Brace yourself: It’s gonna be a rainy couple of days for Western Washington.

Careful out there: The Northwest Avalanche Center issued an avalanche warning until at least 6 pm for slopes from Canada to King County and West of the Cascades. Check here for road closures and more details. 

ICYMI: Hey, you! Yeah, you. Did you know that the state legislative session just started? Well, now you do! The Democrats strengthened their majority ever so slightly last election, which gives them another chance to GET SHIT DONE like taxing the rich, building more housing, ending qualified immunity, tightening up gun restrictions, and making sure that Washington has the best abortion access possible for its residents and those who travel here seeking care. Check out our big-ass legislative package to learn more.

In other legislative news: Maybe I’m the last person to hear about this, but Gov. Jay Inslee wants to lower the blood-alcohol content level that qualifies as drunk from .08 to .05. I don’t really know how this would prevent people from driving drunk in the first place, but KING 5 said when Utah passed the same rule change in 2019, the state saw a 20% decrease in fatal crashes.

Stop pricing out students: Yesterday, UW students protested the university’s plan to hand over four student housing complexes to a private developer who would renovate, rebuild, and run the off-campus housing. The students worry the change-over will dramatically increase their rents, and the university said they’re not wrong about that. Still, a spokesperson for UW said that the deal will benefit students because it will result in more housing.  

Cashless unincorporated King County: County Council Member Jeanne Kohl-Welles wants to ban cashless retail in King County. Seems like an okay idea. Not allowing people to use cash is pretty classist because it makes it harder for people without debit or credit cards to buy things. KOMO talked to some business owners in unincorporated King County, and they seem fine with it. 

So long, Herbold: As you may have heard, Council Member Lisa Herbold, who represents the good people of West Seattle and South Park, will not seek re-election. And maybe you check the election filings regularly and already know this, but, as of this morning, two candidates have already announced they will run to replace her. Their names are AnnaLisa LaFayette, who fought back against censorship of nude art in Vashon, and Preston Anderson, who appears to be a social worker who follows me on Twitter. 

Good news! The Northwest African American Museum (NAAM) will reopen its doors this Martin Luther King Jr. Day after being closed for almost three years due to the pandemic. You can visit for free on Monday in celebration of the vital cultural and community space’s return.

Speaking of NAAM, You’ll remember the museum is still in need of repairs. President and CEO LaNesha DeBardelaben asked the council for $500,000 during budget negotiations at the end of last year, and Council Member Kshama Sawant proposed a budget amendment to meet the museum’s request, but Council Member Sara Nelson “egregiously misconstrued” DeBardelaben to justify not voting for the measure. Nelson sucks. Glad NAAM’s back!  

Boo hoo: Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is calling his corporate workers to get their butts to the SoDo headquarters at least three days a week starting at the end of this month because virtual work hasn’t been productive enough. He already tried to get people back to the office once or twice a week in September, but workers didn’t do it, probably because working from home fucking rules. Schultz thinks this flexibility puts his company “in peril.” What a drama king. 

Strike is over: After three days on strike, nurses in New York City announced this morning that they’ve reached a tentative agreement with their employers. According to CBS News, the nurses won raises and safer staffing ratios. 

Biden, Biden, Biden. Tisk, tisk: President Joe Biden is under scrutiny for mishandling sensitive government materials. On Wednesday, the President’s legal team found even more classified documents at Biden's home days after revealing they had already found a bunch of classified documents in a different Biden office back in November. So far, we don’t know the nature of these documents, but Axios argues that this situation is pretty different from Trump’s Mar-a-lago scandal. 

Republicans suck so hard: Rep. Pramila Jayapal appeared on MSNBC yesterday to clap back at House Republicans who passed a bill to “protect babies born alive” after late term abortions. Not only is this just not a real issue, according to medical professionals, but Jayapal says the vote speaks to how out of touch the Republicans are. The right to choose is a pretty popular stance among voters, as we saw with the pitiful attempt at a “red wave.” Jayapal said, “I think Republicans are on their extremist MAGA, extremist Republican agenda.” So extreme, she said it twice! 

In honor of Miley’s upcoming single: