Local News

Your guide to the latest news from around the Northwest

Good morning.

Weather: Nothing East Coast-epic. Just a foggy morning across much of the area, with some sun expected this afternoon. Highs around in the upper 40s. The forecast.

Guns in Olympia: Washington state lawmakers carry concealed weapons on the Capitol campus and on the floor. In fact, Washington’s Capitol is one of the few in the country with no restrictions on firearms. Olympia bureau reporter Andrew Garber writes about the seldom-discussed, rarely-criticized gun culture at the statehouse and how it figures into the debate over gun control this session.

Port commissioner’s troubling tenure: Port of Seattle Commissioner Rob Holland was a promising young leader when he was elected, but the last three years have brought a series of personal and professional problems. Holland has run afoul of Port credit-card policies and left his King County government job after county staff raised questions about nonprofits he launched with his business partner, a convicted burglar and sex offender. Reporter Emily Heffter has the story.

Talk Grammy music and fashion tonight with Seattle Times staff: Please join us for an online chat, starting at 7:30 p.m., with red-carpet commentary (do you really expect anyone to change their wardrobe plan after the CBS memo calling on performers to make sure ”buttocks and female breasts are adequately covered”). The award show begins at 8 p.m. on KIRO Channel 7.  Seattle Times pop music coordinator/writer Paul de Barros, freelancer Gene Stout and features editors Brian Gallagher and Lynn Jacobson will be watching, and letting opinions fly about the performances, winners, losers — all of it.  As a kind of pre-game warm-up, check out our Grammy predictions. Writers Andrew Matson, Charles R. Cross, along with de Barros and Stout handicap the nominees in four top categories.

Gonzaga  about to break into Top 5: Kevin Pangos and Kelly Olynyk each scored 20 points as No. 6 Gonzaga beat Loyola Marymount 74-55 on Saturday, a victory that left the Zags poised to break into the top five Monday. The Zags are likely to rise in the rankings after losses by No. 1 Indiana, No. 2 Florida,  No. 5 Kansas, and No. 3 Michigan, which lost to unranked Wisconsin on Saturday (“On Wisconsin!” as Russell Wilson used to say in his pre-”Go Hawks” days).

Most-read stories this morning on seattletimes.com:

• Johnie Kirton’s cause of death ruled acute methadone intoxication
• Mountain hunt for ex-LAPD cop enters 4th day   
• Review: Microsoft’s Surface Pro | Brier Dudley’s Blog
• Mariners will have a new look, but a winning season is far from guaranteed
• Northeast trying to get back on track after storm