Some King County parks and public lands will reopen on Friday as the first phase of Gov. Jay Inslee's plan to reopen Washington's economy continues. Here's what's open and what's not as we head into a sunny spring weekend.

As Mother’s Day approaches, staff writer Megan Burbank thanks her mother for instilling in her a love for screwball heroines, old movies and strong female role models.

The theme park, closed since Jan. 25, will reopen May 11 at one-third capacity and with safety measures in place. The ticket sales are a sign that consumers in China are prepared to get out, and to spend money, as the nation recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.

With social distancing efforts (or just distance) keeping many families apart for Mother's Day, our features staffers share how they'll be celebrating their moms this weekend. Happy Mother's Day!

From an unexpected friendship across species, to a cluster of clay llamas, to finding a way to remotely produce a song featuring multiple collaborators, people across Washington state have found ways to stay connected to their artistic communities, their jobs and their routines — or to find beauty in the changes themselves. 

People move far less than they used to: Just 9.8% of Americans moved in the year ending in March, according to newly released data. That was the smallest share since the Census Bureau started tracking it in 1947.

Sarah Hurt started her International District business two or so years ago, “with two goals in mind,” she says: “to advocate for local artists, and to provide a curated collection of art that was ready for any interior design project.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Idris Elba, who battled the coronavirus this year, has lent his voice to a new song about black men and mental health that will benefit pandemic relief efforts. Elba is featured on the song “Kings” by Kosine, a singer-songwriter-producer best known for crafting hits for Big Sean, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna. […]

A few nights after one of their players was injured by a dirty hit, the Johnstown Jets plotted to exact some revenge on Buffalo’s Greg Neeld. An all-out brawl broke out during warmups and the North American Hockey League game was postponed, much to the dismay of ownership and presumably the fans at a sold-out […]

Brandi Carlile has rescheduled her June 6 Echoes Through the Canyon show at the Gorge Amphitheatre to Aug. 14, 2021.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — SeaWorld guests could be sitting in every other row of the stadium to watch orca shows when the parks eventually reopen, the company’s CEO said Friday. Interim CEO Marc Swanson gave an update Friday on a coronavirus safety plan under development, but no official reopening dates have been announced, the Orlando […]

Alan Lund taught music in the Bellevue and Highline School Districts, and directed music for the Seattle Opera Chorus, the Eastside’s Cascadian Chorale, the Boeing Chorale and, most notably, the Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society.

From an unexpected friendship across species, to a cluster of clay llamas, to finding a way to remotely produce a song featuring multiple collaborators, people across Washington state have found ways to stay connected to their artistic communities, their jobs and their routines — or to find beauty in the changes themselves. 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Little Richard, one of the chief architects of rock ‘n’ roll whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black R&B to white America, died Saturday after battling bone cancer. He was 87. Pastor Bill Minson, a close friend of Little Richard’s, told The Associated […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Andre Harrell, the Uptown Records founder who shaped the sound of hip-hop and R&B in the late ’80s and ’90s with acts such as Mary J. Blige and Heavy D and also launched the career of mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, has died. He was 59. Diddy’s REVOLT company confirmed the death […]

Reaction to the death of rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Little Richard, who died Saturday at 87. — “I’m so saddened to hear about the passing of Little Richard, he was the biggest inspiration of my early teens and his music still has the same raw electric energy when you play it now as it did […]

Bill Gates is stepping down from the board of Microsoft Corp., the company he co-founded in 1975.

It was a rocky week on Wall Street, as most securities fell and some saw record declines. Seattle-area companies felt the pain as sharply as any.

Microsoft's executives, with headquarters just a few miles from one of the country’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, were among the first to confront the impact.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sent an email Saturday to his 140,000-plus employees, telling them he shares their personal anxieties over the coronavirus and asking each to make a "small difference" to help others. In a Seattle Times interview beforehand, he detailed his emotions the past week steering the company while caring for his family.

Apple’s market value fell below $1 trillion as trading opened Monday, leaving Microsoft as the only U.S. stock above the 13-digit threshold. Apple shares fell as much as 4.9% at 9:40 a.m. in New York, bringing the iPhone maker’s market value to about $960 billion. In the wake of coronavirus, the company has been hampered […]

Sound Transit is suing Microsoft for land and access to build light rail from Overlake to downtown Redmond, and even claimed the software giant was creating risks of missing the agency's August 2024 goal to complete the project. The institutions differ by $17.5 million over how much Sound Transit should pay to buy land next to Highway 520, plus easement rights for worker access and equipment storage.

In arguably the most ambitious and unique procurement effort in company history, technology giant Microsoft is leveraging its global supply chain to bring tens of thousands of badly-needed medical supplies — including 240,000 N-95 surgical masks — to the Puget Sound in anticipation of coronavirus hospitalizations. Supplies began arriving on Monday.

Affirmed Networks helps build virtual networks for telecom customers using 5G technology.

As March ends, the first quarter's results include the biggest plunge ever in West Texas oil prices and the Dow's worst performance since 1987.

The company's chief technology officer says early detection of underlying health conditions could not only help treat patients and prevent the spread of future pandemics, but also reduce care costs for Americans

Microsoft hired Ruben Caballero, Apple's former executive in charge of wireless technologies, to work on mixed reality hardware and artificial intelligence technology.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend funding to the World Health Organization as “dangerous,” saying the payments should continue particularly during the global coronavirus pandemic. “Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds,” Gates tweeted early Wednesday. “Their work is […]

The 317-page report by the inspector general also found that giving the contract to a single company — Microsoft — rather than dividing it among competitors was "consistent with applicable acquisition standards."

Microsoft's chief technology officer, Kevin Scott, spoke with The Associated Press about the pandemic's effects on his day-to-day responsibilities.

Analysts expected as much, and that's one reason Microsoft's stock is closing in on the all-time high it hit in early February.

Softomotive specializes in robot process automation technology, or software that helps companies save time and money by automating repetitive, manual tasks such as entering data into spreadsheets.

Microsoft, gearing up for its biggest-ever year of launches for Xbox products and services in the middle of a global pandemic and economic recession, will replace its plan for a splashy public game-conference event with a monthly series of online showcases.

She emphasizes teamwork and exudes humility, but Jessica Shafer leads with uncommon courage, dedication and skill.

How citizen ‘reporters’ and marauding coyotes took over the neighborhood ‘news cycle.

The first female commanding officer of Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment updates us on the challenges of keeping local vessels afloat and off the rocks.

It seems appropriate to acronym-ize the affliction striking Northwesterners during the dark, dank, depressing days of winter when it seems there is only one thing, really, left to be done: jetting off to Maui, or thereabouts.

An emergency room physician has been fired after he publicly decried what he called a lack of protective measures against the novel coronavirus at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center. The hospital is the only emergency facility for some 250,000 people in the state’s northwest corner.

Dear readers: You’re adjusting to new realities introduced by the novel coronavirus, and Weekend Plus is, too. Starting today and in the coming weeks, you’ll find fewer restaurant and entertainment listings in this section and more emphasis on things you can enjoy at home, including: • Recipes and takeout food • Family activities • Recommended […]

Seattle Times columnist and nutritionist Carrie Dennett looks into the concepts found in the new book "Food Bullying" by Michele Payn.

Under normal circumstances, this would be a perfect time to sneak in a round or two (or four), but of course, that’s impossible. All courses in the state have been shut down by virtue of Gov. Inslee’s shelter-at-home order March 23.

From an unexpected friendship across species, to a cluster of clay llamas, to finding a way to remotely produce a song featuring multiple collaborators, people across Washington state have found ways to stay connected to their artistic communities, their jobs and their routines — or to find beauty in the changes themselves. 

Deep into the two-hour Nevada Democratic debate, co-moderator Chuck Todd of NBC asked former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg if he should have made so much money that it allowed him to become a billionaire many times over. Bloomberg looked at Todd with an expression that was a combination of boredom and annoyance before replying, […]

Ballet and fashion have an undeniable connection — a bond currently on display in the "Ballerine: Fashion's Modern Muse" exhibit at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.

Until it's time to gather once more, to dance and to celebrate dance together, let us admire these hauntingly beautiful costumes from Pacific Northwest Ballet's canceled April production of "Giselle."

We often hear about the impact of the pandemic in terms of numbers: This many cases, that many deaths. But each data point represents a human life whose loss is felt by countless other people. If we are to truly understand the toll this virus is taking, their stories need to be front and center.

Editor’s note: The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is generally expressed in numbers of cases and deaths. But each data point represents a human life whose loss is felt by countless other people. We are chronicling some of them in an obituary series called Lives Remembered. If you know someone who has died of COVID-19, […]

From feeling scared to feeling resolved to see change, eight young people, ages 10 to 15, share how they're coping with the pandemic, in their own words.

Three Eastside Catholic players were under investigation for a parking-lot brawl as the team headed toward a second state championship. Prosecutors ultimately declined to pursue charges.

Folks were teeming with joy Tuesday at Bellevue Golf Course, which booked out within minutes of Gov. Jay Inslee's announcement last week that it was OK to play golf after a two-month shutdown because of the coronavirus pandemic.