodies hurt and they're desperate for physical contact.
It's Equal Pay Day: Soccer star Megan Rapinoe is testifying in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in a hearing about âthe economic harm caused by longstanding gender inequalities, particularly for women of color.â In 2019, Rapinoe and the rest of the U.S. Women's National Team filed a gender-discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federationâs treatment of the women's team. Last year, a judge dismissed the portion of the lawsuit related to equal pay, but Rapinoe and the other players are appealing that decision.
Bleak: "Gun industry prepares for a surge in demand after back-to-back mass shootings"
You can now DM anyone on Slack: Users of the workplace communication app can now chat with more people than just their coworkers. Starting today, Slack users can find users via their work email and request to DM them. If the other party accepts, that chat will be added to your Slack sidebar, just like all your other chats. Do we think Jeff Bezos uses Slack? Should I add him?
New hole pic just dropped: Er. Black hole pic, that is. Like from space.
Our present on this Wednesday is a new black hole photo. The folks at @ehtelescope managed to capture the magnetic field lines around the black hole in M87. The bright ring is the glow of radiation from super hot gas getting eaten some 53 million ly away. Truly remarkable. pic.twitter.com/a2X82Ha4FR
â angel of the supermarketđ (@shannonmstirone) March 24, 2021
A crossword for your Wednesday: Have at it.
This post has been updated to remove an outdated story from last year.