Here comes a straight week of small weather systems marching across the Puget Sound, one right after the other, each bringing scattered showers with sun breaks, according to the National Weather Service of Seattle.

Costco will require shoppers to wear masks that cover their mouth and nose while in the store starting Monday, the company says.

Throughout Wednesday, on this page, we’ll be posting updates from Seattle Times journalists and others on the pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the Pacific Northwest and the world.

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 […]

Throughout Sunday, on this page, we’ll be posting updates from Seattle Times journalists and others on the pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the Pacific Northwest and the world.

Throughout Sunday, on this page, we’ll be posting updates from Seattle Times journalists and others on the pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the Pacific Northwest and the world.

As Washington grapples with a tsunami of legitimate unemployment claims — more than 100,000 last week — the state also is seeing a rise in attempts by fraudsters to siphon off a portion of the benefits.

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.

This series of charts provides weekly data on how the Seattle-area economy is doing during the coronavirus crisis.

For the week ending May 2, the state received 109,167 initial claims for unemployment insurance, down almost 22% from the prior week, according to U.S. Labor Department figures released Thursday morning.

Kroger-owned QFC and Fred Meyer will discontinue their $2-an-hour "Hero Bonus'' premiums paid to workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Ohio-based Kroger has set May 16 as the program's final date while other large grocery retailers ponder the future of similar bonuses.

Five TSA employees nationwide have died of COVID-19, and 516 employees have tested positive, including seven at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

As Washington grapples with a tsunami of legitimate unemployment claims — more than 100,000 last week — the state also is seeing a rise in attempts by fraudsters to siphon off a portion of the benefits.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Matt Kenseth had a blissful year of retirement. He had time to travel with his wife and four daughters, made his first visit to Europe and took up marathon running. It was free time he never had in 22 years of racing at NASCAR’s national level. “It was really just spending […]

MIAMI (AP) — Politicians, players and owners are trying to figure out a way to get baseball, basketball and hockey going again, not only for economic reasons but as a welcome diversion for a social distancing nation facing uncertain times. But to do so would require commandeering thousands of test kits each week for millionaire […]

PARIS (AP) — Discussions to host Formula One races in July are at an advanced stage, although F1 chairman Chase Carey cautions that “the remote possibility of no racing in 2020″ remains. The first 10 races of the season have been postponed or canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic, leading to a huge loss of revenue. […]

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 […]

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.

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.

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.

Tearing out old levees and allowing room for our rivers to flood — safely — can save lives, property and restore crucial salmon habitat.

CEO Dave Calhoun tells shareholders that when the market for jets does revive, "our customers' needs will be different." Boeing also told U.S. employees Monday what it is offering in the first wave of voluntary job cuts.

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.

The planemaker won't seek additional funding through the capital markets or U.S. government aid at this time, according to a company statement late Thursday after the debt sale.

Alaska Airlines joins several other major airlines launching mask requirements for passengers.

The company sent an email inquiry to the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday about shutting the terminal down, given the minimal passenger traffic amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

For GE, the stress on a key business threatens a broader turnaround effort as CEO Larry Culp attempts to pull the company from one of the deepest slumps in its history.

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.

WASHINGTON — In his eagerness to reopen the country, President Donald Trump faces the challenge of convincing Americans that it would be safe to go back to the workplace. But the past few days have demonstrated that even his own workplace may not be safe from the coronavirus. Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary tested […]

CINCINNATI (AP) — Aspiring doctors in Cincinnati whose studies were interrupted by the coronavirus outbreak have morphed their mission into taking care of people who are especially vulnerable to the pandemic’s dangers. University of Cincinnati medical students started a “COVID-19 match” program modeled on one that began in Louisville, Kentucky, and is also being replicated […]

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Many people saw more than the last moments of Ahmaud Arbery’s life when a video emerged this week of white men armed with guns confronting the black man, a struggle with punches thrown, three shots fired and Arbery collapsing dead. The Feb. 23 shooting in coastal Georgia is drawing comparisons to […]

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Frustrated by scarce supplies and a chaotic marketplace amid the coronavirus outbreak, some U.S. governors are seeking to bolster their home-state production of vital medical and protective equipment to ensure a reliable long-term source for state stockpiles. The efforts come as states have been competing against each other, the federal […]

After 23-year-old Stacy Falcon-Dewey and her 3-year-old son, Jake, were found slain in 1994, Renton police detectives chased one dead-end lead after another. But even after a break in the case came years later, charges were never filed and the case slipped through the cracks. All the while, the victims’ grieving family learned virtually nothing.

In hundreds of cases, patients seeking mental-health treatment in Washington state have been held against their will or threatened with involuntary commitment.

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 […]

Phase two is expected to begin for most areas on June 1, provided public-health data still looks favorable.

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 […]

In addition to selling some of their excess, airlines have put donation programs in place.

Five TSA employees nationwide have died of COVID-19, and 516 employees have tested positive, including seven at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

As Washington grapples with a tsunami of legitimate unemployment claims — more than 100,000 last week — the state also is seeing a rise in attempts by fraudsters to siphon off a portion of the benefits.

While this year’s Mother’s Day weekend promises warm weather, Seattle officials are restricting hours in city parks out of fears that large crowds hoping to enjoy the sun could further spread the novel coronavirus. A recent report shows the COVID-19 transmission rate in Western Washington may be steadily increasing, suggesting that the number of virus cases […]

Sporadic protests continue at Amazon warehouses. The company has fired employees involved in walkouts or organizing in New York and Minnesota for what it says are violations of corporate policy.

The company’s first-quarter earnings report will provide a view of how the pandemic has accelerated trends already working in its favor, and the extent to which coronavirus restrictions on businesses and consumers have boosted Amazon’s sales.

The tax on companies with annual payrolls over $7 million would apply to gig-economy companies, such as Uber. But franchises, such as McDonald's, could avoid the 1.3% payroll tax.

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.

IMAGINE IT’S 1683, and you live in England. You might be in the throes of the Age of Enlightenment, but the state of medicine is still downright medieval, so when you or your loved ones are afflicted with sleeplessness, or indigestion, or hangovers, or even low libido, you could make a trip to the barber-surgeon, or […]

IN 2017, ABOUT three-quarters of the stuff Seattleites dumped in their blue recycling bins — from grocery store ads and crumpled cracker boxes to shampoo bottles and yogurt tubs — was shipped to China. These days, virtually none of it is. The majority of the material is being recycled much closer to home — at […]

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 […]

Here are some considerations for hiking, courtesy of the Washington Trails Association, once the “stay-at-home” order is lifted: • Respect fellow hikers’ space. We likely will still be practicing social distancing this summer, so be mindful of this on the trails. • Check to see whether specific trails are open. Not everything will open right away […]

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.