Mike McGinn, the Mayor of Seattle, Washington, used his city address yesterday to repeat his call for the legalization of marijuana in his state, setting a model for other public figures to follow. McGinn’s very public call for marijuana legalization is especially important now, because this November the voters of Washington state will get to decide on I-502. If approved, this ballot initiative would legalize, tax and regulate marijuana in Washington for adults over the age of 21.

Kevin William Harpham of Colville, WA, confessed to leaving an explosive device near the intended route of a Martin Luther King Day Unity March in Spokane. Stored in a backpack, it was packed with fishing weights coated with rat poison. Now he faces 32 years in prison.

So, if your high schooler comes home one day smelling of patchouli and wearing a peace sign amulet, and blames it on “the recruiters” — don’t worry, it’s not the Air Force Academy going soft. It’s simply the Army of One Hippie: the Peace Recruiters will provide a view of an alternative lifestyle to the video-game, shoot-em-up, go-to-war, get-your-education-paid-for, (did-I-mention-lose-your-legs?) United States Military recruiters.

Michael Bloomberg is trying to pull off a pretty neat trick. The billionaire mayor of New York City can blame his own police department for the growth of the Occupy Wall Street protests, which surged after incidents of police brutality and illegal arrests and will only continue to grow as his police continue to use nightsticks and pepper spray. But now, he’s claiming that the protests are costing municipal workers their jobs.