1. The Seattle Times has the list of candidates who are vying to fill Attorney General-elect Bob Ferguson's open  King County Council seat; the group includes four Democrats and one Republican.

King County executive Dow Constantine will winnow down the list to three names and send it to the council, which will choose their new colleague.

It's likely to be an interesting process. The county council, minus Ferguson, will be evenly split (4-4) between Republicans and Democrats, meaning that both parties will have to agree on Ferguson's replacement. The council's four Republicans include Reagan Dunn, the candidate Ferguson defeated for AG.

People on the list include: State Rep. Cindy Ryu (D-32, Shoreline); Keith Scully, a failed King County prosecutor hopeful in 2007; Will Hall, a Shoreline City Council member and transit activist; and Republican Dave Baker, the mayor of Kenmore.

2. The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reports that Virginia Beach is "quietly pursuing" an NBA team, likely the Sacramento Kings—the team that was previously rumored to be considering a move to Seattle's proposed half-billion-dollar arena. 

3. In the wake of the failure of a sales tax increase to pay for light rail connecting Vancouver and Portland, C-Tran, the Clark County transportation authority, is cooking up a Plan B that would combine eight revenue sources to pay for rail operations across the Columbia River. The Columbian has the details.

Demonstrating that she's a Republican foot soldier first, and a conservative ideologue second, US Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) is backing off on her refusal to consider any new taxes to address the looming fiscal cliff.

4. If you're thinking that the passage of I-502, the marijuana-legalization initiative, gives you a free pass to light up, think again: The Kitsap Sun reports that employers can still fire workers for failing drug tests. And there's also a possibility that employers will step up drug testing now that pot is legal.

(And for a primer on the implications of 502, check out today's front-page Seattle Times story.)

5. Demonstrating that she's a Republican foot soldier first, and a conservative ideologue second, US Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) is backing off on her refusal to consider any new taxes to address the looming fiscal cliff (the massive budget cuts and elimination of tax breaks that will result if Congress fails to address the federal debt ceiling by the end of the year), the Spokesman-Review reports.

Just one day after President Obama's reelection, Republican House Speaker John Boehner indicated that he is now open to the idea of new tax increases to address the fiscal cliff—a 180-degree turnaround from his previous hardline anti-tax position. McMorris Rodgers quickly echoed the sentiment.

6. Citytank has some lessons for the Seattle waterfront from Denmark. Among them: Don't try to do everything at once; activate, activate, activate; and don't create a barrier to the water by building a giant road (a lesson Seattle already plans to ignore).