The Weekend Wrap: Second Day of Christmas Edition

We had a short holiday week here on The SunBreak, but the news never stops--tragically, in the case of the double homicide on Beacon Hill that left a mother and her daughter dead, and the father, Daniel Thomas Hicks, the lead suspect.

The place to go for unsavory details on WaMu's demise continues to be the Puget Sound Business Journal: "Documents released by JPMorgan in response to the subpoena now show that JPMorgan had a plan to acquire WaMu from regulators more than two months before the government signaled it planned to seize and sell the Seattle thrift." Meanwhile, Nordstrom's is consolidating its Seattle office space in the old WaMu tower, a big win for the Seattle Art Museum, and Seattle in general, says Jon Talton.

Ironically, the Boeing Philip M. Condit Professor of Business Administration at the UW's Foster School of Business, Dick Nolan, argued that Boeing's global outsourcing strategy may have been a huge competitive mistake.

The weather hasn't stopped, but it does seem on a break, with what Cliff Mass calls a "classic mid-winter ridge" creating dry, low wind conditions. Local areas are seeing a good deal of morning fog, and in fact Mass advises you to book your SeaTac flights late in the day this time of year, to avoid fog delays.

In local health karma, an unvaccinated King County woman contracted measles after a trip abroad: "People who might have been exposed to the disease would be expected to develop the characteristic skin rash of measles December 18th and January 10." Most of you have been vaccinated and have nothing to worry about.

Fueling our transit obsession, Mayor-elect Mike McGinn let drop that he's considering putting a light rail extension up to a vote in 2010. The Seattle Transit Blog approves. They also have the rundown on new transit fares and payment options in 2010: As of January 1, "all King County Metro fares (except for the ages 6-18 fare) will go up 25 cents. For most of us that means $2.00 off-peak, $2.25 one-zone peak, $2.75 two-zone peak."

Over on the redesigned and eminently readable Cornichon, Ronald Holden, the Herb Caen of Seattle foodies, is handing out the Belltown Bravo Aw@rds: "Best new bar: Bathtub Gin. No website; that would spoil it." All we had for food news is borscht. But it was good borscht. Oh, and local co-op PCC bridled at the Gates Foundation's push for genetically engineered foods. 

Jeremy rounded up a list of last-minute local gift ideas--only the second day of Christmas, remember!--and Audrey covered the movie fare in theaters over the holidays (again, it's on the second day of Christmas). Seth basted Jim Mora ("Wait, he's done!") and crowed about the Brandon Morrow trade. I had the sad honor of noting the passing of Seattle Opera's Perry Lorenzo.