Throughout Sunday, on this page, we’ll be posting updates from Seattle Times journalists and others on the pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the Pacific Northwest and the world.

In the first phase of the state's reopening, hunting and fishing were reintroduced statewide, municipal golf courses began operating again, and more than 100 state parks reopened for day-use recreation only.

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.

As Washington grapples with a tsunami of legitimate unemployment claims — more than 100,000 last week — the state also is seeing a rise in attempts by fraudsters to siphon off a portion of the benefits.

As usual, May Day demonstrators took to the streets on Friday. Only this time, they drove in cars and practiced safe distancing while pushing for immigrant and workers' rights as well as a proposed tax on large corporations.

Business and government insiders say other companies and organizations are contemplating similarly extended time frames as they consider the new realities of the workplace in the COVID-19 era.

When the crafts market at Pike Place Market was forced to temporarily shut down, vendors are turning to online sales and getting help in doing that from their fellow workers.

Many disputed the distinction between essential and nonessential businesses.

Twenty of the farmers who sell at Pike Place Market are participating in Saturday's event, with pickup sites in Seattle and Renton.

This series of charts provides weekly data on how the Seattle-area economy is doing during the coronavirus crisis.

In the unofficial forecast numbers, Washington would lose $3.8 billion in revenue this current budget cycle. An additional $3.27 billion would be sheared off the 2021-23 budget cycle.

The Pittsburgh company plans to close its Ferndale aluminum smelter by July, throwing 700 people out of work.

The COVID-19 pandemic is the latest challenge for Seattle’s independent record stores like Easy Street, but these titans of vinyl continue to rise to the occasion.

For the week ending May 2, the state received 109,167 initial claims for unemployment insurance, down almost 22% from the prior week, according to U.S. Labor Department figures released Thursday morning.

Brown said that on May 15 she will loosen restrictions statewide on day cares and on retail shops that were previously closed, including furniture stores, boutiques, jewelry stores and art galleries.

Both Washington and Alaska will benefit from money carved out of the massive federal economic stimulus package known as the CARES ACT that is intended to assist in both direct and indirect fishery-related losses.

Kroger-owned QFC and Fred Meyer will discontinue their $2-an-hour "Hero Bonus'' premiums paid to workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Ohio-based Kroger has set May 16 as the program's final date while other large grocery retailers ponder the future of similar bonuses.

Five TSA employees nationwide have died of COVID-19, and 516 employees have tested positive, including seven at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

As Washington grapples with a tsunami of legitimate unemployment claims — more than 100,000 last week — the state also is seeing a rise in attempts by fraudsters to siphon off a portion of the benefits.

In many cases, the response from insurers has been: We don't cover viruses.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Matt Kenseth had a blissful year of retirement. He had time to travel with his wife and four daughters, made his first visit to Europe and took up marathon running. It was free time he never had in 22 years of racing at NASCAR’s national level. “It was really just spending […]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR plans to restart its engines with a flurry of races at two historic tracks. NASCAR said Thursday it is set to return May 17 with an elite Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, the first of seven events in an 11-day stretch across the top three series. […]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR is preparing to be the first major U.S. sport to restart its season during the coronavirus pandemic — a welcomed return to racing and one that will be closely watched by the public and other professional leagues for missteps. More than 700 people — no fans — are expected to […]

PARIS (AP) — Formula One hopes to finally start the season with a double-header in the naturally isolated environment around the venue for the Austrian Grand Prix. Despite the first 10 races having been canceled or postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, the targeted start date is July 5 in Austria. F1 still envisages holding […]

PARIS (AP) — Formula One hopes to finally start the season with a double-header in the naturally isolated environment around the venue for the Austrian Grand Prix. Despite the first 10 races having been canceled or postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, the targeted start date is July 5 in Austria. F1 still envisages holding […]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Scott McLaughlin was supposed to leave Australia for Indianapolis this month to make his IndyCar debut on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With sports on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, the two-time V8 SuperCars champion saw his IndyCar plans postponed. McLaughlin instead settled for a virtual victory Saturday […]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — William Byron showed he’s the sharpest gamer in NASCAR’s iRacing Series with his third victory in four events. Byron passed Timmy Hill with seven laps remaining at virtual Dover International Speedway, where NASCAR was scheduled to actually race Sunday, to win yet again on the iRacing platform. The Hendrick Motorsports driver […]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — William Byron showed he’s the sharpest gamer in NASCAR’s iRacing Series with his third victory in four events. Byron passed Timmy Hill with seven laps remaining at virtual Dover International Speedway, where NASCAR was scheduled to actually race Sunday, to win yet again on the iRacing platform. The Hendrick Motorsports driver […]

Andretti Autosport and Chip Ganassi Racing are the first two American teams to commit to a new electric SUV off-road racing series scheduled to begin in 2021. The Extreme E series has five events planned in what the league is calling “some of the most remarkable, remote and severely damaged locations on the planet.” The […]

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — IndyCar has gotten the green flag to finally start its season, which it will do in Texas with a nighttime race June 6 without spectators. The race at Texas Motor Speedway was the next one on the schedule that hadn’t been postponed or canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. IndyCar […]

The resurrection of Kyle Larson’s career began with a 25-hour drive from California to Iowa for a $15,000-to-win World of Outlaws race. Larson hitched a ride with the team that fielded a car for him Friday night at Knoxville Raceway. It’s a total reset for a driver who less than a month ago was the […]

PARIS (AP) — Driving around Formula One tracks without fans cheering at Silverstone and Monza would literally feel “very empty” for world champion Lewis Hamilton. The first 10 races this season have been postponed or canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic, with the iconic Monaco Grand Prix scrapped for the first time in 66 years. F1 […]

UW coaches understand the severity of the coronavirus pandemic and are fully in support of prioritizing health concerns. It’s just that no one could be quite prepared for the abrupt nature of this decision.

IT WAS ONE of my first years covering spring training in Arizona, during a stint in the early 1990s as the San Francisco Giants beat writer for the San Francisco Examiner. Every day, after our work was done, Bay Area media members would assemble at a Scottsdale park for a pickup basketball game, spirited affairs […]

It is beyond time for the International Olympic Committee to come to the same conclusion that virtually every governing body, and an increasing number of athletes, have wrapped their brains around. Namely, that the Olympics must be postponed.

The sports world has been shut down by the coronavirus outbreak. But that doesn’t mean we can’t lament the fact that, in normal times, Thursday would have kicked off the 2020 Major League Baseball season.

The Marysville resident and former Ferndale High School cross-country coach, 75, has run at least a mile – much more, on most days – since mid-February 1970.

GM Garth Lagerwey’s message to antsy soccer fans who are yearning to see the Sounders back in action is that there’s a link between safe health practices and the resumption of the season.

This week all spring-sport athletes were granted an additional season of competition by the NCAA, a decision that was greeted with relief and jubilation by a Husky team that had legitimate national-title aspirations.

This possible plan floated by MLB is rife with holes, writes columnist Larry Stone. Is it really wise to be putting so aggressive a timeline on baseball’s return at a time when the full scope of coronavirus’ devastation is still being felt?

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.

It was exactly 34 years ago Wednesday that Clemens, at the time a highly promising but still unproven Red Sox pitcher, put himself on the baseball map. On one cool, magical night at Boston's Fenway Park against the Mariners, he mowed down a Mariners lineup that had been struggling all season to make contact.

The idea is to impart the baseball knowledge of himself and others he recruited to the cause — many of whom are part of the wave of Northwest-based coaches who have infiltrated professional baseball — while raising money for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to support COVID-19 research.

You could dream about Lynch coming back to the Seahawks, as he revealed Monday that the two sides are discussing, and this time leading them back to the Super Bowl. Or, you could make the case I’m going to make: Leave well enough alone.

Ten thousand bicyclists: The grand parade of neon and spandex is under way as thousands of bicyclists departed Husky Stadium this morning for the Rose City. It’s an annual classic where the greyhound riders will finish the 200-mile ride in a single day. The big pack will finish Sunday, exhausted but happy to be in […]

Over at The Stranger’s blog, News Editor Dominic Holden writes about an unfortunate encounter Tuesday night with King County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Patrick Saulet and SPD Officer John Marion. Holden writes that he was riding his bike past Fourth Avenue South and South Jackson Street about 7:25 p.m. when he stopped to snap a picture, […]

That was loud. Unstable air mass triggered a lightning and thunder show over many parts of Puget Sound last night. And there’s a chance today for more flash showers, especially near the Cascade foothills. A whole lot of bikers with a cause. The  weekend-long ride Obliteride continues today through Sunday. Hundreds of bicyclists will be riding 25, […]

You can forgive a lot of things about Jim Harbaugh, coach of the San Francisco 49ers, but even his wife gets critical when it comes to his long-standing love affair of pleated khakis. Turns out even his wife thinks the pleats have to go. Sarah Harbaugh reportedly called Bay Area radio station 99.7 Now and […]

On March 20, the day spring officially arrived, NOAA published its April-to-June forecast. For Western Washington, it’s looking pretty good, people. Think warmer and drier weather. Here’s what NOAA said: “For precipitation, odds favor drier-than-normal conditions for the Alaska panhandle, western Washington and Oregon. …”  And  temps will be  “warmer-than-normal” for western Washington. Sure, we’ll […]