Seattle news

• Rescuers try to track down 2 stranded hikers near Snoqualmie Pass

  22-12-2015 23:32
  Two hikers spent the night trapped in new snow near Snoqualmie Pass. Rescuers are working to reach them.
  
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• NASA calls off next Mars mission; no time to fix leaky seal

  22-12-2015 23:32
  
  ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — NASA is calling off its next mission to Mars because there isn’t enough time to fix a leaky seal on a key science instrument. The InSight spacecraft was set for launch in March. The problem is with a protective pouch around the lander’s seismometer, which was designed to measure ground movement […]
  
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• Campers saved after spending night trapped in snow near Snoqualmie Pass

  22-12-2015 23:32
  The pair did not check the weather report before hiking in the Denny Creek area and got stuck in new snow, according to the King County Sheriff’s Office.
  
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• 2 hikers, trapped in new snow, rescued near Snoqualmie Pass

  22-12-2015 23:32
  The pair did not check the weather report before hiking in the Denny Creek area and got stuck in new snow, according to the King County Sheriff’s Office.
  
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• Fox News Is Right, There's a War on Christmas—and My 8-Year-Old Son Is Leading the Charge

  22-12-2015 23:06 via thestranger.com
  
  When I was a kid, my brother and I went doorbelling in our seedy apartment complex singing the only two Christmas carols we knew. We didn't understand caroling. We thought it was a way to make money. JAMES YAMASAKI
  I've been an atheist since I was 4 or 5, when my mother told me the "true" story of Easter and I said something like "I don't think that really happened." Every Christmas season from there on out has had some level of conflict and confusion for me. Why did everyone want us to go to ch
  
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• Technical Glitch Resulted in Early Release of Thousands of State Prisoners

  22-12-2015 23:04 via thestranger.com
  
  Washington Governor Jay Inslee says he found out last week about a computer glitch that's been releasing state prisoners early since 2002.Governor's Office
  A technical glitch in the Washington State Department of Corrections' computer system has resulted in the early release of about 3,200 state prisoners over the last 13 years, Governor Jay Inslee said today. The error was first discovered by the DOC in 2012, but never fixed. Inslee has now called for a fix to the system and an outside investig
  
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• Seattle Art in 2015 Is All About Seattle's Impermanence

  22-12-2015 22:56 via thestranger.com
  
  On the left, a photograph from Canh Nguyen's series on Pier 62/63, taken in the fall of 2015; on the right, a drawing by Lead Pencil Studio that's on view at the Frye in the ongoing Genius exhibition. Courtesy of the artists
  The Photo Center NW recently created a beautiful magazine featuring four artists from our region—simply to get their work out there more (go, Photo Center!)—and it reminded me of the work of Canh Nguyen, a photographer who also was cinematographer on the recent d
  
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• DOC’s early-release error: a timeline

  22-12-2015 22:54
  
  Here is a timeline of events surrounding the prison-term calculation error, according to the state Department of Corrections.
  
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• Seattle’s minimum wage goes up in January

  22-12-2015 22:41
  
  Seattle’s minimum wage in the new year will be $13 for large employers that don’t provide medical benefits, on its way to $15 by 2017.
  
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• Taking the Christ Out of Christmas

  22-12-2015 22:39 via thestranger.com
  
  Fox News Is Right, There's a War on Christmas—and My 8-Year-Old Son Is Leading the Chargeby Ijeoma OluoI've been an atheist since I was 4 or 5, when my mother told me the "true" story of Easter and I said something like "I don't think that really happened." Every Christmas season from there on out has had some level of conflict and confusion for me. Why did everyone want us to go to church on Christmas Eve? Why did the old ladies give us mean looks when we slept on the pews? Who'd want to
  
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• Seattle Times best interactives of 2015

  22-12-2015 22:35
  From a tour of the U.S. Open golf course to a guide for local liquor, The Seattle Times covered topics large and small in its best interactives of 2015.
  
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• Publicist: Nicolas Cage was buyer of stolen dinosaur skull

  22-12-2015 22:26
  NEW YORK (AP) — Nicolas Cage has agreed to give back a national treasure from Mongolia. A publicist for the star of the “National Treasure” adventure films confirmed Tuesday that Cage was the unwitting buyer of a dinosaur skull that federal prosecutors in New York say was stolen. Prosecutors announced last week that they were […]
  
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• SL Letter of the Day: Only the Lonely

  22-12-2015 22:19 via thestranger.com
  
  Originally posted on December 24, 2014.
  My last relationship—abusive—ended 13 years ago. I've been single for the last 10. I enjoy my life! And I get to wake up in the morning happy, not afraid! However, I would like to share my life with someone. I have not been asked on a date in years—sad—but I go out to movies, dinner, etc., on my own. Do I have a list? Yes! My love should be happy, be self-actualized, be capable of communicating without violence, and have a sense of
  
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• State has incorrectly given early release to 3,200 prisoners since 2002, due to a computer glitch

  22-12-2015 22:07
  
  The state of Washington has incorrectly given early release to 3,200 convicts since 2002, due to a computer error in which credit for “good time” was miscalculated. The computer error was discovered in 2012 but inexplicably not fixed. Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday ordered the Department of Corrections to halt all releases from state prisons, within the group of convicts that could be early release, until a hand calculation is done to determine that the person is being let out at th
  
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• Oxford Dictionaries Chose an Emoji as Word of the Year and Yet the Sky Still Hangs Above Our Heads

  22-12-2015 21:44 via thestranger.com
  
  Yep, still up there. Hasn't fallen yet.Kelly O
  Yesterday I wrote about my how much I'm anticipating the American Dialect Society's "Word of the Year." Some of the commenters on that article said that "intersectionality" and "microaggression" would be good contenders for this year, and I heartily agree. Though the word "intersectionality" was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw back in the '80s, it's since risen to prominence among those who seek to describe the many shades of discrimination in a
  
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• Man critically injured in West Seattle fire; body found in bed

  22-12-2015 21:39
  
  A man was critically injured in a fire in a West Seattle apartment building that provides housing and services for formerly homeless adults. Another resident was found dead in bed but is believed to have died before the fire.
  
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• 2 injured in fire at Seattle homeless apartments

  22-12-2015 21:39
  
  Two people have been injured, one critically, in a fire in West Seattle.
  
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• Why Americans Should Stop Buying Apple's Products

  22-12-2015 21:24 via thestranger.com
  
  An Apple store in Ireland, the country where Apple sends a lot of its profits. Brendan Howard/shutterstock.com
  What did we learn about Apple in 60 Minutes' "Inside Apple" episode, which ran this Sunday and featured an interview with the corporation's CEO Tim Cook? That Apple really does not want to pay its taxes or participate in any meaningful way in the American labor market.Apple avoids US taxes by basing subsidiaries in Ireland, a country that happens to have a very low corporate tax rate. T
  
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• What Makes the Union of Chinese Restaurants and Religious Minorities Work?

  22-12-2015 21:20 via thestranger.com
  
  LEVI HASTINGS
  The United States, at least statistically speaking, has more Christians than any other country on earth. Fully 70 percent of Americans identify as Christian. Which means that if you're a religious minority, our national holiday of Christmas can be a weird time. The streets are deserted. The machinery of commerce is quiet. It's like a practice run for the Rapture.
  Except at places like Shanghai Garden in the International District, where crowds always spill out the door on Christma
  
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• North Dakota leads nation in population growth — again

  22-12-2015 21:18
  
  BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota is once again leading the nation in population growth, and the number of residents in the state is at an all-time high, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The bureau’s most recent estimate put the state population at 756,927 in July, an increase of 16,887 […]
  
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• Inslee: Error releases more than 3,000 inmates early

  22-12-2015 21:17
  
  Gov. Jay Inslee announced Tuesday the Washington Department of Corrections has been making mistakes in calculating sentences since 2002, resulting in thousands of inmates leaving prison early. Corrections officials learned of a problem in 2012.
  
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• Man wounded in shooting Monday night in Mukilteo

  22-12-2015 21:07
  
  A man was shot in the legs Monday night in Mukilteo.
  
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• Prosecutors: Child laborer forced to work in King County sweets factories

  22-12-2015 20:57
  
  They promised her a chance to learn English and go to high school. Instead, federal prosecutors say, a teen girl was forced to work long hours at factory kitchens in Kent and Federal Way, and turn her pay over to her captors.
  
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• Driver charged in fatal Federal Way crash called ‘threat to community’

  22-12-2015 20:48
  Prosecutors say a woman charged with vehicular homicide in a crash that killed two is “a threat to community safety in general, and to the motoring public in particular.”
  
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• California aquarium welcomes birth of baby sea otter

  22-12-2015 20:28
  
  MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) — There’s another reason to rejoice this holiday season: the birth of a wild sea otter at a California aquarium. The Monterey Bay Aquarium posted news of the birth online this weekend, along with adorable photos of the fuzzy brown pup playing with mom. For several days, the adult otter had been […]
  
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• My Favorite Dishes of 2015

  22-12-2015 20:16 via thestranger.com
  
  This year, the Jackson family's fried catfish and pink tartar sauce returned to Seattle. Whew.Kelly O
  I ate a lot this year. Most of it was good, some of it was great, and all of it kept me sated and alive. Here, in no particular order, are my favorite dishes from a year of delicious eating.1. Honeycomb Tripe at Salare
  Okay, I realize that I inadvertently lied when I said this list is in no particular order, because this dish is definitely the best thing I ate all year, and certainly the best tr
  
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• In Missouri, fewer gun laws, more gun homicides

  22-12-2015 20:01
  Missouri is the only state in recent history to repeal a law requiring background checks and permits for all handgun sales. Researchers say, in the first six years after the repeal, the gun homicide rate rose by 16 percent, compared with the six years before.
  
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• The Protest Over the Lack of Black Artists at Art AIDS America Goes National

  22-12-2015 19:45 via thestranger.com
  
  Last Thursday's die-in protest against the lack of Black artists in the exhibition Art AIDS America at Tacoma Art Museum. Photo by Saiyare Rafael
  Last Friday, I wrote about a developing protest over how few Black artists are included in the groundbreaking exhibition Art AIDS America at Tacoma Art Museum—given that "Blacks/African Americans continue to experience the most severe burden of HIV, compared with other races and ethnicities," the Centers for Disease Control reports.It's worth rep
  
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• Bertha back on the move after 2 years of delays

  22-12-2015 19:32
  The troubled but refurbished Highway 99 tunnel machine Bertha resumed drilling in a sandy pit early Tuesday, continuing its long journey to South Lake Union.
  
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• Hillary Clinton is latest woman in the crosshairs of Donald Trump’s vulgarity

  22-12-2015 19:07
  
  Hillary Clinton ducked out for a quick bathroom break as Saturday’s two-hour Democratic candidates’ debate broke for a commercial and hurried back to her podium with the cameras already back on. The trip to the ladies’ room has become the latest target of the vulgar humor that Donald Trump so often directs at women. “She was favored to win and she got schlonged,” Donald Trump on Hillary Clinton. (Credit Image: © Brian Cahn via ZUMA Wire) “She was going to
  
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• Why I Am Probably Going to Send the Drunk Driver Who Killed My Parents a Christmas Card

  22-12-2015 19:06 via thestranger.com
  
  When I think about all that has happened in the last 10 years, the idea of spending that long in prison gives me a sense of vertigo.
  The city of Gatesville, Texas, lies 37 miles west of Waco. Of its 15,945 residents, some 2,600 are employed by the city's five prisons and one state jail.
  Around 9,000 are incarcerated, roughly 58 percent of the city's population. Prison City.
  I'm familiar enough with the geography and architecture of Central Texas to conjure mental images of these sprawling sand-g
  
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• Woman gets life in prison for killing boyfriend in Bremerton fire

  22-12-2015 19:03
  
  A woman was sentenced to life in prison for setting a Bremerton house fire and killing her boyfriend.
  
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• Bremerton man accused of beating Salvation Army employee, threats

  22-12-2015 18:52
  Police say a man beat a Salvation Army employee unconscious then threatening to return to the Bremerton social service organization with a gun, shoot employees and blow up the building.
  
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• Should Airbnb Help Pay for Affordable Housing?

  22-12-2015 18:47 via thestranger.com
  
  According to data from Inside Airbnb, about 2,700 rooms or properties in Seattle are listed on Airbnb. Airbnb
  Check out what happened last week in Portland: The city council there approved a resolution directing the city's budget office to take $1.2 million in taxes it gets from short-term rentals (like those listed on Airbnb) and direct that money toward affordable housing.What's more, according to The Oregonian's editorial board, that will be the first dedicated stream of money for the afforda
  
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• A rare full moon will light Santa’s way on Christmas Eve

  22-12-2015 18:29
  It’s the first time since 1977 that a full moon has coincided with the holiday, and it won’t be back until 2034, according to Washington State University.
  
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• The Morning News: Giant Pandas Are Welcome, But Homeless Encampments Are Getting Swept Away

  22-12-2015 17:58 via thestranger.com
  
  City officials say they're trying to increase outreach to the homeless when they sweep away tent encampments. The homeless don't necessarily agree it's working. Kelly O
  Sweeps of Homeless Encampments Are on the Rise: Dan Beekman at the Seattle Times looks at four years of city data showing how often city officials crack down on unauthorized homeless encampments. City officials call them "clean ups" and say that they're trying to increase the level of outreach to the homeless, but homeless encamp
  
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• Three gold coins tossed into Salvation Army pot in Portland

  22-12-2015 17:42
  The value of the coins is estimated to be $1,500 each, for a total donation of $4,500. The agency’s Portland-area campaign is still way behind its goal, though.
  
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• NASA calls off next Mars mission because of instrument leak

  22-12-2015 17:15
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — NASA has called off its next Mars mission because of a leak in a science instrument. The Insight spacecraft was supposed to take off in March and land on the red planet next year. But NASA said Tuesday that managers have suspended the launch because of an air leak in one of […]
  
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• Traffic and weather updates: Mountain passes, travel tips

  22-12-2015 16:28
  
  Stevens Pass will close intermittently for avalanche control on Tuesday, according to WSDOT. Here’s how to find what you need to know before hitting the highways and freeways this holiday week.
  
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• Thousands descend on Stonehenge to mark Winter Solstice

  22-12-2015 15:59
  
  LONDON (AP) — Thousands of people — including many in druid and animal costumes — have descended on Britain’s Stonehenge to see the sun rise on the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. Some 5,000 people traveled to the prehistoric monument before dawn to celebrate the annual event, which […]
  
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• Winter heat wave, of a sort, envelops usually frigid Moscow

  22-12-2015 15:31
  MOSCOW (AP) — It’s usually the cold that’s bitter in Moscow in December, but this year it’s the humor that bites during an unusual warm spell. As temperatures climbed as high as 7 degrees Celsius (45 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Russian capital in recent days, a joke began circulating on the Internet: This was nature’s […]
  
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• Judge to decide if owner of pit bulls goes to trial in boy’s death

  22-12-2015 15:31
  DETROIT (AP) — The owner of pit bulls that dragged a 4-year-old Detroit boy from his mother and killed him is returning to court for a key hearing. A judge must decide whether there’s enough evidence to send Geneke Lyons to trial on second-degree murder and other charges. A hearing is planned for Tuesday. Xavier […]
  
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• Weather worsens seasonal air pollution in Italian cities

  22-12-2015 15:16
  
  ROME (AP) — Rome is limiting auto circulation, and other Italian cities are offering free bus rides to encourage public transport use as the country battles seasonal air pollution that has been worsened this year by long spells of no rain and little wind. As it has done several times this fall, Rome this week […]
  
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• Indonesia punishes 23 companies for causing forest fires

  22-12-2015 14:00
  JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian government has punished 23 companies for causing forest fires that spread thick, smoky haze around Southeast Asia, an official said Tuesday. The Forestry Ministry’s investigations director, Brotestes Panjaitan, said that 33 more companies are under scrutiny and waiting for decisions on possible punishment. Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya announced Monday that […]
  
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• Police: Aide had sex with teen she’d known since preschool

  22-12-2015 12:52
  BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — A 45-year-old teacher’s aide has been accused of carrying on a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy that she once taught in preschool. The Connecticut Post reports (http://bit.ly/1kemLOy ) Kyle Damato-Kushel was arraigned Monday on charges of sexual assault, impairing the morals of a child and tampering with a witness. She […]
  
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• New advice on who qualifies for cholesterol-lowering statins

  22-12-2015 09:59
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Considering a cholesterol-lowering statin to prevent a heart attack? Deciding who’s a good candidate requires calculating more than a simple cholesterol level. A government task force says the popular medications will be of most benefit to some people ages 40 to 75 whose risk of cardiovascular disease over the next decade is […]
  
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• Marysville police ask public’s help to find bank robber

  22-12-2015 06:12
  
  The man was wearing khaki pants, a dark-colored hoodie, a baseball cap and wire-rimmed glasses at the time of the robbery shortly before 5 p.m., according to police.
  
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• Gay widower finally gets what he deserves from VA

  22-12-2015 05:14
  
  Joe Krumbach is now getting widower’s benefits from the United States Veteran’s Administration (VA) on behalf of his late husband, Gerald Hatcher, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War.
  
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• Holiday magic on carousel

  22-12-2015 04:37
  
  Seattle resident enjoys a spin on the downtown Holiday Carousel at Westlake Park — five times.
  
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• Sidewalk closures will be “a last resort” under new Seattle Dept. of Transportation policy

  22-12-2015 04:21
  
  The explosive building boom in Seattle has not just pushed up rents and pushed out tenants, but has pushed pedestrians into city streets. The Seattle Department of Transportation blog is heralding a new policy under the heading:  “Sidewalk Closure a Last Resort:  Rule Finalized.”  It is certain to be one of SDOT’s most popular actions in recent years. “The new SDOT Director’s Rule highlighting construction-related sidewalk closures as a last resort is
  
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