If you walked into the dimly lit, wood-paneled room and listened to the fast-paced talk by Cynthia Koenig, you might be forgiven for thinking she just sounded like another one of those young, profit-oriented entrepreneurs looking for money from venture capitalists or other kinds of investors.

Koenig is, actually, one of those money-seeking young business types, except that the primary goal of her proposal is to make life a lot easier and safer for millions of poor women around the world.

Hence the Wello, a kind of goofy looking water-carrying wheel-barrel (no, that’s not a typo) that she and her colleague, Colm Fay, at the University of Michigan’s business school want to sell to poor people.

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February 22 is the 17th annual "Spay Day", and you can get your pet spayed or neutered for free at the Seattle Animal Shelter's Spay and Neuter Clinic. The free offer is good for licensed Seattle pets scheduled for surgery at the clinic February 22, 23, 24, 25, or 28. It includes vaccinations and a microchip and is valued between $135 and $195. The appointment number is 386-4260. If your pet doesn't have a license, you can buy it on the day of the surgery. 

Nordstrom has jumped deeper into the luxury online retailing world by acquiring the "flash sale" website HauteLook for $270 million. The Seattle-based chain made the announcement on the heels of a report citing regular-price sales of "historically high levels."

When you leave home for work, you probably assume you’ll live to come back at the end of the day.  For 86 workers, that didn’t happen last year.

Irma Thomas celebrates her 70th birthday today.  She's been enthralling audiences for 50 years now, just as she delighted us with her Studio Session at KPLU last October.

Robin Lloyd will be playing a selection from that session on today's Blue Plate Special starting at noon.

A new TV ad created by the Washington Federation of state Employees claims that violence has increased at Western State Hospital – because of budget cuts by the state. 

The Seattle Times "Truthneedle" picked that ad apart and says it's misleading and "mostly false."

A wrong-way driver is suspected of causing a fatal crash on Interstate 5 at Marysville this (Friday) morning.

Washington State Patrol Trooper Keith Leary said a driver going north in the southbound lanes slammed into two other vehicles about 5:15 a.m. near the Tulalip Casino. As of 9 a.m. traffic was still backed up about 4.5 miles.

While it's a good idea to be prepared, sometimes it's good not to move too fast. 

Apparently there are glitches in the state's new "Good to Go" tolling system.  The State Department of Transportation says it will revamp the sign-up process after complaints by frustrated motorists trying to buy transponders online.  As Mike Lindblom reports in The Seattle Times:

Making headlines around the Northwest this morning:

• Seattle Mayor Vetoes Tunnel Plan as Expected
• Arraignment in Kent Today in 49th Green River Killing
• Investment Firm Buys Majority Stake in Haggen Chain
• Boeing, Alaska Air Employees Awarded Bonuses

McGinn Vetoes Tunnel Plan in Symbolic Move

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn is staying out on a limb and keeping his election promises, using his veto power Thursday in a symbolic attempt to stop the tunnel along the Seattle waterfront from being built.

There are a lot of unanswered questions and unresolved issues with Ken Griffey Jr.'s new job as special consultant with the Seattle Mariners. This follows his abrupt retirement in the middle of the season last year.