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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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Bill Gates leaves Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway boards to prioritize his philanthropic work


Bill Gates is stepping down from the board of Microsoft Corp., the company he co-founded in 1975.




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Some key Seattle-area public companies hit hard by coronavirus-induced stock market crash


It was a rocky week on Wall Street, as most securities fell and some saw record declines. Seattle-area companies felt the pain as sharply as any.




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Ahead of the pack, how Microsoft told workers to stay home amid coronavirus outbreak


Microsoft's executives, with headquarters just a few miles from one of the country’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, were among the first to confront the impact.




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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to employees on coronavirus crisis: ‘There is no playbook for this’


Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sent an email Saturday to his 140,000-plus employees, telling them he shares their personal anxieties over the coronavirus and asking each to make a "small difference" to help others. In a Seattle Times interview beforehand, he detailed his emotions the past week steering the company while caring for his family.




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Apple’s value drops below $1 trillion, while Microsoft holds on


Apple’s market value fell below $1 trillion as trading opened Monday, leaving Microsoft as the only U.S. stock above the 13-digit threshold. Apple shares fell as much as 4.9% at 9:40 a.m. in New York, bringing the iPhone maker’s market value to about $960 billion. In the wake of coronavirus, the company has been hampered […]




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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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Microsoft exec says coronavirus could spark big shift for AI in health care


The company's chief technology officer says early detection of underlying health conditions could not only help treat patients and prevent the spread of future pandemics, but also reduce care costs for Americans




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Microsoft hires ex-Apple exec in charge of wireless for hardware


Microsoft hired Ruben Caballero, Apple's former executive in charge of wireless technologies, to work on mixed reality hardware and artificial intelligence technology.




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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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Q&A: Microsoft’s technology chief Kevin Scott pivots to pandemic response


Microsoft's chief technology officer, Kevin Scott, spoke with The Associated Press about the pandemic's effects on his day-to-day responsibilities.




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Microsoft weathers the coronavirus storm as earnings rise on cloud business


Analysts expected as much, and that's one reason Microsoft's stock is closing in on the all-time high it hit in early February.




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Microsoft is in talks to buy startup Softomotive


Softomotive specializes in robot process automation technology, or software that helps companies save time and money by automating repetitive, manual tasks such as entering data into spreadsheets.




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Microsoft to pitch new Xbox game console with monthly showcases


Microsoft, gearing up for its biggest-ever year of launches for Xbox products and services in the middle of a global pandemic and economic recession, will replace its plan for a splashy public game-conference event with a monthly series of online showcases.




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Port Townsend wrestles with its increasingly complex identity and dizzying change


As a historically seafaring town that’s also way ahead of its time, picturesque Port Townsend hopes to grow respectfully, responsibly and authentically offbeat.




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Jessica Shafer’s Coast Guard crew continues to thrive, even in challenging conditions


The first female commanding officer of Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment updates us on the challenges of keeping local vessels afloat and off the rocks.



  • 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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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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Pike Place Market mentors advise crafters on staying afloat during coronavirus shutdown


When the crafts market at Pike Place Market was forced to temporarily shut down, vendors are turning to online sales and getting help in doing that from their fellow workers.




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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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Bellevue College interim president finalists detail how they’ll guide college out of crisis


In all-campus Zoom meetings this week, the three finalists for Bellevue College interim president were asked several questions with a theme: Bellevue College is in a crisis, both internally and externally. The internal crisis referred to the defacement of a mural in February, a controversy that led to the resignations of both the college’s president […]




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Many businesses may follow Amazon in stretching out work-from-home policies, crimping downtown recovery


Business and government insiders say other companies and organizations are contemplating similarly extended time frames as they consider the new realities of the workplace in the COVID-19 era.




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Pike Place Market mentors advise crafters on staying afloat during coronavirus shutdown


When the crafts market at Pike Place Market was forced to temporarily shut down, vendors are turning to online sales and getting help in doing that from their fellow workers.




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How payroll-protection loans discriminate against some businesses hurt by coronavirus


Businesses owned by people of color, women and those in rural areas have always been at the back of the line when it comes to bank loans. The PPP bailout — administered by banks — perpetuates that inequity, writes columnist Naomi Ishisaka.




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When coronavirus dealt Seattle record stores their latest blow, Easy Street Records got creative


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.




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In roughly 24 hours coronavirus makes sports, a longtime sanctuary in times of crisis, disappear


Sports has always been the escape during times of crisis and collective stress. But now the very act of conducting sports threatens to add exponentially to perpetuating the coronavirus pandemic and growing the stress.




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Waiting for MLB’s opening day amid coronavirus crisis: ‘You have to laugh; if not, you’re going to cry.’


The sports world has been shut down by the coronavirus outbreak. But that doesn’t mean we can’t lament the fact that, in normal times, Thursday would have kicked off the 2020 Major League Baseball season.




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The No. 2 UW softball team lost its season to the coronavirus crisis. But as Heather Tarr said, this is not the end.


This week all spring-sport athletes were granted an additional season of competition by the NCAA, a decision that was greeted with relief and jubilation by a Husky team that had legitimate national-title aspirations.




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Airbus burns through $8.7 billion, warns of ‘gravest’ crisis


Airbus is battling to adapt to collapsing demand as the pandemic wipes out new aircraft sales and threatens existing orders as airlines run short of money.




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Bezos, Musk win contracts for spacecraft to land NASA astronauts on moon


Boeing, typically among NASA's key contractors but whose space program has experienced setbacks and delays, submitted a bid but was not selected.




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Cash crunch from coronavirus crisis will force Alaska Air to shrink


The company's cash burn rate peaked at $400 million for the month of March. Management hopes to reduce the cash burn rate to zero by year end and will make whatever cuts are necessary to do so.




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NY’s Cuomo criticized over highest nursing home death toll


NEW YORK (AP) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has won bipartisan praise for rallying supplies for his ravaged hospitals and helping slow the coronavirus, is coming under increasing criticism for not bringing that same level of commitment to a problem that has so far stymied him: nursing homes. In part-lecture, part-cheerleading briefings that […]




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NO RETURN: The final voyage of the crab boat Destination


The Seattle-based Destination went down without a mayday call two years ago this week, stunning a Bering Sea crabbing industry that appeared to have left its deadly legacy behind. A former crewman is haunted by what may have gone wrong in the sinking that killed his brother and five others.




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For the crew of the Destination, crab fishing on the Bering Sea took ‘a serious emotional toll’


Growing up in Alaska, two brothers understood the grueling work, risks and rewards of fishing on the Bering Sea. Read Chapter 3 of No Return: The final voyage of the Destination.




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As an exhausted Destination crew hurries, an ice storm bears down


Crew member Kai Hamik was already worn down from nearly a month at sea, but the Destination had to hurry to harvest the lucrative snow crab. And icy weather was on the way. Read Chapter 5 of No Return: The final voyage of the Destination.




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How much is the life of a Bering Sea crabber worth?


After the Destination sinks, loved ones find themselves in anguished negotiations over how to split a $5 million liability-insurance policy. A brother finds it hard to let go of the crew and the vessel. Read Chapter 8 of No Return: The final voyage of the Destination.




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‘I always thought our boat was safe’: Former Destination crew member speaks his mind


The Destination is finally discovered lying on its side at the bottom of the Bering Sea. In federal hearings a month later, Dylan Hatfield, who’d lost so much when the crab boat went down, gets to speak his mind. Read the final chapter of No Return: The final voyage of the Destination.




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Public Crisis, Private Toll: Key findings of The Seattle Times’ investigation of private psychiatric hospitals in Washington


Washington state has approved or expanded 10 private psychiatric hospitals since 2012, promising to transform the way mental-health care is delivered in a state with a chronic shortage of treatment options. Yet on the inside, these new institutions have failed patients in ways both known and unknown to regulators and all but invisible to the […]




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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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Trump says ‘no rush’ on more aid as jobless crisis grows


WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’s in “no rush” to negotiate another financial rescue bill, even as the government reported that more than 20 million Americans lost their jobs last month due to economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus. The president’s low-key approach came Friday as the Labor Department reported the highest unemployment […]




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House Democrats ask 5 companies to return coronavirus aid


WASHINGTON (AP) — A Democratic-led subcommittee overseeing federal coronavirus aid is demanding that five companies return loans the panel says should have gone to smaller businesses. The subcommittee led by Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., sent letters Friday to the companies as its first official action. The House voted last month to create the panel over […]




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Many businesses may follow Amazon in stretching out work-from-home policies, crimping downtown recovery


Business and government insiders say other companies and organizations are contemplating similarly extended time frames as they consider the new realities of the workplace in the COVID-19 era.




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Seattle Yacht Club’s 1926 Montlake reception had a crowning touch


ROYALTY FUELED THE roar of the 1920s in Seattle on Nov. 4, 1926. That day, the city welcomed a woman whom The Seattle Times called the “most beautiful and gracious of all Europe’s feminine monarchs,” Queen Marie. For the 51-year-old regal representative of Romania (then spelled Rumania), Seattle was but one destination on a cross-country […]



  • 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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A new home in Madison Park creates 3 levels of elevated living without towering over its neighbors


KEVIN AND KAREN had lots to look at when they were moving to Seattle from Bellevue. They looked in Madrona. They looked on Queen Anne. But Madison Park looked different. “We were drawn first and foremost to the neighborhood,” Kevin says. “Specifically, the Canterbury neighborhood. It’s really close to the lake, and has longtime residents. […]




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From ‘Jeopardy!’ to opera, our arts critic picks 6 of the best events to watch or listen to May 1-7


Here are a few arts-and-entertainment-y online diversions for the week, from near and far, including Seattle Opera on KING-FM and New York City Ballet.




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When coronavirus dealt Seattle record stores their latest blow, Easy Street Records got creative


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.