More details on the School District ethics as that crisis winds down, an Alaskan wildfire and upgrades to the Aurora Bridge -- but mostly just a whole lot of old-fashioned violence. more ›

JAZZY: Guitar phenom John Pizzarelli and his wife, the chanteuse Jessica Molaskey, are setting up shop tonight at Jazz Alley for four days. John has carried on the tradition of his legendary father Bucky Pizzarelli, and as duo, he and his wife move fluidly from jazz to pop to torch, exploring the depths of the good old proverbial "American Songbook." more ›

Similar to sibling rivalry over a new toy, the City of Seattle had first created a successful online blotter for the Seattle Police Department to share news and information, and now the Seattle Fire Department wants one too, darn it! To make it fair, yesterday the SFD launched their very own blog, The Fire Line, where they will cover the gamut of fire, hazardous materials, technical and emergency medical responses, local event information, and helpful fire prevention and safety tips. What, no firefighter calendars? more ›

• This morning around 10:30 a.m. a woman found herself being rescued by rappelling firefighters and a city boat after her car plummeted 200 feet down a waterfront cliff in Edmonds.
• Two groups of car prowlers are making the rounds in Crown Hill. One group wielding a skeleton key seems to fancy cars with GPS units. In total, they've broken into 15 cars in five days.

The ethics pissing match surrounding the Seattle Fire Department finally came to a halt, after the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission determined fire lieutenant Milton Footer abused his power while working at Qwest Field. Milton was accused of soaking up free parking passes and concert tickets, and giving the "gimme or else" attitude to get his hands on Hannah Montana backstage passes. In return, he didn't bill Qwest Field for $200,000 in fire services. Eyebrows had been raised over Milton's actions over the years, that just so happened to be overlooked by Fire Chief Gregory Dean--who received a slap on the wrist from the Mayor. The actions by Milton only came under investigation after a whistleblower, a fellow fire fighter, brought the claim to the Superior Court in March. more ›

Shortly after 8 a.m. this morning, fire fighters were sent to the rescue of a 68-year-old man who fell into a hole after the sidewalk caved in beneath him, near the Washington Street boat pier. The man is reported to be uninjured but trapped, possibly between concrete slabs, officials said. Rescue crews are working on stabilizing the 3x3-foot-wide hole before they begin to pull the man out. UPDATE: Rescued! more ›

• The West Seattle firefighters of historic Fire Station 37 were digging in with Mayor Nickels to celebrate the construction of their brand new firestation.
• The Mayor of Bellevue Bremerton, Cary Bozeman has given up running cities that begin with the letter B. Today he announced he will be stepping down June 8, to become the CEO of the Port of Bremerton.
• We don't think the zoo's endangered red crown cranes ever got the talk about themselves (i.e., birds) and the bees, as little puff-ball chicks have begun hatching.

IF YOU CAN'T TAKE THE HEAT: It's going to get hot, hot, hot tonight at the 2010 Firefighter Calendar Judging Party. In the heat of the judging passion, 23 firefighters (6 are women!) from across Washington will work the runway trying to earn not only the title of "Northwest's Hottest Firefighter" but also one of the 12 coveted months. Secret fantasies aside, this is all for a good cause, helping out the Firefighters Burn Foundation. more ›

Seattlest Abbey is still recovering from a waterlogged Radiohead show, so we apologize for your morning news delay. We're going to let her sleep in, even if we're still jealous we didn't get to go. Happy morning news! ~Your Editor more ›