It’s the second billion-dollar commitment French Gates has personally made in the past five years. In 2019, she pledged over ten years to expand women’s power and influence.

Earlier this month, French Gates announced she would step down from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and vowed to focus on women and families. As a part of leaving the Gates Foundation, French Gates received $12 billion from Bill Gates for her philanthropy going forward.

French Gates, one of the biggest philanthropic supporters of gender equity in the U.S., said Tuesday in a guest essay for The New York Times that she’s been frustrated over the years by people who said it’s not the right time to talk about gender equality.

“Decades of research on economics, well-being and governance make it clear that investing in women and girls benefits everyone,” she wrote.

French Gates said over the last few weeks she’s started directing what will total $200 million in new grants through her organization, Pivotal Ventures, to groups working in the U.S. to protect women’s rights and advance their power and influence. The grants are for general operating support, meaning they are not earmarked for specific projects. The groups include the National Women’s Law Center, the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Teresa Younger, the president and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women, who also received a grant, has long called on donors to give unrestricted, multi-year funding to organizations. She praised French Gates’ new commitment as a part of a larger trend of major women donors giving generously to nonprofits.

“If philanthropy took lessons from the way that women are moving money, we would see more money in the field having greater impact,” Younger said.

Her organization learned of the grant, which is the first they’ve received from Pivotal Ventures within the last week, and Younger said there was no application process. She declined to disclose the amount of the grant but said it would help expand their work with organizations in the South and Midwest.

The nonprofit MomsRising Education Fund also received a grant that will extend to the end of 2026, with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, its executive director and CEO, saying, “We’re deeply honored and enormously grateful that Melinda French Gates is stepping up for women and families in a time when the rights of our daughters may be significantly less than of ourselves or our own mothers.”

French Gates also pledged to give 12 individuals $20 million each to distribute to nonprofit organizations of their choice before the end of 2026. Those funds will be managed by the National Philanthropic Trust, one of the largest public charities that offers donor-advised funds, a spokesperson for Pivotal Ventures said.

In total, French Gates announced $690 million in commitments out of the promised $1 billion, which also includes an “open call” for applications that the organization Lever for Change will administer this fall. French Gates said $250 million will be awarded to fund organizations working to improve women’s mental and physical health globally.

French Gates’ Pivotal Ventures is a limited liability company that also manages investments in for-profit ventures, so there is little public information about its grantmaking or the assets it manages. Pivotal Ventures has focused on a number of avenues to increase women’s economic and political participation and power, like closing the wage gap, compensating care work often done by women, and encouraging women to run for political office.

Pivotal Ventures said it has committed $875 million of the $1 billion that French Gates pledged in 2019 to a mixture of venture and philanthropic funding. Additionally, the Gates Foundation has funded research and interventions to improve maternal mortality and women’s health more broadly for years. In 2020, it hired its first president for its gender quality division and in 2021, the foundation pledged $2.1 billion to gender equity efforts convened by UN Women.

In her essay Tuesday, French Gates touched upon the high maternal mortality rates in the U.S., noting that Black and Native American mothers are at the highest risk.

“Women in 14 states have lost the right to terminate a pregnancy under almost any circumstances. We remain the only advanced economy without any form of national paid family leave. And the number of teenage girls experiencing suicidal thoughts and persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness is at a decade high,” she said.

French Gates will be leaving the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation next week. She helped co-found the organization nearly 25 years ago.

The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce and state governments from Pivotal Ventures.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will change its name to the Gates Foundation. It is one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the world. As of December 2023, its endowment was $75.2 billion, thanks to donations from Gates and the billionaire investor Warren Buffett. While it works across many issues, global health remains its largest area of work, and most of its funding is meant to address issues internationally rather than in the U.S.

“Confronting Hate Together,” an exhibit that explores anti-Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander hate, Black hate and anti-Jewish hate, according to the museum’s website, was supposed to run from Wednesday through June 30. (A PDF of a press release providing information about the exhibit can be found here.)

“Confronting Hate” is a collaboration between The Black Heritage Society of Washington State, The Washington State Jewish Historical Society, and the Wing Luke Museum, which focuses on the culture, art and history of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, its website states.

Looking at the Wing Luke employees’ demands

But, as The Seattle Times noted in its coverage, the Wing Luke staff members walked out in protest of the exhibit, saying in a social media post that a portion of the exhibit “shares perspectives from the The Washington State Jewish Historical Society that conflate anti-Zionism as antisemitism.” That same slide in the post added, “Despite making a revision after learning of the staff’s concerns (after the May 14 media preview of the exhibit), the edits made still conveyed Zionist perspectives.”

One of the post’s slides clearly outlines the staff members’ four demands:

• “Remove any language in any Wing Luke Museum publication and question any partnerships that attempt to frame Palestinian liberation and anti-Zionism as antisemitism.”
• “Acknowledge the limited perspectives presented in this exhibition. Missing perspectives include those of namely those of Palestinians, Arabs and Muslim communities …”
• Engage in a “community review” of the exhibit.
• “Center voices and perspectives that align with the museum’s mission & values by platforming community stories within an anti-colonial, anti-white supremacist framework.”

The social media posts state 26 members of the Wing Luke staff signed a letter outlining their demands to leadership. But the posts did not confirm all 26 people walked off the job, noting that “a collective” of staff walked out in protest of the exhibit’s unchanged text.

Response to the Wing Luke Museum walkout

The number of employees was still high enough to cause the closure of the museum and the website’s homepage confirms it is currently not open as a statement popups explaining its side of the situation.

“On Wednesday, May 22, members of Wing Luke Museum’s staff held a respectful walk-out in protest of content on display in a new exhibit,” the statement begins.

It goes on to say it supports the rights of its staff “to express their beliefs and personal truths” and that it sought to engage in dialogue with its staff.

As an organization rooted in dialogue, we acknowledge and support the right of our staff to express their beliefs and personal truths and to this end, we are holding space for a careful and thoughtful process of listening with intent to hear multiple perspectives in pursuit of a mutual way forward.

After closing the Museum this week to listen and earnestly engage in dialog with our staff, the Museum looks forward to opening our doors at a future date so that we can continue serving our community in other needed capacities during this time. Please look for updates from us.”

The statement was also posted on its Facebook and Instagram pages Friday. A reopening date has not yet been set.

Steve McLean, director of communications for the museum, told the Times it has been working with its staff  “to address their calls to action” and their four demands. He added that programs were and are being developed so other communities, including Arab American communities, are represented.

The press statement about the exhibit earlier this month states that this “Confronting Hate” exhibit is inspired by the 2022 exhibit Confronting Hate 1937-1952, which was curated by the New-York Historical Society. But this Pacific Northwest exhibition “portrays a searing contemporary portrayal of racism, antisemitism, hate and bigotry through a local lens,” the statement reads.

“Emphasis will be on the distinct stories, perspective and history of this region – driven by a singular objective to educate communities and empower them to combat the rising tide of hate and racial violence in our communities today,” the statement adds.

Lisa Kranseler, executive director of the Washington State Jewish Historical Society, also spoke to the Times and explained the intention of this version of the exhibit was to show how Black, Jewish and Asian American communities came together around redlining.

“It never was intended to exclude anyone,” she told the Seattle outlet. “It was always intended as a beginning conversation and to inspire all groups to put on exhibits and have dialogues and conversations.”

Steve Coogan is the lead editor of MyNorthwest. You can read more of his stories here. Follow Steve on X, or email him here.

The man, killed Sunday, May 19, was identified as Dale Chorman of Homer, Austin McDaniel, a spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Public Safety, said, according to The Associated Press (AP).

The female moose had recently given birth to the calves in Homer.

“As they were walking through the brush looking for the moose, that’s when the cow moose attacked Dale,” McDaniel said, according to the AP.

The attack happened as the two were running away, he said. The second man, who has not been publicly identified, was uninjured.

That person did not witness the attack, so authorities cannot say if the moose killed Chorman by kicking or stomping him, or a combination.

Medics pronounced Chorman dead at the scene. The cow moose left the area, Alaska State Troopers said in an online post.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game normally receives reports of aggressive or unusual moose behavior, said Cyndi Wardlow, a regional supervisor in the Department of Wildlife Conservation told the AP in a later story about Chorman’s death.

“In this case, we’re obviously very concerned about public safety,” she said. “If there was an animal that was behaving in a way that continued to present a public safety threat, then we could possibly put that animal down but we’re not specifically pursuing that course.”

How many moose are in Washington?

Staci Lehman, the communications manager for Region 1 of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) told MyNorthwest in an email that moose in this state are Shiras moose, which are a little smaller than those located in Alaska.

As of 2015, there were approximately 5,000 moose estimated to live in the state of Washington, the WDFW website states.

It goes on to say “the majority are in the Selkirk Mountains (Pend Oreille, Stevens, Ferry, and Spokane counties) with smaller populations in the north Cascades, Okanogan, and Blue Mountains.”

Meanwhile, there are up to 200,000 moose in Alaska, a state with a human population of about 737,000, the AP explained.

More U.S. moose news: Wandering bull moose is captured in Santa Fe, moved to habitat in northern New Mexico

Do moose pose a danger to people in Washington?

People and moose generally live in harmony in Washington and other places. In fact, there has been an increased number of sightings of moose entering areas where larger populations of people reside.

“An even greater testimony to the parallel growth of both human and moose populations in Washington is the increased incidence of moose wandering into the suburban and urban areas of Spokane. Moose sometimes take up residency where water and succulent vegetation is more readily available. By 2015, almost daily reports of problem or ‘nuisance’ moose were received by the (WDFW),” the state agency’s website states.

The incident in Homer, Alaska, is just the second fatal moose attack in Alaska in the last three decades with the last coming after students in Anchorage harassed one in 1995, the AP reported. The WDFW stated Moose attacks on humans are considered “very rare.”

“If you encounter a moose in Washington, it’s a really cool thing,” Staci Lehman wrote in her email to MyNorthwest. “We have them in yards and parks and even business parking lots often in the Spokane area but that doesn’t happen in most of the state.”

Animal searches for a snack: Moose feasts on lobby plants in Alaska hospital building

Be cautious: Moose are still considered ‘dangerous wildlife’

But the WDFW website also states it is important to remember that anything as large as a moose can be dangerous; this is why these animals are classified as “Dangerous Wildlife.”

Moose are not normally aggressive, they can become so if they’re provoked, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s website.

Also, while the Shiras moose may be a bit smaller, they’re still large animals. as adults measure nearly six feet at the shoulder. The adult male moose (bulls) weigh between 850 and 1,100 pounds and adult females (cows) weigh between 600 and 800 pounds, the WDFW says.

While Lehman may have praised a moose encounter as something cool, she also cautioned what people should do if they discover one while out.

“If you see one in the woods, it is best to give it plenty of space, don’t approach it, and back up and leave the way you came into the area,” she said.

Also, as the WDFW website explains, “moose consider dogs, which are close relatives of wolves, to be a direct threat.”

They’ve been known to go out of their way to kick at a dog, even one on a leash or in a fenced yard. Therefore, those people who do have a dog where they live should bring their dogs inside. In addition, they shouldn’t be loud if they’re out with their owners in the woods.

“If you are hiking with a dog, keep it on a leash and try to keep it quiet,” Lehman said in her email to MyNorthwest.

Colorado incident: Moose charges, headbutts and stomps on woman who was walking her dog on wooded trail

The WDFW also stated that moose can be aggressive at any time of the year, but this time of year — May through June — is when cows give birth to calves and can feel provoked.

“Cow moose with calves are going to be some of the more aggressive moose you’re going to come in contact with, McDaniel told the AP.

For those who see a calf in the area, be extremely careful, because the cow probably is close by.

“Moose can get defensive during the mating season or when a female moose has young with her so the main thing is to give them lots of space,” Lehman said.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Steve Coogan is the lead editor of MyNorthwest. You can read more of his stories here. Follow Steve on X, or email him here.

More than 18,000 fans were in attendance to watch the Storm take on the Fever, including the 12-year-old girls’ Seattle Rotary Lady Style Basketball team.

More on the Seattle Storm: Caitlin Clark brings record crowd to game with Storm

“I am here to see Caitlin Clark, Jewell Loyd and Nika Muhl,” 12-year-old Alliyah, a guard for the Rotary basketball team, said. “It’s crazy because I’ve never seen a girls’ basketball game sold out!”

After she said that, she walked to meet her friends beaming from ear to ear.

“Watching the game tonight and the fans gives me hope for when I make it to the WNBA!” Alliyah’s teammate, GG, told KIRO Newsradio. “I want to be the next Caitlin Clark or a guard in my own right.”

The other young women in attendance said they were in awe of the sold-out game and couldn’t believe so many people were there to cheer on women’s basketball.

“My favorite part of the whole night is just being here,” Nyla, another girl on the rotary basketball team said.

“The support people are giving Caitlin Clark is pretty cool,” her teammate Khloe said. “The energy was like, wow, I don’t know how to describe it.”

Among the record-breaking crowd were local celebrity athletes including former Seattle SuperSonics player and University of Washington Huskies star Detlef Schrempf, former NBA star Isaiah Tomas, former Storm forward Gabby Williams and a few current and former Seattle Seahawks, including wide receiver Tyler Lockett. A few members of the Seahawks even went onto the court during a timeout to throw shirts into the crowd.

Tasha Burns, director and head coach of the Seattle Rotary Lady Style basketball team said she felt a great deal of satisfaction watching the Storm and watching her team of players watch the Storm.

“As a coach committed to inspiring young talent in basketball, witnessing the Seattle Storm make history was an incredible experience,” Burns said. “There was a lot of pride as I watched my players’ excitement. The Storm’s achievements serve as a powerful reminder that dreams are attainable with hard work, dedication and teamwork. It’s not just about winning games, it’s about breaking barriers and setting new standards.”

Nika Muhl of the Seattle Storm, left, and Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever watch the action while a player shoots a free throw during their matchup at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. (Photo: Steph Chambers, Getty Images)

No surprise, the crowd erupted when Seattle Storm rookie Nika Mühl was called to the court to make her professional debut, recording two rebounds in two minutes in the third quarter while also being used as the primary defender on Clark.

Mühl, the No. 14 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, couldn’t join the Storm for its first four games due to complications converting her student visa into a P1A work visa. Mühl is a Croatian citizen who used a student visa during her four-year tenure at the University of Connecticut.

Rookie love 💚 pic.twitter.com/DoEkF7YC9a

— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) May 23, 2024

More on local women’s basketball: UW star basketball player is living her dream, looking toward the future

Storm fans got to go home happy as Seattle won a tension-filled game 85-83 after a nail-biting ending. For those who missed this matchup, Clark and the Fever return to Climate Pledge Arena June 27.

You can read more of Micki Gamez’s stories here. Follow Micki on X, formerly known as Twitter, or email her here.

Follow @https://twitter.com/onairmichelle

The world’s longest garage sale

It’s the World’s Longest Garage Sale on the Long Beach Peninsula. You’ll want to put on your best walking shoes as you walk along the coast looking for cool trinkets and more. The sale runs all weekend long.

More on Memorial Day: Memorial Day Weekend gearing up to be one of region’s biggest travel days

Concerts galore over Memorial Day weekend

If you are looking to catch some tunes this Memorial Day weekend, the concert slate is loaded. Portugal. The Man is at Remlinger Farms on Friday while Girl and Girl is live at Easy Street Records, Billy Joel is at T-Mobile Park and, if you can find second-hand tickets, the Young Fresh Fellows is at the Tractor Tavern.

Saturday, the White River Amphitheater hosts Avril Lavigne’s Greatest Hits Tour. All Time Low is also on the bill. Sarah McLachlan is performing at the Chateau Ste Michelle Winery in Woodinville on Saturday and Sunday. There are plenty more bands, so check your favorite local spot to see the latest lineup.

Sunday at the Neptune Theater is Massive Monkees Day. Massive Monkees is “a world-renowned hip-hop crew consisting of DJs, emcees and, most notably, 30 guys and girls dedicated to break dancing. The event will be celebrating 25 years of Massive Monkees with a variety of dancing competitions. There will be breakdance battles, footwork battles, open-style battles and more. Get tickets at the Neptune Theater’s website.

A donut or a beer?

Sometimes you have to ask yourself the tough questions like, what’s a better reward: A donut or a beer? On Saturday in Ballard, it is the Mighty-O Donut’s Tour de Donut. This ride will take you around the city with stops in Ballard, Greenlake, Capitol Hill and Denny Triangle. For each stop you make, you will be rewarded with a free donut and drip coffee (or a mini donut and a kid’s drink if you are a youngin.)

If beer is more your motivator, the Tour De Pints is for you. The ride is approximately 20 miles, starting at Flying Bike Brewery. The rest of the stops are a mystery and revealed as the ride goes along. Helmets are required, so make sure you strap that brain bucket on before you ride.

Seattle Center, Seattle Storm to dominate downtown festivities

The 53rd Annual Northwest Folklife Festival is happening all weekend long at the Seattle Center. You can learn about the heritage and traditions of Pacific Northwest communities, featuring art, music and more. Get more details and a full schedule of events on the Northwest Folklife Festival’s website.

If you are looking to check out some sports this weekend, the Seattle Storm take on the Washington Mystics at Climate Pledge Arena. Tip-Off is at 6 p.m. Saturday evening.

Tonight is also the home opener for the two-time USL champion Ballard FC. The match starts tonight at 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. Tickets are available on the club’s website.

UW survey: 1 in 10 Washington ‘young adults’ use cannabis every day

Memorial Day weekend ceremonies

Monday is Memorial Day and multiple ceremonies will be taking place that day. There will be formal ceremonies honoring U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the country’s armed forces in Arlington, Kent, Lynwood and at the State Veterans Cemetery in Medical Lake. Look on your community websites for details about events in your area.

Hope you all enjoy the long weekend and as always if you know of stuff going on in your area, let me know at PaulH@kiroradio.com

Paul Holden produces the Seattle weekend events calendar for KIRO Newsradio.

John White, known as “Johnny,” rowed for the University of Washington (UW) when they won gold in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

According to the Olympics website, White graduated in metallurgical engineering. He then worked in sales for Bethlehem Steel.

The “Boys in the Boat” film highlights White — played by Tom Varey — and his crew’s journey from junior varsity to the Olympics.

More on the film: Clooney’s ‘Boys in the Boat’ both stirring and a tad stodgy

George Clooney directed the movie and filmed parts of it on the UW campus.

“Set against the backdrop of the Depression Era, the film highlights the determination and resilience of the eight-man crew and their coxswain, who overcame adversity to achieve Olympic glory,” wrote a news release from Grey Flannel Auctions.

The first trailer was released in October and the film came out last December:

This Christmas, the race is on. Watch the official trailer for #TheBoysInTheBoat, from director George Clooney, starring Joel Edgerton and Callum Turner. Based on the best-selling book on the inspirational true story of the 1936 @UW rowing team. Only in theaters this Christmas. pic.twitter.com/Q76B6dfvUw

— MGM Studios (@mgmstudios) October 18, 2023

The film is based on a New York Times bestselling book by Daniel James Brown.

“The narrative follows the underdog crew as they defeat rivals and ultimately emerge victorious over the world’s best rowers, defying Hitler’s orchestrated display of German superiority,” wrote the news release.

According to Grey Flannel Auctions, White came from a family who faced hardships. His determination to prove himself shined in his rowing.

“Johnny’s determination, fueled by familial expectations, propels him to become a gold medalist rower, embodying the spirit of the underdog nation,” wrote the news release.

More history of the rowing team: Mystery stretches from Cedar River ghost town to “Boys in the Boat”

The gold medal will also come with a “letter of provenance” from White’s family.

Grey Flannel Auctions is a family-owned company in Scottsdale, Arizona, specializing in jerseys and memorabilia. It offers jerseys from Gretzky to baseballs signed by Babe Ruth.

The company will begin the bidding for the gold medal in April and end in May, with a starting bid of $10,000.

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email her here.

“How often in the last year, month or week have you used marijuana?” was one of the many questions 1,237 young adults anonymously answered in the survey.

“The number of young adults smoking marijuana every day is higher than ever at 10.4%,” UW researcher Dr. Jason Kilmer told members of the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board, according to The Center Square. It’s the first time in the survey’s 10-year history that daily use surpassed 10%.

Among those between the ages of 21-25, the percentage jumps to 14% daily use.

The survey also revealed 54% of young adult survey respondents never use cannabis, while a quarter use it weekly. It’s the third year in the last four where at least 24% of surveyed individuals stated they use cannabis at least weekly. In 2014, the first year of the survey, the percentage was under 17%.

More on marijuana: What reclassification means for the United States

People under 21 using cannabis

It was also reported that 14% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 20 — marijuana still being illegal for those under 21 even where it is legal — said they used the substance.

The survey followed up with more questions on how people under the age of 21 are gaining access to cannabis. More than half (58%) responded saying they get it from friends, but others cited their own parents.

Kilmer stated that “15.77% got it from parents with permission,” The Center Square reported. That’s a 10% jump from 2014.

The survey revealed that the 14% figure is the lowest since 2019, the last year before the pandemic and nearly 2% lower than survey results from a year ago.

This was the 10th year the survey had been conducted in Washington, dating back to 2014 — just after cannabis was legalized in the state.

Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.

According to Washington-based American Automobile Association (AAA) Vice President of Travel Michelle Glass, those who don’t have a timed entry reservation might not get in this weekend.

The national park hopes a pilot timed-entry reservation system will reduce wait times, heavy traffic and overcrowding.

“I asked our travel advisors, ‘Where are you seeing people going?'” Glass told KIRO Newsradio. “And, you know, they’re going to the national parks (like Glacier in Montana). They’re going early, before the parks get too crowded. Also, you might know, Rainier National Park is now starting on Friday by appointment only. You’re not getting in unless you make a reservation, a timed reservation.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, Friday and Monday at Mount Rainier National Park have limited availability. But Saturday and Sunday appear to be sold out for the Paradise Corridor entrance.

This is how it works:

• Friday-Monday, Sept. 2 (Labor Day),  timed-entry reservations are required to enter the Paradise Corridor on the south side of the park from from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily.
• Thursday, July 4-Monday, Sept. 2 timed-entry reservations are required to enter the Sunrise Corridor on the northeast side of the park from from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. daily.

Take note because the website also states that visitors entering the park in a vehicle or on a motorcycle in one of these areas during these dates need two items:

1. A timed entry reservation or a service reservation (lodging, camping, wilderness permit, etc.)
2. A park entrance fee or a valid park pass (annual, senior, military, etc.).

Also note that the park entrance fee will not be available online through recreation.gov during the timed entry reservation period between May 19 and Sept. 2. They must be purchased in person at entrances to the park.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the park is open 24 hours per day, seven days per week and visitors may enter timed-entry reservation areas before 7 a.m. or after 3 p.m. without a reservation.

You can read more of Micki Gamez’s stories here. Follow Micki on X, formerly known as Twitter, or email her here.

Follow @https://twitter.com/onairmichelle

More than 85% of all travel will involve a car. Another 8% is expected to be through the air, according to the AAA. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) is anticipating a busy holiday weekend period and asked travelers to prepare in advance. The numbers of passengers are expected to be at pre-pandemic levels with up to 170,000 travelers moving through the terminal this Friday, the busiest day. Security lines will be long. To save time, they suggest using Spot Saver to help move more quickly through security.

More on Spot Saver: SeaTac Airport unveils program to help cut TSA security lines

On the road, gas prices in Washington are close to where they were last year at this time, down approximately six cents a gallon from a month ago, but higher in surrounding states. The average price of a gallon of regular gas across the nation is around $3.60, about five cents higher than a year ago. In the western U.S. though, the price of gas remains higher than the national average. Washington is currently at about $4.60 per gallon. California sits at $5.19 per gallon, Oregon is at $4.37, Idaho sits around $3.81 and British Columbia is at about $5.10 per gallon (converted from liters to gallons based on the average price in the province reported via GasBuddy and from Canadian dollars to U.S. dollars).

Here are some holiday travel tips heading into the weekend.

Weather

Memorial Day Weekend has the stigma that it always rains. So far this century, there have been 10 years with no rain at all including last year, and seven more years where it rained but just one day during the three-day weekend. This year looks to have a good chance at another single wet day through the holiday weekend.

In Western Washington, the weekend will have a mix of clouds and sun. The only real threat of any light showers is on Saturday with highs around 60. The rest of the holiday weekend looks to have an increasing amount of sunshine with highs by Monday climbing to near 70 degrees. Lows throughout the weekend will be in the 40s.

Weather east of the Cascades will also offer a threat of showers and even a chance of a thunderstorm Saturday with highs ranging from 55 to 65. Sunday and Monday are expected to dry out and warm up with highs by Monday rising into the mid-60s to mid-70s. Lows will generally be in the 40s.

If heading into the Cascades or Olympics for the weekend, expect the best chance for showers to be on Saturday with conditions drying out Sunday and Monday. The snow level on Saturday is anticipated to be around 4,000 feet.

On the road

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) strongly suggests traveling during non-peak times during the holiday weekend.

If you are planning to head north toward the Canadian border, drive east of the Cascades, head south toward Portland, or take a ferry going west, Friday from about midday through about sunset is the busiest and slowest drive time period. WSDOT suggests hitting the road before 10 a.m. on getaway Friday. On Saturday in all directions, another peak in traffic volumes is late morning through mid-afternoon.

More on Seattle-Tacoma International Airport: Why was Sea-Tac Airport so busy Sunday? Will it get worse?

Returning from the holiday weekend will also be a chore. The peak times start late in the morning on Monday, Memorial Day and continue through to about sundown. Again, WSDOT suggests leaving Sunday, early Monday morning or wait until later Monday night, or even on Tuesday.

For the details of expected peak travel times heading north, south or east, as well as the return from your destination, WSDOT has a Memorial Day Weekend Travel Times page online.

The Washington State Ferries simply said to expect long terminal wait times on Friday heading west, and again on both Sunday and Monday for sailings going east.

Wherever you go this holiday weekend, drive safely and pack your patience. Your nerves will feel better by leaving way early or way late to avoid those peak travel periods. And on Memorial Day itself, remember and honor those who paid the ultimate price for our country and freedom.

Ted Buehner is the KIRO Newsradio meteorologist. You can read more of Ted’s stories here and follow him on X.

You can read more of Micki Gamez’s stories here. Follow Micki on X, or email her here.

And this year, Labor Day is early as the event will be held Saturday, Aug. 31 and Sunday, Sept. 1 at Seattle Center.

Chris Porter, the Bumbershoot music program director, has returned to the festival after a number of years away and is excited about the 2024 edition’s musical lineup, which was released Tuesday morning. The lineup includes headliners Pavement, James Blake, Cypress Hill, Courtney Barnett, Kurt Vile, Kim Gordon, Freddie Gibbs and Aly & AJ.

But Porter also said finding new music to love is essential to a festival like Bumbershoot.

“I always say the essence of a festival is to discover new acts and maybe find your new favorite band at Bumbershoot,” Porter said to KIRO Newsradio. “And there’s always a lot of local and regional artists as well as internationally touring artists.”

In addition to the headliners, Porter called out a couple of other acts such as The Polyphonic Spree.

“They’re Texas based, but don’t tour very often,” Porter said. “They’ve been around a few years. But they’re essentially a choir, almost an indie-rock choir. They’re very unique. It will be quite a spectacle as well as wonderful music.”

Porter also noted Lol Tolhurst X Budgie as an act to watch. Tolhurst was a member of The Cure for many years and Budgie who was in the band Siouxsie and the Banshees. They’re a new duo doing something new and different together.

More summer music: Chateau Ste. Michelle announces concert series

What is it about Seattle that this festival is able to draw in a diverse group of artists?

Porter, who has lived in Seattle for decades after spending his formative years on the East Coast, credits the people in the area for being willing to expand their artistic palate, so to speak.

“Seattle has always been a very fertile ground of creativity, which I think breeds a lot of interest from people in all kinds of diverse sounds and artistic disciplines and genres,” Porter said. “There’s always an open mindedness to discover new things and to try stuff and help nurture new sounds.”

From there, Bumbershoot has been able to capitalize on the people in the area being willing to experience something they haven’t seen or tried before.

“Seattle has just always been very open minded about trying on new things and Bumbershoot has been one of the many conduits of that … It’s a very eclectic festival, Porter said.”

Music at Woodland Park: Zoo Tunes announces lineup for summer series

Bumbershoot will offer more than its musical lineup

Bumbershoot also detailed its animation, culinary, and visual arts programming in its announcement Tuesday.

The Culinary Arts lineup will celebrate the best of the Northwest. That includes local restaurants, breweries, and wineries and even a couple of restaurants featured on The New York Times list of Best Restaurants in Seattle.

Also, new to the Visual Arts programming in 2024 is the Animation District which will host an array of installments around Seattle Center. As a statement explained, some of the highlights include presentations from the director of the Oscar-nominated “Nimona,” the VFX supervisor and production designer on the Oscar-nominated “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” the writer/director of Netflix’s anticipated “Ultraman: Rising” and the VFX and visualization supervisors of Sony’s upcoming “Harold and the Purple Crayon.” This year also marks the inaugural Bigfoot Deepfake Competition.

Tickets are available now. A single-day ticket costs $70 (plus a service fee). For those who want to go both days and buy a two-day ticket, it will cost $125 (plus a service fee). A “Deluxe GA+ Weekend Pass,” which includes admission to both days, parking, a private lounge and more costs $350 (plus a service fee). Children under 10 are free with a limit of two kids tickets per order.

Heather Bosch is an award-winning anchor and reporter on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of her stories here. Follow Heather on X, or email her here.

Steve Coogan is the lead editor of MyNorthwest. You can read more of his stories here. Follow Steve on X, or email him here.

KIRO Newsradio spoke with several key members of Seattle’s professional women’s basketball team at the team’s new 50,000 square-foot practice facility and headquarters in Interbay, where photos of Storm legend — and newly minted member of the ownership team — Sue Bird, loom large.

New to the team is Nika Muhl.

“I love Seattle,” Mulh said.

The native of Croatia is coming off an exciting NCAA women’s basketball season with the University of Connecticut Huskies. She was the Storm’s first draft pick this season.

“These women that I’m surrounded with are legends,” Muhl said, looking at the Storm’s practice court. “They’re amazing. They’re just inspiring to me, personally.”

Commonalities between Nika Muhl and legend Sue Bird

There are bound to be some comparisons between Muhl and Bird. Both are point guards. While the Storm retired Sue Bird’s #10 jersey number, Muhl wore #10 in college.

But Muhl said that doesn’t necessarily add to the pressure of her rookie year.

“It’s more like a humbling thing,” she said.

“All these little similarities that we have. It’s definitely a cool thing,” she added, gesturing to a photo of Bird. “It’s just a constant reminder of how hard I have to work.”

More on the team: Storm announce the return of Sue Bird 

For Muhl and others who are new to the team, there are plenty of established “greats” on the court to learn from.

“Amazing players,” said Muhl. “I’m just trying to learn from them as much as I can, you know, take everything in and be a sponge.”

One of those veterans is Jewell Loyd. The point and shooting guard was drafted by the Storm in 2015.

“We’ve been building this season and I’ve been here the longest. I’m definitely a veteran on this team, so my job is to come in and do my job and lead when I need to lead and have fun,” Loyd said.

When asked how she helps new players adjust to the team, Loyd was matter of fact.

“At the end of the day it’s just basketball,” she said, indicating that every player is here because the team saw potential in them. “No added pressure. Just come in here. Learn. Be a sponge and do what you do.”

What will the Seattle Storm bring to this season?

As for what it’ll take to get this team into the playoffs, “I think people are still trying to figure that out. You know, every year it changes. We’ve obviously won championships here. We’ve had different dynamics with different teams, but every team has a different journey,” Loyd said.

Storm Head Coach Noelle Quinn commented about her role in helping create a championship-caliber team

“A lot of things, come into play,” Quinn said. “Instilling confidence in our players is putting them in positions where they can be successful on the floor. It is coaching them and guiding them to play the way that I’ve envisioned them playing. It takes time.”

As this team works to find its winning rhythm, they are aware that perhaps more eyes — than ever — are on them, because of the surge in popularity of women’s basketball. But to them, it’s not daunting. In fact, it’s long overdue.

“Finally! No, it was not a surprise to me,” Muhl said. “We’ve got to give our flowers to all our vets and the people (who came) before us because, without them, women’s basketball wouldn’t have the opportunity to go even further.”

More sports: UW star basketball player is living her dream, looking toward the future

Loyd shared the same sentiment.

“It’s about time,” Loyd said. “Women’s sports have been, obviously, growing and we’ve been asking for attention for a long time and now it’s here. Now it’s our job to produce and keep doing what we’re doing.”

Quinn agreed.

“I love that we are in a time that eyes are one women’s basketball. The time is now, the time is tomorrow — in the future as well,” Quinn said. “I’m proud to be a part of this movement.”

The WNBA Storm welcome the Indiana Fever — and Caitlin Clark — to Seattle on Wednesday, May 22.

Follow @http://www.twitter.com/heatherbosch

Airport officials told KIRO Newsradio it could get worse as Memorial Day Weekend approaches.

“Highly recommend utilizing any of the rideshare programs, the light rail is an excellent way of accessing the airport and without having to deal with parking a car or driving,” Sea-Tac Airport spokesperson Peter McGraw told KIRO Newsradio.

He added the volume levels of people traveling are now back to pre-pandemic levels.

Other news: Progress or problem? Seattle’s population keeps growing, but the growth has slowed

McGraw recommends checking Sea-Tac Airport’s website ahead of time to see what the recommendation is for arriving. However, a good rule of thumb is to get to the airport two to three hours before your flight is scheduled to depart.

To keep up to date on security waiting times, travelers can download the flySEA app. The app has information about ground transportation, parking, security screening, international travel and more.

Travelers can also reserve their parking ahead of time online to secure a spot in the airport garage.

Another tip is to use SEA Spot Saver. Visitors can sign up in advance up to five days before their flight or when they arrive at the airport at the ticketing level of the terminal, according to Sea-Tac’s website. Once signed up, travelers can save their spot in the security line. Then at the selected time, head to the assigned checkpoint and look for the SEA Spot Saver logo.

Visitors can also view live Airport Drive cameras, to check on traffic go here.

For all other questions about the airport, visit Port of Seattle’s website.

Contributing: Tom Brock, KIRO Newsradio

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X here and email her here.

Early in the pandemic, a surge of interest in cycling pushed sales up 64% to $5.4 billion in 2020, according to the retail tracking service Circana. It wasn’t unheard of for some shops to sell 100 bikes or more in a couple of days.

The boom didn’t last. Hobbled by pandemic-related supply chain issues, the shops sold all their bikes and had trouble restocking. Now, inventory has caught up, but fewer people need new bikes. So, bicycle makers have been slashing prices to clear out the excess. It all adds up to a tough environment for retailers, although there are a few bright spots like gravel and e-bikes.

“The industry had a hard time keeping up with the demand for a couple of years, but then demand slowed as the lockdowns ended, and then a lot of inventory started showing up,” Stephen Frothingham, editor-in-chief of Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, said. “So now for the last, a year and a half, the industry has struggled with having too much inventory, at the supplier level, at the factory level, at the distributor level, at the retail level.”

More news: Progress or problem? Seattle’s population keeps growing, but the growth has slowed

In 2023, bike sales totaled $4.1 billion, up 23% from 2019, but down 24% from 2020, according to Circana. The path out of the pandemic has been uneven — national retailers, such as REI and Scheels, are stabilizing faster than independent bike stores, said Matt Tucker, director of client development for Circana’s sports equipment business.

For John McDonell, owner of Market Street Cycles on the popular thoroughfare of Market Street in San Francisco, the shift to hybrid work brought about by the pandemic has been particularly tough on business. There used to be 3,000 bikes passing by his shop a day during the summer. That’s fallen to below 1,000, with fewer people commuting to work.

According to Pacer.ai, which tracks people’s movements based on cellphone usage, San Francisco lags all other major cities when it comes to workers returning to offices, with April office visits still down 49% compared with April 2019.

“Our downtown is still a wasteland,” McDonell said.

Independent bike stores not only have to compete with national chains but increasingly, bike makers such as Specialized and Trek as well. They’ve been buying bike shops and selling their bikes directly to consumers, essentially cutting out the middleman. Frothingham estimates there are now around a thousand bike shops in the country owned by either Trek or Specialized.

“They’ve got the money to absorb the fact that bike stores, you know, are not a super profitable thing, and in the process, they’ve also been able to cut us out of it,” McDonell said.

McDonell has been forced to cut down to using a skeleton crew of himself and another staffer, down from five previously. His dream of selling his shop to a younger bike enthusiast when he retires is fading. He might close his store when his lease is up in a couple of years.

“Now I am just trying to land it with both engines on fire and trying not to lose money on my way out,” he said.

In Boulder, Colorado, Douglas Emerson’s bike shop, University Bicycles, is faring better, boosted by its location in one of the most popular places to ride bikes in the country. He’s had the shop for 39 years and employs 30 staffers.

Like other bike stores, the pandemic spurred a frenzy of bike buying at University Bicycles. Emerson recalls selling 107 bikes in 48 hours. But right after the boom, sales slowed dramatically because inventory was scarce, and rentals died down since no one was traveling.

“It became a struggle right after the boom,” Emerson said. “And since then, the manufacturers have overproduced. And they’ve slashed prices dramatically which is good for the consumer. But with the small shops, they’re often not able to take advantage of those prices.”

Emerson said the shop reached a “saturation point” – everyone who wanted a bike bought one. Now, he’s selling those customers accessories like clothing, helmets and locks. His shop has returned to its 2019 sales numbers.

University Bicycles has also benefited from some of the shifts in buying patterns. Continued high demand for e-bikes and a growing demand for children’s bikes have helped. And gravel bikes, which are designed to be ridden both on paved and gravel roads, are replacing road bikes as a popular seller.

John Ruger, who has been a cyclist for 50 years and is a loyal University Bicycles customer, hasn’t bought a bike in 10 years but plans on taking advantage of the current prices to buy a gravel bike. A top gravel bike he’s eyeing that would normally sell for $12,000 to $14,000 is currently retailing for $8,000, he said.

“The timing is good,” he said. “I can get a bike now because they’re less expensive and my bikes are getting old.”

Seattle bike shop owner adapted services

Shawna Williams, owner of Free Range Cycles in Seattle, Washington, didn’t have the sales surge others did because her 700-square-foot shop was so small she took customers only by appointment from March 2020 to May 2021.

Other businesses: North Face closes downtown Seattle flagship store

But Williams did have to deal with the eventual shortages. She spent a lot of time “checking in with other shops to see if we could buy something, even at retail, from them, just in order to get a repair done or a build done.”

She adapted by offering more services like repairs and maintenance to offset lower sales of bikes. The maneuvering helped her keep overall sales steady even throughout the pandemic.

“Bike sales, the way that I have kind of framed the shop, are an awesome bonus, but we really need to be sustaining the shop through repair and, like, thoughtful accessory sales,” Williams said. “A bike sale to me, if we do things well, that means creating a customer for life.”

Martin Quintana, 53, has been trying for about three years to open his second The Famous Taco location in Fort Wayne, a city about 120 miles northeast of Indianapolis.

But the initial written commitment for the development at a plaza Quintana owns limits the business to “a sandwich bar-style restaurant whose primary business is to sell ‘made-to-order’ or ‘subway-style’ sandwiches.”

Quintana said the nearby Covington Creek Association contacted him to say that his The Famous Taco proposal “somehow ran afoul” to that commitment.

He sued the Fort Wayne Plan Commission in December 2022 after it denied his proposed amendment that would specifically allow his restaurant to offer made-to-order tacos, burritos and other Mexican-style food items, The Journal Gazette reported.

Allen Superior Court Judge Craig Bobay ruled Monday that the plan commission acted correctly when it denied Quintan’s proposed amendment. But the judge also found that his request was not needed and he found that the original commitment allows restaurants like the proposed The Famous Taco.

“The Court agrees with Quintana that tacos and burritos are Mexican-style sandwiches, and the original Written Commitment does not restrict potential restaurants to only American cuisine-style sandwiches,” Bobay wrote.

Quintana said Thursday he is relieved the legal fight is over, and he is looking forward to opening his second The Famous Taco restaurant in Fort Wayne, which is Indiana’s second-most populous city with about 270,000 residents.

“I’m glad this thing is over. We are happy. When you have a decision like this the only thing you can be is happy. We’re excited,” he told The Associated Press.

KIRO Newsradio hosts weigh in: ‘They’re tacos.’

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin, hosts of “The Gee and Ursula Show,” and show producer Andrew Lanier all agreed that tacos aren’t sandwiches.

When asked by Lanier about the topic, Gee was blunt with his response.

“No. They’re not. They’re tacos and burritos. They’re not sandwiches,” Gee said.

“Why would even anyone even try to argue that a taco is a sandwich?” Ursula Reutin replied in agreement.

Lanier then spelled out specific parameters of what a sandwich is.

“For it to be a sandwich, there needs to be two pieces. There has to be two pieces of bread that can be separate or they can be connected as in a kaiser roll or a hot dog roll, something like that for a po’boy,” he said.

Fernando from Seattle texted in to “Gee and Ursula” and clarified further.

“No, a Mexican sandwich is called a torta,” Fernando said, according to Ursula.

Earlier Friday, “Seattle’s Morning News’ tackled the subject and agreed with the folks on “Gee and Ursula.”

“There’s no way I would call (a taco) as a sandwich,” KIRO Newsradio traffic reporter Chris Sullivan said on “Seattle’s Morning News” Friday.

Nick Creasia, a KIRO Newsradio board operator and show contributor, allowed for some exceptions but largely dismissed the idea.

“I do not stand for such things, Creasia said. “I suppose if you’re folding something and you’re putting in between two quesadillas, maybe, or two tortillas, perhaps? I don’t know, that sounds ridiculous if you ask me.”

Later Friday, Sullivan had some fun with the topic and suggested a new name for other products.

“Why don’t we change the word ‘sandwich?’ A sandwich should be what a sandwich is, an actual thing between two pieces of bread,” Sullivan said. “(How about we) call them ‘handhelds?’ Because that includes everything … If it’s a wrap or it’s a burrito or if it’s a taco, it’s a handheld.”

“Seattle’s Morning News” producer David Burbank agreed with Sullivan but went a slightly different way with his comments.

“It feels like every sandwich has its own name anyways. So, why don’t we just delete the word ‘sandwich?'” Burbank said. “You don’t say a ‘BLT sandwich.’ You just say a ‘BLT’ or you say a ‘sub.’ So … it seems like ‘sandwich’ is an arbitrary term anyway.”

“You shouldn’t be allowed to discriminate against somebody who makes something that is similar (to a sandwich),” Sullivan went on to say. “But I don’t think calling it something that it isn’t (works). Why can’t a burrito just be a burrito?”

“It’s a sandwich, that’s why. That’s what a judge in Indiana has ruled and so it shall be,” “Seattle’s Morning News” co-host Colleen O’Brien said, tongue in cheek, to end the show’s segment.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Steve Coogan is the lead editor of MyNorthwest. You can read more of his stories here. Follow Steve on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email him here.

Listen to Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin weekday mornings from 9 a.m.- noon on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

If you are up for a trip to Orcas Island, the Salish Sea Folk Festival is Friday and Saturday. There will be learning opportunities at workshops, and folk music, all in a village you get to walk through. You’ll learn about blacksmithing, kitting, wood carving and more. Check Orcas Wonder Camp’s website for details

Saturday is One Seattle’s Day of Service. There will be thousands of volunteers taking part in over 130 events that focus on cleaning and beautification, gardening and restoration and helping neighbors in need. You can get details on the City of Seattle’s website.

It’s Armed Forces Day at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will be all sorts of entertainment including games, military dog demonstrations and a chance to get a hands-on look at some of the vehicles and aircraft used by our armed forces. Visit JBLM’s website for more details.

Other activities: Opera known for catchy music, humor shines in Seattle

Free health services offered this weekend

If you are in Whatcom County and are in need of health, vision, hearing or dental service, you’ll want to head to the East Whatcom Regional Resource Center. There will be a variety of free health services being offered as part of the Whatcom Wellness Fair. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and RSVPing is recommended. For more information, go here. The event is free and no insurance is necessary.

Going on now in Everett it is the Fisherman’s Village Music Festival. Drive-By Truckers, Allen Stone, Shovels and Ropes are just some of the artists rocking the stage this weekend. There’s also a night market with vendors, food trucks and lots more. Get details and tickets on Fisherman’s Village Music Fest’s website.

What better way to celebrate the weekend than with an ice cold beer? Seattle Beer Week is here and starts Friday. Kicking things off is the 50th-anniversary party at the Eastlake Zoo Tavern going all day. Get a full rundown of all the fun on Seattle Beer Week’s website.

Nordic pride to be celebrated Friday

Friday is Norwegian Constitution Day and there’s a celebration going on in Ballard. An All Star lineup of Nordic talent will be at Bergen Place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. There will be Norwegian food at the Leif Erikson Lodge from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and while enjoying the music and fun, you can get a prime spot for the parade, which starts at 6 p.m. Details on 17th of May Seattle’s website.

This week’s Festal program at the Seattle Center will be A Glimpse Of China. It will take place at the Seattle Center and there will be dance and vocalist performances, as well as marital arts displays and more. There will also be food and vendors.

The U District Street Fair is back this weekend! It’s described as a 15-block-long arts and crafts fair that features free live music and performances, ample food truck options and plenty of vendor booths. Want to skip the hassle of driving? The event’s website states light rail will drop you off in the center of the action.

Other news: Black bear spotted roaming around Tacoma captured, will be relocated

Have some fun with your pet Saturday

It’s a Petpalooza in Auburn this weekend. Furry friends and their human companions will hit the pavement for a fun run to start things off, followed by the high-flying action of flydog and other agility demonstrations. Plus there will be low-cost pet services, adoptable animals and more! You can bring your pup as long as they are leashed, licensed and well-behaved. The City of Auburn’s website has more details.

Finally, at Cal Anderson Park on Saturday, it’s Paint Jam. There will be artists painting all day, as well as a community painting wall, not to mention live music and food, the classic staple of any event! Paint Jam runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday.

There’s never a shortage of things to do in the region, so get out and enjoy! if you know of stuff going on in your area, let me know at PaulH@kiroradio.com.

Paul Holden produces the Seattle weekend events calendar for KIRO Newsradio.

He’s not wrong. I still call things cool or awesome without any irony. I often wear ankle socks (which the internet says makes me old). I’ve never downloaded TikTok and I still don’t understand  Skibidi Toilet on YouTube.

But here’s the thing … I’m also not upset about it.

I bring this up because I think it’s a surface-level feeling we all experience as we age. I bet right now you are thinking about some of the things you still say, do, or like, probably make you sus too.

Mayfield: Washington lawmakers must fix broken school funding system

Now though, I’m going to admit something that is tougher to talk about … sometimes modern discussions about evolving ethics, morals and viewpoints also make me feel uncool.

I have always considered myself open-minded and willing to listen to other points of view. I have fought for acceptance and equality. I have tried to teach our kids the value of equity and diversity.

And yet, sometimes, if I am honest, I still struggle to understand. I can even feel discomfort or confusion around some social justice topics like gender and race. My initial reaction in my mind, unspoken, isn’t always a good one. Sometimes I have to stop myself from reacting to a news story, an online campaign or even an email from our kids’ well-meaning school.

Sound familiar?

Yet, I would argue, it’s what happens next that is key.

Too much of our world today is built on instant response, instant reaction and instant outrage. Right now, it’s impossible to have a balanced discussion around the war in Gaza without being buried under an avalanche of vitriol. You can’t bring up pros or cons around gender-affirming care without being swamped with outrage. And of course, good luck even saying the names of the current or former president without a firestorm of tribal rage.

Other news: Judge tosses lawsuit aimed at removing state’s gender-affirming care for youth

We live in a nuanced world where nothing is ever clear or direct. Every person has a different lived experience. We need to do a better job of listening to each other and then being brave enough to confront our own discomfort. Maybe we can find our hearts are fully changed. Maybe we can find a way to meet in the middle. Or maybe we do indeed remain unconvinced, but we can remain that way while still respecting and even, dare I say, loving others who differ.

Do we check our initial reaction and then listen even harder to what’s being discussed? Do we consider what others are authentically thinking, feeling and sharing? Do we check in after we have given ourselves time to digest and consider or reconsider?

Let’s remember we are all uncool in our own ways and it is how we choose to proceed that will determine how sus we truly are.

Travis Mayfield is a Seattle-based media personality and a fill-in host on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here.

Blethen, 79, confirmed his plans Monday in a Seattle Times interview. He said he expects to retain his position as board chair of The Seattle Times Co.

“My mantra is that good content and useful content is what you need to attract an audience, and you need to attract an audience if you’re going to get revenue and get paid for what you do,” Blethen said. “And you know, I think right now we’re putting out a really, really, really good newspaper.”

Other local news: North Face closes downtown Seattle flagship store

Blethen, the newspaper’s seventh publisher, led The Times as it won nine Pulitzer Prizes, including one awarded in 2020 for the paper’s coverage of mistakes by Boeing leading to two 737 MAX crashes. He has also seen it through difficult lows, including the Great Recession, an industrywide contraction and a seven-week strike by Seattle Times workers that began in 2000.

Alan Fisco, the company’s president and chief financial officer, will be named CEO when Blethen steps down, Blethen wrote in a message to employees sent Monday afternoon. Blethen declined to share his preference for a successor as publisher, but he said he would like it to be a member of the Blethen family.

According to The Puget Sound Business Journal, the store operated at 520 Pike Street for nearly five years. The downtown store is no longer listed on The North Face’s website. However, the University Village and Southcenter stores are still open.

Downtown Seattle: Revitalization continues but crime stands in the way

The North Face was founded in 1964 and is a subsidiary of VF Corp, based in Denver, Colorado. VF Corp also owns Dickies, JanSport, Vans and SmartWool, according to The Puget Sound Business Journal.

The North Face is known for its hiking and camping clothing, with its rain jackets becoming popular in Seattle, but it now joins Nike and Lululemon in the closure of their downtown stores. The downtown retail core has been having trouble since the COVID-19 pandemic, citing crime as a major concern.

More here: Downtown Seattle Nike store to close at the end of the week

According to the Downtown Seattle Association, the city had 2.1 million visitors in November of 2022. A bright spot was Thanksgiving when retail core had more than 115,000 visitors, a 6% increase over the year before.

Standing in its way, the safety of its downtown area remains a pressing issue. Recent data revealed a mixed picture of crime trends with both hopeful signs and areas of concern.

According to the Seattle Police Department (SPD), the overall crime rate in the city has decreased from 2022 to now. But since spring, there has been a gradual increase in criminal activity throughout the city, with downtown Seattle bearing the brunt of it.

However, those visiting the city can still visit the Nordstrom flagship store, Pacific Place or the Handmade Showroom.

Contributing: Bill Kaczaraba

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email her here.

Reports about the bear had been coming into the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) for several days. It was most recently spotted in Titlow Park, south of Point Defiance Park, and near the Tacoma Narrows Bridge along the water. A KIRO 7 viewer sent in a photo of the young black bear.

“In this case, we did not immediately set out to try to capture this bear,” WDFW spokesperson Jennifer Becar said. “Our hope is that it would move out of the area on its own.”

But it didn’t. Instead, it ended up in a tree in the backyard of a home in Lakewood.

That’s where WDFW workers used a tranquilizer to capture him. The bear was put into a cage-like contraption called a culvert trap.

“They’ll hitch that to a truck and then the whole rig will drive out to the mountains — open up the door, and out goes the bear,” Becar said.

Video of bears in Seattle: Flock of ducks become accidental afternoon meal for Woodland Park Zoo bears

She added it’s not uncommon for young bears to wander, sometimes into urban areas, in the spring.

“This time of year these young adults are often last year’s offspring that are now at an age where they’re ready to take off and find their own place in the world and sometimes that ends up with them taking a wrong turn and they end up in Lakewood,” Becar said.

Becar said the bear has been tagged, so they’ll know if he comes back to town.

She said it’s easier to relocate bears if they don’t get use to hanging around in people’s backyards, looking for easy food.

“Things like our garbage cans, our pet food, our bird feeders — all of that is very tasty and very attractive to a black bear,” she said.

More on bears in the state: Grizzly bears to return to Washington despite opposition

WDFW doesn’t think this bear had time to become too accustomed to being around people, so they’re hopeful he’ll stay put in the North Cascades.

There were no negative encounters with people, according to KIRO 7.

Contributing: Frank Sumrall, MyNorthwest; KIRO 7

Heather Bosch is an award-winning anchor and reporter on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of her stories here. Follow Heather on X, formerly known as Twitter, or email her here.

Follow @http://www.twitter.com/heatherbosch

Will the show continue this week?

Forecasters have suggested mixed news for those who are interested: Those in Washington may get a chance to see them Monday night, but it looks less likely going forward.

Examining Monday first, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration‘s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Sunday night that, “During periods of geomagnetic storm conditions, aurora will potentially be viewable at the middle (and higher) latitudes.”

Geomagnetic storming to persist tonight… pic.twitter.com/FdIRFiiXGP

— NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (@NWSSWPC) May 13, 2024

The best visibility happens away from light pollution and on clear nights. To see how polluted your area is, visit ClearDarkSky’s light pollution map.

Looking ahead to Tuesday, the prediction center stated the aurora could be visible from some spots between New York and Idaho, and not Washington.

A G2 Watch is in effect for May 14… pic.twitter.com/DU4Bo3advf

— NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (@NWSSWPC) May 13, 2024

In its coverage, however, USA Today added a word caution that forecasting space weather is difficult as researchers have to rely on observations of the sun, which is 93 million miles away from Earth to make their predictions.

What has caused the northern lights phenomenon?

The phenomenon comes after NOAA issued a rare severe geomagnetic storm warning when a solar outburst reached Earth on Friday. Geomagnetic storms, which can trigger the picturesque light displays we have been privy to, range from G1, which NOAA considers “minor” to G5, which are “extreme.”

NOAA explained Saturday that G3 (strong) and G4 (severe) conditions persisted through much of Saturday and a G4 watch is on for Sunday as well. The agency previously stated it hadn’t seen a solar storm like this since 2005. The strength of the storms has decreased significantly since last week, causing the likelihood to see the northern lights to fall significantly.

The spectacular event occurred because of a series of strong coronal mass ejections from the sun. Notably, NOAA stated on X, the source of the storm is a large complex sunspot cluster that is 17 times the diameter of Earth, or the size of 17 Earths.

As to why admirers looking up in the sky see different colors, the prediction center explained that it is defined by the altitude of the aurora. It linked to a PDF explaining more about the colors that can be seen here.

Red, Green, Blue? Why does the Aurora change colors? Chemistry! https://t.co/sAmnBfvL0q #SpaceWeather pic.twitter.com/ILpwHSJA1T

— NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (@NWSSWPC) May 13, 2024

Do these geomagnetic storms impact people on Earth?

NOAA states on its website that G5 storms can cause “widespread voltage control problems and protective system problems can occur. ” In addition, “some grid systems may experience complete collapse or blackouts. Transformers may experience damage.”

The federal agency also said there were preliminary reports of power grid irregularities, degradation of high-frequency communications and global positioning systems.

But the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said that no region had reported any significant impact from the storms. The U.S. Department of Energy said Saturday it is not aware of any impact from the storms on electric customers.

not aware of any impact from the storms on electric customers.

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service said on its website Saturday that service had been degraded and its team was investigating. CEO Elon Musk wrote on the social platform X overnight that its satellites were “under a lot of pressure, but holding up so far.”

But it shouldn’t affect the people who live on Earth.

“For most people here on planet Earth, they won’t have to do anything,” said Rob Steenburgh, a scientist with NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

“That’s really the gift from space weather: the aurora,” Steenburgh added. He and his colleagues said the best views may come from phone cameras, which are better at capturing light than the naked eye.

This storm posed a risk for high-voltage transmission lines for power grids, not the electrical lines ordinarily found in people’s homes, NOAA space weather forecaster Shawn Dahl told reporters. Satellites also could be affected, which in turn could disrupt navigation and communication services here on Earth.

An extreme geomagnetic storm in 2003, for example, took out power in Sweden and damaged power transformers in South Africa.

Even when the storm is over, signals between GPS satellites and ground receivers could be scrambled or lost, according to NOAA. But there are so many navigation satellites that any outages should not last long, Steenburgh noted.

Send us your photos

If you capture some spring pictures or do get to see the northern lights, please share your photos with MyNorthwest on our Share With Us page.

Contributing: The Associated Press; Julia Dallas

Editors’ note: This story originally was published on Saturday, May 11, 2024. It has been updated and republished multiple times since then.

Steve Coogan is the lead editor of MyNorthwest. You can read more of his stories here. Follow Steve on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email him here.