Throughout Friday, 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.

Gov. Kate Brown announced earlier this week that some outdoor recreation activities can resume as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

Prosecutor Adam Cornell likened the decision by Sheriff Adam Fortney to publicly question and refuse to enforce the stay-home order "to yelling 'fire' in a crowded theater."

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 […]

Still facing a backlash over saying she wouldn't visit the White House if the United States wins the World Cup, soccer star Megan Rapinoe said Wednesday that she considers herself a proud American.

It has been 20 years since that final, and Sunday the United States will seek its fourth World Cup title. The meaning of Brandi Chastain’s viral celebration has continued to evolve, though, even for Chastain.

The USWNT is on the verge of winning another Women's World Cup, and they've gotten to the final with a brash confidence that they shouldn't need to apologize for. If you're offended, the operative phrase is: "Wah, wah, wah."

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.

Eight of the cases have been confirmed in King County, four in Snohomish County, three in Spokane County and two in Kitsap County.

State lawmakers in both parties are pushing to open the cannabis industry to out-of-state investors, a move that would align Washington state with the rest of the West Coast.

House Bill 2870 would require the Liquor and Cannabis Board to prioritize applicants who represent communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.

The Marijuana Social Equity Program would allow the Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) to issue forfeited, canceled, and revoked retail licenses to applicants in communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.

Pot shops and many, if not most, liquor stores in this state are considered “essential businesses” and can stay open under Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order.

One reader captured this excellent shot of a stunning wood duck wading across the water, showing that self-isolation sometimes really all it’s quacked up to be.

Major League Soccer on Friday announced that players can use the outdoor portion of their club’s facility for individual workouts as long as use is also in compliance with health and safety protocols.

We often hear about the impact of the pandemic in terms of numbers: This many cases, that many deaths. But each data point represents a human life whose loss is felt by countless other people. If we are to truly understand the toll this virus is taking, their stories need to be front and center.

Editor’s note: The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is generally expressed in numbers of cases and deaths. But each data point represents a human life whose loss is felt by countless other people. We are chronicling some of them in an obituary series called Lives Remembered. If you know someone who has died of COVID-19, […]

Denis Goldberg, 87, a railway engineer who became one of the most prominent white anti-apartheid activists in South Africa, spending 22 years behind bars for plotting to overthrow the country’s brutal system of racial oppression, died April 29 at his home in Hout Bay, near Cape Town. Working alongside Nelson Mandela and other leaders of […]

The couple, who were married for 23 years, are among the hundreds of people in Washington state who have died after testing positive for coronavirus.

Shula became an institution during his 26 seasons in Miami. He died Monday at home. He was 90.

Editor’s note: The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is generally expressed in numbers of cases and deaths. But each data point represents a human life whose loss is felt by countless other people. We are chronicling some of them in an obituary series called Lives Remembered. If you know someone who has died of COVID-19, […]

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 […]

Ty, 47, an acclaimed British rapper best known for his 2003 album “Upwards,” has died from coronavirus. Ty, whose legal name was Ben Chijioke, was admitted to a hospital in early April with COVID-19, The Guardian reported. He was later placed in a medically induced coma. Ann McBride Norton, 75, who championed citizens rights and […]

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 […]

China’s cyberespionage efforts have shown no sign of relenting globally and may be intensifying as tensions with Australia, the United States and other countries have risen over trade, technology, and disputes over the coronavirus pandemic.

BOSTON (AP) — Documents and images shared by users outside China on WeChat, the country’s most popular social media platform, are being monitored and cataloged for use in political censorship in China, a new report says. Citizen Lab, the University of Toronto online watchdog, says in Thursday’s report that WeChat users outside of China are […]

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.

BOSTON (AP) — Documents and images shared by users outside China on WeChat, the country’s most popular social media platform, are being monitored and cataloged for use in political censorship in China, a new report says. Citizen Lab, the University of Toronto online watchdog, says in Thursday’s report that WeChat users outside of China are […]

As my legal career has gotten longer, I have learned that while getting older does not necessarily make a person wiser, but it does make them more experienced. A decade ago, I tried to help hundreds of homeowners who could afford to make their monthly mortgage payment but thought that if they missed just a […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. new home sales plunged 15.4% in March as a winding down in the middle of the month due to the coronavirus began to rattle the housing market. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that sales of new single-family homes dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 627,000 last month after sales […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term mortgage rates rose slightly this week, continuing to hover near all-time lows amid anxiety over the economy and housing market gut-punched by the shutdown spurred by the coronavirus pandemic. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan edged up to 3.33% this week […]

Amid sickness, deaths and frustrations among some who are clamoring to return to life before the COVID-19 outbreak, Gov. Jay Inslee finds himself tested politically like never before.

Here's what homeowners who are having trouble paying the mortgage need to know before seeking forbearance, a pause in payments.

Even before the ban, concern about the novel coronavirus fed into steep drops in ticket sales and canceled fundraising galas, school performances and corporate gigs. Now, arts organizations are trying to assess the potential damage of the new restrictions.

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.

From baking a Japanese-style souffle cheesecake to making trivets out of wine corks, here's what our features staffers recently learned from YouTube videos.

Seattle Opera said Friday that it has received a $2.3 million loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), part of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Previously, the company had reported layoffs for 215 artist and production jobs after Seattle Opera canceled “La bohème,” plus 12 administrators, as well as salary cuts for the […]

First-year UW offensive coordinator John Donovan placed his faith in a familiar face when it came to the Huskies' new tight ends coach. Now Derham Cato — previously a UW offensive analyst — must prove he's up to the task.

May is here! As we welcome a new month under the stay-home order, here are even more suggestions for things you can do at home.

Sadie Davis-Suskind shares a Mother’s Day recipe of classic French crepes that kids can make.

This soup has a highly drinkable broth that is complex enough to satisfy, yet light enough to maintain your enthusiasm to eat Another Thing Today.

With social distancing efforts (or just distance) keeping many families apart for Mother's Day, our features staffers share how they'll be celebrating their moms this weekend. Happy Mother's Day!

NEW YORK (AP) — Three children have now died in New York state from a possible complication from the coronavirus involving swollen blood vessels and heart problems, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday. At least 73 children in New York have been diagnosed with symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease — a rare inflammatory condition in children […]

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 […]