Downtown Seattle is showing unexpected signs of life. In Washington state, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that applications to start new businesses are up 41% in the first three months of 2021, compared to a year ago. (Steve Ringman / The Seattle Times)
Danny Westneat

Seattle really is ‘CRAZYTOWN’ — and it will be our salvation after a rough year

Maybe no city got slammed by more bad press coverage in the past year than Seattle, with a focus especially from conservative media on businesses fleeing a liberal city. But less explored is all the crazy hopeful people here who don't believe the negative hype, and so are opening new ones.

Lauren Tran spreads the whipped cream frosting on her signature pandan chiffon cake made with coconut mousse. Lauren Tran is a Federal Way native who is making a name for herself as a baker in New York City. Tran is doing bakery pop ups in Seattle this month. Photographed at The Pastry Project in Pioneer Square on Thursday, April 8, 2021.
Food & Drink

From Seattle to New York and back — this pastry chef who makes delectable Vietnamese-French desserts is a rising star to watch Updated

Lauren Tran grew up in Federal Way and went to the UW. The original plan was to go to med school. But her true passion — creating Vietnamese sweets — beckoned. And now, the homegrown chef who has worked at Momofuku Ko and Gramercy Tavern is selling out at every pop-up she hosts in Seattle. Updated

Shortly after opening at 9 a.m. cars pack the Aurora Ave. Covid-19 testing site Thursday Dec. 10, 2020 in Seattle. 215878
Health

COVID tests provide crucial clues about how to fight coronavirus, but they’ve fallen in Washington state

Brandi Carlile and Tim Hanseroth perform during Carlile’s Echoes Through the Canyon concert Saturday, June 1 at the Gorge Amphitheatre. (Michael Rietmulder / The Seattle Times)
Music

As the music industry peeks beyond COVID-19, Washington’s Gorge Amphitheater is preparing to livestream concerts

Don't Miss

California head coach Wyking Jones directs his team against Washington in an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Husky Basketball

UW adds former Cal men’s basketball coach Wyking Jones to Mike Hopkins’ staff

Book lovers line up outside Eagle Harbor Book Co. on Seattle Independent Bookstore Day, April 27, 2019. Things will likely look somewhat different on this year’s Bookstore Day, which will be April 25. (Moira Macdonald / The Seattle Times)
Books

Seattle Independent Bookstore Day is back this year — with a twist

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and his wife Ciara talk make a statement after Wilson won the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year awards at the NFL Honors ceremony as part of Super Bowl 55 Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Seahawks

Seahawks QB Russell Wilson and Ciara to host special to encourage people to get vaccinated

Passengers load and unload at a METRO bus stop near the intersection at 15th Ave NW and NW Market. 214618 214618
Op-Ed

Welcome back students to school and to Metro transit

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At Miller Park and Playfield just North of E Thomas Street between 19th and 21st Ave E, tents can be seen along the South, East and West sides of the park. Researchers at SPU, UW, have conducted a “tent census” of the city in summer 2019, resampling that winter and then after the pandemic hit, and found that in 2019 the city had more than 800 tents, and in populated areas they increased more than 50 percent after the pandemic hit. 216741
Local Politics

Voters could decide Seattle homelessness strategy

Seattle Police investigate the scene where two adults and a toddler were shot when a person opened fire at the parking lot near Auto Zone at 23rd Avenue South and South Jackson Street Sunday April 11, 2021. The toddler is reported to be in critical condition. –
Local News

Toddler injured in Central District shooting upgraded to serious condition

Local News

3 arrested in Seattle protest; fire set at Portland police union building

Ron Watkins, recently accused by a documentary film of posting conspiracy theories online to lead the Q-Anon cult, is pictured in 2003 after vocal barbershop practice in the choir room during his sophomore year at Kamiak High School in Mukilteo. ‘To see where his path has ended up has been the most shocking thing I’ve experienced,’ said Shawn Lawrence, Watkins’ high-school best friend.
Local News

When your childhood best friend might be QAnon’s leader: A Seattle man’s shock

A Health One Seattle Fire Dept. team, from left: Lt. Patrick Hubschman, Case Manager Riley De Hoog and Fire Fighter Lynn Altmann have a discussion next to their fully equipped SUV before a news conference to announce the launch a second Health One unit into service, Tuesday, April 13, 2021 in Seattle. 216893
Local Politics

Seattle launches second firefighter-social worker team to cover U District, Ballard VIEW

Politics

President Joe Biden speaks from the Treaty Room in the White House on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, about the withdrawal of the remainder of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool) DCAH301 DCAH301

Biden to pull US troops from Afghanistan, end ‘forever war’ WATCH Updated

FILE – In this Jan. 6. 2021, file photo, people storm the Capitol in Washington. A blistering internal report by the U.S. Capitol Police describes a multitude of missteps that left the force unprepared for the Jan. 6 insurrection — riot shields that shattered upon impact, expired weapons that couldn’t be used, inadequate training and an intelligence division that had few set standards. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) NYDB602 NYDB602
Prosecutors: No charges for officer in Capitol riot shooting Updated
Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Tuesday, April 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) DCJL113 DCJL113
Senate filibuster test over Asian-American hate crime bill
Biden begins to undo Trump-era ban on abortion referrals Updated
Biden taps former Obama official as deputy at Interior Dept. Updated
Stinging report raises new questions about Capitol security Updated
Pandemic, security concerns to change look of Biden's State of the Union address VIEW Updated
Big-business pushback against voting measures gains momentum Updated

Local News

At Miller Park and Playfield just North of E Thomas Street between 19th and 21st Ave E, tents can be seen along the South, East and West sides of the park. Researchers at SPU, UW, have conducted a “tent census” of the city in summer 2019, resampling that winter and then after the pandemic hit, and found that in 2019 the city had more than 800 tents, and in populated areas they increased more than 50 percent after the pandemic hit. 216741

Voters could decide Seattle homelessness strategy

Featured Columnist

Seattle really is ‘CRAZYTOWN’ — and it will be our salvation after a rough year

Traffic Lab

‘Major area’ of Seattle could forbid most cars under city’s new, greener transportation plan

Amazon launches electric van deliveries in Bay Area

Racial disparities prompt calls to repeal King County’s bicycle helmet law

New Washington transportation plan includes taxes on gas and bikes, fees on transit

Is another transit-tax measure on the horizon for Seattle?

Business & Tech

The Parler logo on a smartphone arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. Parler bills itself as a non-biased social network that protects free speech and user data. John Matze, chief executive officer, says the platform saw great growth during the 2020 election as many conservatives moved away from products like Facebook and Twitter. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg

Amazon says social network Parler is trying to conceal its ownership, new court filings show

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Nation & World

FILE – This undated photo released by the FBI shows Kristin Smart, the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo student who disappeared in 1996. The San Luis Obispo County sheriff plans a major announcement Tuesday, April 13, 2021, in the nearly 25-year mystery of the disappearance of Smart. (FBI via AP, File) FX203 FX203

Prosecutor: Missing student killed during 1996 rape attempt VIEW

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Coronavirus

FILE – In this March 3, 2021, file photo, Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is held by pharmacist Madeline Acquilano at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Conn. U.S. health officials are weighing next steps as they investigate unusual blood clots in a small number of people given the vaccine — a one-dose shot that many countries hoped would help speed protection against the pandemic. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File) NYAG402 NYAG402

US weighs next steps for J&J virus shot amid clot mystery

Food & Drink

Lauren Tran spreads the whipped cream frosting on her signature pandan chiffon cake made with coconut mousse. Lauren Tran is a Federal Way native who is making a name for herself as a baker in New York City. Tran is doing bakery pop ups in Seattle this month. Photographed at The Pastry Project in Pioneer Square on Thursday, April 8, 2021.

From Seattle to New York and back — this pastry chef who makes delectable Vietnamese-French desserts is a rising star to watch

Pacific NW Magazine

Credit: Artwork by David Miller and Kim Carney, Photo by Robin Layton Illustration for Ron Judd essay on what we should leave behind in a post-Covid world

From commuting to Costco samples: Ron Judd’s list of 20 things we DON’T need back after the pandemic

Editorials & Opinion

Passengers load and unload at a METRO bus stop near the intersection at 15th Ave NW and NW Market. 214618 214618

Welcome back students to school and to Metro transit | Op-Ed

Featured Columnist

Liberals for Ron DeSantis

Horsey Cartoon

The price of neglect

Sports

WSU’s Jarrett Guarantano throws during a spring college football practice on Thursday, April 8, 2021, on WSU’s practice field in Pullman, Wash. SR2104110004107740

Jarrett Guarantano in the thick of WSU’s QB race as he continues to familiarize himself with Pullman

Featured Columnist

NFL sets structure for offseason program with no on-field work until May 17

Arts & Life

Brandi Carlile and Tim Hanseroth perform during Carlile’s Echoes Through the Canyon concert Saturday, June 1 at the Gorge Amphitheatre. (Michael Rietmulder / The Seattle Times)

As the music industry peeks beyond COVID-19, Washington’s Gorge Amphitheater is preparing to livestream concerts

Seattle Independent Bookstore Day is back this year — with a twist

Save the Free Press dashboard

Keep watch on the latest reforms shaping the future of the free press

Photography

A Camellia’s prominent pollen-producing stamens venture out into the air at the Seattle Japanese Garden, one of countless extraordinary scenes often no bigger than a coin, as Spring unfolds around Seattle and viewed using a close-up lens Sunday, April 4, 2021. 216811
Local News

Scenes from Seattle as Mother Nature emerges from her winter slumber VIEW

Nikita Ares CQ, a Seattle-based painter, works Tuesday, March 30, 2021 to install her first exhibition at the newly-opened Museum of Museums CQ on First Hill. 216766
Local News

Painter Nikita Ares shares joyful energy at Museum of Museums

Clockwise from left, Narayan MacGowan, Sahej MacGowan, Halia Correia and Beau Rosen, front, look through the eggs they’ve found at a community Easter egg hunt at Seattle’s Interlaken Park Sunday April 4, 2021. Over 300 eggs were hidden by Kellie Sloan and her son to bring some Easter joy to the neighborhood kids.
Local News

Hunting for elusive Easter eggs VIEW

The fast ferry Enetai cruises by Blake Island having to give way to a Washington State ferry at the Southworth terminal. There is only one slip and WSF has priority. Saturday March 27, 2021 216743
Traffic Lab

New foot ferry makes the trip to downtown Seattle in 26 minutes VIEW