A Laborious-boiled Crime
The avian flu has our nationwide egg provide dwindling and even has native thieves pondering outdoors the, um, shell. Two miscreants in a white van broke into West
Seattle’s Luna Park Cafe and made off with greater than 500 eggs, plus further substances from the restaurant’s walk-in. Proprietor Heong Park instructed Fox 13 that he was capable of interrupt the heist after he obtained a name from a landlord and nonetheless open for breakfast that day after desperately sourcing substitute eggs.
Signal of the Occasions
Even free speech has a value. The parcel of land in Lewis County that features the notorious Uncle Sam signal recognized for its provocative conservative messages alongside I-5 has been listed for $2.5 million. The signal at present reads “What number of Individuals will we depart behind in Ukraine” to southbound drivers and “Nobody died in WW2 so you could possibly present papers to purchase meals” to northbound drivers. Possibly the subsequent proprietor can use the billboard to advertise the Cascadian independence motion.
Nothing Sluggish Can Keep
Elsewhere alongside I-5, after greater than a 12 months WSDOT crews lastly eliminated an enormous stuffed sloth that had been perched on a tree overlooking the interstate close to Lake Samish. The sloth had develop into a topic of fascination to Reddit customers in Bellingham, who dubbed him Slothy. “Slothy DOES remind us that it’s necessary to decelerate,” WSDOT wrote on Fb. However the company stated he additionally precipitated a harmful distraction to drivers. No phrase on the place the eight-foot mammal resides now.
Spring 2025
The Level of No Return
One of many perks of being an REI co-op member is the shop’s beneficiant return coverage. For those who don’t like a water bottle, or a jacket, or a pair of mountaineering boots, you have got 12 months to convey it again—or a minimum of most of you do. The retailer lately despatched discover out to a small fraction of its members (lower than 0.02 p.c) who, REI says, abused the corporate’s generosity, returning the overwhelming majority of their purchases, usually after having used them. The message? No extra returns for you.
He Walked in Magnificence
Lord Byron, a Capitol Hill cat who grew to become web well-known after its house owners created an internet site the place residents might doc seeing him across the neighborhood, has died. He was a beloved cat who, boasting an AirTag tracker on his collar as he wandered his area, endeared himself to locals, usually frolicked in random companies, and accrued 1000’s of admirers on Fb. Could he relaxation in peace.
We Received Him This Time
An outbuilding in rural North Carolina. An previous parachute that matches the outline. A household with many years of suspicion. Might these be the clues that lastly lead investigators to substantiate the identification of iconic hijacker D. B. Cooper? The kids of Richard Floyd McCoy II imagine so, and declare their late father, who pulled off an identical heist in Utah 5 months after Cooper jumped out of that airplane in 1971, was the person America has spent many years on the lookout for. In fact, the FBI doesn’t appear suppose so.…
Mergers and Acquisitions
We’re used to listening to about grocery chains and telecom corporations merging—not establishments of upper studying. However that’s precisely what’s taking place as Cornish School of the Arts and Seattle College introduced a plan to meld right into a single establishment. The smushing collectively comes at a time when personal universities throughout the nation are scuffling with low enrollment and monetary duress. That is in all probability a greater match than, say, Bastyr and Seattle Pacific Universities can be, however nonetheless bizarre.
Winter 2024
Chook Watching
When the Storm chosen Sue Chook with the primary decide of the 2002 WNBA draft, expectations have been excessive. Twenty years later, Chook retired as a five-time gold medalist, four-time league champion, and the form of Seattle icon children and adults admire equally. Now, she’s additionally the form of icon who will get positioned beneath the tree as a Christmas reward. The “Barbie Sue Chook Inspiring Girls™ Doll” options Chook rocking not Storm colours, however a crimson, white, and blue jersey together with her iconic quantity 10, and features a little basketball, too.
Your Pleasant Neighborhood Kinkajou
Drivers stopping for a breather at a relaxation space close to Yakima on Interstate 82 have been handled to a uncommon sight lately—a small, raccoon-like creature with sharp enamel, a protracted tail, and large spherical eyes clinging to a signpost. The animal turned out to be a kinkajou—a tropical rainforest mammal whose habitat stretches from Mexico to Brazil. The way it ended up in an arid valley in Central Washington stays a thriller. However it was rescued by the Division of Fish and Wildlife and despatched to the Level Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma for care.
Tower Time
For a very long time, probably the most iconic constructing in Seattle wasn’t the Area Needle—it was the Smith Tower, as soon as the tallest constructing on the West Coast, with its pyramid pointing as much as the sky. Since its building in 1914, the skyscraper has lived many lives. For twenty years, it was owned by native restaurateur Ivar Haglund, then by Samis—the inspiration left behind by the eccentric Pioneer Sq. landlord Sam Israel. Now it has been bought by a gaggle of traders led by holding firm GT Capital. No phrase but on what they’ve deliberate for the penthouse.
Fall 2024
Twice Is Good
We’ve been taking part in baseball or some type of it for greater than 150 years. And but the game will at all times offer you one thing you’ve by no means seen earlier than. Living proof: Mariners fan Josh George caught a foul popup from third baseman Josh Rojas within the first inning of a house recreation in opposition to the Royals. Then, on the very subsequent pitch, George obtained one other foul popup off the bat of Rojas. The following day, the Mariners invited the fortunate fan out to throw not one, however two ceremonial first pitches.
Ramps to Nowhere No Extra
For many years, silly Seattleites have jumped off the “ramps to nowhere” on the Washington Park Arboretum and into the murky waters beneath. The ramps have been a remnant of a north-south freeway challenge that was halted by neighborhood activists within the ’60s and ’70s. And now, lastly, they’ve been eliminated: casualties of the 520 bridge substitute. Town stored one of many former bridge helps in place, with plans to make it a monument to the profitable freeway revolt.
A Striped Star
It began out as a novelty. Then it grew right into a phenomenon. 4 zebras escaped from a trailer pulled over off I-90 in North Bend, sauntering out into the woods. Three have been captured comparatively rapidly. However the fourth didn’t flip up. For days. “He may very well be going to Cle Elum by now, he may very well be up by Rattlesnake, he may very well be taking a drink out of the lake…we don’t know,” North Bend mayor Mary Miller instructed FOX 13 Seattle. On social media, photos of Shug the zebra appeared on a ferry, atop the Area Needle, at Dick’s. It turned out he was simply hanging round North Bend, the place ultimately native residents discovered Shug—a feminine, opposite to early experiences—in good well being.
Summer time 2024
Bombs Away
You by no means know what’s laying round within the neighbor’s storage. A Bellevue resident handed away lately and left his neighbor answerable for his belongings—together with a rusted, navy grade missile. After the neighbor referred to as a museum in Ohio to ask about it, the museum reached out to native police. Seems the missile, a Douglas Air-2 Genie designed to hold Chilly Battle–period nuclear warheads (however not carrying one), was inert.
Carroll Carousel
The 2024 Seattle soccer panorama will look so much completely different. However not that completely different. Solely per week after legendary Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was ousted after 14 years, and the one Tremendous Bowl victory in franchise historical past, the Washington Huskies employed his son Brennan to be their offensive coordinator. (Additionally they added Steve Belichick, son of former Patriots coach and Seahawks nemesis Invoice, to steer their protection.)
Testing, Testing
4 years after the nation’s first recognized case of Covid-19 was confirmed in Washington, our state is introducing merchandising machines to dispense free check kits, amongst different well being provides. Shut your eyes and suppose again to early 2020. This isn’t the long run you’ll have imagined. The machines, unveiled by the Division of Well being, can be in public locations, managed by native well being jurisdictions and Tribal nations.
Spring 2024
Barging In
A runaway barge drifting perilously near vacationer points of interest on the Seattle waterfront? Appears like a situation dreamed up for a Gray’s Anatomy episode. However it truly occurred late final 12 months. Earlier than the large barge loaded with empty containers might smash into the Nice Wheel or Seattle Aquarium, the captain and crew of a close-by King County Water Taxi acted quick, utilizing their very own vessel to push the barge north towards an remoted space. Remarkably, no person was injured.
Radio Radio
For the previous three many years, Seattle’s beloved indie radio station KEXP has been slowly rising its footprint: more and more giant transmitters, a brand new dwelling in Seattle Middle, a well-liked YouTube channel for its reside performances, possession of a second radio station within the Bay Space. Wait, what? Yep. KEXP bought KREV 92.7 out of receivership for $3.75 million. The brand new KREV will broadcast KEXP programming in and round San Francisco and ultimately launch an area Bay Space music present. How did KEXP pay for it? With assist from a $10 million bequest left by an nameless donor—so don’t fear, Amplifiers, your {dollars} are staying native.
Pac-2
The once-storied West Coast faculty sports activities convention that was dwelling to the College of Washington, UCLA, Stanford, and others has been cannibalized by larger, wealthier conferences with extra profitable TV offers. The result’s that 10 of its 12 packages are on their means out the door, leaving solely Washington State College and Oregon State College holding the (empty) bag. The logistics are advanced, and the authorized battle is ongoing. However search for Pac-2 soccer in 2024, whereas the Huskies break new floor within the Large Ten, which is definitely going to be nearer to a Large 20.
Bartell Them Goodbye
A pandemic-era Capitol Hill landmark is gone, and a historic native chain is struggling. The Ceremony Support with the “Come Get Sh_t_ Right here” marquee grew to become the most recent in a wave of closures amongst Seattle-area drug shops because the pharmacy big declared chapter. Ceremony Support—which purchased Seattle-founded Bartell Medication in 2020—has been shuttering areas of each chains for months, together with shops in Everett, Bellevue, and Redmond.
Winter 2023
Cretaceous Race
Tons of of vicious dinosaurs (folks in giant, inflatable costumes) descended on Emerald Downs racetrack for the T-Rex World Championship Races, which included each child and grownup occasions. Amid the stumbling grownup dinos, a trio sprinted to the entrance of the pack for a photograph end within the closing contest. “I’ve been coaching for this all my life,” stated winner Boto Rex (actual identify Ocean Kim) from atop the rostrum, his little dino arms hoisting an enormous inexperienced trophy.
Stepped in It
It’s a grimy job however anyone’s obtained to do it. Pooper Trooper, based mostly in Lynnwood, filed swimsuit in opposition to Scoop Troop, a Spokane firm, for infringing on its model identification and trademark. Each companies concentrate on canine waste removing, a surprisingly profitable and aggressive trade. The case was settled out of court docket when Scoop Troop agreed to vary its identify to Swoop Scoop—which they don’t imagine will throw their clients for a loop.
Recreation Misconduct
This one is truthfully arduous to elucidate. The Seattle Kraken discovered themselves mired in a social media controversy after embracing a subset of romance novel followers on TikTok who forged professional hockey gamers in steamy subplots as a type of fan fiction. The Kraken invited TikTok customers to video games and posted memes that includes their gamers—however then some of us obtained carried away. Felicia Wennberg, the spouse of Kraken heart Alex Wennberg, requested followers to cease posting “predatory” and sexualized messages. Influencers shot again. Possibly all of us want a while within the penalty field to chill off.
Roll Up
Sizzling canine. Rooster bake. Sashimi? The Issaquah Costco grew to become the corporate’s first U.S. location with its personal in-house sushi counter that includes actual reside cooks reducing fish and assembling rolls for every day buy. Thus far, contemporary sushi hasn’t appeared in some other native Costcos.
Fall 2023
Level Break In
On Could 25, a gaggle of moist swimsuit–clad burglars broke into an occupied waterfront dwelling in Yarrow Level at about 4am. They stole roughly $20,000 in money from a secure, made their means onto kayaks, and paddled off into the darkness. Officers from the Clyde Hill Police Division stated they believed the burglars have been headed north on Lake Washington towards, of all locations, Kirkland.
Doodle Dandy
Rebecca Wu, a Bellevue sixth grader, gained the annual “Doodle for Google” competitors, together with her drawing referred to as “My Sweetest Reminiscences.” Along with seeing her paintings on Google’s homepage for a day, she additionally gained a $30,000 faculty scholarship and a $50,000 grant for her college. Wu says her successful entry was impressed by her sisters.
Fleeced?
In a battle between two manufacturers on the coronary heart of Seattle’s identification, Patagonia is suing Nordstrom for promoting what it claims are counterfeit objects at Rack shops. Patagonia claims that, after an 11-year partnership between the businesses ended, Nordstrom Rack continued to promote 1000’s of mislabeled sweatshirts and T-shirts, usually made out of inferior supplies.
The Subsequent Apple
Horticulturalists from Washington State College have unveiled the state’s latest apple variant. Presently dubbed WA 64, it’s a hybrid of two well-liked varieties: the Honeycrisp and the Cripps Pink (also called the Pink Woman). The WA 64 is the product of years of growth and can take nonetheless extra years to hit your native farmers market, as timber get planted and mature. By then it can have a catchier identify.
Summer time 2023
Street Rank
It’s not your creativeness: Washington is without doubt one of the worst states to drive in, a minimum of in accordance with private finance web site WalletHub. The Evergreen State got here in forty ninth place in a 2023 rating that accounted for visitors, infrastructure, security, and the price of proudly owning and sustaining a automobile. Hey, a minimum of we beat Hawaii.
Buckling Down
Seattle is suing Kia and Hyundai as a result of, as metropolis legal professional Ann Davison places it, the automotive producers “lower prices on the expense of their clients.” The lawsuit alleges {that a} lack of anti-theft know-how in these automobiles is why town’s seen a 363 p.c enhance in stolen Hyundais and a 503 p.c surge in pilfered Kias from 2021 to 2022.
Sounders F-U
In January, the Sounders introduced Windfall as their primary package sponsor…and it didn’t go over nicely. Supporters decried the religiously affiliated well being group’s anti-abortion and anti-transgender stance—one thing at odds with the soccer membership’s public overtures to the LGBTQ neighborhood. Some followers even went as far as to create their very own customized “pro-choice” jerseys.
Night time Streaking
A inexperienced fireball—brightly blazing area particles that explodes within the higher layers of Earth’s environment—lit up sprint cams and residential safety methods throughout Western Washington final January. As proud residents rushed to publish their footage on Twitter, the American Meteor Society merely recorded it as Occasion 314-2023 in its fireball log. Strategy to make us really feel particular.
USPS SOS
Native porch pirates have apparently set sail for wider waters as a string of mail truck thefts final winter despatched law enforcement officials scouring Beacon Hill and West Seattle for the boxy white automobiles. In all cases, the mail carriers have been unhurt and the vehicles have been ultimately recovered—sans a number of packages.
Spring 2023
Flipping the Chook
Elon Musk’s chaotic Twitter takeover included an endeavor to promote blue verification checkmarks for $8, leaving manufacturers to cope with IRL fallout from digital impersonators. A faux account for Redmond-based Nintendo of America posted a pic of its iconic Italian plumber extending the center finger.
Misinformation Thriller
Web scuttlebutt of a serial killer on the unfastened in Seattle appeared to unfold sooner than one might say “faux information” this fall. A notable Instagram account with 157,000 followers on the time posted in regards to the rumor, and anxious service trade vets handed phrase on to patrons. A College of Washington researcher later picked aside the report’s zero sources and doubtful gossip community development.
Ticket to Refund
Seattle’s parking enforcement officers have lastly discovered a everlasting spot—again with the Seattle Police Division—after a shift to the Division of Transportation beneath former mayor Jenny Durkan led to an enormous mistake: a authorized technicality that pressured town to nullify almost $4.5 million in parking tickets.
Grocery store Sweep
Shareholders of grocery retailer chain Albertsons must wait slightly longer for a $4 billion payout from a proposed merger with Kroger. Washington’s legal professional common Bob Ferguson filed for a short lived restraining order till state regulators might assessment the deal. In keeping with The Seattle Occasions, greater than half of Seattle-area households steadily store at a retailer owned by the 2 corporations.
What a Hoot
“Warning Aggressive Owl” learn indicators posted by the Division of Fish and Wildlife at North SeaTac Park, the place a hostile chook defending its nest was reportedly harassing passersby. Walkers have been inspired to slowly wave their arms overhead, put on a hat or helmet, or deploy an umbrella in the event that they needed to cross paths with the feathered defender.
Winter 2022
Slimy Seattle
For weeks Reddit ran wild with theories a couple of mysterious crimson goo clinging to sidewalks in Wallingford. Was it Tubifera ferruginosa, a raspberry mildew? An homage to a wacky podcast sketch? Simply melted sweet? One courageous soul seems to have confirmed the globs are Swedish Fish, the Wallingford Pink Goo Instagram account experiences. However its origins stay unknown.
Amazon vs. Microsoft Canceled (Actually)
After the Museum of Museums introduced a name for artwork solely from Amazon and Microsoft employees, many social media commenters dragged a present designed “to recalibrate the narrative round what an enormous tech employee is,” citing the trade’s ties to the gentrification pushing artists out of town. The exhibit, slated to debut this fall on the First Hill artwork area, was swiftly nixed.
Bahhhhd Selections
A Nigerian Dwarf goat was stolen from the Grays Harbor County Truthful. The suspects then took Penny to a Walmart in Lacey (naturally) earlier than the native sheriff’s workplace recovered the three-month-old animal and returned it to its house owners. The heist wasn’t the one native goat drama. A couple of days later, three runaways trotted alongside Freeway 12 in Brady. A state trooper gave them a journey dwelling.
The AI Singer
Overlook about these Dall-E Mini artwork memes. Synthetic intelligence can be coming for the performing arts. A latest New York Occasions function captured the oddity of watching a jazz fusion band carry out on Maury Island with a machine, Desdemona, as its lead vocalist. The not-yet-sentient singer crooned in regards to the day when engineers can not management their creations.
Bizarre Flex
In late August, the third Seattle-area location of a “premier assisted stretching boutique” opened in Issaquah. StretchLab affords private coaching classes with Flexologists and touts a machine that, after simply three squats, can assess one’s mobility, activation, posture, and symmetry. Memberships begin at $179 monthly.
Fall 2022
Hybrid Commuting
E-bike batteries. A stripped-down mobility scooter. An previous love seat. Put all of it collectively and you’ve got the motorized sofa Kass Hodorowski has jury-rigged to wheel across the Metropolis of Future. The three-mile-per-hour pleasure rides of Tacoma Sofa Man have each amused social media and highlighted the sorry state of native sidewalk accessibility.
Hulled Up
Angelyn and Richard Burk, previously of Tukwila, will spend their retirement years dwelling solely on cruises. Angelyn, an accountant, says it’s extra reasonably priced to perpetually ship off for Sydney and different coastal locales than to abdomen the bonkers value of dwelling on shore.
Drawing the Strains
The Seattle Division of Transportation has eliminated a “guerrilla crosswalk” at Greenwood Avenue North and North 83rd Avenue, The Seattle Occasions experiences. Thick white strains confirmed up one September day throughout a thoroughfare that’s overdue for a everlasting crossing. It’s being referred to as an act of tactical urbanism.
Et Tu, Apple?
Uncared for produce in warehouses and transport containers will get wasted much less now, because of an area startup lately featured by GeekWire. Strella Biotechnology makes use of sensors to observe ranges of ethylene, a gasoline that fruits exude, to trace which Granny Smiths are ripe or rotten as they slog by means of the availability chain.
Cat-Paw-Tol Hill
The wanderlust of an orange tabby cat has captured the creativeness of a Seattle neighborhood. A quickly rising Fb group dedicated to Lord Byron, a five-year-old feline named for the adventurous British Romantic, paperwork sightings in every single place from road corners to inside random folks’s houses. Lord Byron’s proprietor instructed The Seattle Collegian the cat has even hopped into the vehicles of unsuspecting drivers.
Summer time 2022
Boxed In
Police rescued an 80-year-old lady in Illinois from a hostage state of affairs after her Seattle-based daughter seen she hadn’t texted her every day Wordle rating. Unanswered messages prompted her kids to alert the authorities. No indication of what number of five-letter phrases the previous instructor considered in the course of the many hours a unadorned, scissors-wielding man locked her in a toilet (she was unhurt), however some four-letter ones should have come to thoughts.
KOMO Axes Its Tourism Bureau
Broadcast information fixated on crime downtown early in 2022, and no person was extra obsessed than KOMO reporter Jonathan Choe. Throughout one dispatch, he stood throughout from police on Third Avenue and queried a visiting couple, “You guys aren’t afraid to stroll by means of all this?” The vacationers, befuddled, stored strolling. Choe was later fired after a number of incidents.
Flightmare Gas
Pilots have skilled some sudden air visitors within the neighborhood of Jet Metropolis. The rollout of AT&T and Verizon’s 5G wi-fi companies grounded all passenger flights at Paine Subject earlier this 12 months as a result of it doubtlessly interfered with very important security gear. And somebody educated a inexperienced mild on a number of planes approaching Sea-Tac in harmful (and legal) “laser strikes.”
Caught on KUOW
A glitch in Mazdas of a sure age lately examined the bounds of our public radio fandom. Drivers turning to the NPR station in vehicles made between 2014 and 2017 despatched their infotainment methods into a brand new iteration of the Seattle Freeze. The issue stays one thing of a thriller, however native dealerships have begun putting in substitute elements freed from cost to appease the aggrieved tote-clutchers.
Not a Prime Supply
Jeff Bezos has provided to pay for the deconstruction of a historic bridge in Rotterdam, Netherlands, to accommodate the cargo of his $485 million superyacht. In protest, 1000’s of Fb customers have pledged to egg the 417-foot vessel because it makes its means by means of the Dutch port. In unrelated information, Bezos’s ex MacKenzie Scott has donated extra to charity since their break up than the Amazon founder.
Editor’s word: This checklist is up to date quarterly with information objects of questionable import however indubitable resonance within the Seattle zeitgeist. When you’ve got any odd native anecdotes to share that haven’t made headlines but, be happy to ship them to [email protected].
