White-collar Starbucks workers may unionize: Office workers at Seattle's local coffee company wrote a letter to executives outlining their distaste for Starbucks' alleged union-busting. "These actions are fracturing trust," employees wrote about the coffee chain's continued fight against baristas banding together to unionize. In the letter, the workers also protested a mandate to return to the office. The whole thing hinted at collective action from inside Starbucks HQ.

Federal grant money for Sea-Tac TSA lines: Good news, travelers, Sea-Tac Airport received $16 million in federal infrastructure funds to speed up TSA wait times. The $24 million project will move TSA Checkpoint #1 from the upstairs departure area to the downstairs arrival area and will tack on two screening lanes and two automatic screening lanes. Does that really cost $24 million? Money is fake. 

Bellingham-based real estate firm faces sexual assault charges: eXp Realty and two of its male agents face charges in a case that four women filed in a California federal court last week. The charges allege two agents "drugged and assaulted them—or attempted to assault them—at networking and recruitment events in California and Nevada between 2018 and 2020," the Seattle Times reports. The women were co-workers with the men, and they had filed complaints to the company before going to court. They believe the company and the men share equal responsibility for the alleged assaults.

Eli Lilly caps out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35: Whoa, okay, curveball! Eli Lilly won't charge an arm and a leg for insulin now. The change comes as an Inflation Reduction Act measure to cap insulin costs at $35 for seniors on Medicare takes effect. Eli Lilly will cap costs at $35 for all their insulin products. Maybe it was the Inflation Reduction Act that spurred Eli Lilly to stop being completely evil, or maybe it was the fake tweet that caused the company's stock to fall by 4.3%. 

Fancy restaurant finds new home: Matia Kitchen, the nationally acclaimed farm-to-table restaurant on Orcas Island, closed suddenly in January due to disputes over money and ownership rights. Everything's chill now, though, and Matia is re-opening in a new space two blocks away from where it used to be in downtown Orcas Island. 

Shit, fuck: I forgot to wish Burien a happy birthday yesterday. 

Lori Lightfoot makes history: Chicago's mayor became the first mayor in 40 years to lose a re-election campaign. In yesterday's mayoral primary election, Chicagoans voted instead for law-and-order pro-cop Paul Vallas, who was a former CEO of Chicago schools, and progressive Brandon Johnson, a Cook County commissioner. It'll be a real ideological showdown for the heart of the Windy City. 

Even if she was a garbage mayor, I'll miss Lightfoot and her whacky antics. Remember when she dressed up as "The Rona Destroyer" in October 2020? Or, when she told a lawyer for the Parks District she had the "biggest dick" in Chicago? 

Bad year for trains: A passenger train carrying 350 people traveling north from Athens to Thessaloniki collided with a freight train just before midnight. At least 36 people died and 85 were taken to the hospital with injuries. This appears to be Greece's deadliest rail accident. According to experts, Greece has the worst record for rail safety in Europe and hasn't addressed long-standing maintenance issues for decades. 

Bola Tinubu wins Nigerian presidential election: Tinubu, 70, is a former governor and a "political kingmaker" who claimed he brought current president Muhammad Buhari to power. After Tinubu won, the two opposing parties claimed the election was rigged and called for a re-do. Despite many registering to vote and a labor candidate, Peter Obi, who galvanized young people, Nigeria saw only 27% voter turnout, the lowest in the country's history. 

Potential headline of the week: "Bay Area Landlord Goes on Hunger Strike over Eviction Ban."

Florida bill seeks to ban Florida Democratic Party: Florida State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia filed SB 1248 “The Ultimate Cancel Act” on Tuesday. The bill seeks to "de-certify any political party and its affiliates, that previously advocated for slavery in their party’s platform." According to Ingoglia, the Democratic Party had pro-slavery positions in its platform back in 1840, 1844, 1856, 1860, and 1864. Ingoglia's point basically boils down to "why should the Dems ask for racist statues to be removed and for people and companies to stop being racist if they were racist and pro-slavery during the 1800s aka when the whole country was pro-slavery?" Florida Democrats are obviously not pleased. 

USPS goes green: The new era of the all-electric post office fleet is upon us. The United States Postal Service just bought 9,250 Ford Motor Co. electric vans and 14,000 charging stations. This is a drop in the bucket in the plan to fully electrify USPS, which will cost nearly $10 billion, require 66,000 electric delivery trucks, and charging infrastructure to match that demand, according to the Associated Press. 

Japan's plummeting birth rate: In 2022, Japan saw the lowest birthrate in history despite the country's attempts to reverse the rapid decline. Japan only had 799,728 births last year. That's about half the amount the country had in 1982. With a shrinking work force, a ballooning elder generation, and the highest life-expectancy in the world, Japan's “on the brink of not being able to maintain social functions," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned in January. He plans to establish a new government agency to oversee the birthrate issue by April and double government spending on kid-related things. 

Nerdy trash worth upwards of $100,000: Someone in Texas has some explaining to do. A redditor found several pallets of discarded Magic: The Gathering cards at a Texas landfill. The cards, some which were rare, could probably have been worth between $100,000 and $250,000, fans of the game speculated. The person who found the cards couldn't take them from the landfill due to local rules. So, everybody lost here.