Good News, Bad News

Good News:

• Four Seattle strip clubs are shutting down as a result of a guilty plea in their owner's racketeering trial. This is great news for delighted neighbors, but won't someone please think of the sleazy dudes who patronize clubs such as these? With strip clubs and seedy motels closing throughout the city, where will they go to stay out of the sunlight now?
• The Alaskan Way Viaduct can now be closed to traffic almost instantly in the event of an earthquake, just by pushing a button in a Shoreline DOT station. This also makes us really glad we don't work at the DOT, as the temptation to just push that button on a whim would almost certainly be too great for us.
• You won't see Seattle mayor Mike McGinn in Phoenix anytime soon, as he's announced his personal support for a boycott of The Grand Canyon State following the passage there of an immigration law (opposed by immigrant's rights groups and Arizona police chiefs) that will see people fed to the terrible sand dragons of the Grand Canyon if there is reason to suspect them of being brown.

• A planned expansion of the Cedar River sockeye hatchery may be on hold as a report is released calling into question whether the hatchery can support the stock it currently has.
• A recently released report from USPIRG claims that Washington's roads are in unacceptable shape, raising car maintenance costs for all drivers. But the really unnerving news may be the 405 structurally deficient bridges The Evergreen State boasts at the moment.
• Budget cuts may see the closure of public swimming pools throughout Seattle, just in time for summer.
• A manhunt is ongoing for four suspects who invaded a Pierce County home last night under the pretense of buying a ring posted for sale on Craigslist, killing one man and assaulting other members of his family.