It's Thursday! Just a hop away from Friday and the weekend.

🌧️ Today's weather: Chance of light rain, with a high of 53.

⚾️ Situational awareness: The Milwaukee Brewers won the World Series last night, which may be the closest Seattle gets to the championship, at least for now.

• The Brewers began life as the Seattle Pilots in 1969 before skipping town for Milwaukee.

🎂 Happy birthday to our member Stephen Shamaiengar!

Today’s newsletter is 992 words — a 3.5-minute read.

We're about to get a break from the monthslong lane closures that've been snarling I-5.

Why it matters: Crews plan to remove the work zone over the Ship Canal Bridge this weekend, restoring northbound I-5 from two lanes to four and easing a major traffic choke point through the city.

Driving the news: Northbound I-5 through Seattle is expected to close completely from 11:59pm tomorrow to 5am Monday as crews clear out barriers, re-stripe lanes and work to fully reopen the freeway.

• Adjacent I-5 ramps will close as early as 9pm tomorrow.

The I-5 express lanes are also set to resume normal operations starting Monday, after running only northbound during construction.

• Typically, those lanes alternate between running northbound and southbound.

Caveat: Workers need several hours of dry weather to reopen the freeway — so if there's too much rain this weekend, the closures may continue another week or so.

• Plus, get ready, because more lane closures are scheduled next year for restoration work.

The big picture: I-5's Ship Canal Bridge over the Lake Washington Ship Canal hasn't undergone major preservation work for 40 years, state transportation officials say.

• Necessary repairs have included resurfacing the upper bridge deck, replacing concrete and aging bridge expansion joints, and improving drainage.
• About 240,000 vehicles each day use this stretch of I-5, which runs roughly from State Route 520 to Northeast 45th Street.

Zoom in: State officials had originally expected that the bridge's two northbound lanes would remain closed through the end of the year.

• The work is finishing early in part because of mild weather and efficient crews, WSDOT spokesperson RB McKeon told Axios.
• "Nothing earth-shattering, just good planning, hard work and a few things going our way," McKeon wrote in an email.

What's next: Southbound I-5 over the Ship Canal Bridge will be reduced to two lanes for much of 2027.

• But for now, drivers can enjoy this temporary reprieve.

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Budget cuts have come for "I Voted" stickers in King County.

Why it matters: Election officials began mailing the stickers to all registered voters two years ago, after hearing for years that people missed that aspect of in-person voting.

Yes, but: The short-lived tradition is no more.

• Elections officials didn't enclose the stickers alongside ballots sent for the Nov. 3 election, nor for this year's August primary.

What they're saying: Sending the stickers "did not make the cut" during last fall's budget discussions, King County Elections spokesperson Halei Watkins told Axios.

The county faced a $175 million budget shortfall while preparing its 2026–2027 budget and is projecting another shortfall in the coming years.

By the numbers: Watkins estimated that sending the stickers to the county's 1.45 million registered voters costs about $288,000 per year.

• That includes the cost of sending stickers for special elections and the primary.
• "It works out to about 5-7 cents per voter," Watkins said.

What's next: Voters who want an "I Voted" sticker can still grab one at a Vote Center or Accessible Voting Event, Watkins said.

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⚖️ Seattle officials are weighing proposals to tackle the city attorney's roughly 5,000-case backlog and speed up misdemeanor prosecutions. (Seattle Times)

🚀 Blue Origin has leased a nearly 266,000-square-foot former Bartell Drugs warehouse in Des Moines. (GeekWire)

🪪 Washington immigration advocates are pressing state officials to further restrict federal access to driver's license data amid new privacy concerns. (Washington State Standard)

Voters in Kitsap County will decide Tuesday whether to let their public utility district get into the electricity business.

Why it matters: The vote is being watched as a test of whether a shift to public power could lower electric bills — and potentially fuel similar efforts elsewhere.

Stunning stat: Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has spent $2.4 million opposing Proposition 1, making it one of Washington's most expensive local ballot fights in two decades, per the Seattle Times.

Driving the news: Proposition 1 would give Kitsap Public Utility District the authority to explore providing electric service, starting with a feasibility study of the costs and logistics, estimated to cost $300,000–$500,000.

• It could set the stage for KPUD to take over electric service for about 130,000 electric customers, more than 10% of PSE's total electric customers.

State of play: KPUD spokesperson Kimberly Funk said the proposition grew out of residents' concerns about the soaring cost of electricity.

• PSE, an investor-owned utility, is asking for residential rate hikes of about 30% over three years.
• Funk told Axios the district hasn't yet determined whether public ownership would lower bills or what it would cost to implement.

Zoom out: Neighboring Jefferson PUD took over PSE's electric system in 2013. Its rates are rising annually through 2028, though a 2025 comparison by the Kitsap Sun put its monthly residential bill about $10 below PSE's.

The other side: Christina Donegan, PSE's director of communications and marketing, told Daily Energy Insider the utility doesn't believe KPUD has the specialized technical expertise to reliably operate an electric system.

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I spotted this wall art while wandering through the city recently.

Know where I shot this photo? Email us or hit reply to submit your guess!

Local bragging rights are on the line.

🎤 Melissa had fun helping moderate last night's Axios Live event, "Adapting Talent for an AI Economy." Thanks to all those who came!

👀 Clarridge is surprised that her grandkid's got baby blues in a family of dark eyes.

This newsletter was edited by Hadley Malcolm.