The First Lady of the United States isn't just on a quest against childhood obesity--she's also a big fan of educating kids and closing the achievement gap. Today, she gave props to a local organization that does just that. 826 Seattle, our city's only non-profit dedicated to tutoring and improving the writing skills of young people, has received the 2011 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award. Hooray! more ›

You may or may not be aware, but Congress is all in a tizzy (repeatedly) over a number of bills either recently passed or currently on the docket, and reconvened earlier this week to try to get all warm and fuzzy before the year ends. Seattlest did some digging and if any of you are even half as confused as we are, we hope this helps. We're going to break these bills down, James Brown short-sentence-with-rhythm style. more ›