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AP reporter and editor Ron Harrist dies in Mississippi


Ron Harrist, who covered Elvis Presley, black separatists, white supremacists and college football legends during his 41 years as a reporter and editor in Mississippi for The Associated Press, died of complications from leukemia at his home in Brandon early Saturday, his son Andy Harrist said. He was 77. “Ron was absolutely one of the […]




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Married couple, 85 and 86, die in Delaware cemetery shooting


BEAR, Del. (AP) — A married couple from Maryland ages 85 and 86 were the victims of a deadly shooting at a veterans cemetery in Delaware. Delaware State Police on Friday night identified the victims of the shooting as an 86-year-old man and 85-year-old woman from Elkton, Maryland. The two were at Delaware Veterans Memorial […]




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The orca and the orca catcher: How a generation of killer whales was taken from Puget Sound


HOSTILE WATERS | Namu was Ted Griffin’s greatest prize, a live killer whale, put on display at Seattle’s waterfront. The orca’s journey from wild to captive would spark a worldwide sensation and change everything we knew about "blackfish."




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In the Dark: A young mother and son slain. A surprising lead. A family’s 25-year wait for answers.


After 23-year-old Stacy Falcon-Dewey and her 3-year-old son, Jake, were found slain in 1994, Renton police detectives chased one dead-end lead after another. But even after a break in the case came years later, charges were never filed and the case slipped through the cracks. All the while, the victims’ grieving family learned virtually nothing.





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As Bering Sea ice melts, Alaskans, scientists and Seattle’s fishing fleet witness changes ‘on a massive scale’


With winter ice largely gone for two years, a food chain is at risk. What lies ahead for a body of water that produces some of the world’s biggest seafood harvests and helps sustain communities ranging from Alaska to Seattle, homeport for much of the Bering Sea fleet?




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Behind the Public Crisis, Private Toll investigation: A multitude of interviews, thousands of pages of records


This project began with a surprising discovery. After years of chronic shortages of mental-health care options in Washington state, for-profit companies were competing to build new psychiatric hospitals, and state regulators had approved a major expansion of inpatient beds. How would these new hospitals, geared to make money, serve people who arrive there at their […]




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Why are birds and seals starving in a Bering Sea full of fish?


The animal die-offs offer the world a stark example of the perils of rising ocean temperatures, which already are upending parts of the Bering Sea ecosystem as climate change — driven by greenhouse-gas pollution — unfolds in Alaska at a breakneck pace.




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As climate change melts Alaska’s permafrost, roads sink, bridges tilt and greenhouse gases release


The accelerating melt is a global concern: Permafrost, which mostly lies in the northern reaches of the planet, is a vast carbon storehouse of frozen plants and animals that release greenhouse gases as they warm and decompose.




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Facts about novel coronavirus and how to prevent COVID-19


Cut through the misinformation with this visual guide to the new coronavirus, how it spreads, how COVID-19 affects the body, and how to protect yourself and others.




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Lives Remembered: Meet some of the people Washington state has lost to the coronavirus pandemic


We often hear about the impact of the pandemic in terms of numbers: This many cases, that many deaths. But each data point represents a human life whose loss is felt by countless other people. If we are to truly understand the toll this virus is taking, their stories need to be front and center.




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How do I change what software handles my picture files?


Patrick Marshall answers your personal technology questions. This week's topics include changing the default program for images and photo editing software, trouble with colors on a LG GRAM and updating to Windows 10 and security software.




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Watchdog faults SBA on minority-owned and rural small business PPP lending


WASHINGTON — The Small Business Administration did not direct private lenders to prioritize minority and women-owned businesses as Congress intended when they started implementing a $669 billion loan program under the CARES Act, a federal watchdog concluded in a report released Friday. The findings from the SBA Office of the Inspector General add to growing […]




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Pike Place Market’s Hmong flower farmers adapt during the coronavirus pandemic


“My parents have been through worse,” one farmer said. “We'll get through this.”




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Small businesses band together to sue insurers over coronavirus damage


In many cases, the response from insurers has been: We don't cover viruses.




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Coronavirus daily news updates, May 9: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the nation


While this year’s Mother’s Day weekend promises warm weather, Seattle officials are restricting hours in city parks out of fears that large crowds hoping to enjoy the sun could further spread the novel coronavirus. A recent report shows the COVID-19 transmission rate in Western Washington may be steadily increasing, suggesting that the number of virus cases […]




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Tech giants are profiting — and getting more powerful — even as the global economy tanks


As the pandemic wreaks havoc on the economy, tech giants Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft are benefiting enormously from a potentially permanent shift in consumer habits, leveraging their political clout by arguing that they are essential services, and gutting their competition.




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Amazon prepares first earnings report from coronavirus era, as pandemic accelerates retail trends in its favor


The company’s first-quarter earnings report will provide a view of how the pandemic has accelerated trends already working in its favor, and the extent to which coronavirus restrictions on businesses and consumers have boosted Amazon’s sales.




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Amazon has a Europe problem: Unions and regulators are circling


In Germany, unions are pushing Amazon.com to prevent warehouse workers from congregating like bunches of “grapes” before their shifts. In Italy, where a COVID-19 outbreak hit Amazon’s main logistics depot, unions staged an 11-day strike that ended after the company granted employees an additional five-minute break to practice better personal hygiene. And in what amounts […]




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Amazon will let thousands of Seattle and Bellevue employees work from home until at least October


The extension raises the prospect that one of Seattle’s busiest neighborhoods could be largely deserted for another five months.




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Amazon, Instacart workers launch May Day strike to protest treatment during the coronavirus pandemic


The onset of the coronavirus and the subsequent classification of many of these workers as "essential" have heightened some existing tensions. Workers have accused companies of being slow to provide protective gear and implement precautions, something that may put them in danger.




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Amazon wins business from reluctant brands after coronavirus closes stores


Before the pandemic, many brands and wholesalers kept Amazon at arm's length. Now, consultants that help brands navigate Amazon's marketplace say the company is attracting a broad range of vendors that sold at physical stores.




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The Backstory: A global premiere of Earth Day art, and a collection of rare, local talent   


ON APRIL 22, 202o, a billion people around the world will mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day — except, this year, likely not together. Ironically, a small forest of trees will be sacrificed for print publications around the globe to analyze the lasting impact of Earth Day, deep-dive into a half-century of environmental activism […]



  • Pacific NW Magazine

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How much is ‘a pinch of salt,’ anyway? Food professionals and home cooks weigh in. 


Part of the problem lies in the whole idea of salt measurements: What’s the difference between a pinch and a dash?



  • Food & Drink
  • Pacific NW Magazine

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7 soothing ways to let your garden and its familiar chores nurture you, and your community — this spring, especially


GARDENING IS A restorative act grounded in natural rhythms and constancy. Thank goodness! I’m not a doctor or a mental health expert. I’m a gardener. But I know from years of plotting and planting the many ways my garden tends me as I care for it. So, I thought I’d share a little unsolicited but […]



  • Pacific NW Magazine

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Even in the winter, this cultivated ‘conifer kingdom’ on Fox Island shines with layers, shapes and constant interest 


IT TAKES A brave gardener to show off a winter garden. And it takes a seasoned gardener to understand the subtle beauty that can be found during the slowest growing season. Enter the Capers: Lucinda and Jerome, who have lived on their expansive property for 15 years and continue to cultivate growing spaces. You press […]



  • Pacific NW Magazine

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A rising star: For Conor O’Neill and The Cottage at Blue Ridge, baking bread is all about creating community


The Cottage at Blue Ridge has become a sort of local phenomenon: A bread popup launched last summer in the Edmonds enclave of Perrinville, that typically sells out its weekly goods in less than two hours.



  • Food & Drink
  • Pacific NW Magazine

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You can pick your flavor, and you can pick your tea — but you should let an expert pick your mushrooms


DO NOT PICK your own mushrooms. Not alone, anyway, and I bother to say this because you probably want to. Tromping through the fecund woods, you would see little trumpets and toadstools winking at you from under every dripping leaf and at the base of every moss-covered tree, and you’d want to pick them and […]



  • Pacific NW Magazine

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The Backstory: The more we’re indoors, the more powerful the appeal, and the hope, of the great outdoors


THE DEEPER WE got into our isolation, the more I missed the old routines and simplicities of daily life. I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed making the kids’ lunches in the morning, or quiet time in a coffee shop to work alone, or watching baseball, or hands that didn’t crack and bleed from frequent […]



  • Pacific NW Magazine

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Sara Naftaly of Amandine Bakeshop shares her perfected recipe for a very British, very comforting malt loaf 


British baked goods are known to be soothing; there’s a whole afternoon-tea tradition built around them, not to mention a more-recent cult-favorite TV series. Here is a recipe for malt loaf, studded with sultanas and tiny currants.



  • Food & Drink
  • Pacific NW Magazine

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Nobody’s playing in person these days — but there’s a whole new dimension of fun and friendship in videoconference game nights 


BEFORE CERTAIN CURRENT events upended all of our lives, a few friends and I had a goal: more old-fashioned game nights, involving old-school boards, mysterious card decks and little plastic figures. There’s something wholesome and cheering about gathering around a table and jointly figuring out the rules of some new game. And you can mix […]



  • Pacific NW Magazine

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Whether she’s tending her garden, her yoga clients or her own family, Suzette Birrell nurtures growth and generosity


SUZETTE BIRRELL IS a mother and a grandmother. Also, for the past 17 years as a pre- and postnatal yoga instructor, she’s helped new moms navigate a precious, profound and sometimes-chaotic period of life. Birrell is also an ardent gardener. She believes it’s all connected. “Gardening and nurturing is the same thing,” she says. “Tending […]



  • Pacific NW Magazine

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‘We find a way’: Seattle drag artists contend with the pandemic that threatens their livelihoods and their lifeline


Like countless others in the arts and beyond, drag performers have been hit hard by venue closures and stay-home orders. But the drag community has always found ways to endure, connect and celebrate — during and after the coronavirus pandemic, that much will remain true.




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What’s in the water in Maple Valley? ‘The Voice’ contestant Zan Fiskum follows in musical footsteps of Brandi Carlile and Benicio Bryant


When Maple Valley's Zan Fiskum appears on “The Voice” Monday night, she'll be continuing a growing tradition started by Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, and continued by wunderkind musician Benicio Bryant.




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Dave Matthews Band will skip its annual Labor Day weekend Gorge run due to coronavirus pandemic


Dave Matthews Band announced it's rescheduling its entire summer concert slate — including the annual Labor Day weekend bash the band's hosted at the Gorge Amphitheatre for years — due to COVID-19.




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Axl Rose, Steven Mnuchin and the pandemic Twitter feud no one saw coming


By all accounts, 2020 has been, to put it mildly, a weird year. This week alone has already seen a 5-year-old boy from Utah attempt a solo drive to California on a mission to buy a Lamborghini, a llama named Winter emerge as a potential key player in the race for a treatment targeting the […]




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Celebrate Mother’s Day and more with these weekend activities


Between Mother's Day and the expected sunny weather, there's lots to celebrate this weekend! Whether you'll be enjoying nature or continuing to stay inside, here are some things you can do while maintaining social distancing.




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Brandi Carlile reschedules Echoes Through the Canyon show at the Gorge due to coronavirus pandemic


Brandi Carlile has rescheduled her June 6 Echoes Through the Canyon show at the Gorge Amphitheatre to Aug. 14, 2021.




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What’s bringing you joy amid the coronavirus crisis? Washingtonians share what’s getting them through the pandemic.


From an unexpected friendship across species, to a cluster of clay llamas, to finding a way to remotely produce a song featuring multiple collaborators, people across Washington state have found ways to stay connected to their artistic communities, their jobs and their routines — or to find beauty in the changes themselves. 




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Through coronavirus pandemic and two world wars, this Des Moines nursery keeps people planting and believing


Zenith Holland Nursery has seen times like this before — and survived. The Des Moines nursery opened in 1907, survived two world wars and remains open during the coronavirus shutdown.




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Increasing number of elephant seals making Puget Sound home at Whidbey, Fidalgo islands


Northern elephant seals have a range from Alaska to Mexico. Most of the animals make their way along the coast, but some venture into Puget Sound.




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Two celestial treats will be visible this week — and both are worth going outside in your jammies


A huge asteroid will make a (relatively) close pass of Earth early Wednesday, but you'll need a telescope to see that; however, an exceptionally bright Venus should be visible to the naked eye at dusk and in the early evenings. Look to the west.




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Day trips. Hiking with bandanas. What you should keep in mind as Washington’s outdoors spaces reopen


Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday announced the easing of restrictions on outdoor recreation in Washington state, starting May 5 with the opening of golf courses, state parks, fishing and hunting. Here’s some of what will be different as our state reopens the outdoors.




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What you should know as Washington’s outdoor lands reopen Tuesday after coronavirus lockdown


More than 100 Washington state parks will reopen for day use on Tuesday. But this doesn't mean you should abandon social distancing practices. Here's what you need to know before you go.




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State parks, fishing and boating reopened in Washington after a coronavirus hiatus. Here’s how it went.


In the first phase of the state's reopening, hunting and fishing were reintroduced statewide, municipal golf courses began operating again, and more than 100 state parks reopened for day-use recreation only.




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King County parks and public lands reopen Friday after coronavirus shutdown. Here’s what you need to know


Some King County parks and public lands will reopen on Friday as the first phase of Gov. Jay Inslee's plan to reopen Washington's economy continues. Here's what's open and what's not as we head into a sunny spring weekend.




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Celebrate Mother’s Day and more with these weekend activities


Between Mother's Day and the expected sunny weather, there's lots to celebrate this weekend! Whether you'll be enjoying nature or continuing to stay inside, here are some things you can do while maintaining social distancing.




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What’s bringing you joy amid the coronavirus crisis? Washingtonians share what’s getting them through the pandemic.


From an unexpected friendship across species, to a cluster of clay llamas, to finding a way to remotely produce a song featuring multiple collaborators, people across Washington state have found ways to stay connected to their artistic communities, their jobs and their routines — or to find beauty in the changes themselves. 




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Horse racing grapples with risks of running during pandemic


Horse racing is quickly learning it is not totally immune to the effects the coronavirus pandemic has had on other sports, and now it’s grappling with the risks of continuing operations. The Louisiana Derby for now is still set for Saturday, the world’s richest day of races is scheduled to go on in late March […]




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Pimlico to be renovated and keep Preakness after bill passes


BALTIMORE (AP) — The Preakness will remain a fixture at timeworn Pimlico Race Course, which will receive a much-needed facelift following the passing of a bill to redevelop Maryland tracks. Gov. Larry Hogan on Thursday permitted a bill to become law that would enable the Maryland Stadium Authority to issue up to $375 million in […]