Gary Davis

"I just phoned our son up in Bellingham and said, get ready for the wedding."

Washington United for Marriage has declared victory in the same-sex marriage referendum. Maine and Maryland became the first states to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote last night.

“This is a clear win,” the group's campaign manager Zach Silk said in a press release.

“We have run the numbers every which way, and we can now confidently say that we have won. This is an historic day for Washington, an historic day for our country and, most of all, for families across the state who have dreamed of this day and the wedding celebrations to come.”

So far, official “Yes” votes have a slight advantage of 52 to 48 percent. Counties were expected to post additional vote results Wednesday afternoon.

However the group said in the press release:

With 60 percent of the vote counted, R74 already has the support of 65 percent of King County and is performing well in key Eastern Washington counties.  Simply put, it’s now impossible for opponents to overcome the 52-48 percent spread for R74.

Video: KPLU videographer David Kellogg captured the hopes and tensions of election night as one same-sex couple waited for elections results:

If the backers of a plan to build a new sports arena in Seattle's SoDo area are successful, they'll be looking to attract both a professional hockey club and a professional basketball team as marquis tenants.

Seattle and King County lawmakers are poring over the proposal's details. In the coming weeks they'll cast votes on the arena plan, its call for up to $200 million in public bonds (to be paired with $300 million in private funds), a plan championed by investor Chris Hansen.

Update Wed., March 23, 12:00 p.m.

Gonzaga will play Louisville in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA women's college basketball tournament. Saturday's game in Spokane begins at 6 p.m.

The first college basketball player to score 2,000 career points and rack up 1,000 assists is a 5'8" Gonzaga guard who last night helped lead her team into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Women's championships. Courtney Vandersloot led the Bulldogs upset of UCLA in Spokane, 89-75.

Gonzaga's victory ensured their next tournament game would be in front of a hometown crowd in the NCAA's Spokane regional. They will face the winner of tonight's Xavier-Louisville contest on March 26th. 

Vandersloot scored 29 points against the Bruins, 21 of them in the second half, and tallied 17 assists. Teammate Kayla Standish scored 30, and Gonzaga won it's 20th consecutive game. 

We've said it before and we'll say it again: Having guitarist/vocalist/storyteller, John Pizzarelli, as a guest in the KPLU studios is always great fun. He loves making music, he loves telling stories and he loves entertaining his fans.

When he visited us recently for this performance/interview with Abe Beeson, several members of the KPLU Leadership Circle attended the event, and John Pizzarelli played to this small group the same way he'd play to a full house at Lincoln Center.

The future might be a bit brighter for aerospace workers in the Puget Sound region. Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief Jim Albaugh says the company can still find customers for its wide-body 767. He says the line won't be shut down, even if Boeing doesn't win the competition to build refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force.

Change in stance

Maybe you don't ski or snowboard, or even particularly like the snow. But there's so much enjoyment from watching the beautiful images captured by Herald of Everett reporters on Wednesday.  It was opening day at Stevens Pass.

A new plan to deal with traffic-jamming snow and ice on the roads, A Fort Lewis-based soldier gets a court martial plea deal, no special session agreement - yet, and Grammy nods for Northwest bands.

Cornish College will welcome its first woman president since the arts school was established by Nellie Cornish in 1914.  Dr. Nancy Uscher will leave her position as provost of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and join the Seattle arts school in August next year.

Thousands to lose jobless benefits, Tacoma finds limits to saving Old City Hall, and today is World AIDS Day.

The historic Neptune, a 90-year old U District movie palace, will soon be a showcase for live performances. Seattle Theatre Group announced it will take over the Neptune's lease from Landmark Theatres in February. STG plans to do some upgrades, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal:

Worries over Tacoma's historic Old City Hall,  over state pension funds, and a big snowstorm in the Cascades and eastern Washington.

Seattle City Light is apologizing to a Queen Anne neighborhood family whose dog was electrocuted Thanksgiving Day while on a walk along a city sidewalk. Lisa McKibben tells KCPQ-TV she wasn't sure what had happened at first:

“I couldn't tell because he was just convulsing so much and just screeching I didn't know what was happening and I was screaming for someone to help me,” said McKibbin.

Glamour Barbie dolls, pink poodles, and the fishnet stockinged-leg lamp popularized in the movie A Christmas Story are part of the festive view at Seattle's downtown Westin Hotel.

Honoring the 'Lakewood Four', a fire erupts at a Tumwater business, and signs that donations to nonprofits may be on the rise.

Some Maple Leaf area kids intent on extending a warm welcome to the residents of the newest Tent City/Nickelsville site in northeast Seattle are hand-delivering Thanksgiving breakfasts today.