West Seattle residents briefly marooned this morning: The Spokane Street swing bridge—which has been limited to buses, cyclists, truckers, and permitted drivers as the West Seattle Bridge is still closed for construction—got stuck before reopening around 10 am, reports the Seattle Times. The lower bridge is set to receive "major rehab work" later this year. West Seattle Blog has some pics of the whole kerfuffle.
More of Oregon wants to join Idaho: 63% of Harney County, OR voters approved a non-binding measure to join them to the "Greater Idaho" movement, reports OPB. For those of you blissfully unaware of "Greater Idaho," the plan would have Idaho "absorb about three-quarters of Oregon’s land as well as a portion of Northern California." The reason being that the Gem State's ~*~**~conservative values~~*~* are more desirable than the antifa anarchy going down in Portland. Its chances of actually happening are slim to none.
Another day, another cat saved from the tree canopy above Volunteer Park: I thought this was something that only happened in movies? Why do cats climb that high? (I'm allergic and have absolutely no knowledge of these creatures' habits.)
A group of children aged 5 to 11 are the first young kids in Washington to get their COVID-19 vaccines: Ten kids rolled up their sleeves to receive their Pfizer vaccine at Shoreline Community College today, reports Seattle Times. The state is expecting to receive 230,000 kid-sized doses from the feds, "with an additional 86,000 doses scheduled to arrive at pharmacies." These doses are limited for now, but if you have a kiddo in your life who needs one, you can get on a waiting list or snag an appointment here.
Nervous smiles spread throughout the room as children lined up to be among some of Washington state’s first 5- to 11-year-olds to receive Pfizer’s pediatric vaccine.
UW received 5,700 doses of the pediatric dose and will start administering to the community tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/shO2a8CHEO
— amandamsnyder (@amandamsnyder) November 3, 2021
Diablo Dam Powerhouse is back up and running: After Seattle City Light had to shut it down four days ago thanks to a rockslide last Thursday, which "tore away the slide-protection fencing and supporting poles and cables," reports KING 5.
Before asking William Shatner, Jeff Bezos apparently offered Tom Hank a seat on his Blue Origin rocket: Hanks turned him down. The reason? The richest man in the world wanted him to cough up $28 million for the ride, Hanks told Jimmy Kimmel yesterday. Whatever Jeff!
Horny break: Get caught up looking at Carroll Dunham's (yes, Lena Dunham's dad) latest suite of work, Qualiascope, now showing at Galerie Eva Presenhuber in Zurich. They are erotic paintings and drawings of people fucking, rendered in a very green green. The essay accompanying the work by Mary Simpson describes the figures as "either thousands of years old, or dropped from outer space, or perhaps teleported from an ancient future." I can't stop looking at their nipples!
Lol, America: According to AP News, there are "at least six state or local political candidates" who attended the infamous Stop the Steal rally on January 6 that now are elected to office. While none are accused of committing any crimes or breaching the Capitol building on that fateful day, at least one does not regret attending Trump's incendiary rally.
But some good news: Progressive Michelle Wu is the first woman as well as the first person of color to become mayor of Boston. For 200 years, only white dudes have been elected to run Beantown, and now the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants (and Elizabeth Warren's protégé, I might add) has been elected to do the job.
More good news: Democrat Phil Murphy has narrowly won reelection for New Jersey governor against GOP challenger Jack Ciattarelli.
Weather break: Bundle up kids!
A frontal system will move through the area tonight and Thursday morning—blustery winds will develop on Thursday as the low pressure area moves ashore. Here's a nice image midday Wednesday, Nov. 3rd—it certainly looks like November in the northeast Pacific. pic.twitter.com/i1bCirS63J
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) November 3, 2021
I'm getting whiplash from Biden's social spending bill: Now, four weeks of paid leave is back ON the table, after the Dems got rid of it to appease the moderate and noted narcissists Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin last week. Senate Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi pushed for paid leave's re-inclusion, with supporters like Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand right behind her, reports Business Insider. Can't wait to see what they whittle it down to next week!
Another Asian giant hornet found across the border in British Columbia: Washington state entomologists say they found the hornet in a trap "well within flight distance from where Asian Giant hornet nests were found and destroyed in Washington," reports KOMO. But B.C. province's "resident bee expert" says that residents shouldn't worry as it likely came from one of the nests that U.S. officials have already eradicated. They should be more concerned if DNA analysis determine the hornet did not come from those nests which would "increase the likelihood the invasive insects are breeding and spreading in B.C.," reports CBC. Party!
The six finalists in Washington Transportation Commission's contest to name our new ferry are: Wishkah, Stillaguamish, Snoqualmie, Stehekin, Muckleshoot and Enie Marie. The Seattle Times has some background on all the names chosen to advance to the final round after the commission extended the search because too many jokey names had been submitted. You've got until November 12 to choose your preference (after registering with the Ferry Riders' Opinion Group), with the commission set to vote on a name on December 14.
For your listening pleasure: I know I posted one of their songs recently, but I'm going to see Yves Tumor perform live tonight and I really hope they play "Super Stars."
