Don't underestimate the power of a sunny day. On Sunday, one Bellevue family learned that the hard way, when the culprit of their house fire turned out to be the family dog's glass water bowl and a little bit o' sunshine. This past weekend temperatures hit the 70s, and if you recall from your childhood heyday, with just a magnifying glass and some sun there's the potential to fricassee ants. Well, the Bellevue dog bowl did just that, but instead of ants, the hot-hot-heat from the sun's rays permeated through the glass bowl and ignited the home's wooden deck. The dog was safe, but the freak of nature fire left $215,000 in damages for the family. Damn dog. more ›

• We got us some more swine flu. One case turned deadly in Washington. While the CDC reported that more cases were confirmed, bringing us to a grand total of 83. Oh joy, King County now has a total of 56 confirmed cases.
• A slew of freak accidents: Small helicopter crash near Tacoma, bumps and bruises for the two aboard; Farm tractor starts up unexpectedly killing a Deer Park man as it drove over his chest; A Navy SEAL died in training near Keyport, Wash.
• In the forever-long Amanda Knox case, a footprint expert (those exist?) confirmed that the bloody footprint on a bathroom rug belonged to her ex-boyfriend.