According to this dog, the most important word in the language of the working class is solidarity.
According to this dog, "the most important word in the language of the working class is solidarity." TerenceLeezy / getty Images

Washington’s getting more money for family planning. As Idaho guts reproductive care, Senator Patty Murray has secured $4.5 million in funding for the state to expand access to health services, including abortion.

Broadway is for unions. Crossroads has become the latest employee group to vote in favor of unionizing, joining their just-down-the-street neighbors at the new Starbucks. Crossroads employees voted unanimously to unionize. Next up: H-Mart, if it ever opens?

The loops are there, trust us. If you’ve boarded a Sound Transit train recently, you might’ve noticed the supply of masks that look, oddly, like they have no loops for your ears. What are you supposed to do, hold it in front of your face? No, the loops are in fact there — they’re just very compact, and built into the side of the mask in a way that you might overlook:

Here’s how Washington farm workers won their labor fight. Workers recently picketed the country’s largest producer of tulips, Washington Bulb, but the strike didn’t last long — with flowers only viable for a short period of time, the company quickly accepted what the workers were asking for. Among the concessions: No more expecting workers to work off-the-clock, rubber-banding plants during breaks and when they go home. It’s obscene that they were expected to do so in the first place.

Here comes the next Covid wave. The risk of transmission is low, for now, in Seattle, but there are some hotspots in Idaho and especially Montana. You know the drill — wear a mask, avoid close unventilated contact, test if you think you’ve been exposed. Or don’t do any of those things and risk getting a potentially lifelong chronic illness and killing people you care about.

Hello bus. A new fleet of buses is rolling out, all electric and emission-free. That doesn’t mean pollution-free, since the manufacturing process is a bit messy. But, hey, it’s still a major improvement. Meanwhile, new trains are arriving in Tacoma, a city where I once saw one of the best drag shows of my life — all the performers were drag kings named for famous scientists. Anyway, I don't know why there is a boy holding a trumpet in this photo:

Somebody go get RuPaul’s trains flag. The Biden administration is proposing a hot sweaty cash injection for transit around the country, including nearly a billion dollars for Sound Transit. If the money comes through — and that's a big if — then it would not only speed up expansion to Lynnwood and Federal Way but also allow Sound Transit to put more money toward a whole bunch of expansions that include West Seattle and Ballard.

Got a hot take about downtown Seattle? Before you start dragging your fingers all over Twitter, read what neighbors who actually live there have to say about the situation — particularly the folks who are unhoused.

If there’s someone you know who you think is pretty great, let them know. For example, just as a reminder, I think Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda is an unstoppable force of progressive change who has a knack for saying she’ll do something and then getting it done, and I'd like to see more of what she does, please.

California is moving forward with reparations. But not for everyone — the state rejected a proposal to make funding available to nearly all Black residents, and instead restricted eligibility to people who can prove that they are descended from people directly harmed by slavery.

It’s clipboard season! Lots of folks are out gathering signatures for this and that ballot measure. Know what you’re putting your name on before you sign! Say yes yes yes to I-135, which would allow Seattle to vote on creating a social housing program. But say no no no to I-1929, which would cut education to pay for a billionaire tax cut. It’s easy to remember because 1929 is the year of the stock market crash, which is bad; while 135 is a Harshad number, which is an integer that is divisible by the sum of its digits. See, easy!

Get your hands dirty. Black Star Farmers, the collective that manages urban gardens around the city, is looking for a few volunteers to help with spring planting this Saturday at the MLK FAME Community Center and also at the Black Lives Memorial Garden in Cal Anderson Park. Remember when they first set up and the Internet was like “it’ll never last?” Well, it lasted.

Thinking about getting into bike commuting but concerned you won’t look weird enough? Consider dropping $1,100 on this work of art.

Seals! Otters! Octopodes! There’s a whole bunch of new faces at the Seattle Aquarium, all very charismatic. I’m excited about the new dwarf cuttlefish, a fascinating species of mollusk that does some truly bizarre stuff with its skin.

Mice! My favorite thing about pet rodents is how their noses are always going a mile a minute. No, wait, my favorite thing is their tiny little pink hands. No, wait, my favorite thing is when you’re wearing a hoodie and they fall asleep in the hood! Aaaaah they’re so cute.