The Art of Misfitting: Kyrsten Sinema
Sinema proudly asserts: "I’ve never really wanted to fit in. Not in Washington and not anywhere else.”
Local Character? It Really Does Complicate Housing Policy Reform
Suburban cities resist change, but the Growth Management Act created an existential challenge to these cities. Now the Legislature may compound the crisis.
Making of a Politician: Millennial Girmay Zahilay on the Move
"If people are trying to make change, I would tell them, it's much more possible at the local level to create change than dealing with Congress, which has all these barriers."
Walla Walla Hits the Ground Running (So What Would it Take...
Over the past 70-plus years, state ferries have carried hundreds of millions of passengers on perhaps 10 million trips. And yet, across seven decades, not a single life has been lost in a ferry accident. But if a ferry were to sink, here's how it might happen...
No Dice on No Labels: Why I Changed my Mind About...
One reason for my change of mind is that without political reform—especially widespread adoption of ranked choice voting—I doubt Independents can win, especially the presidency.
How Peter the Great’s Fascination with a “Land Beyond the Sea”...
Following Bering's discovery of sea otter riches, an almost endless train of adventurers and brigands struck out from Asia for North America with wild dreams of staggering wealth. Many crew members were hardened criminals.
Strategic Blunders and Scattershot Threats: Putin’s Failures Multiply
Putin's miscalculations have mounted. Harsh punishments meted out for little-known war critics are stirring discontent among Russians long tuned out of their country’s top-down politics.
Remembering Jim Compton
In a few days in any newsroom, you know the one with the talent, the gift, the way to find and tell a story that means something. Jim was that one. And he shared, always.
Out from the Shadows: The Best of Old Vines
Seminal projects blossomed into Long Shadows in 2002, when Allen Shoup rolled out a portfolio of ultra-premium wines carefully concepted to have each of them express a particular Washington wine industry strength.
Weaponizing Accountability: Impaled on Their Own Words
When the infallible hold "accountable" the impotent, meaning of this word is unfathomable.
Up on a Pedestal: Where are Seattle’s Women?
When trying to tally tributes to identifiable women, I could only count three.
The Eccentric Lost Art of Chapbooks
Each of the chapbooks takes flight. The whimsy of the author is at the controls. However, the authors are - or were - distinguished literary personalities.
Kraken Rise — NBA Return?
The task is formidable. Then again, what about this project has been otherwise?
Montana’s New (Temporary) Election Law: Throwing Jon Tester into the Jungle
The ploys' objective is to keep the Libertarian Party off the ballot, a party that has been blamed for draining votes from Tester challengers. Two of Tester’s three election wins have come with fewer than 50 percent of statewide votes, and they featured a Libertarian on the ballot.
Living in a Defensive Crouch: Abundance Versus Adventure
"Each of us must discover the adventure that is a human life—the epic adventures of high risk and innovation but also the everyday adventures of love and marriage, of family, of childhood innocence, of being young in a land where the future is a wide frontier."
All Study and No Action: Planning for a New Airport Goes...
Sen. Karen Keiser called the new work group “doomed,’’ and said it will only prolong the years of state and regional inaction in developing new aviation facilities. “Mostly, we’ve held on to a firm state of denial,” she said.
No Pretense to Govern: The GOP’s Circular Firing Squad
The GOP caucus today has a higher quotient of crazies who live in fear of being “primaried” by a challenger. The result, as seen in McCarthy’s behavior, is a timid deference to extremism, fearmongering, firearm fetishizing, and Donald Trump.
Taking Little Things and Making Them Better: Remembering Alec Fisken
Fisken was a unique combination of banker, reformer, fiscal conservative, author, and humanitarian. He was a most useful citizen who tried, in his lifetime, to make things better for people.
Careful What you Wish For? On the Verge of Winning a...
The arts in our region definitely need new funding, but this new source is likely to have lots of strings attached, and the funds would be spread widely to smaller groups as well as heritage organizations.
Is Seattle Making it Impossible to be a Small Landlord?
City of Seattle data show the number of rental units consisting of houses and small apartment buildings (20 units or less) fell by 17 percent between July 2018 and August 2022.
View from Abroad: The Disunited States of America
So perhaps the Great American Experiment is just that – a noble effort, certainly, but perhaps doomed to fail.
Staring into the Abyss: The Seattle Times’ Kafkaesque Subscription System
I tried to give the Times a break. I told its circulation people to switch my daily sub to online-only and save a few bucks on printing and delivery. Oh no, they said, that would kick you up to the (higher) full online rate.
A Building Blue Wave
Youth turnout in Washington was about 10 points higher than the national average. Voting here is encouraged by drop boxes on campuses and same-day registration. The results: Eight Republican legislative challengers in swing districts went down to defeat.
Early Days: The Streets are Yet Empty
The waterfront will save Seattle, open it like a shuttered, saddened room, give it air and wind and salt and length and even health.
Hail and Farewell, Viaduct. Hello Sky and Waterfront Park
We need this new thing. It’s been three years of long hard dark, and I am more than ready for the shock of light unimpeded.
Christopher Columbus’ PNW Connections
Common usage of the name Columbus has blurred the life and accomplishments of an individual whose life was full, controversial, and epochal.
Liminal Greatness: The Fruits of WeatherEye
The extreme terrain, wild variations in soil types and labor-intensive cultivation pay off, the principals believe, by providing "opportunities for growing wine grapes, limited only by our imagination."
Why Seattle Apartments Are So Expensive and Staying That Way
Landlords just hate to lower rents if they can possibly help it, since it would touch off tough negotiations with all the other tenants.
The Courage of Being a Moderate
In many sectors of life today, questions, doubts or nuance are seen as a deviation from a norm and cannot and must not be tolerated. This is true on both the far right and the far left.
Olympia Report: Housing, Hospital Execs, Climate and Dead Bills
What your state legislature is up to this session.
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Memories of Manzanar: Here We Are Again
Seattle congressman Warren Magnuson enthusiastically supported the internment. And Edward R. Murrow joined the hysterical chorus with, “I think it’s probable that, if Seattle ever does get bombed, you will be able to look up and see some University of Washington sweaters on the boys doing the bombing!”
