Maternal health organizations and advocates are urging the California surgeon general to suspend the rollout of a plan aimed at reducing maternal mortality.

From family planning to hospital bills, the new Trump administration has the potential to affect a wide range of policies in the Golden State and beyond.

Sunday is the single biggest motorsports day in broadcast television history. NBC has the Grand Prix of Monaco at 7 a.m., coverage of the Indianapolis 500 starts at 11 a.m. on ABC and the nightcap at 6 p.m. will be the Coca Cola 600 from Charlotte on Fox. That means over 18 hours of live Formula 1, IndyCar and NASCAR action, making the Memorial Day weekend must-see TV for motorsports fans.

The House welcomed two new members to its ranks on Tuesday, putting the chamber at near-full capacity as lawmakers prepare for another spending fight and Democrats look to pass any final pieces of legislation before Republicans take control of Congress next year.  Reps. Tony Weid (R-OH) and Erica Lee Carter (D-TX) were sworn into office […]

L.A.-area startups received $1.8 billion in the third quarter, the highest quarterly amount for the region, according to CB Insights. Most of it went to a single company.

The Washington Redskins branding change isn’t sitting well with everyone.

The Stranger's morning news round-up. by Nathalie Graham

One more for the blue: After a neck-in-neck race, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez officially won re-election to the House in the 3rd Congressional District, beating out far-right challenger Joe Kent. Her win is another step forward for Democrats as they try to take back the House and retain a shred of power in the coming administration from hell. About two dozen races nation-wide still need to be decided.

Please spare us, H5N1: The Centers for Disease Control want more testing done for bird flu after blood tests on 115 of dairy workers showed 7% had bird flu antibodies, meaning they'd already contracted the disease at some point. Previously, we only confirmed 46 cases of bird flu jumping from cows to farmworkers. This new study suggests that bird flu has infected many more people than the confirmed cases. Experts say this indicates the H5N1 viruses are a greater threat than we realized. Great! Another flu just in time for the vaccine-doubters to take office. 

Wet weekend—and then week—ahead: Friday will likely be our last dry day for a while. Get your galoshes ready. The rain starts Saturday and it'll continue at least throughout the week.

I hope you like rain this weekend! ????️

It could be wet for the State H.S. football tournament games across the Puget Sound region. #pnw pic.twitter.com/JAvPx7hegV

— Jake Whittenberg (@jwhittenbergK5) November 8, 2024

That's nice: Boeing said it will pay the employees the money they lost while being furloughed during the machinists' strike that started in September. 

Egyptian flooding: A pipe leak at the historic Egyptian Cinema on Capitol Hill shut down the 108-year-old theater for the "foreseeable future." Repairs will be expensive and take months. The universe does not want me or my people (progressives, art house movie lovers) to be happy this week. 

INBOX: The SIFF Cinema Egyptian is going to be closed for "the foreseeable future and the Fine Arts building leadership expect that it will take multiple months of building closure to assess, repair and reopen." Sad news especially during what is a big time of the year for film. pic.twitter.com/v2ItPx5Lpi

— Chase 'Hutch' Hutchinson (@EclecticHutch) November 7, 2024

Another hit while we're down: Don't forget, five light rail stops will close this weekend. Starting at 10 pm on Friday through 5 am Monday, Westlake, Symphony, Pioneer Square, International District/Chinatown, and Stadium stations will all be closed and inaccessible. Trains will run between Lynnwood and Capitol Hill and between Sodo and Angle Lake. Shuttle buses will be available to bridge gaps between open and closed stations. It’s all part of the crawling effort to connect Line 1 to the Eastside line.

Sign of the times: Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale rocketed to the top of Amazon's bestsellers list this week.  

Racist texts: In the days after the election, Black and Brown people across the country received spammy, racist texts telling them they had "been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation" and that the senders' "executive slave catchers" would pick them up. State attorney generals say they will root out who sent these texts. A second Donald Trump term means the masks covering the depravity in America are well and truly off. Racists are emboldened. 

Nobody panic: Forty-three monkeys escaped from a medical lab in South Carolina. "There is almost no danger to the public," a local police chief said. No danger? Isn't this how Planet of the Apes started? 

Israeli soccer fans attacked in Amsterdam: Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv and Dutch's Ajax faced off in a Europa League soccer game Thursday. After the game, people attacked Israelis in hit-and-run scooter attacks. Five Israeli fans went to the hospital, but have since been released. Around 20 to 30 other Israelis sustained light injuries. Police arrested 63 people, and ten are still in custody. Context, as always, is important. In the days leading up to the match, social media videos showed Maccabi fans "chanting anti-Arab slurs, praising Israeli military attacks in Gaza, and yelling 'fuck the Arabs,'" according to CNN. Ajax won the game 5-0. 

And now, something from Ashley about the cops: 

Fill’er up: The King County Jail officially lifted misdemeanor booking restrictions for the Seattle Police Department (SPD) allowing officers to finally lock up all those pesky Target shoplifters and people who tried to use the bathroom at PCC one too many times and ended up trespassed. I wrote about how SPD Deputy Chief Eric Barden told officers in a department wide email Tuesday that they should book people into jail whenever a public safety interest existed and only show additional discretion when the department neared their misdemeanor bed limit of 135 people per day. Most people charged with misdemeanors spend less than a week in jail, so could be a lot of people cycling through, which King County Department of Public Defense Interim Director Matt Sanders said will ultimately make it harder for people to hold down jobs, maintain housing, and secure behavioral health treatment, ultimately undermining public safety in the city.

Did you hear about San Francisco's new mayor? He's a centrist Democrat and he's the heir to the Levi's fortune. Daniel Lurie won the ranked-choice voting election with 56.2% of the vote. Incumbent London Breed only received 43.8%. San Franciscans made clear they are sick of seeing poverty and being confronted with crimes of desperation. Unfortunately, as we know very well in Seattle, electing a centrist may hide the problems for a bit, but it will do nothing to fix them. 

A porn gorge: North Korean soldiers deployed in Russia have unrestricted internet access for the first time in their lives and they're using it to watch mountains of porn and jerk themselves silly. Boys will be boys! 

Need something to do tonight? The world is bleak. Why not laugh a little at an improv show? The improv theater I wrote about for my column is having a battle of the star signs show tonight followed by an open-to-all improv jam. I'll be performing on the Scorpio team even though I'm not a Scorpio (don't tell anyone). 

A song for your Friday: This just feels like the sound of my psyche right now. 

Washington State Univerity's Indie Folk is a unique art exhibition for many reasons, not the least of which is its original soundtrack of nine songs gallery-goers will be able to listen to…

It's a sunny Monday as I drive out to Sherman, one of Lincoln County's few ghost towns…

Going to a Spokane Indians game is as much about the sensory experience at the ballpark as it is rooting for your favorite team…

Chase James is ready for his crowning achievement…

Richard Weatherly has always had time on his side…

It's been more than three years since COVID began to shake up the world with lockdowns, social distancing and other measures that seem like relics of the past…

For some, Luna on Spokane's South Hill is reserved for special occasions…

A few things to know before heading to the relaunched fest. This weekend Volume Music Festival returns from hibernation to deliver two nights jam packed with 100 artists across 10 stages. It's a de facto sampler platter for the Spokane and Northwest music scene…

Last year, summer belonged to "Barbenheimer," the simultaneous theatrical release of Greta Gerwig's Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer…

Lives are centered on continually getting what we need to survive…

Politics has long had whisper campaigns, with negative rumors — racial, sexual, criminal — spread secretly by campaigns. Of course, with the advent of the automated robocall, you don't need to be subtle about it anymore.

So it is with a recent robocall against Sandpoint mayoral candidate Shelby Rognstad…

Acoustic duo Sweet Sorrows to visit India

Based on the strength of my first listen to the album-titled opening track from Jóhann Jóhannsson's new Fordlandia, I was ready to launch it far up my often-morphing "best of 2008" list. When the woodwind curls of "Melodia (I)" followed, I was wooed even further. Following the more epic IBM 1401 - A User's Manual and Virðulegu Forsetar, Fordlandia is much more straightforward and concise, with what is essentially three separate suites of music that are largely broken down into more digestible pieces.

Co-released on Time Lag and Indian Queen Records, & Hope Still is the debut album from one Silent Land Time Machine, a one-man recording project of a fellow from Texas who has managed to teach himself how to play a lot of different instruments and build up a beguiling little album with some crafty layering and subtle shifts in sound that call to mind a ton of different artists but doesn't really sound like any one of them in particular.

His statement arrives after a group of 467 former contestants of the game show penned an open letter to the show, demanding an apology from the show's producers for not censoring a controversial hand gesture in an episode.

The actress played Krystle Carrington in the hit drama from 1981 to 1989 admits she did not know the show was coming to an end, and went through terrible withdrawal after leaving the cult TV soap.

Just months after being released from prison on his murder charge, the 'Everyday We Lit' rapper reportedly will be ordered back to jail as he is named in a 105-count racketeering indictment.

The 'American Hustle' actress and the 'Brokeback Mountain' actor are joining forces to develop a new feature film about real-life scientist Suzanne Simard.

The 'American Hustle' actress and the 'Brokeback Mountain' actor are joining forces to develop a new feature film about real-life scientist Suzanne Simard.

Anniversary for Worcestershire networking group.

The first ever Lichfield Rocks festival raised over £2,500 for St Giles Hospice in Whittington.

Labour’s West Midlands Mayor candidate pledges to build 3,000 new affordable homes per year.

CBSO announce pop-up performance at New Street.

David Rendall says a series of endless blunders has led Britain into a fatal spin.

British ‘bullet trains’ should be Black Country-built says Liam Byrne.

Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street and Liam Byrne MP to meet audience.

Six venues, eleven days, unforgettable performances.

Effective communications shown to be the way forward.

News that another well-known local has declared themselves a potential mayoral candidate prompts Dave Woodhall to wonder what the criteria for the job will be.

Villa go out of the Carabao Cup to Crystal Palace. Dave Woodhall watches.

An exciting new local food market will begin this month at Twickenham Primary School in Kingstanding.

Year 5 children from Twickenham Primary School in Kingstanding are making great progress with their social enterprise scheme working with the Diggin’ Generations local food project

£5.6 million boost as Trust at its busiest ever.

China's Xiaomi had complained to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) that the report - which found Flipkart, some of its sellers, and smartphone players in violation of competition laws - contained commercial secrets that should have been redacted, Reuters reported in September.

"The government has come up with Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), an open network for digital commerce that is helping even the bigger e-commerce businesses," said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

According to a report by Kearney and LUXASIA, India's luxury beauty market is projected to grow to USD 1.6 billion by 2028 and USD 4.0 billion by 2035. This growth is fueled by economic development and an expanding middle class. Brands need to tailor their strategies for region-specific preferences to succeed. Early market entry and expert support are crucial to navigate complexities, the report said.

The sheer scale of sales opportunity in the Indian market has also provided “in-market, for-market” justifications for investments in manufacturing in the country, according to a latest forecast by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

SBI economists predict a dip in India's GDP growth to 6.5% for the September quarter, citing temporary pressures on the domestic economy. Despite this, they maintain an optimistic outlook, expecting a rebound in the following quarter fueled by rising rural demand and anticipate FY25 growth to approach 7%.

India's consumer price inflation likely surged to a 14-month high in October, driven by soaring vegetable and edible oil prices. Economists predict inflation hit 5.81%, just below the central bank's 6% tolerance limit. A weak rupee and rising global commodity prices add to inflationary pressures, potentially delaying anticipated interest rate cuts.

Despite the persistent inflation and sluggish demand, several leading FMCG and retail brands are doubling down on their premiumization strategies, reshaping their approach to appeal to discerning customers.

“With customers seeking more personalized experiences, the outlet will provide a holistic experience that will assist them in making the right decisions,” said Saurabh Agarwal, managing director, Kamdhenu Paints.

Furnishka will use the new capital to advance product design and development, strengthen manufacturing and supply chain capabilities, and expand to new geographies. The company will also expand its product categories focused on premium living room, dining room and bedroom collections, open six large-format stores, and create educational content to guide customers.