Amy Radil

The Seattle City Council is embracing a wide-ranging action plan to address climate change. But it’s also considering zoning for a new power-hungry business: indoor marijuana growing.

As Washington state moves toward licensing marijuana retail stores, a major concern for public health experts is preventing kids from eating marijuana. They are asking the state to ban marijuana-infused candy and other sweets, and require packaging and flavors that are less appealing to kids.

Big marijuana has come to town. That was the message at one of the stranger product launches yet seen in Seattle Thursday. The press conference at Seattle’s Columbia Tower began with a quote from Carl Sagan extolling the serenity bestowed by marijuana. With former Mexican president Vicente Fox at his side, marijuana entrepreneur Jamen Shively told a packed room that marijuana prohibition is like the Berlin Wall and he hopes his new company will help it crumble. 

Washington’s judicial system abolished court fees for poor people in 2010, but county courts sought ways around the rule. Now in a unanimous decision, the Washington State Supreme Court has reaffirmed that if someone qualifies as indigent, courts need to give them access for free.

Seattle City Council Member Tim Burgess is stepping down as a mayoral candidate.  His disclosure came as the filing deadline loomed for the November election. Burgess said he won’t yet endorse anyone. But he said he’s leaving the race to make it easier for another candidate to unseat incumbent Mayor Mike McGinn. 

A random drawing: That’s how the Washington State Liquor Control Board proposes choosing applicants for marijuana retail licenses. And it’s drawing major criticism from existing medical marijuana providers.

Two weeks ago the federal Drug Enforcement Administration sent cease and desist letters to 11 medical marijuana dispensaries in Seattle. It was the first notable enforcement action in Washington since recreational marijuana was legalized last year. Federal officials say it won’t be the last.

The Washington Supreme Court has heard oral arguments in the case of the Christmas Eve murders of six people in Carnation in 2007.

The central issue in this case is when prosecutors should consider the strength of the evidence against defendants in a capital murder case. The parties differed on whether evidence should be a consideration in deciding to seek the death penalty.

City police departments often have testy relations with their local superheroes, at least in the movies. In "The Amazing Spider-Man" they issue a warrant for his arrest. In "The Dark Knight Rises," a cop pledges to take down Batman.