Predictably, the newsmakers in Seattle have slowed down a bit, as if in anticipation of New Year's Eve. A little breather before the work of the new year begins in earnest. What did happen today is reminiscent of the last episode in a given season of The Wire: loose ends are being tied down, and the seeds for the next chapter are being sown.

We begin with police identifying the body found in Port Townsend on Wednesday as belonging to a woman declared missing in Oak Harbor late November. They have determined the cause of death as salt water drowning, but have yet to establish what led to that drowning. [KIRO]

An Auburn man was arrested in the theft of an Auburn policeman's uniform, badge and service revolver, which had been stored in a gym bag in a privately owned car while the owner was dining with his spouse at a nearby restaurant. While the suspect is pleading not guilty, the gun, uniform and badge have yet to be reclaimed. [KOMO]

Preliminary results of the implementation of an electronic tolling system on the SR520 floating bridge show that traffic has greatly decreased along the affected area, while traffic along alternate routes (SR522 and I-90) reached non-holiday levels, indicating that commuters are avoiding the toll. The Department of Transportation advises being cautious on Tuesday when all of those commuters who've been taking it easy over the holidays will be back on the road. While it is way too early to tell, this causes us to think of what will happen when tolling along the tunnel that will replace the viaduct comes into effect. We'll put off ruminating on those possibilities to a later date. [Seattle Times]

And in arbitrary scientific findings that have zero to do with Seattle, scientists in the UK have come out with what they believe is the funniest joke in the world. What the researches intend to do with this knowledge is any one's guess, although their fellow Britons in Monty Python have wisely presaged this development by nearly 40 years seen below. We pray this joke does not fall into the wrong hands.

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