Through a glass, fraudulently: A Renton man has pleaded guilty to fraud for selling generic glass art pieces on the Internet, claiming they were created by Seattle glass artist Dale Chihuly. The man could get up to 20 years in prison for selling the fake Chihulys.

The federal prosecutor said that had the man been selling actual Chihulys he could have gotten life in prison.


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Who wants to go first? A temporary span across the Skagit River was expected to be open to traffic this morning, the first time I-5 has been fully open to traffic since a truck struck the bridge causing its collapse on May 23. There are a few limitations for the interim bridge. The speed limit is 40 miles per hour, and oversized loads will have to detour around the bridge.

One new...

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He's not a dinner jacket: Though Iran's new president stayed on the good side of the nation's ruling clerics by ruling out halting its nuclear weapon program and engaging in direct talks with the United States, he nonetheless promised Monday to follow a "path of moderation"

To President Hasan Rowhani, "moderation" apparently means "I won't be an obnoxious creep like that Ahmadinejad."

Don't bother me, I'm eating: Many people...

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Lord willing and the bridge don't fall: Later this week, a temporary bridge should be in place over the Skagit River for I-5, following its collapse in late May when the 58-year-old "fracture-critical" span was struck by an oversized load. But even when a permanent replacement is in place later this year, the repaired bridge will remain susceptible to the type of accident that took it out originally.

Motorists using the bridge, particularly those...

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And you must drive at 55 mph: Washington residents who drive gasoline-powered cars pay, on average, $3.87 per gallon of gas but only the equivalent of 84 cents per gallon for electric cars, according to federal government figures.

That fact might make electric car owners feel better as they watch their batteries drain while stuck in endless detour traffic around the Skagit River bridge.

iOffice: Microsoft's launched an iPhone...

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Scenes from a marriage: Ethan Hawke, his eternally scruffy goatee, and Julie Delpy return as a couple hitting middle age in "Before Midnight," the third film in a series that began in 1995 with the two meeting on a train in "Before Sunrise."

Coming in 2038: Hawke and Delpy reunite again as a long-married couple who dine together in silence in "Before the Early-Bird Special."

Don't know much about history: On this day in 1954,...

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Ctrl-Alt-Delete: Sales at Microsoft's stores outperform the general run of mall tenants, but don't approach the numbers racked up at Apple's stores.

According to The Buzz Anecdotal Market Research Laboratory, that's because many shoppers assume the Microsoft store experience consists of an IT guy needing 20 minutes to make Windows work with a projector, followed by a PowerPoint...

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A Jersey shore resort town on Wednesday passed a law prohibiting people from wearing saggy pants that expose skin or underwear while strolling on its boardwalk.

At least one law school professor says she thinks the law is probably unconstitutional. Concurring with that assessment were noted legal scholars Paul "DJ Pauly D" DelVecchio and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino.

House hunk: On his

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Insanely fakeApple on Monday unveiled sweeping changes to the software-powering iPhones and iPads, including a simpler user interface that will scrap "skeuomorphic" design: the term used to describe things like the simulated lined paper in the notebook app and the faux-wood bookshelves in iBooks.Apparently Apple decided that cool product design is not influenced by Z-Brick.

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Skirt chasers

I feel pretty: In Sweden, commuters were startled by the sight of male train drivers and conductors wearing skirts to work, in protest of a ban on wearing shorts.

The company that runs the train line said it was perfectly OK with male workers wearing women's clothes, as long as they also wear panty hose and refrain from the fashion faux pas of white shoes before Memorial Day.



With malice toward none: In...

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Rose-colored X-ray specs: With revelations continuing into the government's gathering of phone records and Internet data, President Barack Obama defended his national security programs as necessary to protect the country from terrorist attacks, while critics, such as Sen. Rand Paul called it "an astounding assault on the Constitution."

Really. How dare the government gather...

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Know when to walk away, know when to run: Casinos in several states have warned gamblers not to show up wearing Google Glass, the device worn like glasses that allows users to shoot photos and video and surf the Internet. The specs, the casinos claim, could be used by gamblers to cheat at poker. The news follows Google's decision earlier this week to block Glass viewers from watching porn on the...

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City officials in Alamogordo, N.M., have given a Canadian movie crew permission to search an old landfill for Atari video games reportedly dumped there in the 1980s -- including a game based on the movie "E.T." that was so bad it helped sink the company (Page A8).

The last time pop culture-obsessed nerds got this excited...

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Law enforcement can take DNA samples from criminal defendants, along with photographing and fingerprinting them, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision announced Monday.

Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia joined with liberals Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan in a dissenting opinion -- the audiobook version of which will feature the theme from "The Odd Couple."

Mommy dearest: Onetime starlet

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Don't tase me, bro: Police in Tallahassee, Fla., say they had to use a taser to subdue an escaped llama. After lassoing the animal around the neck, it took six deputies to wrestle the 300-pound llama named Scooter into a trailer. The taser, deputies said, was necessary because llamas don't respond to voice commands.

Actually, they will respond to voice commands, but you have to...

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You won't have Aaron Reardon to kick around anymore: The departure of County Executive Aaron Reardon will mean a change of leadership in county government and possibly less bureaucratic speak in official statements. Among Reardon's last words as executive: "Together we have modernized and transformed Snohomish County government from a silo-based bureaucracy to a more dynamic, network-driven...

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A second helping of greed: Public records are providing more details into the meals that lobbyists buy for state lawmakers, including a concerted effort by lobbyists to keep the legislators' tabs under $50 to avoid triggering more stringent reporting requirements.

Olympia-area restaurants are helping the lobbyists stay under that mark. Next to the Early Bird dinners on the menu,...

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The way to a legislator's vote is through his stomach: Lobbyists in Olympia have spent more than $65,000 during the legislative session for meals, drinks, golf fees and more in exchange for bending the ears of state legislators. Ferndale's Sen. Doug Ericksen defended the practice as well as the taxpayer-funded $90 per dium. "A $49 dinner is not going to sway me from doing what's right for my...

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Two new series created by actor-writer-director-female impersonator Tyler Perry debut this week on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

And thus Winfrey achieves yet another unique career distinction: She's the only television network executive who would fit nicely in one of Perry's Madea dresses.

A woman's work ...: Women are now the primary breadwinner in 40 percent of U.S. households,...

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The slow recovery from the Great Recession means many Americans of modest means still aren't springing for lavish vacations, but a campground in Texas reports booming business thanks to such outdoorsy attractions as live bands, laser tag and chocolate pudding slip-and-slides.

They might as well replace all the campsite firepits with fireplace videos on 65-inch flat-screen TVs.

Must-see TV: Rabid fans of "Scandal" wonder what they'll do now that...

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"Get me Bob the Builder": Gov. Jay Inslee announced that two temporary spans could be up and carrying I-5 traffic within as little as three weeks at the collapsed bridge across the Skagit River in Mount Vernon.

Inslee, D-Fix-It Felix, said that while temporary, the replacement spans will be duly christened, each with a bottle of Rainier Beer, sending the remaining portions of the...

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A bridge not far enough: State and federal officials are considering a temporary fix to span the Skagit River at Mount Vernon after Thursday's collapse of I-5's four-lane bridge. Built in 1955, the bridge was classified by the state as "functionally obsolete."

Our Bureaucratese-to-English Dictionary defines "functionally obsolete" as "can be taken out by a truck with an oversize...

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Precious Bodily Fluids Dept.: Voters in Portland, Ore., have voted against a proposal to fluoridate the city's water, leaving it as the only major city in the United States not to add the cavity-fighting mineral to water supplies.

Portland voters did approve a counter proposal to add a rotating selection of microbrews to the municipal water supply.

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Only the queen has more job security: JPMorgan Chase shareholders voted Tuesday to let Jamie Dimon keep both the chairman and CEO roles, even though the banking behemoth suffered a $6 billion trading loss in 2012.

It stands to reason that, since JPMorgan Chase is too big to fail, its head honcho has got to be too big to fire.

There goes the virtual neighborhood: Teenagers are turning to Twitter because they think there are too...

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Surviving in style: Most moms have fought the battle to get their kids to wear helmets when riding bikes, skateboards and such, but new helmet designs with shark fins, critter ears and dinosaur horns should end the arguments.

But why stop with the kids? More than a few adults have to be coerced into making safe choices, which is why we've applied for patents for a seat-belt with USB...

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But full of excuses: Motorists won't be surprised to hear that the average price for regular gas in the U.S. increased by 11 cents in recent weeks. A petroleum industry analyst said the price increase was "driven by infrastructure problems downstream at the refinery level."

Allow us to translate for the oil companies: "You're paying more for gas because we just realized it's almost...

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The Evergreen State: The state Liquor Control Board has issued its draft rules for regulation of the state's new marijuana industry, including a mandate that pot products carry a label that says "this product is unlawful outside of Washington state."

But the language might need to be adjusted for its target audience: "Dude, firing up this premium smoke outside of this bodacious state...

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What is a "feasance" anyway? State lawmakers are discussing legislation that would make it easier for citizens to recall elected officials, a process that some see as too convoluted and expensive. Currently, recalls can be sought for "malfeasance or misfeasance."

The proposed legislation would allow recalls to be sought for reasons that don't have to be looked up in a dictionary.

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So where do you find Solitaire on this thing? Microsoft says Windows 8.1, a planned update to its much-maligned Windows 8, will be free of charge when it rolls out later this year. Microsoft says it's never made customers pay for "decimal point" updates.

Windows 8 users, however, say they'd gladly hand over some cash if they can just get the freakin' Start button back.

If it fits ... O.J. Simpson won a small victory on Day 2 of his attempt to...

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Here am I, sitting in my tin can: A Canadian astronaut aboard the International Space Station has produced what is believed to be the first music video made in zero-gravity. Astronaut Chris Hadfield taped a version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" for YouTube.

Hadfield returned to Earth late Monday, unfortunately before he could finish work on programming the space station's robotic...

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