Jake Ellison

Now that Washington voters have put the State Liquor Control Board in charge of coming up with the rules and process for licensing the growing and selling of marijuana, we're wondering what the agency's new name should be.

City and county officials said yes to the $490 million deal, so Chris Hansen et al. have submitted a preliminary design for the proposed NBA arena to be located in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood.

The superhero phenomenon in Seattle led by Phoenix Jones is becoming a staple of nightlife in some of the violent and crime-ridden parts of the city.

It’s also turning into something like an official organization with dues paying members, health insurance and company cars. And, the team’s self-shot street videos continue to raise questions about the superheroes’ presence in the city …

The business side of superhero life

Okay, on Dec. 6 we can legally have pot in our pockets. But there are still at least four things to consider when contemplating your first legal marijuana possession – not counting how or if the federal laws will be enforced.

With the passage of laws approving same-sex marriages in several states including Washington, the National Organization for Marriage says it will keep up its efforts to make Starbucks suffer for its support of the laws.

The Colorado Independent, an online news organization, reported NOM’s efforts against Starbucks will be focused in the Middle East. The news org said it got the information from a news conference.

Winter winds and ocean currents are expected to deposit more debris on the Washington coast from the March 2011 tsunami in Japan.

State Ecology Department spokeswoman Linda Kent says the amount of debris declined over the summer after peaking in June, but it could pick up as weather patterns shift.

On Mars, Curiosity took a moment or two for self-identification, as if to say, this is me on Mars. The composite image however, almost looks as if Curiosity had a visitor.

HONOLULU – A geologist tracking a tsunami in Hawaii says the first waves hitting shore are smaller than expected.

Gerard Fryer of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said Saturday night the largest wave was measured at 5 feet in Maui in the first 45 minutes.

Warning changes

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had issued a tsunami warning for all Hawaiian islands Saturday night, hours after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked an island off Canada's west coast. Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie proclaimed an emergency, mobilizing extra safety measures.

In a blast from the past, the public radio show Bullseye dug up Seattle’s connection to the first video showing the genesis of computer-generated images or graphics in movies.

In 1980, Boeing employee and University of Washington graduate Loren Carpenter presented a two-minute computer generated movie call “Vol Libre” that almost immediately revolutionized moviemaking.

In a video presented at the Seattle Police Foundation’s awards banquet Friday the two officers presented with Excellence Awards explained how they found and confronted the Café Racer killer.

On May 30, Ian Stawicki shot and killed four people at the café in north Seattle and wounded another. He later killed a woman in downtown Seattle in a carjacking. He then drove the woman’s car to West Seattle where he shot and killed himself as police closed in.

The contest for designing the top of the Seattle Space Needle went from six choices to one - trees.

Instead of increasing kids’ isolation, a new study from the University of Washington suggests life on the digital frontier is helping kids reach developmental milestones.

Phones and social media help kids share personal problems and build a sense of belonging, the UW noted in a press release.

What would Seattle look like with all of its people gone? Well, Los Angeles film director Ross Ching wondered the same thing, but not just about Seattle.

Ching’s ongoing time-lapse video project called the Empty America series has been to San Francisco and now Seattle. He intends to do New York City and Washington D.C. next. His video of an "empty Seattle" was published this morning.

What appears to have started as a battle over wall space for posters on Seattle’s Capitol Hill has morphed into an increasingly high-profile call to action against patriarchy, “rape culture,” sexism and, well, “inequality and oppression.”

A call to action that the group Seattle Grrrl Army announces in bright bold pink.

UPDATE: Members of the Grrrl Army explain their tactics

Here’s a solution for space junk – gas it.

A Boeing engineer from Seattle, Michael Dunn, has filed a patent for a method of dragging parts, pieces and defunct satellites into the atmosphere where they will burn up.

Geek speak: “… the method comprising hastening orbital decay of the debris by creating a transient gaseous cloud at an altitude of at least 100 km above Earth, the cloud having a density sufficient to slow the debris so the debris falls into Earth's atmosphere,” according to the document.

The Seattle coffee chain Tully's Coffee, sometimes lost in the shadow of the much more successful Starbucks, has filed for bankruptcy protection and hopes to renegotiate its real estate debt, report several news sources.

The Seattle Times says the company is no longer burdened by huge debt but it is cash poor and will likely close more stores.

Okay – it’s a cat post on the Internets … but, hey, he’s from Seattle and he’s a rising star! And, he’s funny (though he has a bit of a potty mouth).

Colonel Meow hit Facebook on Aug. 9 and has quickly risen to 60,000 … make that 60,055 …  60,219 ... you get the idea. (Just now at 67,686)

Update 10-10: Though he won't give us the time of day, the colonel was on Anderson Cooper Live today. He wasn't too talkative but his owner Anne Marie Avey said his hair/fur is natural and then she gave Cooper a pretty good lead into his fracas with Star Jones.

Teen music sensation and hairstyle-trendsetter Justin Bieber will be singing in a sold-out Tacoma Dome on Tuesday night. That means something like 23,000 kids* will be dropped off by parents looking to while away a few hours.

Enter the LeMay – America’s Car Museum (ACM) and its “Parental Daycare.”

The Puget Sound region is experiencing a record “episodic tremor and slip” event, according to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.

SEATAC, Wash. — Fire trucks spraying rainbows of water Monday morning greeted the first All Nippon Airways 787 to land in commercial service at Sea-Tac Airport.

Washington wildlife managers say the hunt for a pack of grey wolves is over. A state marksman killed the alpha male of the pack Thursday in far northeast Washington. The department has killed a total of seven wolves from the Wedge Pack since August.

However, emotions have run strong over the decision, and debate over wolf management in the Northwest will likely remain intense.

“We know these issues spark strong feelings among Washington residents across the state, which is why we are committed to conducting our business openly and transparently,” Washington Fish and Wildlife Director Phil Anderson said in a press release.

Earlier this month, we wrote about the creation of two huge “daddy longlegs” standing atop the roof of the Armory at the Seattle Center. The harvestmen, created by 3-D mural artist Marlin Peterson, cast long shadows and look pretty darn realistic (considering the widest span between leg tips is 100 feet).

Peterson has released a two-minute video showing the creation of the spiders from concept to paint:

With 6,000 high-tech jobs on the table, Microsoft said today it has a pay-to-play plan that would increase the number of H-1B visas to the U.S. by 20,000 and raise more than $500 million for education.

Seattle is the second-best city in the country, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. The news org evaluated and ranked the largest 100 U.S. cities and published its results today.

San Francisco grabbed the gold ring at No. 1.

A design for parks and gardens on the South Park neighborhood's waterfront won the international competition to create a use for the old 520 floating bridge pontoons, according to the competition's Facebook page. The "Food Bridge" would be set afloat along the Duwamish River.

Greg Johnson, a Puget Sound weather aficionado, was recently called out by KPLU’s own weather expert Cliff Mass for a unique video that shows the development of superior mirages during the day. And, with our string of sunny days, there has been plenty of opportunity to see the mirages this summer.

This 3-minute video (below) provides a unique perspective of the wildfire mission from a Washington Army National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter as it scoops up water with its 660 gallon bucket, flies through smoke-filled skies and drops it on the flames below, according to a press release from the Washington National Guard.