The Stranger's morning news roundup. by Nathalie Graham It's New Light Rail Station Eve: On Saturday, Sound Transit plans to open three new stations and eight miles of new track. The light rail will probe the very-ready-for-probing parts of south King County, extending down to Federal Way and becoming the second-longest light rail line behind Los Angeles's. The new stations are expected to add between 19,000 and 24,000 riders to the light rail system every day. The ribbon-cutting ceremony will happen at the new Federal Way station at 11 a.m. on Saturday.  Train Delay: Finally building out our region-wide transit system is good, of course, but it would be a lot better if the train wasn't riddled with delays. According to the Seattle Times, in October, light rail trains made only 83 percent of trips on time. That's still a passing grade! And it's up from the 77 percent on-time numbers from May. Even light rail disruptions—though they seem frequent and annoying—aren't as bad as they used to be. In 2024, light rail averaged 38 hours of unplanned disruptions a month. This year, they've been averaging 15 hours. Still, riders worry adding new stations will strain a system they see as already struggling.  More Money for Harrell's Favorite Club: Lame duck Mayor Bruce Harrell announced $27.8 million in new anti-displacement grants under the city's Equitable Development Initiative. Surprise, surprise, the private club where Harrell used to serve on the board and where he held he election night party received a $184,000 grant. The Royal Esquire Club and Harrell go way back, reports Publicola. When he was city council president, Harrell got into an ethics dust up because he allegedly tried to hush up a wage theft investigation into the club. At the time, he was also reportedly making his council staff do secretarial work for the club. In 2022, as mayor, Harrell granted the club $800,000. That money and this new $184,000 are meant to fund a renovation. It better look pretty fucking swanky in there after all that cash.   Oh no: A University Place house fire killed the 13 pets living at home. On Thursday, seven dogs and six cats died from smoke inhalation. While that may be more pets than anyone needs, the residents described each one as "family members." Rest easy, lil guys. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.  And Now, the Weather: It's raining. It will probably never stop.  Watch Out, Drunk Drivers: For the first time since 2019, the Seattle Police Department will roll out a driving under the influence emphasis team over the holiday season. The DUI squad will be patrolling city streets from around 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. throughout December. Staffing issues forced SPD to disband the DUI squad, upending 50 years of looking for lushes on the roads. New retention rates means we can get those drunks off the road. Happy holidays.  Who Will Play in Seattle during the World Cup? We'll find out who will play at Seattle Stadium during next year's World Cup after this morning's World Cup draw. It's happening after this blog posts, so you will have to update me in the comments. As World Cup planning moves forward, Donald Trump's threats to pull the tournament out of blue cities feels emptier and emptier.  Goodbye, Hep-B Vaccine for all Newborns: RFK Jr.’s federal vaccine committee full of vaccine skeptics voted on Friday to end recommendations that all newborns receive vaccinations against hepatitis B. In an 8-3 vote, the advisory Committee on Immunization Practices decided women who test negative for hepatitis B can decide whether to vaccinate their babies against the disease. Since 1991, the Centers for Disease Control has recommended vaccinations for all newborns against hep B. Doctors are horrified by the recommendation changes. It opens the door to more changes in vaccine policy and sows even more seeds of doubt in whether or not we can trust the CDC. Navy Admiral Says There Was No "Kill Them All" Order: In a closed-door briefing with lawmakers, Navy Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not issue a "kill them all" order on the survivors of a US attack on a boat in the Caribbean. However, video showing the killing of the survivors left Congress with more questions. Washington state Sen. Adam Smith, who is leading the charge for a further investigation, said the survivors were "basically two shirtless people clinging to the bow of a capsized and inoperable boat, drifting in the water—until the missiles come and kill them.” While this incident alone is horrific, the probe into Hegseth's actions has not even begun to address the broader issue here: The US has used war powers on 20 strikes on suspected drug smuggling boats and killed 80 people.  Republicans Meanwhile... Sen. Tom Cotton is doing his darnedest to defend the war crimes.  Q: What did you see in the second strike? Cotton: "I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat — loaded with drugs, bound for the United States — back over, so they could stay in the fight." — Jen Bendery (@jbendery.bsky.social) December 4, 2025 at 9:45 AM Showing Hole: The home goods company, Kohler, is selling a $600 camera to put in your toilet to snap pictures of your big, beautiful BMs for "health wellness insights," according to Kohler. The camera and its services cost an additional $6.99 per month. As 404 Media writes: "If you want to track the piss and shit of a family of 6, you’ll have to pay $12.99 a month." But, if you want to make sure no one else is peeping on your poos, you might need another toilet bowl camera company. Kohler promised all this data was end to end encrypted. It simply is not. They're just saying that.  Bad News for Movie Theaters: Netflix has struck a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery for $72 billion. All Warner Bros. property, including the streaming service HBO Max, would be owned by Netflix. The deal, which will close in the next 12 to 18 months, will likely inspire a hefty anti-trust conversation. It will likely reduce choices for consumers in the long run. I fear a future where everything is as flat and uniformly lit as all Netflix productions. If it goes through, this is a bad thing for movie theaters. Though it says it will still honor theatrical releases for Warner Bros. films, Netflix has been transparent that its business model does not fuck with movie theaters. The trade association for movie theaters, Cinema United, asserted that the deal would absolutely kill move theaters. To that I say, over my dead body.  Something Happy: You deserve this.    Mark Zuckerberg’s gamble on the "Metaverse" has lost his company more than $77 billion. — More Perfect Union (@moreperfectunion.bsky.social) December 5, 2025 at 7:41 AM   Five Stars Please: FBI Director Kash Patel allegedly ordered the FBI security detail protecting his girlfriend to take his girlfriend's drunk friend home after a night out. Not only is it weird to use the FBI as Uber, it's weird that his girlfriend even has FBI protection at all. His girlfriend is Alexis Wilkins, a 27-year-old Nashville country singer who has an FBI detail made up of local SWAT members. Never before has the FBI provided a detail for a director's girlfriend. Apparently, they've only ever provided security a director's spouse while the spouse was traveling with the director. Is everyone else also loving having a country controlled by grifters? Surprise, Surprise: The Supreme Court said Texas can go forward with its redrawn, gerrymandered congressional maps. This overturns a lower court ruling which found the redrawn districts to be "likely an unconstitutional racial gerrymander." The Supreme Court decision came just days before the December 8 filing deadline in Texas. It's yet another Trump-friendly Supreme Court decision and another that was made without hearing oral arguments since it was part of the emergency docket of cases, otherwise known as the shadow docket.  Reading the Room: Pantone, the "global color authority," named the 2026 color of the year. It's Cloud Dancer. Which is just a fancy name for white. Yes, the color of 2026 is white. Pantone explained its choice, saying that the “billowy, balanced white...  acts as a whisper of calm and peace in a noisy world.” Pantone's expert-selected color of the year is meant to "draw attention to the relationship between culture and color." So, Pantone's color soothsayers are saying white reigns supreme in 2026, hm? This passed the sniff test?  Surprise Again: The man accused of laying pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters ahead of the 2021 insurrection told the FBI he believed the 2020 election was stolen. His admission gives insight into a possible motive for the bombs. I didn't realize that was something we were still looking for with this guy. He's charged with transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce and attempted malicious destruction and is expected to appear in court Friday. A Song for your Friday: Everyone should see Come From Away. It's on now at the Seattle Repertory Theater. While it's not the original version, the show is still worth your time.  ...read more read less