Recently in Local Events Category

You know it's spring - from the local Nextdoor website:

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First snow of the season

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Photo taken this morning by Tandem Wheels Photography — Picture Lake, Mt. Baker:

20221022-snow.jpgPhoto by yours truly - Black Mountain:

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Megapod territory

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The Annual Sasquatch festival was today after a couple—year hiatus
About 800 people there when I came up around 1PM - lots of booths spread over three properties.  Live music.  Lots of local artwork. Very good mood overall - people really glad to be out in public again.  Only a few people wearing masks.  Some people do have medical conditions and compromised immune systems but my guess is that these were just sheeple.

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The line of popups went all the way around the building.  Lots of good stuff...

One reason of many - from Law Enforcement Today:

Bellevue Deputy Mayor: Cops can’t pursue criminals in Washington State… and the criminals know it
By Jared Nieuwenhuis, Deputy Mayor, City of Bellevue.

LET Editor note: The opinions expressed by the author are his own and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the entire Bellevue City Council. But they darn well should.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that failure to enforce the law, or more precisely, preventing officers from enforcing it, results in higher crime rates.

This is exactly what has happened in King County and surrounding counties due to the flurry of police reforms, passed by the legislature, in 2021. Since those laws went into effect, there has been a massive surge in crime and gun violence across our state.

Vehicle thefts are up 99% in March 2022 compared with March of the previous year and are up 88% year-to-date, according to data compiled by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC). Between January and March of 2021, 6,692 cars were stolen in Washington.

Yeah - it IS that bad.

They had it restored in 45 minutes - there is a big substation nearby so something happened that brought that crashing down.  Hit the big RESET button and everything came back up again.

Funny as the lead story for our local fish-wrap was this:

PUD plans second high-voltage line to Camano
Power outages on Camano Island could become less frequent.

The Snohomish PUD is proposing to build a long-planned and long-awaited second high-voltage transmission line to Camano, adding redundancy that should increase power reliability, the utility said.

The PUD wants to build a new 5.3-mile overhead line from the North Stanwood substation to the North Camano substation. Afterward, it also plans to rebuild the existing 2.7-mile overhead line.

But the North Stanwood substation was what went down so this would not have affected it at all.  There were 4,500 customers without power in the Stanwood area as well as the 10K poor sods on this blighted island.. Vancouver Island has about 40K outages, Lower Mainland 6.5K  Seattle and Tacoma areas are showing about 10K

Creeping up there - Costco Gasoline

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It has been below $3.40 for the longest time.  Something had to give
Elections have consequences...

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Getting unreal out there.  All in the 4.5 to 5.5 Magnitude range and all around 10KM deep.

Here is the map from right now:

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Something is up and I am happy that it is unwinding like this instead of one big one.

Dodged a bullet - power outages

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I am sheltered by Whidbey Island and it looks like they got the brunt of this morning's wind.
From the Puget Sound Energy outage map:

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Reporting 15,738 customers without power.

The auction today

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Needless to say, I never made it to the preview and did not get home until the final bidding was well underway.

No problem - the stuff went for a bit more than I was looking to pay. Four samples:

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I was looking for one or two of these - forced air breathing masks for welding.  My interest is actually for grinding so I would need a different facemask.  I can buy a good one for under $300 so I would pass since I was not able to inspect it.  Missing parts can kill a good deal.

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Seriously WTF???  Looks like about 40 wrenches. $37.50 per wrench?  Maybe if they were a complete set of Snap-On but even then...

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I wanted to get a couple of these - my limit was $40 as that is about what it costs to build one.  New they are about $120.  Pass...  And finally:

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Wanted to get a chain fall as well - this is right around the new price.  I would have stopped bidding at $200 even for a new unit.  a half-ton fall sells for under $400 so someone got a "real good deal" here...

Oh well - would have been fun but I'll have to wait for the next auction.

To add to the mix - chemicals

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Wonder if Sharknado is imminent?  From Canada's The Globe and Mail:

Cargo carrier on fire near Victoria, most crew taken to safety
Officials say the crew of a cargo ship anchored near Victoria that caught fire Saturday morning may need to be fully evacuated.

Sixteen crew members were taken to Ogden Point Pier by the coast guard Saturday evening, though five other crew members still remain onboard.

A Canadian Coast Guard spokesperson said flames broke out on the MV Zim Kingston around 11 a.m. Saturday, and were related to two damaged containers carrying hazardous materials. It is the same vessel that lost an estimated 35-40 cargo containers in rough seas west of Vancouver Island on Thursday.

In an update Saturday evening, the coast guard said that ten containers were on fire, including two carrying carrying over 52,000 kgs of Potassium Amylxanthate, which is a hazardous material used in mining.

It added that a Hazmat team is mobilizing from Vancouver, while a coast guard ship and tugboat stay nearby to monitor the situation overnight.

Mutant Orcas? Just what we need.  Glad I'll be at the farm.

Over 11,000 customers without electricity - Puget Sound Electric

Right where I am going to go Sunday:

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Equipment failure - we will see...

Fun and games - auction

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There was an interesting auction but I am glad I did not go.  The preview was yesterday and the location was in a section of Seattle called Ballard.  Used to be a very Scandinavian little city - right on the water at the end of the ship canal and home to Fisherman's Terminal.  A fun place.

These days? Not so much - big homeless encampment right across the street from where the auction was happening and there was a shooting a few days ago.

Anyway, some of the lots went for OK money but some of them went for way more than their brand new price.  I was interested in a three-basin sink - these sell new for about $800 and used for about $200.  There was also a small single-basin sink suitable for hand washing or a mop sink.  They are $250 new and $75 used if that (they are common). Here are the lots that were being sold:

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And the final sale prices?  Hold on to your hats:

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$500 for the single-basin sink?  Someone got carried away in the heat of the bidding.  The restaurant owners will be happy.  Murphy Auction will be happy and someone just received a $400+ lesson on doing your fscking research before bidding on something.

Got this little bundle of joy from The Weather Channel:

Gale Warning from FRI 5:00 AM PDT until FRI 5:00 PM PDT

WHAT...Southeast winds 25 to 35 kt.

WHERE...East Entrance U. S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca and Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands.

WHEN...From 5 AM to 5 PM PDT Friday.

IMPACTS...Strong winds will cause hazardous seas which could capsize or damage vessels and reduce visibility.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Gale Warning means winds of 34 to 47 knots are imminent or occurring. Operating a vessel in gale conditions requires experience and properly equipped vessels. It is highly recommended that mariners without the proper experience seek safe harbor prior to the onset of gale conditions.

And Cliff Mass has this - looks like the farm is going to get a little wet this weekend:

Heavy Rain and Rapidly Rising Rivers: The Details on the Friday/Saturday Inundation
If you were planning to take a hike on Friday, forget it. Thinking about painting your house? No way.

It is going to be very, very wet on Friday and early Saturday, and I suspect some daily precipitation records will be broken.

But let me give you the details.

Let's start by showing you the latest accumulated precipitation totals forecast by the European Center model for the period ending 5 PM Sunday. Virtually all of the mountainous areas of the region will get more than 2 inches, with some being hit by 5 or more (particularly the Olympics and North Cascades).

Good - we can certainly use the rain.  Build up the snowpack for next summer as well as a base for this year's skiing.

Curious - lots of loud jets overhead

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From the Naval Air Base.  Usually, they have their civilian tracking beacons running (ADS-B or variant) but tonight? They have their cloaking devices turned on. Not a pip on the screen.

Ahhhh - zoomed back and found one about 200 miles away over the Olympic Penninsula:

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The icons are color-coded for altitude and this one is black. Not a valid code for any altitude.  The information is coming in through computational MLAT so not a direct beacon. This is not the aircraft I am hearing though - those puppies are right overhead and maintaining radio silence. An interesting hobby - a lot of fun for $40 worth of parts and an older Raspberry Pi.

Wildfires in Washington

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Crap - I love the town of Winthrop.  Great little mountain community - there was an awesome blacksmith (DJ Stull - here is the website of one of his students) there for a long long time.  There is a glass artist in the same spot now - really good but not the same. From The Seattle Times:

Like Mordor: A Central Washington town had the worst air quality in the U.S.
The air quality in Central Washington’s Winthrop was so bad Thursday that the National Weather Service of Spokane compared it to Mordor, the evil realm of a dark wizard in “Lord of the Rings.”

Thanks to several fires burning in Okanogan County, Winthrop had the worst air quality in the country Thursday morning, according to Air Quality Index’s real-time map.

One of my managers is camping there this weekend - their favorite campground burned in the fire so they are playing it by ear.

Photoshop but still

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Sure feels like it - know this intersection off of I-5 South of Tacoma (near the mall):

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Memo to self - flying a kite

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A cautionary tale from Seattle station Q13:

Man in critical condition after getting shocked, burned from flying kite at Bremerton park
A man is in critical condition after getting shocked while flying his kite at a Bremerton park on Sunday.

According to Bremerton Battalion Chief Brad Richard, the man was flying a makeshift kite made out of steel cable and a fishing rod around 7 p.m. at the Evergreen Rotary Park.

The kite drifted into PSE’s high-energy transmission lines and shocked the man. He suffered severe burns.

The level of dumb is epic. How could they not think of this.

Just wonderful - ka-boom

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Port Hadlock is across the Sound from where I live. Near to Port Townsend which is a gorgeous old Victorian town but a cess-pit of liberalism. From the WA State The Olympian:

2 hurt in bomb explosion at Olympic Peninsula residence
A bomb detonated at a residence on the Olympic Peninsula in Port Hadlock Tuesday night, causing the suspected bomb maker’s arm to be amputated and injuring his 6-year-old granddaughter.

The unidentified 46-year-old Port Hadlock man’s left arm was amputated in the explosion in an outbuilding on the property, the Peninsula Daily News reported.

Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Brett Anglin said the man also suffered chest injuries, and his granddaughter sustained burns to her face.

Nothing much more - we will see if there is a Manifesto.  Cases like this, there is always a Manifesto.

Wonder if he was affiliated with the Loompanics crowd. The Anarchist's Cookbook had some pretty egregious errors.

Defund the police? Get criminals out of jail and back on the streets?
Here is the end game - from Seattle station KIRO:

Squatters take over multimillion-dollar Sammamish home, police say hands are tied
A multimillion-dollar home in Sammamish is at the center of an ongoing investigation, as squatters continue to break in and make the home their own.

“The amount of guns, drugs, etcetera that were confiscated out of that place are not for personal use or for any good reason,” Sammamish Police Chief Dan Pingrey said. “I totally recognize how frustrating it is for the neighborhood and it’s just as frustrating for us to be honest with you.”

The homeowner lives overseas, but a few people living locally help maintain the home with routine checkups. One of those workers stopped by the home and found 12 guns, bulletproof vests, more than 15,000 fentanyl pills, heroin, meth, and more than $40,000 in cash.

Sammamish is about 40 miles due East of Seattle, past Lake Washington, Bellevue and Lake Sammamish. A high-end community. A bit more:

“Somehow these squatters who are living in this residence have as much rights as the homeowner. And that’s very difficult for any of us to understand,” Pingrey said. “It could happen again somewhere else and this is where people in communities really need to be diligent.”

Property rights are crucial - I know the owners are out of town but Castle Doctrine should be in play here, not the flaccid response of the police as they are allowed to act. Where is the social justice here?

Fun times near the farm

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About five miles away from where I used to live - Seattle station KOMO:

Driver arrested following pursuit near Canadian border
Two drivers were arrested one for driving with a suspended license and the other for taking a vehicle without permission Friday morning by Washington State Patrol.

According to WSP, a trooper stopped a vehicle at Mount Baker Highway and Kendall Highway just before 11:45 a.m. Friday for a traffic violation and found the driver had a suspended license.

While the driver was being placed into custody, the passenger of the vehicle got into the driver’s seat and drove off, fleeing the scene.

An Everson police officer spotted the vehicle going over 100 MPH towards Sumas on Kendall Highway. The vehicle swerved nearly hitting a Border Patrol agent.

Everson police were able to spike the car and WSP continued to pursue it, eventually bringing it to a stop using a PIT maneuver.

The trooper's vehicle slid in the mud off the roadway but was not damaged.

State patrol says the new driver of the vehicle was booked into Whatcom County Jail for taking a motor vehicle without permission, felon in possession of a firearm, no ignition interlock and a multitude of other crimes.

I know the area well having lived there for almost 20 years.  Not the road you want to be doing 100MPH on. Very curvy and lots of blind driveways. No names have been released as yet.

And back - productive

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Got about 100 lineal feet of gondola shelving dismantled and in the box truck heading North.  Three friends drove down to help - the five hours of work went fast.  Lunch at MOD Pizza (great place) and then they headed back North while I am back home.  Busy day tomorrow so stayed down here.

Here is a photo:

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Twenty-foot box truck - the flat shelving pieces stacked up in the rear of the photo?  There are two more stacks in back of them - this is about 80% of the way through the loading process.  The stanchions and a bunch of the hardware have yet to be loaded.

We made out like bandits - this shelving is expensive.  A 4' long double-sided unit, six feet tall is just under $500 for the base model with two shelves.  You want more shelves with that? Plan on spending another $30-$40 per shelf. We spent just under $2K and got all this.  If we had purchased this shelving new, our shipping cost alone would have been more than $2K. New price for all of this plus all of the fixtures would have been well North of $20K.

Today was a day full of win.  Plus, I got some really good employees working for me and it was fun to spend a day together working on a project with them.

Now, to take a couple of aspirin and putter around the house for a while.  Don't want to go to bed yet - need to stay on a normal schedule for tomorrow morning.  Working then too. This retirement thing is for the birds...

Fun and games in the big shitty

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Glad I do not live there - three stories from Seattle station KOMO:

The last one should be interesting - Bellevue is on the shore of Lake Washington and is about as yuppie as can be. Lots of money there both new and old. About as far from the urban core of Seattle as you can get - 10+ miles over a floating bridge as well as culturally. No homeless need apply. Are the Antifa kiddies testing the waters?  My guess.

What are they hiding - Seattle

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The City administration managed last years peaceful protests rioting very poorly.
Literally, I would give them a -1 out of 10.  That poorly.

They could have nipped all of this in the bud if they showed some backbone but, they rolled over and gave in to the shrieking social justice warriors and the loud minority of mentally ill activists.

Now, when people are trying to do a post-mortem of the event and figure out who screwed up, they have entered C.Y.A. Mode and are destroying (or hiding) evidence of their stupidity. From The Seattle Times:

Not just the mayor: Text messages of Seattle police and fire chiefs from June 2020 also missing
Mayor Jenny Durkan isn’t the only Seattle leader whose text messages from a key period last June were not retained and are unavailable for public disclosure, the city’s lawyers have told attorneys suing Seattle over events that occurred during that tumultuous time.

Fire Chief Harold Scoggins’ messages and then-police Chief Carmen Best’s messages also are gone for a stretch of time when police repeatedly used tear gas at demonstrations and the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone emerged, attorneys David Perez, Angelo Calfo and Patty Eakes said Friday they recently learned.

That means the texts of three top Seattle leaders during the contentious period can’t be directly reviewed, making it less likely that plaintiffs and the public will know exactly how the officials discussed and made decisions behind the scenes during key moments.

A report on a whistleblower investigation into the improper handling of public records in the mayor’s office revealed Thursday that Durkan’s texts from Aug. 28, 2019, to June 25, 2020, were not retained. The attorneys suing the city said they weren’t provided dates for the missing Scoggins and Best texts, other than much of June.

Dan Nolte, a spokesperson for City Attorney Pete Holmes, said in an email late Friday that Durkan’s text messages are missing “due to a retention setting with her iPhone,” while Best’s texts are gone “for reasons we are still ascertaining.” Scoggins was locked out of his phone because of password issues, and his texts couldn’t be recovered, Nolte said.

Each and every one of these excuses are just that - excuses.  This is abject bullshit. The internet is forever - those texts can be recovered if they do not actively wipe them. My bet? They are wiping them. Destruction of evidence.

So glad I moved out over 20 years ago - you spend lots of money in taxes for what?
Corrupt and ineffective government, no sense of leadership.

Hmmm - a bit of activity

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Earth movement - right at the Cascadian Subduction Zone. We get a big one (Mag 9) there every 250 to 500 years.
Last one was January 26, 1700 or 321 years, 3 months, 3 days ago. A bit overdue...
(the link I referenced above is fascinating reading - well written and a great piece of detective work)

Been seeing a lot of quakes in the last two days - this is either good in that built-up stresses are being relieved or this is bad in that these are the precursor to "The Big One".  These are all in the 4 to 5 Magnitude range and all about 10 km deep - the depth is critical and 10 km is not good from a damage perspective.  Deep enough to couple to the surrounding crust and cause damage. Not so deep that the force is dissipated.

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I am lucky (and would not have purchased the house otherwise) in that the FEMA maps show minimal tsunami damage.  This part of Camano Island is well shielded behind Whidbey Island.  There will be about a five foot surge but that is the worst-case scenario. I love the Oregon Coast - Seaside and Astoria (Cannon Beach has become too gentrified for me).  They are toast if when this happens.

Good work - big bust in Seattle

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From Seattle's KOMO News:

21 arrested, dozens of guns seized in connection to drug dealing investigation
Twenty-one people across the Puget Sound region were arrested Wednesday in connection to a cocaine and crack cocaine drug dealing conspiracy, the U.S. Department of Justice says.

The FBI, DEA, the Seattle Police Department, and several other law enforcement agencies issued a total of 90 search warrants across the region. Those arrested will make their initial appearances at the U.S. District Court in Seattle and Tacoma sometime this week.

Quite the haul too:

Over the course of the investigation, the DOJ says law enforcement agencies have seized 73 firearms, over ten kilos of cocaine, more than two pounds of methamphetamine, more than $610,000 in cash, fentanyl pills and a fentanyl pill manufacturing lab.

Got to love those open borders.  Fentanyl precursors are probably from China - the stuff is stupid easy to make.

The auction - not that good

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It was really picked over.  Some good stuff but all of the accompanying bits were not there.  Machine tools but no fixtures, vices or tooling. Missing pieces. People bidding waay over what the item was worth.  Some examples:

20210322-auction01.jpgA bunch of tooling but most of them were really worn out.  Chowdered. FUBAR. These lots are currently bid at around $250 - a bit high but if you need these sizes, a good deal. Individual mills are about $30 new so there is value there - again, if you have specific need for those sizes.

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This bandsaw was a stunner. Heavily rusted, Parts bent and rattling. And yet? 

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This exact machine sells for $800 brand new with all parts and accessories. The used value of this machine is around $200 if that. If I was bidding, I would drop out at $100. If that.

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I will be getting one of these puppies at some point.  They are almost 30 years old but still fully functional and a great candidate for a brain transplant.  Remove the old control electronics and replace with a PC running MACH4. New? Right around $100K for a modern unit.  Used? Under $5K for one in good condition.  Because they have been one of the "industry standards" for so long, there are a lot of third-party parts available.  Rebuilding an axis is not a daunting or expensive chore.

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So the price is OK for these.  A bit high for the VF-4 but not unreasonable.

Passing on this one. There is another one coming up later this month so I will check that one out.

Used to think he was just stupid.  I have a facial diaper that says as much.  Turns out that he is criminal.
From Seattle station KTTH:

State funneled federal COVID relief to radical political groups, all based on race
The Washington State Department of Commerce gave federal COVID relief tax dollars to nonprofits pursuing radical political agendas. Tax dollars even went to indirectly bail criminals out of jail.

The selection process for funding was based on race. And some of the vetting seems influenced more by ideology than by need.

The Department of Commerce, led by Lisa Brown, aimed to “distribute COVID relief funds equitably to the communities hardest hit by the pandemic.” But to qualify to the Washington Equity Relief Fund, a group of “reviewers” made sure the nonprofits were “led by and serving Black, Indigenous and people of color.”

In other words, if the nonprofit is run by majority white people or serve entire communities, it wouldn’t qualify for assistance. How equitable.

Should federal tax dollars go to political nonprofits, chosen by hand-selected “reviewers” who share the political beliefs of the very nonprofits they’re rewarding, all under the auspices of COVID relief? No.

A lot more at the site - names of people, names of organizations, numbers, links.  Well researched and very bad optics for the Inslee administration. They have been treating our tax dollars like some huge slush-fund for their favorite political activists. Time to clean house.

Nature photography

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Got a nice photo of a Falcon in a nearby madrona tree:

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From Jason Rantz:

Seattle CM Kshama Sawant never reported threats to police, yet demands investigation
After receiving a series of threatening emails, Socialist Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant demanded the city take this issue seriously. But while she said she was “extremely concerned” with the potential for violence from the emailer, Sawant never actually contacted the Seattle Police Department.

Instead, Sawant released a press release demanding an investigation she implies the city wouldn’t conduct. But the investigation would have already started — and maybe ended — had she reported the threats to law enforcement as she was supposed to.

The councilmember is using the spurious claim to portray herself as a victim of a city disinterested in supporting her, while using the threats to rally supporters behind her. She’s transparently political, all in the name of fighting off a threat that she doesn’t seem to take too seriously.

Yeah - she is lying.  Nothing new here. Nothing to see. Keep moving along.

Seattle deserves what it elects - good and hard (channeling my inner Mencken)

Go Stilly go!

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Looks like the Stillaguamish River has been running pretty high. Yesterday's peak was a little over 9,000 cu. ft./minute - last night's was up to 20K cu. ft./minute - getting near flood territory.

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And more rain in the forecast...  Flood stage is 13 feet.  Currently running around 11 ft.

Well crap - Seattle landmark

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From The Seattle Times:

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Seven Gables Theatre in flames in Seattle’s U District
The shuttered Seven Gables Theatre, a building that held cinematic memories for generations of Seattleites, was in flames Thursday afternoon.

Firefighters responded to the landmark University District movie house shortly before noon and saw smoke and flames coming from the second floor of the vacant building. One person who told The Seattle Times they saw the fire early and called 911 said they saw flames in a debris pile near an entrance.

Seattle fire spokesperson David Cuerpo said crews received reports of the fire at 11:46 a.m. More than 150 firefighters responded to the blaze, he said. Fire officials don’t believe anyone was inside when the fire broke out, and no injuries have been reported.

Crap - saw many a movie there.  Had some fun dates there.  Either bums or insurance fraud. Sad either way - a real landmark. Seattle is losing its history.

From Seattle station KIRO:

‘Sovereign citizens’ claiming waterfront homes in Woodway, Edmonds
A group of people is walking up to families’ front doors in Snohomish County, saying they are the rightful owners of waterfront homes.

The group has taken over homes in different parts of the country, claiming legal ownership of the land beneath it.

In one case, they told a homeowner she was being evicted.

Edmonds detectives say the group knocked on doors in the most upscale neighborhoods in Woodway and Edmonds, identifying themselves as Moorish Sovereign Citizens. They carry official-looking documents, say they own the property and announce they’re moving in.

Curious group of people.  The Moorish Science Temple of America has been around since 1913 and it is interesting that Nation of Islam is a direct spin-off. Wallace Fard Muhammad claimed to be a reincarnation of the original MST founder. His claim was rejected and he split from the group and founded NoI.

Needless to say, should any of them show up at my door, my response would not be welcoming. Got to give them points for inventiveness and effort.

Yaaay - Mt. Baker

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From their Snow Report:

Snow Report
It's Opening Day for the 2020-21 season! Mt. Baker has received 87 inches of new snow in the past eight days and the forecast looks great for this opening weekend, so this is an awesome start to the season. 

Good news - looks like a strong La Niña so good snow and colder temps.

Talking about the Grinch

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Great meme - thinking about our governor:

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Inslee is a dirty - greenpendejo.  Great name for him. Incompetent but he appeals to the big money interests and the low information voters.

And it is closed for the season - SR 20

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Sure sign of winter - from the WA State Department of Transportation:

SR 20 - North Cascades Highway
Last Update: 11:02 a.m., Nov. 16, 2020: Closed for season

The North Cascades Highway closed Friday, Nov. 13 due to heavy snowfall and risk of avalanche. Due to the risk of avalanche and forecasted snow, crews have determined to keep the pass closed for the season. The closure is in place between milepost 134, east of Diablo Lake, and milepost 171 at Silver Star Gate.

Looks like a long, cold and wet winter - great for skiing.

My governor is an idiot

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I have a facial diaper that has that printed on it - get a lot of thumbs up and agreement from people.

His latest fiasco - from Seattle station KING:

Indoor dining closed, capacity limits at grocery stores as Washington tries to curb COVID-19
Gov. Jay Inslee has announced new statewide restrictions to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, which includes closing indoor service for restaurants and bars and prohibiting indoor social gatherings.

These rules will mostly go into effect on Monday at 11:59 p.m. and will remain in effect until Dec. 14.

The announcement comes following days of increasing COVID-19 cases.

And some of the butcher's bill:

    • The biggest impact will be the closure of indoor dining at restaurants and bars. Outdoor dining and to-go service is permitted. Outdoor dining must follow the outdoor dining restriction. Table size limited to 5 for outdoor dining. These restaurant restrictions go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18.
    • In-store retail limited to 25% indoor occupancy and must close any common/congregate non-food-related seating areas. Food court indoor seating is closed.
    • Indoor social gatherings from people outside your household are prohibited and outdoor social gatherings should be limited to 5 people outside your household.
    • Fitness facilities and gyms are closed for indoor operations. Outdoor fitness classes may still occur but they are limited by the outdoor gathering restriction listed above.
    • Wedding and funerals receptions are prohibited. Ceremonies are limited to no more than 30 people.
    • All retail activities and business meetings are prohibited. Only professional training and testing that cannot be performed remotely is allowed. Occupancy in each meeting room is limited to 25% or 100 people, whichever is fewer.
    • Movie theaters are closed for indoor service. Drive-in movie theaters are still permitted and must follow the current drive-in movie theater guidance.
    • Religious services limited to 25% indoor occupancy no more than 200 people, whichever is fewer. No choir, band, or ensemble shall perform during the service.
    • Museums/Zoos/Aquariums are closed for indoor service.

Great - kill small businesses just before the big Thanksgiving/Christmas retail season.  Talk about Grinch.

And why is he doing this?

For the second day in a row Saturday, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) reported a record number of daily cases, with 2,233 new cases in a trend officials describe as alarming.

"This puts us in as dangerous a position as we were in March, when we first stayed home to stay healthy. And it means, unfortunately, the time has come to reinstate restrictions on activities statewide to preserve the public’s well-being, and to save lives," Inslee said.

A little bit of perspective is in order.  WA State's population is estimated at 7,797,100. 2,233 represents 0.028% of the total state population.  Out of those, less than one percent will require hospitalization and out of that, about one percent will die.  We are talking very small numbers. Add to this, the test used has a high false-positive failure.

From the Centers for Disease Control's lips to your ears (scroll down to Table 3):

Comorbidities
Table 3 shows the types of health conditions and contributing causes mentioned in conjunction with deaths involving coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned. For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death. The number of deaths with each condition or cause is shown for all deaths and by age groups.

We are talking about diseases such as Influenza, hypertension, cardiac problems, cancer, diabetes, etc...

The CDC is claiming a total of 223,984 people died with Covid in their systems. 6% of those deaths - the deaths from Covid and Covid alone - only represent a total of 13,439 deaths throughout the entire USA for the entire pandemic. The last year I have data for is 2014 but then, there were 32,675 deaths from motor vehicle accident in the United States. In other words, you are about 2.5 times more likely to die in a car wreck than by the Chinese Wuhan Flu. You do not see people refusing to get in their cars because of this potential danger. After all, that is 10.25 deaths per 100,000 population or 0.010%.

My governor is an idiot. It is very telling that a police chief from a small town in Eastern Washington with no political or business experience was able to secure over 40% of the votes in the governor's race.  Loren Culp would have been a much better governor for our state than Inslee. Inslee is in the pocket of big business - Amazon, Boeing, Microsoft. He does not represent his constituency.

If I was a conspiracy theorist, I would say that he is pissed that 40% of the people voted against him.  He knows that these are the working class people, the small business owners and he is out to punish them. Hurt them for going against his reign. For doubting his elite wisdom and vision. Strike back at them like the petulant little child he is.

Hatten down the batches!!!  Or something like that.  From Cliff Mass:

Potential for a Major Storm on Friday Night/Saturday Morning
I try never to get too excited about a storm when it is more than 120 hr out....and certainly never to discuss in this blog.

But we are close enough now to talk about the possibility of a fairly major blow on Friday night and Saturday morning.

This morning's run of the National Weather Service's GFS model is, how do I say it?, provocative.

It forecasts a 966 hPa low pressure center to be off the northern tip of Vancouver Island, with an INTENSE pressure gradient (pressure change divided by distance) to the west and southwest. That kind of pressure gradient would be associated with very strong winds (50-70 mph at least) plus big waves. And we don't get 960 hPa low centers just offshore very often. They usually stay in the Gulf of Alaska.

Still a way off and to early to really tell but it could be interesting. Fortunately, I am well shielded by Whidbey Island so the wave action should not be too great. Fitting tribute for an 80th anniversary (November 8th, 1940) of this famous event. From the Kitsap Sun:

New footage, documentary debut on 80th anniversary of the collapse of Galloping Gertie
Under the waves of the Tacoma Narrows, the grave near Galloping Gertie gave birth to a lush kelp forest "dense as an African jungle," Peter Bortel says.

A seabed peppered 80 years ago Saturday with crumbled concrete now teems with life, as wolf eels slither, lingcod swim by and octopuses build dens in the decaying remnants of a widely known but often misunderstood engineering blunder.

That's the focus of "700 Feet Down," a figurative and literal dive into the collapse of the first Tacoma Narrows Bridge that includes plenty of footage of that undersea world, as well as tales of the colossal span's collapse.

A video of the bridges movement and collapse can be found here: YouTube Galloping Gertie

Full moon tonight

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Blue moon (second full moon in the same calander month) as well as The Hunter's Moon  (more)

Mars is very close to Earth now and will be near the moon - brighter than usual.
Skies are supposed to be clear so good seeing.

From the local events calander:

TREBUCHET FIRING: Saturday, Oct. 24 at Kristoferson Farm, 332 NE Camano Drive, Camano Island. Saturday, Oct. 24, at Kristoferson Farm, 332 NE Camano Drive, Camano Island. The farm can't let October go by without a bit of pumpkin chucking launched from the trusty trebuchet. Masks and social distancing required.

Good news for skiers - La Niña

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From Seattle weather blogger Scott Sistek at KOMO:

Smile skiers: Signs of La Niña grow stronger that it's...growing stronger
Skiers and snowboarders have a reason to smile Thursday as there is growing confidence the snow season this winter could be a good one, thanks to their good friend, La Niña.

La Niña is part of the 5-7 year "ENSO" cycle that combines with El Niño and the "neutral" in between, measured by taking the sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific Ocean and comparing them to normal levels. These changes in temperatures have been found to have a profound global chain-reaction effect on the large scale weather patterns.

So why do skiers and snow fans care? Typically La Niña winters have a greater chance of being cooler and wetter than normal.

La Niña was declared to have arrived in the late summer, and the latest monthly updated discussion from NOAA Thursday shows that it's not only still here, but getting stronger.

Good news - last couple of seasons at Mt. Baker have been crappy to say the least.  Nice to have some colder weather and more snowfall.

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