Gregoire just got hit with a second lawsuit over her proposed 2009 budget, which--unlawfully, according to the unions suing the governor--reneges on certain contracted pay raises for state employees and home-care workers. Gregoire's office has responded, saying the money simply isn't there to fulfill the terms of those contracts. Seattlest is a union girl (we have a fraction of Irish blood coursing through our veins, and some stubborn Midwest farmer blood in there too), but we have to wonder: what exactly are the two angry unions hoping to accomplish? A different budget allocating non-existent money? A token acknowledgment that though what's done is done, what's done was illegal? Good luck with that. more ›

• Capitol Hill Seattle has found the answer to the "graffiti problem"--passive aggressive semi-anonymous notes. Because passive aggressiveness has worked so well at solving everything else in Seattle.
• If you like mojitos as much as we do, you might be tempted by this Belltowner post. Apparently, the failed Mojito Cafe is selling their big neon sign on Craigslist.
• Lights & Sirens brings us the sad and disturbing story of a Tacoma woman who is reportedly suing the city of Tacoma, Pierce County, and a retired Tacoma police officer, after videos of her sexual abuse were found in the disgraced officer's private collection. The officer, who illegally kept the video of her abuse, has recently been sent to jail for first-degree child rape.