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Map of Wildfires, ‘Amazonian Manifesto’ and more news

The top Seattle news stories you should be reading today

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Washington Wildfires: As the wildfires in our state rage on, easterly winds blew smoke from those fires into our area this weekend, prompting the National Weather Service to issue Air Quality Alerts, according to KING 5 News. The hazy skies should improve today, as winds are slated to shift to the west. To see where the fires are currently burning, consult this interactive map here. If you’d like to donate to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief, which helps those affected by wildfires and other disasters, go here

Good news for the 326 employees at local pet supply store Mud Bay: They are now “eligible to be owners,” the Puget Sound Business Journal reports, after the company’s co-ceos Lars and Marisa Wulff opted to create an employee stock ownership plan. The pair hopes the “creation of the plan will develop an ownership culture can help the business grow faster.”

Can three reforms help foster a better working environment at Amazon? That’s what an anonymous employee says in this “Amazonian Manifesto,” which was published over the weekend and addresses a few ways ceo Jeff Bezos could improve upon corporate working conditions at his company. (E.g: abolish the Levels system that classifies employees by letter and number.) This response (not to mention many other responses) comes on the heels of this much-talked-about New York Times article regarding Amazon and its potentially demanding and “bruising” workplace. Geekwire’s Todd Bishop discussed all things Amazon with NYT reporter Jodi Kantor, which you can read here.

 

Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards 

Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards 

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

YOUR VOTE MATTERS Everyone has a favorite restaurant, coffee shop, or local boutique. Call me old-school, but I will die on the hill that Caffe Vita has the best coffee in town. Disagree with me? Now’s your moment to speak up. Each year, we survey Seattle magazine readers, asking them to weigh in on everything…

Studio Sessions: Ling Chun

Studio Sessions: Ling Chun

The Seattle-based artist brings playful color to ceramics and neon while exploring memory, transformation, and life between cultures.

For Ling Chun, creating begins with something sensed before it can be named. Working with clay, glass, light, and sometimes synthetic hair, the Hong Kong-born artist gives physical form to things that words cannot always hold. “For me, the magnitude of making goes far beyond the object that is eventually produced,” Chun says. “The object…

The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever

The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever

PAX West draws more than 100,000 people to Seattle each year. Co-founder Jerry Holkins reflects on what the gaming convention set out to change, how its community has grown and why gathering face to face still matters.

Access to game news as it was happening was difficult back in the day. Even with the advent of the internet, communication between game publishers and journalists was still a very elite affair.  I used to fake credentials—via fax machine!—to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo, mostly just known as E3. It was simultaneously as loud…

Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026

Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026

Navigate Seattle’s wildest end-of-summer weekend with 20 picks spanning Death Cab for Cutie, Blood Orange, wrestling, skateboarding and—obviously—movies made in 48 hours.

Four years after Bumbershoot returned with its quirkiness revivified, Seattleites broadly acknowledge the two-day multimedia extravaganza as a welcome finale to the summer festival season. Fests like Bumbershoot are designed around a choose-your-own-adventure model, but if you’re the kind of person who looked at this year’s sprawling lineup—featuring multiple bands, artists, and exhibits happening at…