Bullying is set to become a crime in Australia, the country that recently got national attention when a teen stood up to his bully.

That case brought up bad memories from many people who said they were bullied when they were younger, we just didn't call it "bullying" then. Back then it was "picked on," or "roughed up." Today's bullying has an online component too that we didn't have back in the day.

Australia plans to amend their stalking laws in the state Parliament tomorrow, and by placing workplace and cyber bullying under the Crimes Act. That means anyone convicted of bullying could face up to 10 years in jail.

What would you think about this kind of law in Washington? I've written about this subject often (links below). The emails and comments I receive fall into two categories: People who were bullied as a child and say they are still harmed by those memories today say I can't write about the subject enough; People say the discussion about "bullying" is overblown and the term cyberbullying is something manufactured, in some way, by the media.

I want to know what you think. I do offer this explanation that some adults haven't considered - with social media and texting, bullies can reach out and verbally punch their victims any time of the day. Kids who are bullied in this way can't escape the abuse simply by going home and closing the bedroom door.

While Australia most recently dealt with the case of a student body slamming the kid who was taunting him, this legislation relates to a 2006 suicide of a teenager, Brodie Panlock. Her family says she was "merciless" bullying by four colleagues at work before she killed herself.

Co-workers called her ugly, dumped fish oil on her hair and clothing and spit on her. After they found out she tried to kill herself, they mocked her because she "failed" and offered her rat poison.

When she was 19, she jumped off the roof of an apartment building and died.

Her former co-workers faced a court case over this, and were fined between $10,000 and $45,000 each. With the law change, they would have faced jail time.

(Photo: Brodie Panlock, an Australian girl who committed suicide after being bullied by co-workers. Courtesy Facebook)

Related:

Bullied boy talks about fighting back

500 meet in Seattle for cyberbully conference

Podcast: Keeping your kids safe online

Almost 15,000 students suspended for bullying

Seattle will name a street after the late, great Mariner's broadcaster Dave Niehaus.

The Seattle City Council unanimously adopted a measure to give an honorary designation to a portion of 1st Avenue South in front of Safeco Field.

A portion of the street between South Royal Brougham Way and Edgar Martinez Drive South will be "Dave Niehaus Way South." The honorary street signs will be brown and will not replace the green street signs. They'll be in addition to the current street designation. The signs will be installed by the Mariners' home opener April 8.

Niehaus died last November of a heart attack. He'd been the Mariner's broadcaster since the team started in 1977.

The price of gas goes up by a few pennies every time we fill up our vehicles' tanks, and a local fuel pricing analyst says we'll pay $4.50 a gallon for regular unleaded by Memorial Day.

Bob van der Valk , an analyst with 4 Refuel in Lynnwood, has been in the U.S. oil and gas industry 50 years. When he moved here from the Netherlands, gas prices in America were around $0.19 a gallon.

"By the way, people were complaining about that too," he says.

We complain about gas prices on the West Coast because it's more expensive than in other parts of the country. In my podcast, van der Valk explains the factors that make a simple "supply and demand" pricing a little more complex .

As of today, the lowest price for gas in Washington can be found in Ephrata, where a gallon costs $3.47. Silverdale has gas for $3.55, while Snohomish sells a gallon of regular unleaded for $3.57.

On the upper end, the most expensive gas in the state is at a Chevron in Blaine, where the price is $4.29. Burien has it for $4.05 and a couple spots in Seattle area at $3.99 per gallon.

According to GasBuddy.com this Shell station in Shoreline, at 177th and Aurora, has among the highest gas prices in the Seattle area. The national average is $3.64 per gallon, while the state average for a gallon of regular gas is $3.82. Linda Thomas photo.

Van der Valk says he doesn't "predict" how high gas prices will be when summer begins. Instead, he "forecasts" gas will be around $4.50 by the end of next month.

"The summer driving season always increases demand," he says. "No matter what we do, we get in our cars."

We could even pay $5 a gallon for gas in August when the hurricane season rolls in.

"It's going to be a bad one, that's what we hear anyway, and if it is we'll see $5," says van der Valk. "If not, things will start decreasing. The price will go down by the middle of September because that's when we start making winter gas."

Van der Valk says that's the way it goes every year, the prices peak in the summer and then slowly roll back.

"Instead of $5 it'll be $4 then $3.50 and I'm even predicting three bucks by the end of the year, and then guess what in March of next year we'll be cryin' again about prices going up," he says.

There are a couple of differences with gas prices this year. They started $1 higher in January 2011 than prices were in 2010. In January gasoline in Seattle averaged $3.27. Van der Valk says unlike 2008, prices aren't being driven by speculation. There are some actual events the oil and gas markets are dealing with, including Japan's natural and nuclear disasters and political uncertainty in Libya.

While gas prices are a bit of a "grin and bear it" reality, van der Valk does offer this tip for drivers when (and if) the weather gets warmer.

"If you fill up your car early in the morning when it's cold you'll get more bang for your buck," he says. Other tips include using cruise control on the interstates; that helps maintain a constant speed which will save gas. Also, stick to the speed limit. Every five miles per hour over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.24 per gallon for gas.

One month after University of Washington student Marizela Perez left her home for campus, there's no sign of her and police have no new clues.

Perez's cousin, columnist Michelle Malkin, has been trying to keep attention focused on this case because police have no new leads in the case.

"Our family continues to work on the ground and online to find her. We sent up a family tip line: 1-855-MARIZEL," says Malkin. The family is also raising money to help fund private search efforts and set up a website.

Perez was last seen March 5, 2010 at a Safeway store in the University District between 2 and 3 p.m.

Video surveillance from the store puts her at that location, but so far no one who remembers seeing her can tell investigators anything that would help locate her.

At the moment, the Washington State Patrol has about 25 cases of adults and more than 70 children who are missing.

A live video feed from my hometown area gives hundreds of thousands of people a bird's eye view of an eagle hatching and caring for her fuzzy babies.

My mother, who lives in northeast Iowa, told me about the live camera that's monitoring this huge nest. It is a joy to watch, even when the momma eagle brought a gnarly crow to the nest for a family dinner.

A screen grab from the Iowa eagle hatching and caring for her chicks

The camera sponsored by the Raptor Resource Project shows a nest 80 feet up in a tree overlooking a trout stream at the Decorah Fish Hatchery, where a pair of eagles is welcoming their brood.

"The world loves it," says Bob Anderson, who controls with the camera angle with a joystick from a nearby shed.

A man shot and killed his live-in girlfriend and then killed himself, according to Pierce County investigators, and he did it as four children watched inside the family home in Roy.

Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer says four children ranging in age from 10 to 15 were there during the shooting, which happened around 1:00 this afternoon. Three kids lived in the home in the (47200 block of SR 702 E) and the fourth was a visiting friend.

Troyer says they're interviewing the children to find out what they know about the situation leading up to what looks like a murder and suicide.

The names of the victims have not been released. The man was 56 years old, while the woman was 46.

UPDATE: 4/4

The Pierce County Medical Examiner's office has released the names of the victims. Hector Estrada, 57, and Yolanda Patchin, 47.

Pierce County Sheriff's Detective Ed Troyer told me this morning on 97.3 KIRO FM they don't know a motive for the apparent murder and suicide. While four children were in the home at the time of the shooting, Troyer does not believe they witnessed anything. They did hear the gunshots and have been talking with investigators.

How's that work going removing the 12th Street Bridge in Bellevue over Interstate 405?

Take a look at this time lapse video:

One potential setback with the project - a section of the old overpass fell into a portion of the new bridge on the south side. The State DOT is assessing the damage. They'll have a better idea of how serious the damage is Sunday.

The DOT is removing the 12th Street overpass to make room for a new bridge. It's part of a project to ease congestion by building ramps that will separate vehicles entering and exiting northbound I-405 between NE 8th Street and SR 520.

The work is supposed to be finished in time for that stretch of 405 to reopen by 4 a.m. Monday.

I do love geeks, and geek humor. Google today came out with motion activated email. The demo of it is adorable, mostly because I know people like this guy.

Local companies with their own jokes today include: Starbucks, announcing mobile coffee pouring; A KING 5 TV viewer posted something about Paul Allen rerouting the Columbia River; and Ant's Eye View launched a fan auction service.

Are you the prankster in your office when it comes to April Fool's Day? Let me know if someone got you, or you got someone good today.

While Washington Governor Chris Gregoire had a public event announcing that a tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct through Seattle will happen, Seattle's Mayor continued to defy her.

Gregoire scolded opponents of the deep-bore tunnel, saying that delaying the tunnel by holding a voters' referendum would cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

Mike McGinn was one of the only public leaders not attending the Governor's news conference. Instead, he was on Facebook, posting this comment:

State law says Seattle will pay for all cost overruns on the deep-bored tunnel. Before putting the public on the hook for cost overruns, we should first ask their permission. That’s why I support a public vote.

Even on his own Facebook page, McGinn didn't have an overwhelming amount of support for his view. Among the 73 comments:

Are you writing this on the company dime sir or is 4pm no longer office hours for the mayor?

Shut Up McGinn! I am so sorry that I vote for you after you lied! Get Digging and stop complaining and govern!

Mr. Mayor - May I remind you, as candidate for Mayor in October of 2009 - you stated that you would not stand in the way of the tunnel?

Your out of here soon Mayor "1 Term"...You should be doing everything in your power to bury traffic on Seattle's iconic waterfront. Maybe then we'd have a nice place to ride bikes...Your term will have accomplished nothing. No agenda whatsoever. Very sad.

PLEASE focus on other issues The city needs leadership not a bar fight.

The Mayor does have a few supporters. Well, at least one:

Thank you for considering safety of people and cost over runs.

Protestors say they'll try to disrupt Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz's speech to Harvard business students today.

They say Schultz is a hypocrite to call employees "partners" when Starbucks is one of the least labor friendly companies in America.

"For Howie to sit around and claim how much he loves us, it’s just disgusting. Starbucks is one of the biggest union busting corporations in the United States," Liberte Locke tells The Harvard Crimson. She's one of those organizing the protest.

Starbucks hasn't responded yet to my questions about the labor claims.

Schultz is on a tour promoting his new book "Onward" and he'll lecture to business students.

(AP Photo, Mary Altaffer)

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