Minors ride free on Puget Sound public transit starting tomorrow, Sept 1: Free Youth Transit Pass replaces the $1.50-per-ride fee that youths had to pay before this program was approved, reports KOMO. Kids are encouraged to bring their ORCA card with them, but it's not necessary to ride for free. Next step—free transit for all.

The boosters are coming! The boosters are coming! The Omicron-specific ones, that is. Today, the FDA authorized the updated Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines to help specifically combat the variant, reports the Seattle Times. It's a heady mix of half OG recipe and half new. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will debate rollout details on Thursday. These babies could be available by the weekend of Sept 9 at the earliest—just in time for school! The bad news—the jab might not be free anymore due to lack of federal funding...Priorities.

Thank GOD: This is breaking as I'm finishing PM, but—in an upset—Sarah Palin LOST to Democrat Mary Peltola in the Alaskan special election for the state's lone House seat, reports Politico. Peltola will be Alaska's first indigenous member of Congress in the state's first test of its new ranked-choice voting system. The Democrat finished first in the first round of voting and nabbed enough second-choice votes from Republican candidate Nick Begich II supporters to clench victory. Don't cheer too hard—Palin is still on the ballot in the regularly scheduled election this fall, where she could win a two-year term in the House.

Harrell addressed his wild-ass comments published by MyNorthwest the other day: Well, kinda. In a Seattle Parks budget press conference, Harrell declined to comment directly on the article, but KIRO reports that he said "he has the right to criticize what he sees." Interesting! "People are elected mayor to be strong and make decisions," said Harrell. "We will not be stagnant and complacent under my leadership."

Got rats? Tell King County. According to MyBallard, the county's public health department has an online survey to hear from constituents about how they can better their "programming and technical assistance offerings." I also learned from this MyBallard blog post that the Norway rat—which they describe as "uncomfortably large"—and the black rat are the two most common rats in Seattle. The more you know!

This Trump shit keeps getting more unreal: Last night, the Department of Justice dropped a picture of some of its findings from the Mar-a-Lago search, and it looks like a movie set. Documents with "SECRET" and "TOP SECRET" emblazoned across the top are scattered beside framed, unflattering Time covers featuring Trump. All this against his horrendous-looking carpet. There are even reports that Trump's representatives moved and concealed the highly classified documents, and "falsely claimed all sensitive material had been returned." I'm an abolitionist, but put Trump under the jail.

Another day, another invasive species found in Western Washington: This time, it's a freaky-eyed "gigantic" Egyptian grasshopper, reports the Seattle Times. One of these bad boys was spotted up in Everett in April, according to the state Department of Agriculture. While there's no evidence of a large population of the grasshopper, they could potentially pose a risk to crops, orchards, and vineyards. Officials are asking people to report sightings to department.

Leo DiCaprio dumps another one of his girlfriends after she turns 25: Whatever, I don't care about this rich white man's dating life, but this tweet took me out.

Jackson, Mississippi doesn't have water: Flooding pushed its main treatment to failure after residents had already been on a boil water notice since July following years of water system troubles, reports CNN. In an absolute failure of local government policy and care, the capital of the Magnolia State is forcing residents to stand in long lines for bottled water, and it has closed schools and businesses. Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said he hoped to restore water services "this week" to the city's residents as brown, gritty water bubbles out of faucets across the city.

I love what a lapsed copyright will make room for: Now that Winnie the Pooh is in the public domain, artists are free to do with the honey-loving bear what they please. For director Rhys Frake-Waterfiled, that meant turning the 100 Acre Wood into the setting of a bloody horror film. I, for one, am stoked to watch Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, lol.

Not shocking—U.S. life expectancy falls in a "historic" setback: Today, a report from the National Center for Health Statistics found that in 2021 the average American life expectancy was 76 years, three fewer years than in 2019. In particular, the decline hit Native Americans and Alaska Natives the hardest, with life expectancy rates shortening to 65, amounting to more than a six-and-a-half year fall since 2019, reports the New York Times. Will our health care system rise to the moment and meet our needs? Absolutely not!

This pilot figured out the best way to give the one-fingered salute: One Monday, a Piper Navajo aircraft flew for seven hours, leaving behind a flight path that looked like a middle finger flipping Whatcom County off, reports Q13 Fox. The detail on it is actually quite stunning. Hats off to you, you rascal, wherever you are!

I'm reading that Prime Video's Lord of the Rings prequel is really good: The Rings of Power is the most expensive show in history. It better be good. 

For your listening pleasure: I've really been enjoying LIVt's newest release, Pink and Orange. Here's "Let It Go" featuring Seattle's Dave B: