Joseph Skillings has had a hard year, and now it's getting worse. Back in January, he saw a man harassing someone at a bus stop; when he tried to call 911, the guy hit him in the head and Skillings fell to the ground, suffering serious brain damage. It's taken him a year of therapy and rehabilitation to be able to resume work even part-time as an elementary school teacher in Ballard. Now, a year later, the school district has been forced to lay off the poor guy for financial reasons. Owned! On the other hand, Skillings may be brain-damaged and out of a job, but he still has friends nice enough to give him frequent flyer miles so he can go to Hawaii for a month. Not too shabby. more ›

Another Seattle-based cruise ship has been involved in an incident up in the touristy waters of Alaska. Running aground is so last month, though--today the cool kids are colliding with fishing ships. The wee Spirit of Yorktown, a 257' cruise ship belonging to Cruise West of Seattle collided with the fishing vessel Adirondack on Monday. The Adirondack suffered extensive damage, including a crushed top house, but luckily not including a pierced hull. There weren't any injuries. more ›