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Seattle City Council Moves to Adopt $9 Million Budget: There’s still one more vote to come on the budget Friday, but it’s looking like the Seattle City Council will green light the city’s nearly $9 billion budget. They’ll pass all of lame duck mayor Bruce Harrell’s priorities like funding raises for the cops and sweeping homeless encampments. But, they’ve also thrown money toward rental assistance and the city’s budget reserves. Still, going into 2027, Mayor-Elect Katie Wilson will have a daunting $140 million deficit to deal with. That’s a problem for future Wilson. For now, the budget is balanced.
Yay? Not according to council member Maritza Rivera. “I don’t feel like celebrating,” she told the Seattle Times. Thanks?
Coyote Too Wily: Two female coyotes have been living in the vicinity of the Washington Park Arboretum. At least one of them had gotten too comfortable around people. It had two recent no good incidents. First, it attacked a dog on a leash. Second, it stole food from a parkgoer. That’s a bad sign since coyotes usually keep their distance. Sadly, the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife trapped and killed the coyote on Tuesday.
In Good Animal News: The Seattle Aquarium acquired its first ever southern sea otter. Meet Ruby. She hails from Monterey Bay. Another no good California transplant, huh?
For over 30 years, the Seattle Aquarium has led in sea otter research, contributed to recovery efforts and cared for northern sea otters who are unable to live in the wild.
For over 30 years, the Seattle Aquarium has led in sea otter research, contributed to recovery efforts and cared for northern sea otters who are unable to live in the wild.
Today is a big day as we welcome Ruby—the first southern sea otter in our care. ✨🦦
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— Seattle Aquarium (@seattleaquarium.bsky.social) November 20, 2025 at 10:24 AM
The Weather: Cloudy and mild today. Rain returns Sunday.
Good 2 News: The Sound Transit 2 Line Light Rail connection across Lake Washington is looking closer and closer to becoming a reality, according to The Urbanist. New testing plans include “operational trials on the segment of the 2 Line that shares tracks with the existing 1 Line.” That will start next week. So far, the 2 Line train hasn’t headed all the way up to Lynnwood Station. But that’s on the horizon. The ribbon cutting could be in March or April, introducing a pivotal question: Will the 2 Line be a Pisces or an Aries?
Coastguard Downgrades Hate Symbols: On Thursday, it came out that the US Coastguard no longer considered swastikas and nooses to be hate symbols. It reclassified them as “potentially divisive.” The Coastguard clarified that “Divisive or hate symbols and flags are prohibited” and nooses and swastikas were in that category. The Coastguard maintains that everything is still as it was—so why change the language? Unclear!
A Bit on the Nose: Cop30 summit attendees evacuated after a big ass fire broke out at the venue yesterday. Lawmakers were about to strike a deal beefing up international efforts to address climate change. It’s not totally clear what caused the fire, but investigators suspect it came from something electronic, like a microwave. I believe it was a grim portent, an omen, a warning.
I Don’t Think You Can Say That: Earlier this week, a group of six Democratic lawmakers who formerly served in the military released a video encouraging active duty troops to refuse illegal orders that “violate the law or our constitution,” according to The Guardian. Donald Trump did not like this. He called the behavior seditious and “punishable by death.” Democratic leaders condemned Trump’s death threats. Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, agreed that the Dems’ words were “seditious” and defended Trump, saying Trump was simply “defining the crime of sedition.”
Trump posts again about Democrats, saying their behavior is “punishable by DEATH!”
Trump posts again about Democrats, saying their behavior is “punishable by DEATH!”
— Matt Novak (@paleofuture.bsky.social) November 20, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Bad Year for Planes: Two weeks ago in Kentucky, a UPS plane burst into flames and killed 14 people after the engine flew off during takeoffIdeally, an engine does not do that, but investigators say the plane’s engine mount was cracked. It passed an inspection in 2021 but wasn’t due for another inspection until the plane completed “nearly 7,000 more takeoffs and landings.” That inspection timeframe comes from the Federal Aviation Administration, however this faulty engine mount may cause them to reevaluate that from now on.
The American People Yearn for Trains: Amtrak finished the 2025 fiscal year with a record ridership of 34.5 million trips, a 5.1 percent increase over 2024. Please… we want more trains. Faster trains. Nicer trains. More reliable trains. Trains to everywhere. Think of the trains we could have.
Border Patrol Loves Automobiles: Attention, drivers, you’re being tracked. Border Patrol is keeping tabs on “millions” of drivers’ movements and using predictive intelligence technology to deem if people are suspicious or threats. Not good! According to the Associated Press, “a network of cameras scans and records vehicle license plate information, and an algorithm” will flag “suspicious vehicles” that Border Patrol will pull them, question aggressively, and search. As the AP concluded, this is the natural next step in the ongoing process of turning US Customs and Border Protection into a domestic intelligence operation.
Judge Rules against National Guard Deployment: A federal judge ruled Thursday that Trump and the Defense Department illegally deployed the National Guard in Washington D.C. The troops don’t have to leave just yet. Trump has 21 days to file an appeal.
Diplomacy Expert: The US could stop giving Ukraine weapons and sharing intelligence if the country does not agree to Trump’s raw deal to end Russia’s war. To call off Putin, Trump wants Ukraine to agree to cede territory to Russia, to shrink the size of its military and to stay out of NATO. Ugly stuff.
Flog AM: Singapore-based Folotoy suspended sales of it’s $99 high-tech “Kumma” teddy bear that’s equipped with a speaker and an AI-chatbot. And no, not just because $99 is an insane amount to pay for a stuffed animal. Mostly, it’s because the teddy bear was a little freak. It apparently kept bringing up BDSM. It explained good beginner shibari knots to use to tie up a partner in a sexy way. The bear brought these topics up on its own. In between instructions on spanking, the bear also gave helpful tips on how to light a match and where to find knives in the house. Did no one watch M3GAN?
Good News for Everyone Who Hates Progress: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been told to stop all primate research. Most of the research the CDC uses those monkeys for is HIV prevention. The order came from Sam Beyda on behalf of RFK Jr., a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee and 2023 college grad who has failed forward so much that he’s the deputy chief of staff at the CDC. Ending animal research is part of RFK Jr’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. This is bad.
A Song for Your Friday: Who here has been following the Olivia Nuzzi drama? If you don’t remember, New York Magazine fired Nuzzi after her digital affair with none other than RFK Jr. came to light. (They met when Nuzzi penned a profile on him during his failed campaign for president.) Nuzzi, who now works at Variety for some reason, wrote a memoir about it. The magazine published an excerpt. It’s a lot of bad writing and fawning over RFK Jr. Nuzzi’s ex-fiancé also published a piece of bad writing that exposed Nuzzi for having an affair with another old ass politician, former Rep. Mark Sanford. Yikes! To make matters worse, someone online unearthed a song Nuzzi recorded as a teen. It’s called “Jailbait.” You simply cannot make this shit up. Please enjoy.
Someone found an mp3 of the creepy “Jailbait” song Olivia Nuzzi released when she was 16 🫣
Someone found an mp3 of the creepy “Jailbait” song Olivia Nuzzi released when she was 16 🫣
— Parker Molloy (@parkermolloy.com) November 19, 2025 at 11:24 AM