Now that we have your attention…it’s time for another romp through history in honor of this weekend’s big President’s Day Holiday. It’s a day to pay tribute to those brave men who served their country, and to enjoy deep discounts on furniture and appliances that honor their memory.

Record Bin Roulette takes this occasion to review the popular music Presidents have chosen for their formal celebrations. The biggest, baddest of all is the Inaugural Ball.

Sage smoke, prayers and the beat of Native drums filled the air at Seattle City Hall Wednesday afternoon as several hundred people gathered to demand justice for woodcarver John T. Williams. Williams, a member of the Nuu-Chah-Nuulth First Nation in British Columbia, was shot to death last Aug. 30th by a Seattle police officer.

The demonstrators moved on to Westlake Park.  Later, several dozen marched to the crosswalk at Boren St. and Howell St. where Williams was killed by Officer Ian Birk.

Java, a 12-year-old, an endangered Sumatran tiger, is leaving his home at Tacoma's Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium to find love at the Dallas Zoo. His keepers tried to mate him with the zoo's female tiger, Jaya, but that didn't work out and she mated with Java's brother, Bali, instead. Jaya gave birth to cubs Bima and Mali last May.

The Seattle police officer who fatally shot a woodcarver on a downtown street last summer has resigned.

Chief John Diaz says Officer Ian Birk resigned as of 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The shooting death of a Native American woodcarver by a Seattle police officer last summer was not justified. That’s the finding announced by the police department’s Firearms Review Board today. 

The review found Officer Ian Birk took actions that were "outside of policy, tactics and training."

The case is “among the most egregious failings that I’ve seen in my thirty years with the Seattle Police Department,” said the board chairman, Deputy Chief Clark Kimerer.

First the state Senate, now the House. Either way, it’ll cost you ten bucks to visit a Washington State Park for the day if the legislature passes measures now being considered in Olympia.

Tolls on the old 520 bridge across Lake Washington are coming soon--likely starting in April.

It's an all-electronic system, so there won't be an option to just throw some coins into a box. You'll need a special pass on the windshield of your car. The price of driving over the floating span between Seattle and Bellevue will vary, depending on the time of day.  

State Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond put on a happy face as she reminded folks to get ready to pay as much as $3.50 each way at the height of rush hour.

When pianist Benny Green agreed to come to KPLU’s Seattle studios for a solo piano performance he was on tour with his band doing a tribute to the music of Thelonious Monk so it seemed logical to have his studio session consist of Monk compositions. 

That was the plan, anyway ...

The former Olympia Brewery, in Tumwater, Wash., may join a handful of historic structures around Puget Sound that are finding new life as shopping or entertainment complexes. 

A Centralia developer bought the old brewhouse and a nearby warehouse last year, and now he's trying to put together a plan that will attract further financing.

Making headlines around the Northwest this morning:

• No Charges in Woodcarver Shooting
• Vulcan hired to re-develop Bothell
• Monroe Weighs Schools Consolidation
• Seattle Fireworks Show Needs Cash - Again

Seattle Officer Won't be Charged in Williams Slaying; Could be Fired

The King County Prosecutor's Office has decided not to file criminal charges against the Seattle Police officer who shot and killed a Native American woodcarver last year. An official announcement is expected today from the Prosecutor's Office.

Created for a Medici, it was the dessert of choice for Venetian working girls.

Junior is back.

Ken Griffey, Jr. is returning to the Seattle Mariners as a special consultant less than a year after abruptly retiring from baseball.

The Mariners made the announcement Tuesday morning.

Construction at Joint Base Lewis-McChord would increase further if Congress adopts President Obama's 2012 budget proposal.

The News Tribune reports that the spending plan released Monday would set aside more than $300 million for construction at the base south of Tacoma, up from about $172 million in the 2011 budget proposal Congress has yet to approve.

The recession is forcing Washington families to make tough decisions about their children’s education. As incomes have dwindled, so has attendance at private schools. In the past few years, the schools have lost nearly 3,000 kids, according to data reported to the state. 

Previously undisclosed documents are raising questions about whether the Australian company trying to build a new coal export facility in Longview has tried to snooker local officials.

According to an article in the New York Times, documents show officials at Millennium Bulk Terminals “tried to limit what state officials knew about its long-term goals during the early permitting process last year.”