Always wanting to be a step ahead of other states and currently in the middle of a terrible budget deficit to the tune of $16 billion due to the recession, California may become the first state in the U.S. to legalize marijuana for recreational use and therefore make a killing off of taxes on the drug.

The Snitch, the San Francisco Weekly’s blog, broke the news yesterday that Assemblyman Tom Ammiano will introduce legislation to legalize marijuana in all forms, removing “all penalties in California law on cultivation, transportation, sale, purchase, possession, or use of marijuana, natural THC, or paraphernalia for persons over the age of 21,” according to Ammiano’s press secretary Quintin Mecke.

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Western Washington will be dropping its football program in order to save its other athletic programs.

As Seattle U continues to forge its way through Division I non-conference play, an old Division II rival is dropping its football program because of budget restrictions.

Western Washington University announced Thursday it will be dropping its football program in order to keep funding its 15 other D-II teams.  The football team, which has a strong history, consists of 100 athletes and five full-time coaches. Unlike major D-I football programs, the Vikings football team was bleeding red and cutting it will save the university $480,000 right away.

WWU President Bruce Shepard said this in a statement:

“I have made this decision with a heavy heart, as I am well aware of the profound consequences it has on the student-athletes on the football team, their dedicated and hardworking coaches and on our passionate supporters on campus, in the community and region and on our alumni.”

Maybe the saddest headline I've seen in the P-I to date.

It’s a sad day for the people of Puget Sound because the news will soon no longer be in the P-I.

The newspaper announced today that it will be up for sale for 60 days, and in the absence of a buyer, will either close the doors for good or continue with a very minimal online-only staff producing for the Web. Under no circumstances, the P-I reports, will it continue in print.

For those who haven’t been following the current state of the newspaper industry, finding a buyer for the P-I would be similar to winning the lottery. The chances are just that bad.

The outlook for the quality of journalism in Seattle is even worse.

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UPDATE: The Seattle Times is now reporting that this information may be pure rumor. The managing editor of the P-I reportedly knows of no plans to sell the paper and said “If this is going on — and I don’t know that it is — it’s going on at a level that’s far above me, and nobody has seen fit to clue me in. I think it’s a bunch of rumor.”

So the future of the paper is uncertain, but we will keep you updated as the events unfold. See the original post below the fold:

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