It's not exactly mind-blowingly awesome legislation, but our lady Maria Cantwell and her pals in the Senate have managed to negotiate a mileage standard for all U.S. cars and SUVs today. Currently, cars have to get at least 27.5 miles per gallon, while SUVs only have to get a measly 22 mpg. That's pretty pathetic from an environmentalist perspective, but it's also irresponsible from a business perspective. After all, just about every other country has been making cars that get far better gas mileage for years now. Who wants a gas-guzzling American car (Ford Focus gets 26 mpg!) when gas prices are hovering around $4/gallon and there's the option of getting a high-mpg car like Honda's Insight (61 mpg) or Volkswagen's Beetle (38 mpg)? more ›

On Saturday, a tractor clearing brush from under I-5 near South Massachusetts struck and killed a homeless man in a sleeping bag, hidden away in the blackberry brambles. The accident is "sparking," as the P-I has it, "a policy review."

"This is a horrible accident for everyone involved," Transportation Department spokesman Russ East said. "We're going to take a look at our practices and procedures. We're asking, 'What do we need to do to make sure that this doesn't happen again?' "

-The sea was angry yesterday, my friends, and the 520 was closed overnight. Today it opened but perhaps prematurely as this LJ user got hit with a fish. more ›