Good News, Bad News

It's one of those days, so we may as well lead off with the Bad News:

• David Nelson at the PI's Inside Belltown blog reports that rent prices at some Belltown apartments are spiking in response to the coming demolition of the McGuire apartments.
• Tim Eyman still exists, as evidenced by the initiatives he has filed to repeal new taxes proposed by the Washington State legislature to help balance the state's ailing budget.
• Well, an unidentified man in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center was set on fire by somebody. The only question now is who.
• Governor Christine Gregoire is looking for a lawyer to go toe-to-toe with Attorney General Rob McKenna over the lawsuit he's joined seeking to challenge recent health care legislation. Everything in the above sentence is an excellent way to spend a chunk of the aforementioned ailing Washington budget, no doubt.
• Police are investigating a possible hate crime at a friggin' Seattle middle school, for God's sake. Meanwhile, another area school is sickening students with a vile, unidentified odor. And no, its not in the cafeteria.
• Speaking of terrible smells, a Snohomish county dairy lagoon has sprung quite a leak, sending cow manure flowing through farm fields and into the Snohomish River.

• Milton Bradley's three-run home run was all the scoring the Mariners needed to beat Oakland last night.
• Looking to get away from it all, or just scouting a nice place to hide out during the coming zombie apocalypse? There's no entrance fee for the state's beautiful national parks next week, which is all the excuse we need to go enjoy the great outdoors.