The Fremont Bridge, gateway to the Center of the Universe, could be your future art studio. Some lucky Seattle-area creative type is going to get a workshop in one of the bridge towers, in which to create a diverse, in-depth exploration of what it means to be the city’s busiest bridge 'n' stuff. All that and a $20,000 grant from SDOT. Apply by Jan. 5. Or don’t--we don’t need the competition!

A lot has happened since November 4; we decided to spend $1.4 billion more than we thought we would on November 3, for one thing. State legislators learned of the new $4.6 billion estimate this morning, says the P-I. In response, Governor Gregoire has asked state agencies to look at cuts of up to 20 percent across the board. You already know what the Republicans will say about this, so we turned to the plucky third-party GOP candidate, Dino Rossi. Whoops, nothing there. So back to the Republicans. Nothing there either. It's like these people only care about budgets when there's an election.

The feds shut down three more brothels masquerading as tanning salons, this time in Greenwood, Tukwila and Renton. They're still using that cover story? Come on, people. Now that three more "salons" have bit the dust, we're sure Seattle will move further along the journey towards restoring the shining image of tanning salons as our community's beacons of health and moral rectitude. Also, our condolences go out to the undercover investigators who risked infectious skin diseases in the name of gathering evidence for this case.

Found in our Theo Chocolates promotional newsletter this morning: "Sales of existing houses dropped more in Washington than anywhere else in the nation last quarter, compared with a year earlier, according to a new report. King County's median sale price also dropped roughly 10 percent from a year earlier." Who was saying that Seattle wasn't immune to, but typically lagged the national trends? With the drop, 57 percent of the state's first-time buyers have enough income to afford the median home price.

The Christ Child and the spawn of Satan, a.k.a. secularists, have been duking it out in Lakewood about who gets to claim "that major event in December involving an evergreen tree and lights on a string." Though Andrew Neiditz, the Lakewood city manager, says he wants to use inclusive language whenever possible to avoid offending non-Christians, he is firmly in Baby Jesus' camp: Neiditz declared that at least on his watch, said wintry event shall be named Christmas and said evergreen shall be named a Christmas Tree. It's the American way.

Why wasn't Andrea Vece's Layne Staley bio, Itch, Love Stories About Heroin, published this August as planned? Because the "author" decided "there couldn't be a greater tribute...than compiling a book of memories...and publishing it on the date of [Staley's] passing [April 5]." Blabbermouth recaps Vece's curious plan: "The first half...will now feature the original journal writings of the author...[the] second half will be titled "Memory Layne" and will contain stories from fans...as well as her 'experiences with the occult' while writing" Itch. What do Vece's occult experiences have to do with the late Alice in Chains singer? Can anyone publish anything? Ask Vece (or donate your Staley memory) at mediumpress(@)aol.com.

Just two weeks before Amanda Knox is set to go to trial on murder charges, a new witness has come forward, putting the former UW student's alibi in doubt. The new witness claims to have seen Knox in the household supplies section of a store near her home three hours earlier than Knox had said she was there. If the witness is credible (and you have to wonder, seeing as the person waited a year to come forward), it could place Amanda Knox at the home she shared with the slain Meredith Kercher three hours earlier than she reported, or at the very least catch Knox in another lie.