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Leo Sreebny, 98, UW dental researcher who kept ‘the world going,’ dies of coronavirus complications


Leo Sreebny established a dental research center at UW. Fond of walking along the Seattle waterfront, Leo always tried to coax a smile out of those he met, and he kept the family home filled with music. He died April 5 of COVID-19 complications at age 98.




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Lives Remembered: Meet some of the people Washington state has lost to the coronavirus pandemic


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.




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Rocco Ursino, Italian immigrant who dedicated his life to his seven children, dies of coronavirus disease


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, […]




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Irrfan Khan, of ‘Slumdog Millionaire,’ ‘Life of Pi,’ dies


NEW DELHI (AP) — Irrfan Khan, a veteran character actor in Bollywood movies and one of India’s best-known exports to Hollywood, has died. He was 54. Khan played the police inspector in “Slumdog Millionaire” and the park executive Masrani in “Jurassic World.” He also appeared in “The Amazing Spider-Man” and the adventure fantasy “Life of […]




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Cornelius ‘Moose’ Lawyer, 84, who finally made it to Little League World Series, dies from coronavirus


Cornelius "Neil" Lawyer was born in a one-room sharecropper's house in rural Mississippi and became the first in his family to graduate from college before settling in Bellevue after living for years in Belgium.




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This week’s passages


Denis Goldberg, 87, a railway engineer who became one of the most prominent white anti-apartheid activists in South Africa, spending 22 years behind bars for plotting to overthrow the country’s brutal system of racial oppression, died April 29 at his home in Hout Bay, near Cape Town. Working alongside Nelson Mandela and other leaders of […]




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David Beyl, Mercer Island resident who deployed to missions in Antarctica, dies of coronavirus


Retired Cmdr. David Beyl, a longtime Mercer Island resident and career Navy pilot who did several tours abroad, including in Antarctica, died March 23 at Overlake Hospital. He was 85.




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‘I lost two sisters and my mom in two weeks’: West Seattle man grieves deaths of 3 family members from coronavirus


In a span of 13 days, Raymond Lee and his brother, William, lost sister Regina Lim Lee, 58; mother, Susie Chin Lee, 82; and sister Willa, 60, to the novel coronavirus. Three beloved women gone in less than two weeks.




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Esther Bryant Kyles and Pastor Edwin Kyles Jr., who helped those in need, die within days of each other from coronavirus disease


The couple, who were married for 23 years, are among the hundreds of people in Washington state who have died after testing positive for coronavirus.




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Shula, winningest coach in pro football history, dies at 90


Shula became an institution during his 26 seasons in Miami. He died Monday at home. He was 90.




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Bobby Lee Barber, 84, who loved Seattle sports and ‘never met a stranger,’ dies of coronavirus


Known to friends as Bugs or Bugsy, he became a Seahawks' season-ticket holder during the team's expansion season, was a longtime Husky football season ticket holder who went to a few Rose Bowls, and loved going to Mariners games.




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Tom Delucchi, Hanford welding engineer who never stopped tinkering, dies of coronavirus


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, […]




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Veteran Chinese diplomat and Mao Zedong’s interpreter dies


BEIJING (AP) — Ji Chaozhu, a veteran Chinese diplomat who provided English translation for leaders including Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping and served as an undersecretary of the United Nations, has died, the foreign ministry said. He was 90. Ji also served as ambassador to Britain over the course of a lengthy career that began […]




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Helen Molina, who loved her Huskies and worked in the UW athletic department, dies of coronavirus


Small in stature, Helen Molina had a big heart when it came to her family and Washington Huskies athletics. Ms. Molina died April 3 due to complications from COVID-19 and end-stage Alzheimer's disease. She was 85.




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Jerry Spring, who demonstrated faith through action, dies of coronavirus at 85


Spring became an Alaska Airlines pilot during the golden age of aviation in the 1960s: a time when intuition and a dash of fearlessness helped steer the manual control systems.




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This week’s passages


Ty, 47, an acclaimed British rapper best known for his 2003 album “Upwards,” has died from coronavirus. Ty, whose legal name was Ben Chijioke, was admitted to a hospital in early April with COVID-19, The Guardian reported. He was later placed in a medically induced coma. Ann McBride Norton, 75, who championed citizens rights and […]




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Alan Lund, who taught and directed music throughout the Seattle area, dies at 81 from coronavirus complications


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.




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Andretti, Ganassi commit to new Extreme E Series for 2021


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 […]




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Facebook names oversight board, including former Denmark PM


A year and a half after announcing its creation, Facebook has named the initial 20 members of its oversight board, a quasi-independent panel that is to make decisions on thorny issues. The board’s members were named by Facebook and hail from a broad swath of regions around the world. They include Tawakkol Karman, a Nobel […]




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Facebook names oversight board, including former Denmark PM


A year and a half after announcing its creation, Facebook has named the initial 20 members of its oversight board, a quasi-independent panel that is to make decisions on thorny issues. The board’s members were named by Facebook and hail from a broad swath of regions around the world. They include Tawakkol Karman, a Nobel […]




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Czech, US to cooperate on security of 5G networks


PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic and the United States have signed a joint declaration Wednesday for cooperating on security of 5G technology. The Czech government office said the document was signed remotely by Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The signing comes amid a global battle between the […]




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TV broadcaster Sinclair fined $48 million over Tribune deal


The federal government has fined Sinclair Broadcasting Corp. $48 million, largely because of actions the TV broadcaster took in its failed attempt to acquire smaller rival Tribune Media. Sinclair in 2017 proposed a $3.9 billion deal for Tribune’s TV stations, attempting to extend its reach into new markets. The deal fell apart that August, and […]




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TV broadcaster Sinclair fined $48 million over Tribune deal


The federal government has fined Sinclair Broadcasting Corp. $48 million, largely because of actions the TV broadcaster took in its failed attempt to acquire smaller rival Tribune Media. Sinclair in 2017 proposed a $3.9 billion deal for Tribune’s TV stations, attempting to extend its reach into new markets. The deal fell apart that August, and […]




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Axl Rose, Steven Mnuchin and the pandemic Twitter feud no one saw coming


By all accounts, 2020 has been, to put it mildly, a weird year. This week alone has already seen a 5-year-old boy from Utah attempt a solo drive to California on a mission to buy a Lamborghini, a llama named Winter emerge as a potential key player in the race for a treatment targeting the […]




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Zoom buys security firm Keybase


NEW YORK (AP) — Zoom Video Communications is buying security firm Keybase in an effort to shore up security for its video meetings. Terms of the deal were undisclosed. Zoom has been working to improve the security of its video meetings after some lapses in privacy and security as Zoom meetings grew more popular during […]




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Zoom buys security firm Keybase


NEW YORK (AP) — Zoom Video Communications is buying security firm Keybase in an effort to shore up security for its video meetings. Terms of the deal were undisclosed. Zoom has been working to improve the security of its video meetings after some lapses in privacy and security as Zoom meetings grew more popular during […]




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Google affiliate scraps plan for Toronto smart city project


Among other things, the development planned to have heated streets to melt ice and snow on contact, as well as sensors that would monitor traffic and protect pedestrians.




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China’s military is tied to debilitating new cyberattack tool


China’s cyberespionage efforts have shown no sign of relenting globally and may be intensifying as tensions with Australia, the United States and other countries have risen over trade, technology, and disputes over the coronavirus pandemic.



  • Nation & World
  • Nation & World Politics
  • Technology

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Uber loses $2.9 billion, offloads bike and scooter business


The ride-hailing giant said Thursday it is offloading Jump, its bike and scooter business, to Lime, a company in which it is investing $85 million. Jump had been losing about $60 million a quarter.




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Study: WeChat content outside China used for censorship


BOSTON (AP) — Documents and images shared by users outside China on WeChat, the country’s most popular social media platform, are being monitored and cataloged for use in political censorship in China, a new report says. Citizen Lab, the University of Toronto online watchdog, says in Thursday’s report that WeChat users outside of China are […]




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Senators want to know if Amazon retaliated against whistle-blowers


In a letter sent to Amazon, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a frequent critic of the e-commerce giant, and the eight other senators asked Amazon to provide more information about its policies for firing employees.




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Uber loses $2.9 billion, offloads bike and scooter business


NEW YORK (AP) — Uber lost $2.9 billion in the first quarter as its overseas investments were hammered by the coronavirus pandemic, but the company is looking to its growing food delivery business and aggressive cost-cutting to ease the pain. The ride-hailing giant said Thursday it is offloading Jump, its bike and scooter business, to […]




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Virus tracing app raises privacy concerns in India


NEW DELHI (AP) — As India enters an extended coronavirus lockdown, the government is actively pursuing contact tracing to help control infections. At the heart of the effort in the country of 1.3 billion people is a smartphone app that evaluates users’ infection risk based on location services such as Bluetooth and GPS. In April, […]




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Virus tracing app raises privacy concerns in India


NEW DELHI (AP) — As India enters an extended coronavirus lockdown, the government is actively pursuing contact tracing to help control infections. At the heart of the effort in the country of 1.3 billion people is a government-run smartphone app that critics say endangers civil liberties in how it uses location services and centralizes data […]




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Study: WeChat content outside China used for censorship


BOSTON (AP) — Documents and images shared by users outside China on WeChat, the country’s most popular social media platform, are being monitored and cataloged for use in political censorship in China, a new report says. Citizen Lab, the University of Toronto online watchdog, says in Thursday’s report that WeChat users outside of China are […]




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How do I change what software handles my picture files?


Patrick Marshall answers your personal technology questions. This week's topics include changing the default program for images and photo editing software, trouble with colors on a LG GRAM and updating to Windows 10 and security software.




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Apple iPhone SE review: A superb smartphone for a humble price


For $399, this smartphone hits the high notes: speedy, a great camera and a nice screen. Took long enough, didn’t it?




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Live in an apartment or senior living facility? Here’s how long your coronavirus eviction moratorium lasts


Gov. Jay Inslee’s updated statewide eviction moratorium, announced Thursday, is arguably the most far-reaching local action yet to protect renters. The proclamation protects tenants from eviction until June 4. And it goes further, barring landlords from collecting late fees, raising rents or asking tenants in housing closed due to the coronavirus pandemic — including student housing — […]




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If I have the money, is it a good idea to skip mortgage payments during this coronavirus crisis?


As my legal career has gotten longer, I have learned that while getting older does not necessarily make a person wiser, but it does make them more experienced. A decade ago, I tried to help hundreds of homeowners who could afford to make their monthly mortgage payment but thought that if they missed just a […]




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U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to Seattle’s first-come, first-served law for rental applications


Passed by the City Council in 2016, the pioneering Seattle law requires landlords to publicize their criteria for prospective renters and to accept the first qualified applicant.




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US home sales plunge 8.5% in March, and it may grow worse


BALTIMORE (AP) — U.S. sales of existing homes cratered 8.5% in March with real estate activity stalled by the coronavirus outbreak. The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that 5.27 million homes sold last month, down from 5.76 million in February. The decrease was the steepest since November 2015. The situation will likely get worse, […]




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U.S. existing-home sales could fall ‘30% or even 40%’ in coming months, realty group says


In March, contract closings declined 8.5% from the prior month to an annualized 5.27 million, according to National Association of Realtors data released Tuesday.




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New home sales plunge 15.4% in March as virus hits


WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. new home sales plunged 15.4% in March as a winding down in the middle of the month due to the coronavirus began to rattle the housing market. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that sales of new single-family homes dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 627,000 last month after sales […]




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US long-term mortgage rates edge higher; 30-year at 3.33%


WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term mortgage rates rose slightly this week, continuing to hover near all-time lows amid anxiety over the economy and housing market gut-punched by the shutdown spurred by the coronavirus pandemic. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan edged up to 3.33% this week […]




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Inslee allows some construction projects to reopen with safety rules to protect against the coronavirus


Inslee's 30-point plan calls for keeping workers 6 feet apart at all times and making sure contractors provide protective equipment like masks, gloves and goggles, if needed.




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Reaction mixed to Inslee’s order to allow some construction work amid coronavirus pandemic


Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Friday he will allow the return of some work on building projects in progress that were halted by his stay-at-home order issued on March 23.




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Mortgage borrowers face stricter qualifications as the coronavirus roils economy | Natalie Campisi


Stricter requirements, including larger down payments and higher credit scores, will make it difficult for some folks to qualify for a mortgage, particularly first-time homebuyers.




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Inslee navigates the coronavirus pandemic, weighing public safety vs. growing economic, political fallout


Amid sickness, deaths and frustrations among some who are clamoring to return to life before the COVID-19 outbreak, Gov. Jay Inslee finds himself tested politically like never before.




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With May rent looming, some Seattle tenants eye ‘rent strikes’ as coronavirus continues to upend lives


As May rent deadlines approach, Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant and some other activists have added their voices to nationwide calls urging tenants to use tactics like rent strikes to push landlords and the government to cancel rent payments and provide other help.