Suffering an extended Sound Transit snafu: The light rail and its parent company are making it really hard to ride the trains these days. Scheduled repair work, which began last weekend and won't stop until Feb 5, slowed trains down by single-tracking on weekdays and stopping service at Westlake, University Street, Pioneer Square, International District/Chinatown, and Stadium stations during the weekends. Trains come only every 26 minutes. Or, that's what Sound Transit estimated. However, people are trying to use the trains—like they should be able to in a major city—and crowded loading and unloading has slowed trains down to arriving every 35 minutes. Technical issues have also contributed to the slower trains. It's all bleak as hell. How is anyone supposed to rely on a mass transit system that continuously fucks them over like this? 

Extreme cold kills five: Hypothermia claimed the lives of five Seattleites during the sub-freezing cold snap that started on Jan 11. Two died in a residence, two died outdoors, and one died in a vehicle. 

King County is for readers: Look at all you little bookworms! The King County Library System ranked third in the nation for total number of digital checkouts last year. The number? A cool 8.8 million. The Los Angeles Public Library had the most number of digital checkouts at 12 million, and Toronto Public Library came in second. 

And now, the weather: It will be chilly, but, like, regular Seattle-chilly and not the chilly it's been the last week. I wouldn't really call the last week "chilly." In hindsight, I'd probably call it "frigid," or "feel-it-in-your-bones cold," or something. This chilly today? It's just chilly. And, there will be no rain. The dry, overcast, chilly day is the most depressing in my opinion. We will have that again on Saturday. Then, rain returns and will it ever end? No, my dear, this is the section of the year we talk about when we talk of Seattle gloom and doom. Just remember: Spring is always coming. 

Meanwhile, a state of emergency in Oregon: Gov. Tina Kotek declared a state of emergency in Oregon Thursday night after last week's winter storm killed 13 people and caused extensive damage. 

Portland teen saves baby: During the ice storm, two Portlanders loaded their baby into their car with a downed power line on it. Trying to fetch the baby, the father slipped on slick concrete, touching the live wire in the process. He died with the baby in his arms. His pregnant girlfriend and her 15-year-old brother also died, electrocuted as well, while trying to help. Their neighbor, 18-year-old Majiah Washington, who watched the whole incident, called for help and then went across the street and rescued the baby. 

Hmmmm, well isn't that interesting: According to a new report by progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative, "corporate profits accounted for about 53% of inflation during last year’s second and third quarters." Companies are keeping prices high even as inflationary costs drop because of the wide profit margins. Always remember that corporations are evil and do not care about you or your family, just their own bottom line. 

Japan shoots for the moon: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, is attempting to land on the moon for the first time. If successful, Japan will become the fifth country to park on the lunar surface. What's different about this landing is JAXA is using “pinpoint landing” for its lander, meaning “where we want to, rather than where it is easy to land,” according to JAXA. 

LA Times walk out: The LA Times staff is stopping work and walking out Friday in response to management's intention to lay off a slew of journalists. It's the first work stoppage since the paper began printing in 1881. More here. 

Trump files a brief with Supreme Court: Donald Trump would like to be on the ballot in states like Colorado, which have barred him under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment's stipulations banning insurrectionists from holding office. The Supreme Court will argue the Colorado case on Feb 8. Trump submitted a brief to the Court urging them to rule in his favor. "President Trump never participated in or directed any of the illegal conduct that occurred at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,” the brief reads. “In fact, the opposite is true, as President Trump repeatedly called for peace, patriotism, and law and order.” An earlier brief from Trump even claimed Jan 6 wasn't an insurrection at all. The brief also argues that Section 3 "applies only to those who took an oath to ‘support’ the Constitution of the United States" and Trump as president swore "a different oath set forth in Article II, in which he promises to ‘preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States’—and in which the word ‘support’ is nowhere to be found." The Court could decide on this matter as early as March 5. 

Thanks, king: Pope Francis said sexual pleasure "is a gift from god." Wait, shit. In the same breath, he said this gift should be "disciplined with patience." 

Yeah, that's not a great sign: A Boeing 747 cargo plane made an emergency landing after flames spewed out of it mid-flight. I'm no aerospace engineer, but I can tell you that you do not want any sort of fire in or around your plane. Given the whole door-flying-off-a-Boeing-plane thing a few weeks ago, January really has not been a banner month for the formerly local plane-maker. 

A video for your Friday: Check out these manatees living in the cenotes, the freshwater-filled sinkholes formed from collapsed caves, in the Yucatan Peninsula. The cenotes are connected by a nearly 10,000-mile-long underwater cave system.