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As the Kaleetan ferry from Bremerton prepares to leave Colman dock and head back to Bremerton, the Puyallup ferry from Bainbridge Island, at left, waits to pull into the slip. (Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle Times)

Traffic Lab

Washington State Ferries ridership drops in 2019 from snow, construction and other ferry options

Washington State Ferries tallied 23.9 million passengers, down about 800,000 from 2018. The ridership decrease was the first in seven years. VIEW

'Change might be more possible than we realize': Why I march on MLK Day in Seattle | Naomi Ishisaka
As smaller Washington cities grapple with homelessness, Republicans take up the issue in the state Legislature
How Boeing’s responsibility in a deadly crash ‘got buried’ Updated 1:29 pm
Spendy dinners and $79 haircuts: Tim Eyman isn’t living like someone who’s bankrupt, AG says
Washington may mandate ‘comprehensive’ sex education for all public schools. What does that mean, and other FAQs.
Gonzaga drops to No. 2 behind Baylor in AP basketball poll

It’s an emotional reunion for Bruce Laing, left, and Ron Sims, former King County Executive greeting each other in a Mount Baker restaurant having not seen each other in five years. Sims says, “I was going to cry.” Sims and Laing are the two men to have the namesake of King County be changed from slave owner William Rufus de Vane King to The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Laing, a Republican and Sims, a Democrat, won a 5-4 vote on the majority Republican King County Council at that time in the mid-80’s.

Thursday Jan 16, 2020
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Local News

‘We were before our time’: Remembering the fight to change King County’s namesake from a slave owner to a civil-rights leader

Back in 1986, then-King County Councilmembers Ron Sims and Bruce Laing were at the center of a storm that they themselves stirred up when they sought to change the county's namesake. VIEW

Aidy Bryant stars in the second season of “Shrill,” premiering Jan. 24 on Hulu. Season: 2

TV/Streaming

Seattle author Lindy West is keeping busy with Hulu’s second season of ‘Shrill’ and other projects

In addition to writing on season two of “Shrill,” Seattle's Lindy West has been on a book tour promoting her latest cultural critique, “The Witches Are Coming,” and writing her next book, which is due to her publisher in March.

Thursday, January 1, 2019. Rainier Beach resident Sally Li stands on the same stretch of Rainier Beach reflected in the photo of her and her grandmother when she was little. For the past three years community advocates have been working to get Be’er Sheva Park and the beach renovated. 212514

Local Politics

These Seattle neighbors have been working to put the ‘beach’ back in Rainier Beach

The group has been using grants to host public planning parties, design renovations and write shovel-ready construction documents. Now they're lobbying the parks department to allocate money for construction in 2021. VIEW