The concept of resilience, which began as a term to describe ways in which a community can be better prepared for emergencies, has broadened. Smart cities have begun to link it to the way in which communities can actually work all the time.

It's one thing to close restaurants, bars, and concerts; we pampered urbanites can switch to take-out, Zoom happy hours, and endless cultural and entertainment online. It's another to ban a rural community's essential rituals. “Our funerals are not one or two days,” Tulalip Tribes chairwoman Teri Gobin told me two weeks ago.

Washington State voters see stark differences between the response of state and local government to the pandemic compared to the federal government’s response.

UW Professor (on leave) David Domke, founder of a 2,000-volunteer, Seattle-based activist group, Common Purpose Now, is working to expand voter participation and elect Democrats all over the country this year.

"I am planning a three-hour television special, 'The Toughest Decision in History,' where I will announce the biggest decision I have ever faced, in fact, the biggest decision that any political leader has ever faced. It will be incredible TV. Tremendous TV."

Census data show us where West Seattle commuters go to work and begin to give an idea of the scale of the traffic mess that awaits.

2020 could be a realigning election like 1860, 1896, and 1932: an election that ushers in a new era of one-party dominance.

Being is just that. Being here, now. Noticing our state of being, how it is with our spirit. Now, in the Great Silence or Long Emptiness, is not so great for those of us who prefer doing to being.

“European solidarity does not exist. Only China can help,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in announcing emergency powers last month.

With people confined to their homes, unable to dine out, one result has been a boom in home cooking. Supermarkets are out of flour – baking is suddenly in.

Already, attractive small cities such as Bellingham, Port Townsend, and Anacortes are drawing people who want more natural beauty, small-town friendliness, and affordable housing--all while holding stimulating jobs.

Congress failed to fix this ability to bypass Congress’s authority back in 2009 by stripping out a key provision in the House version of the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008. The final bill became law, but it did not include the House’s “for cause” requirement for removing an IG for 9 specific reasons.

The Chernobyl and Covid-19 emergencies are egregious examples of the failure of leadership. Russian bureaucrats blamed low-level operators at the nuclear plant. America, Russia, and China all tried to shift the blame by firing whistleblower troublemakers.

I am not joking when I say that those cable news sets remind me of horror movies. I keep expecting someone wearing a hockey goalie’s mask to sneak up on the pundit in question and strangle him or slash his throat. And depending on who the pundit is, I sometimes kind of root for it.

Leaders of endangered arts groups and their boards are busy mulling possibilities. Here are some of the leading ideas, as well as the debate about them, not arranged in any order of preference.

As small newspapers disappear, the impacts are largely cultural and intangible. The good ones tell readers what their local town council is up to, who’s running for mayor, or what caused that car crash on the highway through town.

Easter is quite similar to other major holidays like Christmas and Halloween, which have evolved over the last 200 years or so. In all of these holidays, Christian and non-Christian (pagan) elements have continued to blend together.

The reason people in India can see the Himalaya again is because of Covid 19. The whole country has shut down; pollution plummeted; skies have cleared. Before us rises a possible future.

The Market now shows its good architectural bones. In a few years, it will be the key linkage for a walk from Capitol Hill to the historic waterfront.

The dynamic between them fascinates me, the differences as well as the similarities, the knowledge of each other's strengths and weaknesses and the way that resonates in their interchanges.

I can still see the beloved village pharmacist in his long white coat and with his flamboyant mustache, smiling broadly, and waving to passersby. But Patrizio was a victim of coronavirus.

It seems we are hard wired to focus on the negative. Pessimists avoid humiliation and, at the same time, enjoy the possibility of the ultimate reward: being the lone voice for sanity amidst the irrational exuberance of the masses. Stay pessimistic long enough and you may have your “Big Short” moment.

Yes, I owe a thank you to Linda Tripp. And it has nothing to do with how she recorded calls with Monica Lewinsky that...

Now comes the coronavirus global pandemic. It’s difficult to imagine a more disruptive political force converging upon a more vulnerable status quo.

The Pentagon last week issued an order to defense installations prohibiting them from public disclosure of coronavirus infections among their ranks. That has stirred fear in civilian and military communities in places like Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Joint Base Lewis McChord

When the local economy is melting down, should the Council be passing new taxes on businesses?

Crosscut's early years were about as bumpy as Seattle streets, but two saviors came to its rescue: the Gates Foundation and KCTS. Now it's a force.

Is it possible that this world-wide disaster, which is far from over, has put on vivid display the disastrous consequences of denialism?

Here in the Pacific Northwest -- at least the dank western part of the region -- planting trees seems a natural. If there's one thing we can do here, it's grow trees. And we should. But not every place is Western Washington or Oregon. And even here, there are caveats.

Changing "unemployment" insurance to employment insurance, paying to keep workers on the job can soften the impact of the coming recession.