Republicans want to start taking a piece from nontribal casinos to patch the budget, thousands of dollars worth of tools were stolen, and a local baby is tweeting to 12 people. more ›

If King County Executive Kurt Triplett has his way, King County will see 39 county parks shut down and "mothballed" under lock and key come January 1, 2010. Currently the 2010 budget is in a world of hurt, with a $56 million budget shortfall. So for a quick $4.6 million, select parks in neighborhoods stretching from Federal Way to Bothell will be put out of commission. The new King County Executive better have tough skin--the toddler hatemail and crayon drawings are going to be ruthless--unless neighborhoods rally and create some sort of Adopt-a-Highway-Park program, or cities jump in and keep the taxpayer-funded parks open. more ›

• Big Blog won points with a post about The Bachelor's ex-wife and her YouTubed guest spot as a groupie on local band Out From Underneath's Seattle-heavy music video. Onwards and upwards, Gas Works Park.
• The blog formerly known as bigasscity is quoting none other than ZZ Top while crunching the numbers about Metro's projected budget shortfall and how much money the city could have saved by rejecting the bored tunnel viaduct replacement option.
• Cliff Mass thinks it's "pretty definite": we're looking at more snow, probably on Sunday. Actually, that works well with our schedule. How kind of the gods to check with Seattlest HQ's Google Calendar before sending the cold front!