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Rahh Recap, Amazon Prime Day and More News

The top Seattle news stories you should be reading today

camp-rahh

Back in May, I wrote about Camp Rahh, an all-inclusive summer camp for grown-ups that I was set to attend in early June. Well I did. And I regaled my experiences over at The Liberty Project. You may recall the camp was cellphone- and booze-free (and also that I kind of hate camping), so just how did I fare? “People discussed shared interests and calmly talked politics. Who knew how polite and engaging we all could be without phones glued to our palms and a few too many glasses of vino flowing in our veins?” Read all about it here.

Traffic: To drive in Seattle around rush hour–or any hour, really–is to question every decision you’ve ever made as you sit and sit and sit in total gridlock. Now the city is aiming to relieve a bit of our traffic pain with what KING 5 News calls “drastic measures.” “Traffic engineers recently closed off the small stretch of northbound Yale Avenue between Denny Way and Stewart Street. Drivers were trying to turn both left and right at Denny and blocking the intersection.” And it sounds like other intersections are up for analysis, too.

Cabin in the woods: A nearly 100-year-old log cabin in Olympia has been added to the Thurston County Historic Register and saved from demolition, according to KIRO. The two-story dwelling near the Nisqually Indian Reservation is located in the Lost Lake RV Park and “is mostly used as the neighborhood library.” Great news for those in favor of preserving the past!

Amazon Prime Day: If you haven’t heard of the huge 24-hour Black Friday-esque sale that online retailer Amazon is hosting this coming Wednesday, you can read about it here. The crazy sale has spurred other retailers, like Walmart, to follow suit. Geekwire reports that “Walmart announced it would be rolling out thousands of specials and will lowering its shipping minimum to $35 from $50.” Amazon’s Prime Day extravaganza does require shoppers to sign-up for its two-day shipping program, which runs you $99 a year (though you can sign up for a free 30-day trial). Walmart fired back at the cost with this on its blog: “We’ve heard some retailers are charging $100 to get access a sale. But the idea of asking customers to pay extra in order to save money just doesn’t add up for us.” Let the sale wars begin!

The warehouse that houses the Old Spaghetti Factory near Seattle’s waterfront will be redeveloped into a mixed-use project, the Puget Sound Business Journal reports. “Nitze-Stagen and Seattle real estate company Meriwether Partners LLC have bought the full-block property next to the Olympic Sculpture Park for $9 million,” and the new development could go up around the building, which was built in 1902, or “possibly on top of” it.

 

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…