Lake Sammamish millionaires asked to not impede trail construction: There's a missing link in King County's trail system. The final section of the East Lake Sammamish Trail still needs to be built. Once done, it would connect Ballard to Issaquah. King County had to ask the homeowners next to the trail to remove any structures or personal property from it by September 30 of this year. And by ask I mean that the county sued the homeowners. Some have built garages and terraces in the space. These people have sued before, but the county is one step ahead with the lawsuit.
Republican lawmakers want those damn $30 car tabs: Despite not having Governor Jay Inslee's support for the legislation, Republican lawmakers in Olympia are introducing their own I-976 replacement bill that would implement $30 car tabs. âThatâs what the people voted for,â said Senator Phil Fortunato (R-Auburn), the bill's sponsor (and potentially just Tim Eyman wearing a suit of skin). The bill would only be necessary if the current suit against I-976 succeeds.
Impeachment trial to "begin in earnest": Starting next Tuesday, according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Senators have strict instructions for impeachment: They must actually pay attention and remain engaged during the trial.
In other impeachment news: Lev Parnas, the businessman at the center of this whole pressure-on-Ukraine thing, has said that Trump was fully aware of the effort. Ukraine has also launched a criminal investigation into whether Marie Yovanovitch, the US ambassador to Ukraine, was being surveilled, as newly released documents suggest.
This Rachel Maddow interview with Parnas is... Damning.
Highlights from the #maddowinterview:#NunesKnew and met with Parnas at the #trumphotel. #BarrKnew and was "on the team".
Trump ordered the whole thing.
"It was never about corruption."#presidentpelosi #THEYALLKNEW #nunesgotcaught #penceknew pic.twitter.com/lQEfyC6Zj4
â Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) January 16, 2020
Goodbye for now, snow: See you later, old friend. It's warming up in the Puget Sound region. Here's a chart. I don't know what it means, but maybe you can make sense of it. If it turns out that it was easy to read, don't blame me, I am so tired.
Temperatures have warmed across most of Western Washington overnight - except for parts of Whatcom County where cold air remains. Bellingham airport warmed overnight - only to drop 15 degrees in 15 minutes when the wind switched directions. #wawx pic.twitter.com/h93CcOUYQz
â NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) January 16, 2020
An avalanche rescue goat: The Washington State Department of Transportation has an unlikely helper this year: Mazama the goat. Wait, sorry. Mazama the stuffed goat. I thought this was a real avalanche rescue goat, but it's a stuffed animal avalanche rescue goat. I'm all for WSDOT having a cute mascot to dress up in a little uniform and pose next to snow or whatever, but this article is so weird. They quote the goat in it. What is going on??? Also is this taxpayer-funded?
The Stranger's Eli Sanders is headed down to Olympia today! He's attending a big forum hosted by the Public Disclosure Commission about digital political advertising. Eli, as you'll recall, has done award-winning reporting about Facebook and Google's busted-ass digital ad transparency. You can watch it live here.
REMINDER: The Public Disclosure Commission invites you to a public forum on disclosure of online political ads. The meeting, which will stream live @TVWnews, will examine the growing influence of online political campaigning. https://t.co/hNDoL7TmiS pic.twitter.com/XmW7siAjCR
â WA PDC (@Wa_PDC) January 8, 2020
Pelosi slams Facebook this morning: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Facebook's behavior shameful. She said the company is all about the money and doesn't care about spreading lies, etc.
Pelosi criticizes Facebook, which has an office in her district: "All they want are their tax cuts and no antitrust action against them and they schmooze this administration in that regard...They intend to be accomplices for misleading the American people" https://t.co/7DMcsOnniz pic.twitter.com/P6dI9a1LEl
â CBS News (@CBSNews) January 16, 2020
Michigan loves being green: In just the first six weeks of legalized weed, Michiganders (is this the term?) bought up $10 million worth of it.
Philadelphia boy raises money for Australian fire relief: An Australian 5-year-old boy living in Philadelphia opened a lemonade stand to make money as an Australian bushfire fundraiser. He raised $260. Look, I'm not calling him an idiot, but the woman who sold her nudes in exchange for charitable donations raised more than a million dollars.
Russia picks a new PM: Just a day after the entire government, including the current prime minister, resigned, a new prime minister has been picked. This guy, Mikhail Mishustin, is a "virtually unknown technocrat," the New York Times writes.
Students are paying off college tuition with sugar daddies and sugar mommies: A sugar baby is someone who is financially pampered in exchange for companionship. This Texas news site polled which state school had the most sugar babies. It's the University of Texas. It has 1,118 of them.
Bill de Blasio gets canceled: The New York City mayor announced his bagel preference. It caused an uproar. Whole wheat. Extra cream cheese. And⌠toasted. Apparently, toasting a bagel is sacrilege? That was the detail that caused him the most grief. I have to say, I'm with Bill on this one. A toasted bagel is a bagel. If you don't toast your bagel, you may as well just go eat a baguette.
I know this video is old: But it is exactly what the doctor ordered. I am horrified upon realizing that I have never known this feeling.
When my time does come, this is how I want to go out... pic.twitter.com/pfN3Kg2LOm
â Not Will Ferrell (@itsWillyFerrell) January 16, 2020
Today's best entertainment options are: The opening of the photography show Exploring Passages Within the Black Diaspora, the macabre and mystical cabaret-style musical Bohemia, and a hip-hop show with EarthGang. See more on our EverOut Things To Do calendar.