Boosters of a new Seattle tax on large corporations such as Amazon, including City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, have filed a petition to put an initiative on the ballot this year, they said Thursday. They’re aiming for the November ballot and say the tax could raise $300 million a year, though those calculations were made before coronavirus […]

What the baseball season will look like exactly remains to be seen, as a number of scenarios are being discussed. But if you've been yearning for live sports amid the coronavirus pandemic, it looks like you're (eventually) going to get your fix.

Major League Baseball is reportedly considering a plan of restarting spring training in early June with the season starting in early July.

The quality of the games, which include a handful of former big-league players, isn’t great. But it’s real, live baseball being broadcast by ESPN. Beyond the joy of watching baseball, these games provide a glimpse of what Mariners games and other MLB matchups might look like if/when they return.

A satirical look back at some of the quirkiest, most eyebrow-raising things that happened in the sports world this week.

A 70-year-old mother in Portland, Ore., thought she was most at risk in her family for the coronavirus. Her fears became real for her adult son in Utah — and all she could do was stand by for word.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon is renowned for its craft beer and increasingly for its high-grade marijuana, but the state is keeping the two apart — for now. In a new ruling, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which regulates both alcoholic products and recreational marijuana, says beer and other alcoholic drinks as of Jan. 1 […]

NEW YORK (AP) — A year ago, marijuana legalization looked like it was on a roll in the Northeast — it had already passed in three of the region’s states and was a priority for governors in three more, including the populous New York. Now, after legislative efforts stalled and a vaping sickness stirred new […]

BEIJING (AP) — Ji Chaozhu, a veteran Chinese diplomat who provided English translation for leaders including Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping and served as an undersecretary of the United Nations, has died, the foreign ministry said. He was 90. Ji also served as ambassador to Britain over the course of a lengthy career that began […]

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic and the United States have signed a joint declaration Wednesday for cooperating on security of 5G technology. The Czech government office said the document was signed remotely by Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The signing comes amid a global battle between the […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Zoom Video Communications is buying security firm Keybase in an effort to shore up security for its video meetings. Terms of the deal were undisclosed. Zoom has been working to improve the security of its video meetings after some lapses in privacy and security as Zoom meetings grew more popular during […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Zoom Video Communications is buying security firm Keybase in an effort to shore up security for its video meetings. Terms of the deal were undisclosed. Zoom has been working to improve the security of its video meetings after some lapses in privacy and security as Zoom meetings grew more popular during […]

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.

The rival Seattle-based digital brokerages reported stronger-than-expected revenue in the first three months of the year, but ended the quarter sunk in the red.

On Tuesday, the City of Seattle announced a $1.1 million, arts-specific recovery package and rent suspension for cultural organizations, designed to help an arts sector heavily hit by the coronavirus shutdowns.

ArtsFund, along with a coalition of arts organizations, is working to launch an emergency relief fund for arts organizations in King County. Artist Trust is launching a relief fund to help individual artists who have immediate needs.

ArtsFund on Monday announced new projections about pandemic-related losses in regional arts, cultural and scientific nonprofits, as well as its first round of coronavirus-related relief grants.

It’s not your imagination: Around the Pacific Northwest and the country, everyone’s been baking like fiends. Here’s what Seattle’s been cooking up during the coronavirus quarantine.

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 […]

LONDON (AP) — From resounding applause to ostracization and isolation. That’s essentially the journey Lt. Cmdr. Robert Embleton, who served 34 years in Britain’s Royal Navy, took by ambulance when discharged from Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, southwestern England, on April 8 following his near-month sickness with COVID-19. Arriving at his retirement home, he immediately went […]

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 […]

Every Mother's Day, climbers flock to Mount St. Helens in festive dresses in the continuation of a tradition started by 'the woman in the red dress.' This Mother's Day, a new mini-documentary from OPB tells the story of Kathy Phibbs, a gifted alpinist who paved the way for a more inclusive outdoors community — and pink flamingos on mountain summits.

Who needs a yard sale? In an effort to get rid of stuff before moving to a smaller house, this couple came up with a novel way to purge: let people in and tell them to take whatever they want.

People move far less than they used to: Just 9.8% of Americans moved in the year ending in March, according to newly released data. That was the smallest share since the Census Bureau started tracking it in 1947.

GREAT BLUE HERONS alight — a lot — along this glistening stretch of Lake Union. Could be the impressive fishers simply have landed on the perfect, protected perch for that statue-standing thing they do — right up until they lightning-strike. Could be they’re doing that inquisitive-bird “Are You My Mother?” thing, imprinting on the mesmerizing […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Queen Latifah, Rebecca Breeds and Thomas Middleditch are set to star in three new CBS shows for the 2020-21 season as the network adds a reimagined “Equalizer,” a show based on “The Silence of the Lambs” and a comedy about organ donation. Queen Latifah steps into the role of a retired […]

Every Mother's Day, climbers flock to Mount St. Helens in festive dresses in the continuation of a tradition started by 'the woman in the red dress.' This Mother's Day, a new mini-documentary from OPB tells the story of Kathy Phibbs, a gifted alpinist who paved the way for a more inclusive outdoors community — and pink flamingos on mountain summits.

The Pentagon has asked a federal court to give it 120 days to “reconsider certain aspects” of a controversial decision to award an important cloud computing contract known as JEDI to Microsoft, according to a court document made public Thursday. Amazon is suing the Defense Department over the decision, which it claims fell in Microsoft’s […]

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

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."

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 […]

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

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.

In the time of the hunkering down at home for the novel coronavirus, everything you knew about good eating, portion control and feeding your child's brain has gone from your head. But there are a few things you can do.

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.

So what if your gym is closed? There are lots of different ways to keep your fitness level up. Just look around your neighborhood and incorporate some of these fun little "games" into your workout routine.

Arts critic Moira Macdonald brings a glimpse of cherry blossoms, if only in puzzle form, for this week’s edition of Sunday Best.

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.

Editor’s note: Larry Stone’s story was reported and written from the early days of this year’s spring training in Arizona. It was sent to press for publication in Pacific NW magazine before Major League Baseball made the decision to cancel the rest of spring training, and delay the start of the regular season in an effort to […]

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 […]

This possible plan floated by MLB is rife with holes, writes columnist Larry Stone. Is it really wise to be putting so aggressive a timeline on baseball’s return at a time when the full scope of coronavirus’ devastation is still being felt?

The biggest, gaudiest, craziest — and oh, yeah, the fakest — event ever held at the ballpark on the corner of Edgar Martinez Drive and Dave Niehaus Way took place 17 years ago, on March 30, 2003.

Times reporter Bob Young and a trio of marijuana experts held a live chat on Friday. State Liquor Control Board Deputy Director Rick Garza, ACLU of Washington drug-policy director Alison Holcomb, and dispensary owner John Davis all answered questions on marijuana legalization. Read their comments below. [do action=”scribblelive” chatid=”110649″ width=”630″ height=”500″/]  

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

Seattle parks officials say the city should consider partnering with a private nonprofit organization to pay for and manage the Green Lake Community Center. Neighbors think otherwise.

Jackson calls on CEO Jeff Bezos to create a board of directors and a workforce that looks more like America.

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

Boeing has raised $25 billion in a massive debt sale, allowing it to avoid tapping a $17 billion coronavirus bailout fund meant to shore up businesses critical to national security.

The Seattle Times has been awarded a 2020 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for its yearlong coverage of the two deadly crashes of Boeing’s 737 MAX jet. This is the newspaper's 11th Pulitzer Prize.

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 […]