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Opponents of the "millionaires tax" say it's spurring an exodus of wealthy residents. Supporters say those fears are made up. Both sides are oversimplifying.
Mass shooting reported at Seattle Center
Police and aid crews responded to a shooting with “multiple” victims Sunday evening at Seattle Center, according to authorities. A barrage of gunshots could be heard around 6 p.m. at Seattle Center, which was hosting thousands of people for the Bite of Seattle food festival this weekend. A Seattle Times reporter who was on the south side of Climate Pledge Arena heard several loud pops and then what sounded like very rapid gunfire.
Italian businesses brew new register worth millions
Italian business expertise is all around us. Photo: GC Libraries Creative Tech Lab. The fresh flavours of a classic capricciosa, an espresso’s unmistakable rich roast – traditional Italian tastes and smells inspire our senses almost daily across the Territory. Your favourite pizza shop or cafe seems the logical – and for many, preferred – starting point when considering Italy’s place in the national capital.
As Washington grocery stores shutter, lawmakers struggle to respond
When Fred Meyer announced it was closing five "underperforming" Seattle-area stores last year, it was the public-relations equivalent of kicking a bees' nest. Tempers ran especially hot in places like Seattle's Lake City and Tacoma's South End, where grocery options were already limited and many lower-income and older residents would have to travel farther for groceries and prescriptions.
Woman's death on Lizard Island remains under investigation
The prime authority investigating the death of an 80-year-old Australian woman on Lizard Island has confirmed it will speak with the crew of the cruise ship at the centre of the tragedy later this week. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said it was currently working with other agencies and would follow up with those on board when the vessel arrived in Darwin.
Yakima not on national Joann store closure list
Joann, the nation’s largest craft and fabric retailer, plans to close more than half of its 850 stores, including 21 of 30 locations in Washington, as part an ongoing bankruptcy. Hudson, Ohio-based Joann filed a motion Wednesday to shutter more than 500 stores under a “right-sizing” effort after years of declining sales and a controversy over its refusal to close locations during the pandemic.
Years behind schedule. Millions over budget. One Washington —WA’s big IT fix — flounders
Tim Robberts Getty Images In what’s become an all-too-familiar story for taxpayer funded technology projects, another Washington state IT upgrade is falling further behind schedule and over budget. The state’s Office of Financial Management last week again postponed ambitious plans to move dozens of state systems, for everything from driver licensing fees to foster care payments to state pension checks, onto a cloud-based platform called Workday.
Shila, the last gray wolf at Woodland Park Zoo, dies at 14 - The Daily Chronicle
Shila, the sole surviving gray wolf at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, died Friday. She was the last of four wolf sisters who arrived in 2010 from the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park, where they were born. Shila's keepers found her dead in her habitat Friday morning. At 14, Shila (SHY-la) had lived two to three years beyond the median life span for gray wolves in captivity, zoo officials said. She also suffered from cardiac arrhythmia and, in June, had been fitted with a pacemaker.
Huge stakes as trial starts in Washington state's suit against Kroger-Albertsons merger - The Daily Chronicle
The trial in Washington state's first-in-the-nation lawsuit against the proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger got underway Monday, with each side presenting starkly different scenarios of how the $25 billion deal would affect Washingtonians. In the state's telling, merging two of the nation's biggest grocery retailers, would "extinguish" the "intense, head-to-head competition" that now helps lower prices.
Washington state lawmakers decided to tax the rich, but poll shows voters aren't so sure - The Daily Chronicle
By a 2-to-1 ratio, Washington voters support a measure to repeal the state's new 7% capital gains tax, according to a new poll of likely voters. But almost a third remain undecided about the repeal measure, Initiative 2109, leaving plenty of room for movement on the high-stakes issue between now and Election Day, experts said.
124 Washington stores threatened by the Kroger and Albertsons merger - The Daily Chronicle
Nearly two years after proposing their $25 billion merger, Kroger and Albertsons have disclosed the locations of the 579 stores, including nearly 70 in the Seattle area, to be sold off if the deal is approved. The list, released Tuesday, includes 124 Washington state locations of Kroger, which owns QFC and Fred Meyer, and Albertsons, which owns Safeway and Haggen. That would be nearly 40% of the two grocery retailers’ stores in the state.
University of Washington protesters say they have no intention of ending encampment
Chris Gotterup shot a 6-under 65 on Saturday to push his lead to four strokes with a round left in the PGA Tour’s inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic. After opening 66-64 to take a one-stroke lead into the day, Gotterup had seven birdies and a bogey on a sunny afternoon with the breeze gusting to 12 mph at Dunes Golf & Beach Club. He capped the round with a 17-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th.
University of Washington protesters say they have no intention of ending encampment
People convene inside of a pro-Palestinian encampment in the Quad at the University of Washington on May 3, 2024, in Seattle. (Nick Wagner/The Seattle Times/TNS) Nick Wagner TNS SEATTLE - Despite requests that they leave, protesters in the self-proclaimed liberated zone at the University of Washington said Saturday they have no intention of ending their encampment unless the school meets their demands.
University of Washington protesters say they have no intention of ending encampment
SEATTLE — Despite requests that they leave, protesters in the self-proclaimed liberated zone at the University of Washington said Saturday they have no intention of ending their encampment unless the school meets their demands. The refusals come amid concerns over possible clashes between protesters and a pro-Israel march planned for campus for Sunday. kAm“~FC 9@A6 :D E92E A6@A=6 H:E9 @AA@D:?8 G:6HD C67C2:? 7C@> D66<:?8 4@?7C@?E2E:@?D 2?5 2G@:5 2?E28@?:K:?8 @?6 2?@E96C[” &( DA@<6DA6CD@?
Rainier Beer shortage has Seattle taps dry and fans frothing - The Daily Chronicle
It hasn't always been easy for Seattle fans of Rainier Beer. There were the traumas of the 1970s, when the quintessential Seattle company was sold to the first in a string of out-of-state beer conglomerates. Then Rainier's landmark brewery near Boeing Field was closed in 1999, and the actual brewing of the beer was outsourced — eventually to a facility near Los Angeles owned by former rival Miller.
One in four Washingtonians want state to secede, new survey shows - The Daily Chronicle
SEATTLE — Almost 1 in 4 Washingtonians — 24%, to be precise — say they’d support the Evergreen State breaking ties with the rest of the nation, according to a recent poll by YouGov. That puts Washington only slightly above the national average for secessionist attitudes — 23% — but behind eight other states, notably Alaska, Texas and California, whose share of pro-exit residents topped the February survey at 36%, 31% and 29%, respectively.
Washington startup Convoy bet on 'Uber-izing' trucking, but instead it flattened truckers - The Daily Chronicle
Like many of the small-time truckers who bet big on Convoy, the Seattle freight startup that failed last fall, Angadjot Sandhu didn't realize the ride was over until it was too late. Sandhu, 37, started using Convoy in 2020 to find jobs for his one-rig trucking business in Kent, Washington. Convoy's app, a kind of Uber for cargo, let Sandhu bid on freight from local companies more efficiently and often at a better price than through traditional freight brokers.
Shoppers love Washington's move to block Kroger-Albertsons merger, but legal experts are puzzled - The Daily Chronicle
A lawsuit by Washington state to block a proposed $25 billion merger between grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons is getting some qualified kudos from legal experts and lots (and lots) of love from Washington grocery shoppers. The suit, filed Monday in King County Superior Court, is the first state or federal attempt to halt the acquisition of Albertsons, which owns Safeway and Haggen, by Kroger, which owns QFC and Fred Meyer.
For many job seekers, Washington job market still far from a pre-pandemic norm - The Daily Chronicle
For all the celebratory claims of a "soft landing" for the U.S. economy, the job market in Seattle, as elsewhere, is still marred by sluggish growth and strikingly uneven outcomes. On the upswing are workers like Seattle resident Sue Alexander. The 55-year-old early education teacher is one of thousands of education workers to find jobs in a sector that is seeing strong hiring after several slow years.
UW is spending $340 million on an IT upgrade. It's not going well
Oct. 13—More than three months after the launch of the University of Washington's $340 million cloud-based finance platform, many faculty, staff and others say the system is still wracked by disruptive bugs and flaws. While core processes such as tuition, faculty salaries and UW Medicine operations have safely made the shift to the new software, other essential processes at the state's biggest university remain snarled.
Washington unemployment system still suffering from COVID-era problems - The Daily Chronicle
Even as many Washington employers have moved past the pandemic, the unemployment system is still dealing with pandemic-related problems that raised costs and left hundreds of millions of dollars in the wrong hands. The problems, which range from organized unemployment fraud to $1 billion in mistakenly paid benefits, are adding pressure on the state Employment Security Department as it braces for a post-COVID-19 normal marked by heightened risks and fewer resources.
CO shot, killed off-duty; Wash. police arrest suspect
By Paul Roberts The Seattle Times SEATTLE — A 22-year-old man was arrested Friday in connection with the fatal drive-by shooting of a state department of corrections officer east of Lake Stevens, according to police and state officials. Thursday evening, Snohomish County sheriff's deputies responded to reports of gunfire in the 1600 block of South Machias Road. When they arrived, they found a man in his 30s, dead, according to a Friday news release from the Sheriff's Office.
£20,000 awarded through our LGBT+ Futures: Faith Fund
Consortium is delighted to have awarded £20,000 to LGBT+ organisations thanks to generous funding from a private donor. 20 LGBT+ organisations across the country received funding. Funds were awarded to user-led organisations working with diverse range of LGBT+ people of faith. Consortium, the UKs umbrella body for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender + organisations has announced a list of the successful recipients from its latest grants programme, the LGBT+ Futures: Faith Fund.
Health care, not tech, is now the top player in WA's unsettled job market
SEATTLE — In another sign of Washington's uneven and inelegant recovery, a cooling tech industry has been overtaken by a cash-strapped health care sector as the state's hottest job market. As of April, six of Washington's top 10 employers as measured by job openings were health care companies, according to a monthly survey of online job postings by the state Employment Security Department.
Thousands of Washington Workers Remain Trapped in Unemployment Overpayments - The Daily Chronicle
Paul Roberts / The Seattle Times (TNS) Amid concerns of recession and more layoffs in Washington later this year, the state's unemployment system is still dealing with the burdens of the pandemic. Workers who file for jobless benefits with the Employment Security Department still aren't getting paid as fast as they were before COVID hit in early 2020. When problems arise, more than half of claimants can't get through to the agency's customer service.
Crunch time for 115,000 state workers facing $1B in pandemic overpayments
Since 2021, Ben Kaufman has been in a fight over $7,000 in pandemic jobless benefits that the Washington Employment Security Department says he shouldn't have received and must repay. The 35-year-old Tumwater man has endured threats of collections, hours on hold with the ESD help desk, and a long, fruitless appeal. So when Kaufman learned that, starting Friday, he and thousands of others with pandemic overpayments could formally ask the state to waive their debt, he was relieved, yet skeptical.
Microsoft Seattle-area layoffs top 2,700 with tech giant's latest cuts
SEATTLE — Microsoft has laid off 559 workers from its Bellevue and Redmond operations Monday, bringing the total of Seattle-area cuts to 2,743, or more than a quarter of the 10,000 cuts announced earlier this year. The layoffs were announced Monday by the Washington State Employment Security Department. The cuts reportedly targeted Microsoft's security operations, according to several media accounts.
Employer demand and worker anxiety help fuel WA job growth
SEATTLE — Alex Singleterry, owner of two bars in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood, thinks the pandemic job market may finally be fading. After years of labor shortages, Singleterry has been able to add eight employees at the Ice Box Arcade and his new bar, the 4Bs Tavern, in the last six months in part, he says, because job seekers today worry less about COVID-19 and more about things like inflation.
Thousands of WA workers may have to repay millions of dollars in pandemic benefits
For the tens of thousands of Washingtonians being asked to repay more than $1 billion in pandemic unemployment benefits, state plans to cancel some of that debt are getting complicated. In January, the state Employment Security Department said it will review the cases of around 136,000 Washingtonians collectively on the hook for $1.2 billion in "overpayments," or jobless benefits ESD says they shouldn't have received.
Thousands of WA workers may have to repay millions of dollars in pandemic benefits
For the tens of thousands of Washingtonians being asked to repay more than $1 billion in pandemic unemployment benefits, state plans to cancel some of that debt are getting complicated. In January, the state Employment Security Department said it will review the cases of around 136,000 Washingtonians collectively on the hook for $1.2 billion in “overpayments,” or jobless benefits ESD says they shouldn’t have received.
Thousands of WA workers may have to repay millions of dollars in pandemic benefits
Mar. 1—For the tens of thousands of Washingtonians being asked to repay more than $1 billion in pandemic unemployment benefits, state plans to cancel some of that debt are getting complicated. In January, the state Employment Security Department said it will review the cases of around 136,000 Washingtonians collectively on the hook for $1.2 billion in "overpayments," or jobless benefits ESD says they shouldn't have received.
Microsoft to cut 10,000 jobs, including at least 878 in Seattle area
Jan. 18-Microsoft will lay off 10,000 workers, including at least 878 in the Seattle area, as the Redmond-based tech giant copes with a post-COVID-19 slowdown, recession fears and the accelerating rise of artificial intelligence.
WA jobless workers living 'surrealistic nightmare' as recession looms
Even as economists are forecasting an economic slowdown and rising unemployment in Washington later this year, the state system that provides benefits to jobless workers hasn't even recovered from the last slump. Washingtonians still wait longer to get benefits from the state Employment Security Department than they did before COVID shuttered the economy in 2020, even though fewer are filing claims.
WA jobless workers living 'surrealistic nightmare' as recession looms
Even as economists are forecasting an economic slowdown and rising unemployment in Washington later this year, the state system that provides benefits to jobless workers hasn't even recovered from the last slump. Washingtonians still wait longer to get benefits from the state Employment Security Department than they did before COVID shuttered the economy in 2020, even though fewer are filing claims.
WA jobless workers living 'surrealistic nightmare' as recession looms
SEATTLE — Even as economists are forecasting an economic slowdown and rising unemployment in Washington later this year, the state system that provides benefits to jobless workers hasn't even recovered from the last slump. Washingtonians still wait longer to get benefits from the state Employment Security Department than they did before COVID shuttered the economy in 2020, even though fewer are filing claims.
Washington's Stolen Unemployment Money Trickling in Three Years Later
Paul Roberts / The Seattle Times Nearly three years after thieves stole $645 million in pandemic unemployment benefits from Washington state, investigators are still clawing back funds frozen in fraudsters' bank accounts. On Friday, the state Attorney General's Office filed a motion demanding Bank of America forfeit $9.3 million left there by criminals who scammed Washington's unemployment system in 2020.
Ex-Nigerian Official to Serve Five Years for Washington Unemployment Fraud, Scams
Paul Roberts / The Seattle Times A former Nigerian official was sentenced to five years for what prosecutors called a "litany of scams" that took in more than $600,000 in public and private funds, including Washington unemployment benefits intended for pandemic victims. Abidemi Rufai, 45, of Lekki, Nigeria, was sentenced Monday in federal court in Tacoma for crimes ranging from $350,763 in pandemic unemployment fraud to filing bogus federal tax returns and theft of federal disaster relief money.
Ex-WA state employee gets 5 years for pandemic fraud of jobless claims
A former employee of the state Employment Security Department will spend five years in federal prison for a fraud and kickback scheme that stole at least $360,000 in pandemic-related jobless benefits. Reyes De La Cruz III, 48, of Moses Lake, was sentenced Friday in Tacoma by U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan. De La Cruz, who pleaded guilty in June to felony counts of wire fraud, bribery and aggravated identity theft.
As Washington's Job Market Softens, Workers May Have Fewer Options
Paul Roberts / The Seattle Times Amid new signs of a cooling job market, the bargaining power many workers have wielded over desperate employers during the pandemic could be at a tipping point. Job postings for some of the state's biggest employers have declined in recent months in partas some companies rein in expansion over fears of inflation and the recession risks of the government's anti-inflation strategy.
Revealing trend in Austria: More foreign welfare recipients than local | Free West Media
Vienna A particularly hair-raising number was reported for the holiday destination of Tyrol. There were a total of 14 500 recipients of social assistance there in 2021. Of these, 5 600 people were Austrians (39 percent), while 6 000 applicants were entitled to asylum or subsidiary protection (41 percent). This means: more “refugees” than locals receive social assistance in Tyrol.
Weak jobs report may signal hiring slowdown in Washington -- even for high-flying tech sector
Jul. 22—Job growth in Washington picked up only slightly in June and remains far behind levels earlier this year as employers, including tech firms like Microsoft, appear to be weighing the impacts of inflation and a global slowdown. Washington added just 2,500 jobs in June, the state Employment Security Department reported Wednesday.
Seattle medical firm sued for alleged breach exposing 1.1 million patients' health data
Jul. 8—A Seattle-based medical data company faces multiple lawsuits over a data breach that may have given cybercriminals access to the personal information of more than 1.1 million people. MCG Health, which uses data to help health care providers and insurers make patient care decisions, is named in at least eight recent lawsuits claiming Social Security numbers, medical codes and other data were exposed in a breach that may have happened two years ago.
Retail slump hammers state job market
OLYMPIA — In a worrying sign for the state's recovery, hiring in Washington stalled last month amid fears over inflation and consumer spending, even as big players like Boeing stepped up their recruitment campaigns. Washington lost 2,300 jobs in May, the first month in the red since January 2021, according to data posted Wednesday by the state Employment Security Department.
George Weyerhaeuser Sr., great-grandson of timber company founder and kidnapped as a child, dies at 95
SEATTLE — George Weyerhaeuser Sr., the fourth-generation timber family scion who ran one of America’s largest forestry firms and was briefly one of America’s most famous kidnapping victims, died Saturday, June 11, his family confirmed Monday. He was 95. Weyerhaeuser, whose father, grandfather and great-grandfather also led the timber company that carries the family name, served as CEO from 1966 to 1991 and board chair until 1999.
Lifted by Boeing hiring blitz, WA outpaces nation in job growth
OLYMPIA — Washington's job market is rebounding faster than it is across much of America, and is barely a thousand jobs short of its all-time high, according the latest state jobs report. One surprising case in point: Boeing, which spent much of the pandemic on life support, now seems to be on a hiring tear.
Former Nigerian official pleads guilty to $350,000 in Washington unemployment fraud
Nearly two years after thieves defrauded Washington state of $650 million in unemployment benefits, a former Nigerian government official has pleaded guilty to his role in the heist. Abidemi Rufai, 45, of Lekki, Nigeria, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to charges that he used stolen Social Security numbers and other personal data to file $350,763 in fake claims for pandemic unemployment benefits in spring of 2020, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle said Wednesday.
What’s Involved in Caring for Dairy Goats
Farms.com Home › News By Paul Roberts Here’s the truth: goats are super cute. When I’m stressed out, nothing calms me down faster than a visit to one of the Twitter accounts or subreddits I follow that exclusively post goat photos and videos. Naturally, I was excited to help prepare Chris DeCubellis and Izabella Toledo’s new article What’s Involved in Caring for Dairy Goats for publication.
German and Austrian mayors are dropping dead ‘unexpectedly’ | Free West Media
Did middle-aged men, previously described as fit and healthy, drop dead in large numbers before 2020? Since December 2020, many sudden and unexpected deaths of German and Austrian mayors under 60 years old have been noted. Why are these elected officials dying? The RAIR Foundation listed a few of the casualties, citing the Freie Bremer channel on Telegram. At least 15 known deaths in Germany and Austria were registered over two years.
For many businesses, the war in Ukraine means tough choices about Russia
SEATTLE — Last month, Oksana Lozynska stood in her small grocery and restaurant on Seattle’s Aurora Avenue and told a reporter of her growing fears as Russian forces massed on the borders of her Ukrainian homeland, where she still has family. Just days after the Feb. 24 invasion, Lozynska launched her own modest counterattack. She and her son, Grygoriy Lozynskyy, pulled all Russian products off the shelves of their specialty store, European Foods.
Reconquest Episode 317: Thinking and Praying about Ukraine and Russia
Podcast (mike-church-preview): Download (Duration: 13:27 — 29.2MB) | Embed Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS Welcome! If you’re not logged as a Founders Pass member this content is not available to you but you can access it and the rest of the site by becoming a FREE member for 30 days <a href=“https://veritasradionetwork.lpages.co/test-blank/“ target=_blank>by clicking here.</a> Reconquest Episode 317: Thinking and Praying about Ukraine and Russia Episode 317 debuts on...
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