As the calendar turns, Americans will begin a yearlong celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

In Washington, the National Archives is exhibiting The American Story, a showcase of rare copies of the country’s founding documents, including George Washington’s copy of the Constitution and an 1823 stone engraving of the Declaration of Independence.

Years earlier, when North Carolina entrepreneur Vance Patterson visited the Archives and first saw the U.S. Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights side by side, he was awestruck. Known collectively as the Charters of Freedom, the three documents lay out the U.S. system of governance and the individual rights of all Americans.

It was there in Washington, some 15 years ago, that Patterson realized more Americans might want to experience the majesty of these texts without having to travel to the nation’s capital.

Patterson, determined to bring this idea to life, launched the nonprofit Foundation Forward Incorporated. His organization designs and erects displays that showcase the Founding Fathers’ vision for our nation from 250 years ago. The exact words of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights are etched on 30-kilogram (66 pound) bronze tablets and displayed under weatherproof glass.

Foundation Forward works with community leaders to choose installation sites in parks and town centers. So far, they have raised displays in about 80 communities together, including at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California; the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site in Indianapolis; and in President Jimmy Carter’s hometown of Plains, Georgia.

Patterson says U.S. military veterans are often speechless when visiting a Foundation Forward site, commending the displays as reminders of the freedoms they fought to defend. To date, 17 states have these installations available to teachers as resources for their history lessons.

And many more generations of teachers and students will rely upon them. Each structure is designed to last up to 500 years.

SEATTLE – An atmospheric river is sending rounds of heavy rain into the Puget Sound area this week, causing river flooding across the region.

A Flood Watch remains in effect for western Washington, with six rivers expected to reach major flood stage. FOX 13 Seattle is also monitoring potential power outages and landslides.

Keep reading for live weather updates for Tuesday, Dec. 9.

6:54 a.m.: Road closures caused by flooding in Sumner, WA

FOX 13 Seattle crews are in Sumner, where multiple vehicles appear to be almost completely submerged in floodwaters. (FOX 13 Seattle)

According to the City of Sumner, Houston Road is closed in both directions at Valley Avenue due to flooding. The city is asking travelers to use an alternate route.

6:45 a.m.: State Route 202 in Fall City is closed

The Washington State Department of Transportation said SR 202 at 203 in Fall City is closed in both directions due to water on the roadway. 

Drivers should expect delays.

6:15 a.m.: Mudslide on eastbound I-90 at North Bend; highway reopens

Eastbound I-90 at North Bend was closed overnight due to a mudslide. 

Crews reopened the roadway after clearing the scene. 

6:10 a.m.: Several school delays, closures

Some Western Washington school districts will be closed or delayed on Tuesday, Dec. 9 because of weather. 

Here is a full list. 

5:00 a.m.: Flood Watch upgraded to Flood Warning in Skagit County, WA

The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Warning for the Skagit River near Concrete after upgrading the area from a Flood Watch late Monday. Forecasters expect the river to crest twice this week, reaching more than 32 feet Tuesday afternoon and nearly 37 feet on Thursday – both above major flood stage. Similar peaks are predicted in Mount Vernon on Wednesday and Friday. Skagit County emergency officials are monitoring conditions and closing affected roads, urging drivers to avoid flooded areas and obey barricades.

View Skagit County road closures here.

Seattle weather Tuesday forecast

After seeing some wet and windy weather Monday, the Puget Sound region got a break from the rain during the daylight hours Tuesday as steady rain dipped south into Oregon.

The next round of heavy persistent rain is expected to arrive after sunset Tuesday and continue through Wednesday.

The Skykomish River at Gold Bar and the Snoqualmie River at Carnation are forecast to crest Tuesday evening into early Wednesday morning at major flood stage.

Seattle weather forecast for Wednesday

Heavy rain will continue to fall on Wednesday during the daylight hours, and it will finally weaken Wednesday night. Breezy wind will still be present across the area.

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The brief federal criminal trial last month of Sean Dunn, the man who threw a “submarine-style sandwich” at a Customs and Border Protection officer in downtown Washington, D.C., was only a misdemeanor case. But the courtroom was filled, and the overflow room was crowded, too.

The 12 jurors didn’t realize initially that Dunn’s case — and their verdict — would garner national attention.

One juror thought the deliberations would last under an hour. The juror, a longtime resident of Washington, D.C., also noted that some people in the courtroom struggled to “keep a straight face” during the trial and even laughed openly. 

“It seemed to me like an open and closed type of thing,” another juror said.  “It was kind of ridiculous.” 

Dunn hurled the sandwich at the CBP officer stationed at a busy intersection in August. The incident was widely publicized and quickly became a symbol of resistance against President Trump’s federal policing crackdown and National Guard deployment in the nation’s capital. 

After roughly seven hours of deliberation, the jury acquitted Dunn. It was the second time a group of D.C. citizens rejected the Justice Department’s claim that Dunn, who was fired from his job at the Justice Department after the incident, had committed a crime in tossing a sandwich at a federal agent. A separate grand jury had rejected the prosecutors’ request to indict Dunn on a felony charge earlier this year. 

Inside the jury room

Three jurors who sat on the panel spoke with CBS News about the deliberations, revealing how the politically charged case played out behind closed doors in the jury room of the E. Barrett Prettyman federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., near the U.S. Capitol.

All asked to remain anonymous. A court order from the chief judge of the D.C. U.S. District Court prohibits CBS News and other media outlets from publishing the jurors’ names.

The jurors described an initial 10-2 split on the 12-person panel. The deliberations were not as simple as some of them had expected.

The majority of jurors thought the incident did not merit criminal charges, or that criminal intent was not proven, according to two of the members of the panel. One juror told CBS News, “I thought we’d be out of there quickly. This case had no ‘grounding.’ He threw a sandwich at the agent because he knew it wouldn’t hurt. A reasonable person wouldn’t think a sandwich is a weapon.”

A second juror, who told CBS News this was not her first time serving on a D.C. jury, said the panel eventually “agreed that this is not and should not have been a federal case.”   

The jurors said the two initial holdouts worried that a not guilty verdict would send a message that it’s sometimes acceptable to throw things at federal agents.    

The two jurors told CBS News that the jury debated at length about the type of “criminal intent” that needed to have been demonstrated by prosecutors.  

One juror said, “We asked each other: If we only look at this case, can someone really do harm to someone wearing a ballistic vest by throwing a sandwich?”

One of the jurors also credited the “gentle and patient” foreperson with coming up with a productive communications strategy during deliberations.

A juror who spoke with CBS News by phone was surprised to be assigned to the case, because the juror had heard about the prior rejection by a grand jury of Sean Dunn’s felony case.

“I was surprised some of the other jurors were unfamiliar with it,” the juror said, noting the headlines generated by Dunn’s arrest and the video of the sandwich toss in August.

Though the case was a misdemeanor, without the prospect of a lengthy prison term for conviction, one juror said she noticed an unusual tension in the proceedings at trial.  

“There seemed to be a lot of back and forth between lawyers and the judge to begin with. I’ve been on a jury before, and that hasn’t happened,” she said. “So, that kind of stood out to me.”

The notoriety of Dunn’s case and the political tensions surrounding the Trump administration’s deployment of federal agents on the streets in D.C., added a unique stress on the jurors. Three told CBS News they’re worried about being publicly identified and facing the prospect of threats or harassment.

“We were very scared and nervous about what this meant for us,” one juror said.    

The same juror, who was familiar with the case before she was selected, said she thought Dunn looked “really sad and desperate at the defense table because he was going up against the U.S. government.”

One juror noted one witness and some attorneys in the room appeared to “giggle” or fight to keep a “straight face” during some of the testimony. 

“I mean,” the juror said, “it was a thrown sandwich.”