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 […]

ROME (AP) — South Korea’s capital closed down more than 2,100 bars and other nightspots Saturday because of a new cluster of coronavirus infections, Germany scrambled to contain fresh outbreaks at slaughterhouses, and Italian authorities worried that people were getting too friendly at cocktail hour during the country’s first weekend of eased restrictions. The new […]

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

MALE, Maldives (AP) — The Maldives, an Indian Ocean archipelago nation with one of the world’s most congested capitals, has seen a rapid rise in coronavirus cases over the past few weeks. Health officials predict that more than 77,000 people — or a fourth of those currently living in the country — could become infected, […]

Chuck Jaffe: As they shelter at home, Americans have been building their knowledge on seemingly every subject. That doesn't make them financial experts.

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.

Amazon Prime Video and Twitch also will have exclusive streaming rights to one additional regular-season game in 2020.

The decision by Council President M. Lorena González and Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda will stall the big-business tax championed by Councilmembers Kshama Sawant and Tammy Morales, which already faced opposition from Mayor Jenny Durkan.

In a letter sent to Amazon, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a frequent critic of the e-commerce giant, and the eight other senators asked Amazon to provide more information about its policies for firing employees.

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 […]

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

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 […]

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.

CHRISTIN GEALL IS a Victoria-based gardener who arranges flowers, and a floral designer who grows much of what she uses in her designs. She also is the author of “Cultivated: The Elements of Floral Style,” a gorgeous new book from Princeton Architectural Press. “Flowers shape my years now,” she writes. “They are both calendar and […]

LESSON NO. 1 in skipping rocks: the hunt. Searching for the proper stone can be tedious, but it’s the most crucial step. The right rock must be flat; it must be smooth; and it must be just the right size — not too heavy but not too small. You’ll know you’ve found it when you pick […]

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 […]

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.

Sara Porkalob, Seattle-based playwright, director, activist and more, is off to Broadway — but before she goes, she shared what she’s been reading and rereading lately.

Seattle indie rock stars Car Seat Headrest get a sonic makeover with its electro-charged new album “Making a Door Less Open,” dropping May 1.

Earlier this year, clients of the Seattle-based online ticket broker — many of them artists and small-business owners — said they haven't been paid for events, some dating back to last year. Some, still unpaid, have been turning to Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson for help.

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.

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.

Fiskum destroyed an updated, slow-fast version of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” on the NBC singing competition show on Monday night.

The COVID-19 pandemic is the latest challenge for Seattle’s independent record stores like Easy Street, but these titans of vinyl continue to rise to the occasion.

With social distancing efforts (or just distance) keeping many families apart for Mother's Day, our features staffers share how they'll be celebrating their moms this weekend. Happy Mother's Day!

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s been over a decade since reggae king Buju Banton and R&B star John Legend collaborated on a song, and the Grammy winners have reunited for a new track. Banton and Legend released the easygoing love song “Memories” on Friday. It is the first single from Banton’s upcoming album “Upside Down,” […]

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.

Gov. Inslee announced Monday that golf and recreational fishing could resume on May 5 and many state parks and public lands will reopen as well.

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.

With campouts in the outdoors currently not allowed, the Mount Baker Council, which has troops in Island, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom counties, is hosting a virtual campout this weekend for Boy Scouts and their families.

The Emerald Distaff, the signature race of season for fillies and mares, has been on the same day as the Mile for years. This year, the track added the Muckleshoot Derby and the Washington Oaks.

My Grandpa pulled away late to win the Muckleshoot Derby, and No Talking Back won the Emerald Distaff during Championship Sunday at Emerald Downs.

Law Abidin Citizen caught heavily favored Anyportinastorm in the final strides to win the biggest horse race in the Northwest.

According to Emerald Downs President Phil Ziegler, impending darkness would have placed horses and riders at risk, and made cancellation a necessity.

An overflow field of 13 juveniles was entered in Sunday’s $100,000 Gottstein Futurity at 1 1/16 miles, the last of three stakes scheduled on closing day at Emerald Downs in Auburn.

Track president Phil Ziegler says overall handle increased this season despite 11 fewer races. But he says attendance, the number of horses per race and on-track betting declined.  

ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) — Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer is banned from entering horses in the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita, where he was barred earlier this year. Fred Hertrich, chairman of the Breeders’ Cup board, said Friday that it would honor Santa Anita’s house rule and not allow Hollendorfer to enter horses in […]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The owners of Maximum Security say they will appeal a federal judge’s dismissal of their lawsuit that seeks to challenge the decision to disqualify their horse as winner of the Kentucky Derby. Gary West said in a statement Monday that he has authorized his attorneys to file an appeal. West and […]

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Longtime jockey Richard Gamez died Sunday after falling from his horse and getting trampled by another horse during a race in Tucson. Gamez was leading in the fifth race at Rillito Park Racetrack when his horse stumbled and he was thrown from the saddle, according to the Rillito Park Foundation. Gamez, […]

The opening day of racing this year at Emerald Downs is scheduled for April 18, but no one knows when or if the track will open for racing.

Phil Ziegler, president of Emerald Downs, is confident there will be horse racing this season at the Auburn racetrack -- it's just a matter of when.

Sara Porkalob, Seattle-based playwright, director, activist and more, is off to Broadway — but before she goes, she shared what she’s been reading and rereading lately.

BESTSELLERS From Publishers Weekly Hardcover fiction 1. Walk the Wire, David Baldacci 2. If It Bleeds, Stephen King 3. Masked Prey, John Sandford 4. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy Most Read Stories Seattle will permanently close 20 miles of residential streets to most vehicle traffic Coronavirus daily news updates, […]

LONDON (AP) — Freed from the constraints of life as full-time royals — and enmeshed in a feud with Britain’s tabloid press — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan plan to tell their story in a book penned by sympathetic journalists. Harper Collins U.K. announced Monday that it will publish “Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan […]

As we move beyond two months of stay-home orders and life under the cloud of pandemic, everyone deserves a carefree laugh. These audiobooks offer guffaws and elicit smiles by the dozen.

Moira’s Seattle Times Book Club will meet online on May 13 to discuss “The House of Broken Angels.” Author Luis Alberto Urrea will speak online in a Seattle Arts & Lectures presentation on May 20.

With social distancing efforts (or just distance) keeping many families apart for Mother's Day, our features staffers share how they'll be celebrating their moms this weekend. Happy Mother's Day!

After covering the 2016 presidential election, comedian and journalist Sopan Deb explored his immigrant past by traveling to India ...

The Zags lead the country by scoring 88.8 points per game. The Red Raiders have one of the best defenses in the country. Something has to give Saturday.

The No. 1 seed Bulldogs took a two-point lead over third-seeded Texas Tech into halftime of their NCAA tournament West Region final. But with 16 turnovers, Gonzaga couldn't hold on and fell just short of its second Final Four in school history.