Skip to content

Arts

Read More ›

Airport Wages, Major Road Closure & More News

The top Seattle news stories you should be reading today

airportworkers_0

Working at the airport just became an even better gig. The Washington Supreme Court ruled that a voter-approved initiative to raise the minimum wage to $15 in the city of SeaTac should apply to workers at the airport, reports KOMO News. Residents of SeaTac voted last November for the increased wage, but a month later a King County Superior Court judge ruled that the airport is controlled by the Port of Seattle—not the city of SeaTac—thereby nullifying any benefits airport workers would receive from the new law. That all changed Thursday with the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling, noting that there is no indication the new law will interfere with airport operations.

A grocery warehouse fire Tuesday in Winlock had devastating effects on fish in a nearby creek, KING 5 News reports. The fire burned nearly 1,100 gallons of vegetable and canola oil, some of which ended up escaping through a storm drain, emptying in Olequa Creek and killing 100 percent of the fish for nearly four miles downstream. “Where it starts getting deep there, you couldn’t even see the bottom,” Winlock resident Rich Rouska told KING 5. The Department of Ecology responded swiftly with vacuums and special pads to soak up the oil, an effort expected to last for several days.

A major closure on State Route 99 is scheduled for this weekend, so plan your routes accordingly. Beginning Friday night, both directions of SR99 will close between the south end of the Battery Street Tunnel and Valley Street, says KIRO 7 News. The southbound lanes close at 10 p.m. and northbound lanes close two hours after the end of the Mariners game (which begins at 7:10 p.m.), although the Alaskan Way Viaduct will remain open. The closure is due to construction as part of the State Route 99 project, an effort to build roadway connections between the future tunnel and Aurora Avenue. “We’re asking folks to give themselves extra time, use alternate routes and just be aware that Aurora is closed in that section,” Dave Sowers, deputy project administrator for the Washington State Department of Transportation, told KIRO News.

WSU Cougar Football leads the nation. Unfortunately, it’s for a pretty bad reason: America’s most arrested college football program, KOMO News reports. Former San Jose Mercury News reporter Mike Rosenberg found that there were 918 reported arrests (and criminal citations) of Division I college football players in the last five years, about one every other day. With 31 arrests during that span, Washington State University football leads the pack, just ahead of the University of Florida (24 arrests) and the University of Georgia (22 arrests). The numbers do not reflect the severity of the crimes, however, meaning that some of the arrests could be for minor offenses. (And full disclosure, I am still a proud alum of Washington State University and always will be, so Go Cougs.) 

 

Rearview Mirror: Crocodile Guardians, Late-Summer Potato Salad, and a Halloween Costume Hunt

Rearview Mirror: Crocodile Guardians, Late-Summer Potato Salad, and a Halloween Costume Hunt

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

COOKING WITH ASTER PANTRY A few leaves turn, my inbox fills with fall festival pitches and cozy brunch menus, and suddenly I want to stay home with a glass of wine and cook. I love this nesting season, though I’m not ready to give up summer produce. Earlier this year, I wrote about Seattle chefs…

WALKDONTRUN Returns This Saturday, Turning Downtown Seattle Into a Sprawling Art Show

WALKDONTRUN Returns This Saturday, Turning Downtown Seattle Into a Sprawling Art Show

In its second year, the free festival brings 200-plus artists to a 20-block route September 19, with a secret garden and a former 7-Eleven stocked with art.

Most walks through downtown Seattle involve trying to get somewhere. On September 19, the crosswalk itself might be the reason to stop. Heap Troupe will turn a four-way crossing into a performance, one of dozens of encounters planned for this year’s WALKDONTRUN. The free, all-ages art walk stretches across more than 20 blocks. From 11…

At Two Dot Schoolhouse, Ruth Marie Tomlinson Builds an Artistic Community

At Two Dot Schoolhouse, Ruth Marie Tomlinson Builds an Artistic Community

For nearly 20 years, the Seattle artist and her husband have welcomed artists, writers, and musicians to a historic Montana schoolhouse. Now they’re searching for its next stewards. 

At her solo exhibition last year at The Vestibule, Seattle artist Ruth Marie Tomlinson presented a new series of work inspired by her close readings of British nature writer J.A. Baker’s The Peregrine and Icelandic author Sjón’s The Blue Fox. As if on sheets torn from a sketchbook, her pages included excerpts and outtakes of…

Rearview Mirror: Seahawks Off the Field, Seattle on the Board, and Smoked Oysters

Rearview Mirror: Seahawks Off the Field, Seattle on the Board, and Smoked Oysters

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

HOOKED ON KNOCKS Admittedly, I am late to this one. The Seahawks’ first season of Hard Knocks, the HBO series that follows NFL teams through training camp, premiered in August, but until last week, I had never heard of it. To be honest, my football knowledge starts with knowing what a touchdown is and doesn’t…