Eric

Are some babies just easier than others? I wish we could all acknowledge that the answer is yes:

Within the range of developmentally normal children, some parents have a much, much harder job than others: more drudge work, less gratification, more public shaming. It sometimes feels like the great undiscussed secret of pediatrics—and of parenting. Babies and children are different, assignments are different, and we spend a lot of time patting ourselves on the back—as parents and as pediatricians—when the easy babies and toddlers behave like themselves, and a lot of time agonizing and assigning blame when the more difficult kids run true to form.

Is Seattle’s new electrical substation in South Lake Union just about the grooviest and most beautiful one of its kind? Maybe.

What’s wrong with Seattle’s big tunneling project, and why do megaprojects so often go so wrong? Michael Hobbes has a six-minute video with all the answers.

What’s it like to be an environmental activist on the high seas? Alec Connon, a Scotsman-in-the-Northwest I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know while fighting fossil fuel projects, explores the idea in his new novel, The Activist. It’s getting great reviews.

Keiko

Tomorrow is the launch day for Seattle’s new light rail stations, and I can’t wait!! Check out all of the opening festivities here (including Giant Jenga, free bike tune-ups, live music, and free light rail rides).

How do you get students to stay in school and graduate on time? Get them outside. Sightline fellow Ted Wolf explains how hands-on outdoor education and better school buildings boosts attendance. Oregonians, keep an eye out for a ballot initiative to fund healthier schools in May!

Your break from politics: watch a bald eagle being hatched. Happy Friday!

Serena

Jill Lepore has a (characteristically brilliant) article on our current political moment’s relationship—or lack of which—to truth, including a wistful nod to climate change’s poor public fate. Don’t miss it.

Could Europe’s beautiful zero-waste grocery stores hop the pond? Apparently, Denver is about to find out.

And in your wildlife moment of zen this week, an adorbs Australian cop is reverse-adopted by a baby kangaroo.

Anna

I’m sorry to convey some very sad news, impacting what’s probably been the best climate reporting in the world:The Guardian is cutting a hundred editorial jobs.

  • Give today to help Sightline reach our goal of $100,000!

    Thanks to Christina Scheuer for supporting a sustainable Cascadia.


    $77,000

    Donate Today

    • Better news: public opinion among US voters is ticking up steadily on a range of climate questions, including a record number (65 percent) who blame human activity and a 12-point increase among Independents on this question.

    In the new issue of Democracy, Lydia Bean and Steven Teles give us a fascinating (and sobering) chronicle of how “liberal greens tried—and failed—to make common cause with the Christian Right in the fight against climate change.”

    And (Happy St. Patrick’s Day), are the Irish really Celtic? Maybe not.

    Dan

    Remember the big news last December that rents in Seattle “are still rising but not nearly as fast?” Well, turns out that was just a blip. Take it away, Tom Cain of Apartment Insights:

    Last quarter we expressed concern about where the market might be headed in light of a surprising decrease of rents in the high-priced submarkets. In light of what has happened this quarter, our concern has been assuaged.

    Concern, that is, for apartment owners and developers, not tenants.

    Yep, Seattle’s off-the-charts job growth is still outpacing housing production. But there’s still hope, as Cain predicts 2016 will be a record-breaking year for new housing, with over 12,500 units currently under construction in Seattle. Then again, Amazon alone has already leased enough office space to eventually hold 65,000 employees in downtown Seattle . . . .