There is news going on other than the Inauguration. Although with America’s new command economy, it’s kind of difficult to separate local from national these days.Take for instance the latest “News Advisory” from the City of Seattle. Finally, after more than thirty years, the Mayor’s office announced on Friday that it was finally, FINALLY going to get work started on fixing the Mercer Mess and Spokane Street Viaduct.(Honestly, they really mean it this time. No joke. They ain’t pulling our chains. The City is going to fix the Mercer Mess. Just see if they don’t!!!)The two traffic projects are initially expected to cost $200 million and $168 million respectively. Both are adjuncts to the $4.24 billion dollar “deep bore tunnel” slated to replace the Alaska Way Viaduct.According to the City, 80 percent of the funds for Spokane Street are on hand with the remainder coming from state and private contributions. However, $24.8 million is needed from Barack Obama’s much-hyped economic recovery plan, intended to earmark funding for national infrastructure improvements while providing construction jobs. For the Mercer Mess, the amount that the feds need to chip in is $50 million. The City states that 1,300 new jobs will be created from both projects.Work on widening Spokane Street near the Fourth Avenue off ramp is set to begin in February.