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Sound Transit sues longtime ally Microsoft in effort to condemn land for Redmond light rail


Sound Transit is suing Microsoft for land and access to build light rail from Overlake to downtown Redmond, and even claimed the software giant was creating risks of missing the agency's August 2024 goal to complete the project. The institutions differ by $17.5 million over how much Sound Transit should pay to buy land next to Highway 520, plus easement rights for worker access and equipment storage.




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Microsoft push brings medical supplies from overseas to aid in state’s coronavirus fight


In arguably the most ambitious and unique procurement effort in company history, technology giant Microsoft is leveraging its global supply chain to bring tens of thousands of badly-needed medical supplies — including 240,000 N-95 surgical masks — to the Puget Sound in anticipation of coronavirus hospitalizations. Supplies began arriving on Monday.




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Microsoft deal values Affirmed Networks at $1.35 billion


Affirmed Networks helps build virtual networks for telecom customers using 5G technology.




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Dow Average, bracketed by Boeing and Microsoft, suffers worst quarter since 1987 as coronavirus pummels economy


As March ends, the first quarter's results include the biggest plunge ever in West Texas oil prices and the Dow's worst performance since 1987.




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Pentagon watchdog, in probe limited by White House, clears Microsoft’s $10 billion cloud-computing win over Amazon


The 317-page report by the inspector general also found that giving the contract to a single company — Microsoft — rather than dividing it among competitors was "consistent with applicable acquisition standards."




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Pentagon: $10B cloud contract that snubbed Amazon was legal


WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s process for awarding a highly lucrative cloud computing contract to Microsoft instead of Amazon was in line with legal and government purchasing standards, a government watchdog agency said Wednesday. The Defense Department inspector general found no evidence of White House interference in the contract award process. But the report said investigators […]




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The Backstory: Tag along to Port Townsend — if you haven’t already moved there


As in many smaller Northwest towns, things are changing rapidly here.




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The Backstory: Thankfully, this turkey-centered tradition can take a little ribbing


This year’s ode to the Thanksgiving feast is a tribute to folks for whom the mere thought of baking from scratch prompts a violent itch.




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Try this gift list: Commonly used products should have made Seattle famous, but didn’t


IT BEGAN HUMBLY, as a small seed, nearly three decades ago, in the mind of a local wood and metal patternmaker. The germ of Jeff Carnevali’s idea — a round, elastomeric rubber ball, surrounded by a spring-loaded, double-armed metal clamp to form a grippy, orbital socket capable of mounting countless devices to solid surfaces — […]



  • Pacific NW Magazine

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The Backstory: The Road to Hana should be a road less traveled


ONE BIT OF ADVICE that didn’t make it into this week’s decidedly smart-aleck primer for Northwesterners who throw up their hands and flee our lovely gray for a Hawaii vacation: If several friends who qualify as repeat island visitors say: “Did that. Never again!” … well, maybe listen to them. Such was the case on […]



  • Pacific NW Magazine

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ER doctor who criticized Bellingham hospital’s coronavirus protections has been fired


An emergency room physician has been fired after he publicly decried what he called a lack of protective measures against the novel coronavirus at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center. The hospital is the only emergency facility for some 250,000 people in the state’s northwest corner.




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With in-person yoga canceled due to the coronavirus, I took a livestreamed class on Zoom. Here’s how it went.


We all live stressful lives right now, and it's important to try and stay fit. Taking yoga on Zoom didn't feel like following a YouTube video. It felt like community.




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Are you bullied for your food choices? Do you bully others?


Seattle Times columnist and nutritionist Carrie Dennett looks into the concepts found in the new book "Food Bullying" by Michele Payn.




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Coronavirus pushed spin, barre, yoga and other fitness classes online. Here’s how Seattle-area fitness studios have adapted


In these coronavirus pandemic times, online yoga has become as ubiquitous as online dating. But for some other kinds of fitness classes, the switch to virtual instruction has been more challenging.




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Need workout ideas? Use these common household items or find workout routines on Instagram from many Seattle-area gyms


Don't have any dumbbells? Tape some rolls of quarters together. Sick of pushups and situps? Many Seattle-area gyms have been posting workouts on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, so follow along and keep your fitness going.




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Coronavirus canceled his Mount Everest climb, so this Seattle man will climb his porch steps 5,683 times to ‘summit’ #AtHomeEverest


Coronavirus canceled their mountain climbing trips and adventure runs, so these Seattleites found creative ways to stay fit, stay sane and conquer their lofty goals — all while maintaining social distancing.




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Sunday Best: 2020 Oscars Edition


In this special, expanded Oscars edition of Sunday Best, let’s take a peek at the five films nominated for best costume design, all of which take us backward in time: to various U.S. cities from 1949 to 2000 (“The Irishman”), 1940s Germany (“Jojo Rabbit”), 1981 Gotham City (“Joker”), 19th-century New England (“Little Women”) and 1969 […]





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For his first debate, Mike Bloomberg wore a nice suit and a look of boredom


Deep into the two-hour Nevada Democratic debate, co-moderator Chuck Todd of NBC asked former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg if he should have made so much money that it allowed him to become a billionaire many times over. Bloomberg looked at Todd with an expression that was a combination of boredom and annoyance before replying, […]




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B. Smith, model turned restaurateur and lifestyle maven, dies at 70


Barbara “B.” Smith, a steelworker’s daughter who became one of the top black models on magazine covers in the 1970s and later parlayed her glamour and personality into ventures as a restaurateur, TV host and lifestyle maven, died Feb. 22 at her home in East Hampton, New York. She was 70. Her death was announced […]




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Sunday Best: 200 actors dressed in costumes are a highlight of the Louis Vuitton show


The Louis Vuitton show at Paris Fashion Week earlier this month brought this gorgeous bit of theater: On a grandstand behind the runway sat 200 actors, dressed in costumes representing fashion from the 15th to mid-20th century.




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Sunday Best: In honor of the postponed Met Gala, a highlight from 2019


The Met Gala, that Fashion Olympics-y event that takes place every May and celebrates the Costume Institute at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, has been postponed indefinitely from its original May 4 date. So, while we imagine the outfits that might have been, let’s gaze back at a highlight from last year. Gemma Chan […]




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Sunday Best: A standout among the stars — Lupita Nyong’o at the 2014 Academy Awards red carpet


What do people talk about on the red carpet, anyway? Assuredly this gorgeous blue gown worn by Lupita Nyong’o at the 2014 Academy Awards stirred some conversations.




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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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Rocco Ursino, Italian immigrant who dedicated his life to his seven children, dies of coronavirus disease


Editor’s note: The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is generally expressed in numbers of cases and deaths. But each data point represents a human life whose loss is felt by countless other people. We are chronicling some of them in an obituary series called Lives Remembered. If you know someone who has died of COVID-19, […]




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‘My perspective is of a teenager, interrupted’: 8 young people share how coronavirus pandemic is changing them


From feeling scared to feeling resolved to see change, eight young people, ages 10 to 15, share how they're coping with the pandemic, in their own words.




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Cracks halt progress on Sound Transit park-and-ride garage in Redmond


The station next to the Microsoft main campus is being expanded as part of the $3.7 billion Seattle-to-Overlake light-rail line to open in 2023.




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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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As Eastside Catholic rolled to second state football title last winter, three players were under investigation for assault


Three Eastside Catholic players were under investigation for a parking-lot brawl as the team headed toward a second state championship. Prosecutors ultimately declined to pursue charges.




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‘Like I was getting Taylor Swift tickets’: Washington golfers thrilled to be back on links after coronavirus shutdown


Folks were teeming with joy Tuesday at Bellevue Golf Course, which booked out within minutes of Gov. Jay Inslee's announcement last week that it was OK to play golf after a two-month shutdown because of the coronavirus pandemic.




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Washington businesses filed 14,000 pleas to reopen soon after coronavirus shutdown order


Many disputed the distinction between essential and nonessential businesses.




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2% of Puget Sound households received grocery delivery last year, before coronavirus changed shopping


The most popular online grocery category was packaged foods such as breakfast cereal and pasta; followed by toiletries, personal care products and diapers; household cleaners and paper products; and frozen food.




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Feds will send $50 million in coronavirus relief to Washington seafood firms, fishermen, tribes, charter boat operators


Both Washington and Alaska will benefit from money carved out of the massive federal economic stimulus package known as the CARES ACT that is intended to assist in both direct and indirect fishery-related losses.




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NASCAR will be watched closely when it returns to racing


CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR is preparing to be the first major U.S. sport to restart its season during the coronavirus pandemic — a welcomed return to racing and one that will be closely watched by the public and other professional leagues for missteps. More than 700 people — no fans — are expected to […]




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The Latest: Cycling’s European Road Championships postponed


The Latest on the effects of the new coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world: ___ Cycling’s European Road Championships have been postponed until next year amid the coronavirus pandemic. The championships were scheduled to take place Sept. 9-13 in Trentino, Italy, but the European Cycling Union says the “uncertainty of the current health crisis” […]




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Checkered flag nears for pro drivers in virtual racing boom


DOVER, Del (AP) — The moment in the virtual sun has arrived for simulated racing and the thousands of gamers who always wanted to race like Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Jeff Gordon at NASCAR tracks from Dover to Daytona. Sports fans discovered over the last few weeks on national TV a not-so-hidden secret in the […]




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Checkered flag nears for pro drivers in virtual racing boom


DOVER, Del (AP) — The moment in the virtual sun has arrived for simulated racing and the thousands of gamers who always wanted to race like Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Jeff Gordon at NASCAR tracks from Dover to Daytona. Sports fans discovered over the last few weeks on national TV a not-so-hidden secret in the […]




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What Would Have Been: Red Sox-Yankees, NHL conference finals


With the sports calendar still mostly on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, The Associated Press takes a look at some of the live sporting events that would have taken place the week of May 4-10: MLB: The 162-game regular season would have been about one-fourth complete after the Boston Red Sox played this coming […]




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What Would Have Been: Red Sox-Yankees, NHL conference finals


With the sports calendar still mostly on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, The Associated Press takes a look at some of the live sporting events that would have taken place the week of May 4-10: MLB: The 162-game regular season would have been about one-fourth complete after the Boston Red Sox played this coming […]




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Green flag: IndyCar to open its delayed season in Texas


FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — IndyCar has gotten the green flag to finally start its season, which it will do in Texas with a nighttime race June 6 without spectators. The race at Texas Motor Speedway was the next one on the schedule that hadn’t been postponed or canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. IndyCar […]




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The Backstory: Larry Stone has seen it all in 35 years of Arizona spring training — much of it unexpected, and all of it memorable


IT WAS ONE of my first years covering spring training in Arizona, during a stint in the early 1990s as the San Francisco Giants beat writer for the San Francisco Examiner. Every day, after our work was done, Bay Area media members would assemble at a Scottsdale park for a pickup basketball game, spirited affairs […]



  • Pacific NW Magazine

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Sounders, holed up at home like everyone amid coronavirus, hope for earlier restart to MLS season


GM Garth Lagerwey’s message to antsy soccer fans who are yearning to see the Sounders back in action is that there’s a link between safe health practices and the resumption of the season.




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Cutting-edge artists give Ichiro, Griffey rookie cards a futuristic rebirth


Topps' “Project 2020” involves 20 artists, each re-imagining 20 of the company’s most iconic baseball cards, which includes Ichiro and Ken Griffey Jr.




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Seattle Dragons’ Ryan Gustafson believed XFL was making strides, ‘but you can’t control a pandemic’


The XFL was the first sporting victim not of the colossus that is the NFL, but of the even more formidable coronavirus. The ravages of the virus, and the lingering uncertainty, made the economic road map for resumption unmanageable.




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Led by ex-Husky Tanner Swanson, Northwest-based MLB coaches band together for ‘Coaches vs. COVID’ program


The idea is to impart the baseball knowledge of himself and others he recruited to the cause — many of whom are part of the wave of Northwest-based coaches who have infiltrated professional baseball — while raising money for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to support COVID-19 research.




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Stranger editor says officers threatened arrest for police-stop photos


Over at The Stranger’s blog, News Editor Dominic Holden writes about an unfortunate encounter Tuesday night with King County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Patrick Saulet and SPD Officer John Marion. Holden writes that he was riding his bike past Fourth Avenue South and South Jackson Street about 7:25 p.m. when he stopped to snap a picture, […]




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State should partner with tribes on legalized marijuana


Some tribes see potential of legal pot now that the feds have given them a green light to enter the market.




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Steeled courage from state lawmakers needed for steelhead habitat


A last legislative push is needed to save Nisqually River’s storied steelhead run.




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West Coast voters proved it’s not all doom and gloom


If you pro-Hillary voters can step back from the ledge, know this: There were some truly progressive ballot measures that did pass, not only in Washington but Oregon and California, as well.




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Sea-Tac’s $192M in federal coronavirus relief won’t be enough to cover losses, officials say


Plummeting passenger traffic and flight cancellations will cost Seattle-Tacoma International Airport an estimated $251 million by the end of 2020.