Doghouse Leathers, One of the Few Remaining Holdouts of Gay Retail Culture on Capitol Hill, Is Expanding—Yes!!! This may seem like a non-story to you ("Sex Toy Shop to Offer More Sex Toys") but it's bigger than that, especially in a neighborhood that's getting less and less gay (and less and less retail-friendly, thanks to Amazon). For months, Doghouse Leathers owners have been vocal about their desire to move into the nondescript building at the corner of 13th and Pike Street, a building owned by Fran's Chocolates that's just past the vacuum store in the photo, but Peter Bigelow, who owns that nondescript building with Fran, told me in October that the proposal for Doghouse's expansion there was "not as strong" as other proposals. The proposal Bigelow sounded particularly excited about was "a mini Melrose Market thing where we'd have local food and Fran's would be one of those." That's all well and good, but on the other hand: Seriously!? It's not like Capitol Hill needs another high-priced foodie place. Everything weird and cool and gay on Capitol Hill has been torn down and replaced with high-priced foodie places; the gayborhood that used to be here has largely disappeared. So this news that Doghouse is expanding after all is very happy news.

I Realize You'd Like to Read About Something Other Than a Gay Men's Leather Store Expanding: But sadly, I'm writing this morning news, not you. Doghouse owner Jeff "Daddy" Henness told me recently, "There is no [leather shop] in Vancouver. Portland doesn't have a leather shop at the moment. There's a small shop in Tacoma." He points out he's already stocked "to the ceiling" and doesn't even have jackets or boots in his inventory, much less room for demonstrations, events, classes, etc. "I can't do book readings—where? I can't do a class." He would like to hire a leather tailor for his customers, but he doesn't have the space. Right now, he has a separate stock room a block and a half away, on 12th, because his retail store is so small, and connected to that stock room is a sewing room (above), where local craftsmen make new products. Okay, okay, stop making that face. Moving on to the rest of the day's "news"...

In Less Important News, the Weather Is Crazy Today, with Avalanche Warnings, Floodings, Closed Schools... Blah blah blah.

There Was a Mini-Manhunt on Vashon Island Saturday Night: It involved a dinnertime domestic-violence call, a suspect later ramming a red Ford pickup into a patrol car "several times" and fleeing, an officer shooting at the suspect while the ramming was happening (but not striking him), and the man later breaking into an unoccupied house, where he was discovered at 4:30 in the morning. "He attempted to flee on foot, but deputies stunned him with a Taser and he was taken into custody."

The Owners of King Donuts on Rainier Avenue South Were Beaten Badly on Friday Night: As Chea Pol was getting into her car, the assailant began "punching her repeatedly in the face before stealing her purse, some cash, an iPad, and a blue iPhone before taking off on foot eastbound through the Safeway parking lot." Her husband was beat up, too. Their daughter has started an online fundraiser to help with medical costs. According to Rainier Valley Post, the owners "started King Donut in 1987 after fleeing the Khmer Rouge genocide in war-torn Cambodia."

Within National Parks, Marijuana Possession Is Still Illegal, No Matter What State You're In: As visitors to Yosemite Yellowstone are frequently reminded. Here are the national parks in Washington State. Don't go there with your medicine. But you're more than welcome to bring it to state parks.

Man Refuses to Explain How He Ended Up Shot in the Foot: Officers visited him in a Renton hospital, but "but he was uncooperative."

7-Year-Old Girl Climbs Out of a Plane Crash That Killed Her Parents, Her Sister, and Her Cousin: And walks a mile "through brambles, ditches, and fallen hickory trees in the darkness" to safety. Her name is Sailor.

Jury Selection in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Boston Marathon Bombing Trial: Began this morning.

Republicans Take Control of US Congress: Tomorrow.

In Theater News, I Saw Civic Rep's A Streetcar Named Desire Over the Weekend and I Still Can't Get It Out of My Head: It's amazing in a lot of ways, better than Intiman's Streetcar back in 2008, which is probably heresy to say, because that one was directed by Sheila Daniels and had a much bigger budget, but it's true: This one, done on a much smaller budget, by a newly formed theater organization called Civic Rep, is better. It is more alive. It might make you cry. The New City space is that tiny long room up on 18th, which is arranged for this production to have only two rows of seats along a very long wall, with the action in front of that, which is perfect for a show about the pressure cooker of desperate characters in cramped quarters. Robin Jones as Blanche DuBois is mercurial, cunning, and perfect, and Kelli Mohrbacher's Stella is flawless. The way the two of them interact is the reason to see this show. (It must be said: David Nail, as Stanley, is terrible. So bad, it's distracting.) The way director L. Zane Jones has staged Tennessee Williams's classic is very simple, extra-simple, even stripped of Southern dialect, to make it more "timeless," according to the program. I'll buy it. The plain language removes any impediments to understanding the characters, and the way they fuck with each other is still brilliant after all these years. Oh yeah, and Sam Read, as Mitch, almost made me cry. I'm so happy I saw it and I'd recommend it.