GRAB A CUP & READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 1.4.14 >>>

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Israel and the Palestinians are making progress towards reaching a framework peace agreement but they are not there yet.

The Army and Army Reserve recruiting missions for the coming year have been sharply reduced from previous levels as the service braces for a drawdown of nearly 40,000 soldiers in two years.

Defense Department announced some spots on the planet are not as scary anymore and will withdraw imminent danger pay.

An inside look at the 446th Air Force Medical Service Corps at McChord Field.

The Egyptian government's crackdown on suspected Islamists has come to this: a terrorism probe focused on a puppet.

The year 2013 ended with the most Iraqi civilian deaths and injuries in five years.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to eliminate "all terrorist groups" in Iraq's Anbar province, where militants have seized all of one city and parts of another.

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl is the premier high school football event in the country, and it goes down today.

Relive the harrowing hour when the doomed Apollo 13 moon mission turned into a quest for survival. 

People in white lab coats say dogs choose the direction they poop based on our planet's magnetic field.

Angry Birds on wheels.

Let's hope she's not at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl ...

SATURDAY, JAN. 4 2014 >>>

1. Franciscan Polar Plaza is on its third year of setting up an ice-skating rink decked out in wintery goodness at Tollefson Plaza, just across from Tacoma Art Museum. The Weekly Volcano has hosted live bands at Polar Plaza every Saturday from 7-9 p.m. on our Electric Salchow Stage. The last concert is tonight, featuring the lovely voice of Leah Tussing and the rockin' magical guitar work of Rafeal Tranquilino. Come listen the performance for free, or pay to ice skate and feel the music during your butterfly jumps, cherry-flips, and layback spins.

2. Violinist Maria Newman will perform with flutist Hal Ott, violinist, violist and conductor Scott Hosfeld, Malibu Coast Chamber Orchestra soloists and members of Central Washington University's Flute Ensemble under the Capitol Rotunda's Dome from 2-3:30 p.m. 

3. Who doesn't like to sit in attendance while junkyard cars get smashed and toppled by massive, petrol-chugging monster trucks? That's like suggesting there are people out there who don't like nacho cheese or Michele Bachmann. Monster Jam consumes the Tacoma Dome with a 10 a.m. to noon party in the Monster Truck pits, then a show at 2 and 8 p.m. No matter where you're seated in the Tacoma Dome, you won't need binoculars: At eleven feet tall and weighing in at 9,000 pounds, monster trucks are easy to eyeball as they mash the motor, teeter, roll and auger in (monster-ese for a nosedive - as if you didn't know). Read Nikki McCoy's full feature on the Groth brothers in the Military Life section.

4. Just when you're convinced that Lures is just another in a long line of increasingly indistinguishable garage-psych bands, they reveal themselves as soulful purveyors of indie rock hiding beneath all of that hazy reverb. The pristine harmonies and chiming guitars remind me of the long-lost and much-loved Basemint, if that's the sort of thing that pricks up your ears. Catch the band with Hands In, Peter Tietjen and the Balloon Power Challenge and Week of Wonders at 8 p.m. in Bob's Java Jive.

LINK: Saturday, Jan. 4 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

As you know, the new two-year budget deal, signed into law by President Barack Obama at the end of December, includes a controversial cut to some military pensions. But did you know one in three lawmakers wants to repeal the military pension cut?

More than 150 House members and 35 senators have signed onto efforts to repeal the cuts to military pensions included in the budget deal signed last month.

Roughly a third of lawmakers in both chambers have sponsored or co-sponsored 15 different bills. All the measures seek, one way or another, to repeal the reduction in the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for working-age military retirees.

The flurry of bills and number of co-sponsors highlights the sizable bipartisan opposition to the military retirement cuts that were included in the budget deal reached by Budget Chairs Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).

Climb The Hill to read the full story.

For the past six Saturday nights, the Weekly Volcano has hosted live music at the Franciscan Polar Plaza ice rink in downtown Tacoma. We witnessed amazing music, holiday cheer, hipsters falling right on their skinny-jeans bums, and couples, awash in love, rosy from the fresh air, celebrating their wedding proposals on ice. Congrats, adorable couples.

Tonight is the last night for our music stage at the ice rink, the Electric Salchow Stage as we call it. The lovely voice of Leah Tussing will meet the incredible shredding guitar skills of Rafael Tranquilino on our stage from 7-9 p.m. It's free to watch, or $4-$8 to skate. A thousand thanks to the Tacoma Art Museum for allowing us to takeover the rink every Saturday night.

To inspire, we present a few photos we have snapped during our Saturday night live music sessions, which began with the Kareem Kandi Band Nov. 23, followed by SweetKiss Momma the next Saturday, then Rebekah Ann Curtis, Strangely Alright, Kurt Lindsay Band and last Saturday, Kim Archer.

Someone, quick, trump the photos below with a flash mob on the ice tonight.

Read more...