In 2018, Lesotho became the first African nation to issue licenses for the cultivation of cannabis for medicinal purposes. Foreign investors including Canadian companies Supreme Cannabis Co., Canopy Growth Corp. and Aphria Inc. have since poured tens of millions of dollars into a handful of facilities, drawn by the low cost of production.

The new rules prohibit marijuana products featuring “a name, design or brand” that is similar to something you’d see in a candy or toy shop. But they aren’t as sweeping as the emergency ban swiftly approved in late 2018 that resulted in a backlash from businesses.

Growers are concerned the government wants to use a heavy hand that could result in many crops failing required tests and being destroyed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency writing the rules, estimates 20% of hemp lots would fail under the proposed regulations.

Major League Soccer announced Tuesday it's "extremely unlikely" to resume play in May and play its full 2020 season.

Andretti Autosport and Chip Ganassi Racing are the first two American teams to commit to a new electric SUV off-road racing series scheduled to begin in 2021. The Extreme E series has five events planned in what the league is calling “some of the most remarkable, remote and severely damaged locations on the planet.” The […]

By all accounts, 2020 has been, to put it mildly, a weird year. This week alone has already seen a 5-year-old boy from Utah attempt a solo drive to California on a mission to buy a Lamborghini, a llama named Winter emerge as a potential key player in the race for a treatment targeting the […]

In March, contract closings declined 8.5% from the prior month to an annualized 5.27 million, according to National Association of Realtors data released Tuesday.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Friday he will allow the return of some work on building projects in progress that were halted by his stay-at-home order issued on March 23.

The city council, however, rejected a proposal to exempt landlords with four or fewer housing units.

The emergency-spending package is expected to get a council vote on May 12.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Mother’s Day weekend got off to an unseasonably snowy start in the Northeast on Saturday thanks to the polar vortex bringing cold air down from the north. Some higher elevation areas in northern New York and New England reported snowfall accumulations of up to 10 inches, while traces of snow were […]

SO MUCH IS so sweet here — with virtually zero DIY experience, but decades of memories and dreams (and only two trips to the ER), Ty Warren successfully pulled off the lovely-on-many-levels remodel of his childhood home in Kenmore — but the sweetest might be how we learned of this sentimental act of derring-do-it-himself in […]

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) — Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine lit up social media on Friday, releasing a new song and video created during his home confinement just weeks after being freed from a Manhattan federal lockup over coronavirus fears. In “Gooba,” the multi-tattooed rapper whose real name is Daniel Hernandez puts on a rainbow-colored performance accompanied by […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Andre Harrell, the Uptown Records founder who shaped the sound of hip-hop and R&B in the late ’80s and ’90s with acts such as Mary J. Blige and Heavy D and also launched the career of mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, has died. He was 59. Diddy’s REVOLT company confirmed the death […]

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

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

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.

How citizen ‘reporters’ and marauding coyotes took over the neighborhood ‘news cycle.

Ron Judd re-creates a ‘typical’ exchange, where the case of a missing monkey quickly devolves into less-than-neighborly snark.

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

Responses to Ron Judd's September cover story on social-media site Nextdoor mostly confirmed his satire wasn't too far from reality.

Before plunging into our own likely decade of consequence, take a shallow dive into the gene pool of Northwest civilization at the dawn of the last '20s.

NEW YORK (AP) — Almonds used to have about 170 calories per serving. Then researchers said it was really more like 130. A little later, they said the nuts may have even less. Calorie counting can be a simple way to help maintain a healthy weight — don’t eat and drink more than you burn. […]

With the sports calendar still mostly on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, The Associated Press takes a look at some of the live sporting events that would have taken place the week of May 4-10: MLB: The 162-game regular season would have been about one-fourth complete after the Boston Red Sox played this coming […]

With the sports calendar still mostly on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, The Associated Press takes a look at some of the live sporting events that would have taken place the week of May 4-10: MLB: The 162-game regular season would have been about one-fourth complete after the Boston Red Sox played this coming […]

Andretti Autosport and Chip Ganassi Racing are the first two American teams to commit to a new electric SUV off-road racing series scheduled to begin in 2021. The Extreme E series has five events planned in what the league is calling “some of the most remarkable, remote and severely damaged locations on the planet.” The […]

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — IndyCar has gotten the green flag to finally start its season, which it will do in Texas with a nighttime race June 6 without spectators. The race at Texas Motor Speedway was the next one on the schedule that hadn’t been postponed or canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. IndyCar […]

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 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.

The XFL was the first sporting victim not of the colossus that is the NFL, but of the even more formidable coronavirus. The ravages of the virus, and the lingering uncertainty, made the economic road map for resumption unmanageable.

It was exactly 34 years ago Wednesday that Clemens, at the time a highly promising but still unproven Red Sox pitcher, put himself on the baseball map. On one cool, magical night at Boston's Fenway Park against the Mariners, he mowed down a Mariners lineup that had been struggling all season to make contact.

The idea is to impart the baseball knowledge of himself and others he recruited to the cause — many of whom are part of the wave of Northwest-based coaches who have infiltrated professional baseball — while raising money for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to support COVID-19 research.

While the focus of the sports world is on the possible relaunch of the major-league season, minor-league teams cling to the hope of competing in 2020 while girding for the increasing likelihood that the season will be dormant.

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″/]  

Seattle and Washington state are fighting each other in court in an attempt to limit their respective liability for their years of dithering over who should fix the safety of the Aurora Bridge.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday the federal government will not be extending its coronavirus social distancing guidelines once they expire Thursday, and his son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, predicted that by July the country will be “really rocking again.” To underscore his confidence, Trump said he plans to resume out-of-state travel after […]

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.

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.

HOUSTON (AP) — The U.S. government has awarded a $275 million border wall contract for construction that would begin in South Texas in January, at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term if he is re-elected. Caddell Construction Company, based in Montgomery, Alabama, won the contract to build 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) of barriers […]

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Mother’s Day weekend got off to an unseasonably snowy start in the Northeast on Saturday thanks to the polar vortex bringing cold air down from the north. Some higher elevation areas in northern New York and New England reported snowfall accumulations of up to 10 inches, while traces of snow were […]

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.

Published on August 25, 2019

Stocks closed with broad gains Friday, brushing off a record-breaking report of job losses, as investors reckoned that the very worst of the economic pain caused by the coronavirus pandemic may be passing. Employers cut 20.5 million jobs last month, a record high but less than what the market expected. Technology and financial stocks were […]

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

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.

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.