White Salmon sits on the Columbia River, just across the border from Oregon. Housing prices have soared here in recent years, pricing many line cooks, servers and working-class residents out of the popular vacation town. It’s a familiar problem: Combined shortages of labor and affordable housing have plagued vacation hot spots across Washington and the Pacific Northwest. (Michael Hanson / Special to The Seattle Times)
(Michael Hanson / Special to The Seattle Times)
Food & Drink

Why this Gorge vacation spot can’t staff its restaurants anymore

The town on the Columbia River has a growing culinary scene. But a lack of affordable housing has priced cooks, servers and working-class staff out of town.

Politics

Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, talks about a display of photos of evidence in an indictment against Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., during a news conference, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, in New York. The sweeping bribery case brought against Menendez includes allegations that he took cash and gold in exchange for interfering in a criminal case against a New Jersey real estate developer.(AP Photo/Robert Bumsted) WX202 WX202

Gold bullion and halal meat: Inside the Menendez investigation

Opinion

Alex Fryer
Where we're at: Far apart on Seattle's drug crisis | Alex Fryer
Why I had to quit working on behalf of crime victims | Op-Ed
AI wrote this editorial, and it argues that human journalists should keep their jobs | Opinion
The Times recommends: Approve Prop. 1, the Seattle Housing Levy

Local News

First Lady of the United States Jill Biden shakes hand with Dr. Cyrus Ghajar, public health researcher, as she visits and tours a lab at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. As part of the Biden Administration’s Cancer Moonshot, Biden highlights the importance of supporting cancer survivors through specialized care and research, including survivors of childhood cancers and breast cancer.

Jill Biden touts Seattle’s cancer research during Fred Hutch visit VIEW

Featured Columnist

Dumb money? A Redmond man bets $5 million on resurrecting the state GOP

Education Lab

One Seattle-area school’s solution to worsening student behavior
Lowe’s gifts $750,000 to Seattle Colleges’ Wood Technology Center
New report: WA student test scores inching up in math and reading
High school seniors: Tell us how you’re planning for the future

Business & Tech

FILE – The Capitol is seen in Washington, Sept. 20, 2021. The federal government is heading toward a shutdown that will disrupt many services, squeeze workers and roil politics. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) WX206 WX206

Prospect of government shutdown poses a new threat to U.S. economy

Featured Columnist

Harrell’s ‘Space Needle thinking’ needs to aim high

Most Read Stories

Nation & World

This Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, 8:16 am EST satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Tropical Storm Ophelia making landfall in North Carolina. (NOAA via AP) NY107 NY107

Southern East Coast hit by flooding as Ophelia weakens to tropical depression and moves north VIEW

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Health

In this photo provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Lawrence Faucette sits with wife, Ann, in the school’s hospital in Baltimore, Md., in September 2023, before receiving a pig heart transplant. Two days after the transplant, Lawrence was cracking jokes and able to sit in a chair, doctors said Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (Deborah Kotz/University of Maryland School of Medicine via AP) NY676 NY676

Surgeons perform second pig heart transplant, trying to save a dying man WATCH

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