Less talk, more action:  In a teaching experiment that began six years ago, frustrated Bellevue School District government teachers teamed with University of Washington researchers to revamp the advanced placement program. Instead of lectures, they put role plays and simulations at the center of the curriculum. It seems to be working.

Russ knows baseball: For a day, Russell Wilson, the Seahawks’ Super Bowl-winning quarterback, moonlighted as a major-leaguer with the Texas Rangers in Peoria. It was good, harmless fun. But if you thought it was merely a publicity stunt, then you forgot how Wilson operates. In his Rangers uniform and a pair of Oakleys, Wilson looked right at home on the diamond.  “This is something I’ve done my entire life,” Wilson said when asked about being careful. “It’s not like I’m picking up bobsledding.”

In a report released Monday, Olympic National Park visitors dropped 24 percent during the federal government shutdown last October. The 16-day partial shutdown resulted in about 42,000 fewer visitors to the park, resulting in a loss of about $3.4 million in visitor spending in communities that surround it.

National Weather Service forecast: Rain, rain and more rain. Followed by some rain. But look on the “bright” side: It’s a warm rain. Highs in the mid-50s for the next couple of days.

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