Is this Tokitae's curse? The Puget Sound orca stuck in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium died there in 2023 right as efforts to move her back to the Pacific Northwest were progressing. Now, the Miami Seaquarium faces eviction. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava terminated the facility's lease, citing "decaying animal habitats, lack of veterinary staff and a lack of other experienced staff." Plus, apparently a lot of the buildings are "unsafe and structurally deficient," according to a report from KIRO 7.
New rules for the Seattle School Board: This week, the Seattle School Board implemented a new policy: if a director moves at all, they must notify the superintendent, the district’s attorney, and board president. This rule, of course, is only necessary because this year two school board directors were busted for quietly living out of their districts, yet still doing their jobs. Those directors, Vivian Song and Lisa Rivera, resigned from their posts.
Morning traffic update: Your commute may be snarled if you're headed north on I-5.
UPDATE: Just the right lane on the Spokane St. on-ramp is partially blocked on NB I-5 just south of I-90 in #Seattle.
— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) March 8, 2024
The backup is still around 5 miles. Continue to seek alternate routes if possible. https://t.co/Q8f4XVKmMX pic.twitter.com/6UqT6q8l8i
Don't forget: Clocks roll forward on Sunday. Despite successful bills from lawmakers in Olympia to stop dreaded Daylight Saving Time, Congress (which has the final say over this sort of thing) has yet to give Washington the green light to rid ourselves of this biannual clock dance. Enjoy the extra hour of sleep while you can. The bright side, of course, is the return of 7 pm sunsets.
Just want to put this on your radar: March 19 is Daffodil Day at Pike Place Market. Mark your calendars if you don't want to miss the chance to get free daffodils.
No wrongdoing from Uvalde cops: The Uvalde, Texas city council heard the final report from an investigation it commissioned about police officer conduct during the 2022 massacre at an elementary school. The investigation, conducted by a retired cop, found no violations of police policy or misconduct from the police officers. If you'll recall, the responders waited a whopping 77 minutes after arriving on the scene to actually bust into the classroom and stop the gunman. Victims' families in the audience were outraged.
Another Boeing bungle: Hm, things continue to go poorly for our former hometown plane-maker. A Boeing plane flying out of San Francisco to Japan diverted to Los Angeles when the plane's tire flew off during take off. The tire apparently fell on a bunch of cars in the SFO employee parking lot, causing damage to multiple vehicles. Boeing's planes have not had a good year so far. A door panel flew off mid-flight in January, a wing flap tore off in the air two weeks ago, an engine caught on fire, some landing gear fell off, etc.
The State of the Union happened: President Joe Biden directed his just-over-an-hour-long speech at Republicans and the unnamed specter of GOP frontrunner/indictment-collector Donald Trump, making his case for four more years. Biden spelled out the areas in which another Trump presidency and Republican dominance would impact the American people: stricter reproductive rights, capitulating to Russia, attempts to "bury the truth" (here he cited Jan 6), softness toward taxing the super-rich, and undermining Medicare and Social Security.
On IVF: Biden urged Congress to protect in vitro fertilization after a recent ruling from the Alabama State Supreme Court called into question the future of the procedure in a country influenced by pro-life zealots.
On immigration: The Republicans are all up in arms about border security, and they are using the murder of a Laken Riley, a 22-year-old college student, as rage bait. And yet it was Republican House members who sank a bipartisan border bill that would have "boosted the numbers of immigration judges, asylum officers, and drug detection machines." Biden pointed this out in his speech. However, he may have lost some sway when he bungled Riley's name, referring to her as "Lincoln" rather than "Laken." In his defense, Laken is a pretty rare name.
On Palestine: Biden, whose base is questioning his lack of response toward the genocide in Gaza and his tacit support of Israel's occupation, attempted to thread the needle of both supporting Israel and admonishing civilian killings in Gaza. In a shift for Biden that perhaps marked the pressure felt by recent criticism, he emphasized the over 30,000 Palestinian civilian deaths and called on Israel to stop using aid to Gaza "as leverage." Then he called on Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages. Biden's big plan to fix this problem? Build a floating aid pier off the coast of Gaza.
Speaker Mike Johnson spent a lot of the speech grimacing and shaking his head in disappointment behind Biden. When he wasn't being a big grump, he allegedly small-talked with Vice President Kamala Harris. What did he talk to her about? Her dead parents.
Mike Johnson says he made small talk with Kamala Harris by asking her if her parents are alive pic.twitter.com/0AzAnRv71d
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 8, 2024
What the hell was this? The Republicans chose Sen. Katie Britt from Alabama to rebut Biden's speech. She did so from her kitchen. All I could focus on here was Britt's uncanny, undulating speaking voice filled with a forced emotion spoken through a plastered-on evil smile that never reached her dead eyes.
Watch: In Republican response to State of the Union, Katie Britt calls Biden "dithering and diminished" https://t.co/eViyVHb4Sv pic.twitter.com/qkuA9aVxyD
— TIME (@TIME) March 8, 2024
Sleepy Joe not sleepy enough for Republicans: In the wake of the SOTU, Republicans are complaining that Biden had too much energy.
No more alcohol at WSU frats: Washington State University's Greek life student leaders of the Panhellenic Council and the Interfraternity Council made fraternities and sororities go dry at social events after a rise in substance abuse-related medical calls. Other risk-management protocols proved ineffective. "Chapter meetings and service events, or special events" may be exempt from the rule dependent upon appeals to the councils.
Crawfish crisis: Due to extreme weather and drought, this year's crawfish harvest is perilously low for Louisiana's needs. Louisianans love a crawfish boil, but they also love the $300 million crawfish add to the economy every year. On Wednesday, Gov. Jeff Landry issued a disaster declaration.
New column: Did you read my new "Play Date" column? This time, I slid ass-first into the world of Seattle pole dancing.
Bad Bunny is in Seattle this weekend: So here's a song to listen to off his new album: