Seattle

Washington bill HB 2103 and SB5955 call for Port of Seattle to dedicate portions of new tax revenue to mitigate noise and air pollution for those who live under the most common flight paths, within 10 miles of SeaTac, as well as fix failed noise mitigation packages (see WA HB 1847 from 2019-20).

More flights means more business and more money for the port, but more noise and air pollution in your ears and lungs. Let's make the fuckers pay for it.

These are the bills, and they need your support:

HB 2103 (for the 2023-2024 session) https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2103&Chamber=House&Year=2023

SB 5955 (for the 2023-2024 session) https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5955&Year=2023&Initiative=false

If you feel like helping, do the following BEFORE MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 22nd:

• click each of the links above
• on each page, find the green button that says "Send a comment on this bill to your legislators" and click it
• fill out the comment page with your address and info (making sure to click the "Verify Your District" button to ensure the right people get the note).
• You can use this boilerplate text:

My name is XXXXXX and I live at XXXXXX. I and my family experience air and noise pollution from airplanes coming from SeaTac Airport. [ Explain how you are impacted with examples like "I/my XX ​have/has asthma, I get stressed, I can't sleep." ] This bill will help the Port keep its environmental and community-related values. I strongly support HB2103 and SB 5955. Please DO PASS to the sake of our health and lives.

Respectfully, [Your name, and if you want family or household names with their permission.]

That's enough political engagement for one day.

kthxbye

Temperatures fell to 14 degrees overnight in Seattle, ushering in a bleak and biting chill the city hasn’t seen for over a decade. Temperatures are unlikely to surpass a high of 25 degrees Saturday as a blanket of clouds settles over the city.

But the dip in temperatures won’t bring snow, forecasters say. Snowfall is expected to miss the city and instead go south over Olympia and Lewis County.

“The big weather story here is the cold,” said Dana Felton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.

The last time Seattle had a high of 25 degrees was in 2010. If temperatures fail to hit that mark, Saturday will become the coldest day in a quarter century.

Amid the frigid temperatures, thousands of people lost power in South Seattle, with more than 1,600 Seattle City Light customers between Interstate 5 and Seward Park remaining in the dark as of roughly 11:30 a.m.

Meanwhile, public health officials advised residents to bundle up, drive safely and recognize the signs of hypothermia.

Warning signs can include uncontrolled shivering, confusion, slurred speech, extreme exhaustion and lack of consciousness. If a person is experiencing hypothermia — which can be exacerbated by wet clothes, exhaustion, hunger or alcohol — they or others should immediately call 911 for medical help.

Pets and livestock should also be kept dry and warm with clean, unfrozen water, officials said.

The weekend cold front is the result of a cold air mass that has dropped down over the northern United States, as massive winter storms hit much of the country. Seattle will experience just the edge of the cold front, however. In Spokane, temperatures dropped below zero, and in Montana they have fallen below minus 25 degrees.

Friday’s high of just 10 degrees in Bellingham marked the coldest day there in 59 years.

Sunday and Monday will bring incrementally higher temperatures, with sun expected both days, before another weather system arrives Tuesday. Seattle could see a possibility of snow Tuesday afternoon, but forecasters expect mostly rain into the middle of the week.

Until at least Tuesday, severe weather shelters are open overnight at the Exhibition Hall at Seattle Center and the Salvation Army in Sodo. The Urban League is open for people younger than 25, and the YMCA’s Angeline’s Day Center is available for single women. Families with children should call the Family Shelter Intake Line at 206-245-1026.

The proposed changes, related to the district's shortage of school bus drivers, would have some students in school between 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.

“There is still a lot of uncertainty in how cold we get,” the weather service said Sunday evening, but even lows in the 20s — the most likely scenario — would be “much below normal and cool enough for snow.”

Chances for lowland snow had increased slightly by Monday morning, with a 40% to 60% chance for at least 1 inch of snow between Thursday and Saturday, and a 30% chance for 2 inches or more, according to the weather service.

Thought this was an interesting take, does anyone know more about this?

Heads up for anyone who uses the light rail

We should be doing more of this.