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Axios Seattle
Where to swim outside in Seattle
Whether you're a weekend warrior at lap swim or a casual pool partier, swimming is better when it's outside, and Seattle has no shortage of outdoor pools and beaches to get your flutter kicks.Yes, but: These places aren't open year-round in our soggy city — or necessarily safe to swim in when it's cold out — so summer is the best time to enjoy them.Pro tip: If you want to go somewhere on this list, other people do too, so give yourself plenty of time to park.Here are some of Seattle's best pools and beaches for swimming and lounging in...
Nostalgic fun for everyone at Seattle-area drive-ins
Washington is home to a few drive-in theaters that offer the nostalgic charm of 1950s Americana and outdoor spaces for kids to play as a fun alternative for movie night.You can bring pets too, and no one cares where you put your feet or if you chat it up during the climax.Pro tip: Feel free to wear your pajamas. Back in if you have a hatchback or truck and set up a comfy little nest for viewing. Or, bring a tarp and blankets or lawn chairs.Most drive-ins feature two movies, a kid-friendly one that begins when night falls, around 10pm, and a feature movie playing around midnight. Check out one of these this summer:Blue Fox Drive-In Theater in Oak Harbor: $6.50 for 11 and older; $1 children 5-10; 4 and under free. Rodeo Drive-In in Bremerton: $12 adults; $7 for kids 5-12 and seniors; 4 and under free.Skyline Drive-In Theater in Shelton: $8 for 12 and older; $3 for kids 6-11; 5 and under free.Wheel-In-Motor Movie in Port Townsend $10; $8 for seniors 65 and up and kids 6-12; kids 5 and under free.On the other side of the mountains: Auto Vue Drive-In Theatre in Colville.
This Seattle bar was just named one of the best in America
Next time you're in need of some liquid therapy and a light meal, check out one local bar that's made it to the national stage.State of play: Bar Bayonne on East Jefferson Street near Swedish Hospital was named one of Esquire's 42 Best Bars in America.Zoom in: The space offers a tiny French market, baguette sandwiches, charcuterie, local oysters, wines by the glass and cocktails.And, the "cheerful yet urbane" space provides a "fun, communal break from the boring rest of the world," writes Bethany Jean Clement.Dig in: Esquire recommends the martinis, made with jambon-infused gin, dry sherry and briny piparra peppers.They also suggest the kalimotxo — a Coke and red wine concoction — oysters, and Spanish potato chips topped with thin slices of the slightly sweet and salty meat for which the bar is named.Fun fact: Bar Bayonne is the creation of Zac Overman and J.J. Proville, the people behind the neighboring L'Oursin, described by Seattle Met as one of the city's reliably great bistros.
Banking seeds in Washington for the future of food
Washington state is home to one of the most precious collections of valuables on the planet: seeds that hold living codes for building the world's future food supplies.Why it matters: Amid seemingly endless bad news about the climate and the death of pollinators, projects like these aim to ensure food in the pipeline no matter what.How it works: More like a library than a bank, the USDA's National Plant Germplasm System in Pullman stores seeds for critical food and foraging crops in temperature-controlled cabinets, which are ready to send to scientists, breeders and geneticists all over the world, said Sarah...
Seattle-area therapist talks about shame and addiction in Asian cultures
Being an Asian kid in Seattle meant bullying and discrimination outside the home and shame-based teachings inside, says local psychotherapist Sam Louie in his third book.Why it matters: Asian American Pacific Islanders looking to unravel cultural trauma, shame and the wounds it leaves behind will connect with the memoir, one reviewer writes. What's happening: "Passport to Shame: From Asian Immigrant to American Addict" examines the role of ethnicity and culture as contributors to toxic shame, now recognized as a bedrock of addiction and other disorders.In Chinese culture alone, more than 100 different ways exist to describe shame, says Louie, who emigrated...
Week of wild weather for Seattle
Whether you crave sheets of rain and snow — or warm sunny days — next week is setting up to have something for everyone.Why it matters: Plans can be thwarted when they depend on Seattle's June-uary weather, so it's nice to know which days may be better for gardening, biking and crossing the passes.Driving the news: A moderate late-season atmospheric river could bring more than an inch of heavy rain to Seattle and up to five inches of snow in the mountains Sunday and Monday, local meteorologist Michael Fagin told Axios.By Friday, some models suggest temperatures in the Seattle-area could be near 80°, per Fagin.What's next: Some forecasts indicate we may see highs in the 90s the following week thanks to a developing ridge of high pressure, said Fagin.Forecasters at NWS' Climate Prediction Center highlight the period as particularly hot, describing as "persistent" a heat dome projected to park itself across the West from early-to-mid-June," writes Axios' Andrew Freedman.
Weekend guide: 5 fun things
Don't feel guilty if you want to stay in bed and read on a rainy spring weekend, but if you want to get out, then here are ideas. Thursday👩🏻🌾 Fans of female folk can celebrate the music of Alison Krauss, Nanci Griffith and the Highwomen at a country tribute show featuring Seattle musicians at The Royal Room. Doors open at 6:30pm for the 7:30pm show. Tickets $25. Friday📜 Gather at Town Hall Seattle for a discussion with Aziz Rana, Michael Hardt, and Jaleh Mansoor about Rana's book, "The Constitutional Bind," exploring how our flawed national document gained mythic status and shaped both domestic and foreign policy. 7:30pm. Sliding scale $5-$25. 🕺🏻Get your secret Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC dance fix when Seattle's tribute boy band #All4doras plays at the Tractor Tavern. 9pm. $10.Saturday 🐞 Catch "Bugs!," a free and family-friendly play about preventing bullying and celebrating differences, at the Taproot Theatre.Tickets free; seating general admission; but registration recommended. Doors open at 9am. Show starts at 9:30am.Sunday🦖 Dig into paleontology at the Burke Museum's annual festival of fossils with ancient animal identification, microfossil sorting, crafts, and more. Timed tickets $14 for ages 4-17 and $22 for adults.
SPD's chief Adrian Diaz is out
After four tumultuous years, Seattle police Chief Adrian Diaz is moving to a new role within the department, Mayor Bruce Harrell said Wednesday.Why it matters: The shake-up at the beleaguered department follows a crescendo of external criticism, internal conflict and lawsuits filed against the city, the Seattle Police Department and, in some instances, Diaz specifically.Driving the news: Harrell said at a news conference Wednesday Diaz suggested the needs of the city and the department would be "better served by him stepping aside," but the Seattle Times reports Diaz was "removed."Harrell said Diaz will remain with the department, working on as-yet-undefined...
Washington has one of the highest work-from-home rates
The Evergreen State is home to more than a million remote workers, leading some businesses that relied on a now-dwindling weekday downtown presence to pivot to the suburbs.Why it matters: The presence of high-paying tech jobs has long been a boon to Washington's economy, but this new era of remote and hybrid work is reshaping downtowns, office parks and the suburbs.By the numbers: About 37% of the state's nearly 4 million working people do so from home at least one day per week, according to a recent Federal Reserve article.Nationwide, just over 15% of workers do so primarily from home,...
How much Airbnb hosts can earn renting out Seattle-area apartments
Data: Airbnb; Table: Axios Visuals; Note: An Airbnb-friendly apartment (AFA) building is one in which tenants can rent out their apartment part timeA growing number of apartment buildings are allowing tenants to bank extra cash by renting out their units for short stays through Airbnb.Why it matters: Rental affordability has plunged in recent years, and those who rent are feeling especially bad about their finances, according to the Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll.State of play: Tenants in the Seattle area who hosted on Airbnb typically earned about $5,000 a year, per 2023 figures shared with Axios.Venn at Main...
Seattle has one of the best park systems in the country, new scorecard shows
With driftwood beaches and designer gardens, playgrounds and hills for kite-flying, Seattle has one of the country's best park systems, new data shows.Why it matters: As loneliness and social disconnection rise, parks and green spaces can foster community building and help repair "our frayed social fabric," the nonprofit Trust for Public Land (TPL) wrote in its 2024 report.On average, the top 25 ParkScore cities had 26% more social connections between low- and high-income individuals compared to lower-ranked cities, per the report.Driving the news: Among TPL's annual parks rating for the 100 most populous cities in the U.S., Seattle ranked No....
Memorial Day travel tips for busiest holiday in two decades
Seasoned Seattleites know to leave early or stay late when it comes to avoiding peak holiday weekend traffic, whether traveling by plane, ferry or automobile. Driving the news: Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends are two of the state's biggest weekends for cross-state holiday travel and that means traffic congestion and delays, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).What to do: Generally, traffic leading away from Seattle is expected to increase from 11am-8pm Friday; while traffic back to the city is expected to peak between 10am-5pm on Sunday and Monday, per WSDOT. The department's traffic guide and charts have more detailed information.Long wait times and cancellations are possible at ferry terminals with ridership expected to swell to more than 350,000 passengers through Monday, per Washington State Ferries.With ongoing construction at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and an estimated 760,000 travelers expected through Monday, airport officials published information on potential impacts and how to avoid the worst of it. The big picture: Nationally, nearly 44 million people are expected to travel Memorial Day weekend, the busiest in almost 20 years, according to AAA.43.8 million people will head 50 miles or more during the unofficial start of summer.
Seattle's economic strength puts it among the world's top cities, new index says
Seattle is breaking into the big leagues, with new recognition as one of the top cities in the world.Why it matters: Despite A+ natural beauty, the city has been hampered by its traffic, lagging transit options, slow downtown recovery and a well-intentioned participatory democracy called the "Seattle process" that makes it hard to get things done fast.Driving the news: But a new ranking of cities from Oxford Economics that gives Seattle the sixth-highest Global Cities Index score — behind only New York, London, San Jose, Tokyo and Paris — shines a spotlight on the Emerald City's strengths.What they did: In...
Things to do in the Seattle area over Memorial Day weekend
With a holiday and several multi-day festivals in store, this weekend offers something for everyone, from Seattle's classic Folklife Festival to the Hood Canal Fjord Fest.Thursday🎤 Canadian singer-songwriter Ekkstacy will perform indie music at an all-ages event with Princess Pulpit at Neumos. 8pm. Tickets are $25 at the door.🎸 Triple your fun with three bands when Agent Orange, Messer Chups and Millhous play at El Corazon on Eastlake. The show starts at 7:30pm and tickets are about $25.Friday🧚🏽♀️ Seattle's annual Northwest Folklife Festival is a quintessential PNW festival for lovers of live music, dance performances, artisanal crafts, food and flowy...
Six Seattle CEOs rank among the nation's highest-paid
Seattle is home to at least six of the highest-paid CEOs in the U.S.Why it matters: Amid layoffs at T-Mobile last year and a slew of federal investigations into safety lapses at Boeing, CEOs at both companies ranked among the area's top-paid executives in 2023, per an analysis by the Wall Street Journal.What they did: The Wall Street Journal used information from corporate proxy statements filed through May 16 last year by companies in the S&P 500 index, as collected by MyLogIQ, a provider of public company data and analysis.Pay reflects the value of equity awards as reported by companies...
These are the most popular baby names in Washington
Data: U.S. Social Security Administration; Chart: Erin Davis/Axios VisualsWashington parents like the sound of Olivia and Oliver.The big picture: Those were the top baby names in the Evergreen State last year, according to a recently released list by the Social Security Administration.359 babies were named Olivia, while 416 were named Oliver.Zoom in: Amelia, Emma, Sophia, Evelyn, Charlotte, Mia, Isabella and Harper round out the state's top 10 for girls.Liam, Noah, Theodore, Henry, Mateo, James, Benjamin and Lucas were among the top 10 for boys.Zoom out: Nationally, Liam and Olivia were the most popular baby names.The intrigue: Maeve, Luka, Thiago, Adrielle and Millie saw the greatest growth in popularity between 2013 and 2023 among Washington parents, while Alexa and Alexis saw the greatest decrease.Perhaps due to parents' unsurprising desire to avoid accidentally triggering their Amazon smart gadgets.Fun fact: Some parents are hiring TikTok and Instagram influencer consultants to find baby names with an eye toward cultivating their child's future persona, Axios' Mimi Montgomery reports.
This week in history: 24 years since Mount St. Helens erupted
Here's a look at some of the May historical events in the city and beyond, sourced from state history encyclopedia HistoryLink and local newspaper and agency archives.May 18, 1980: After months of blowing off steam, Mount St. Helens erupted, killing 57 people, blotting out the sun in Yakima and releasing one of the largest debris avalanches ever recorded, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.As the mountain blew, Washingtonians saw an apocalyptic landscape with ash and debris falling from the sky over 24 square miles."There was such a surreal feel to it all; it was like watching the end of the...
How marijuana reclassification could impact Washington state
A proposal to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug could have a major impact on cannabis enterprises in Washington state, industry officials say.Why it matters: The proposal could give workers and owners the same financial tools available to other legal businesses, which in turn could lower the number of robberies and burglaries at retail stores, said Aaron Pickus of the Washington CannaBusiness Association.Rescheduling could allow cannabis companies to deduct business expenses on their taxes, which would particularly help retail stores that typically operate on very tight margins, Pickus said.What they're saying: Pickus told Axios via email that the proposed...
Seattle Sounders salaries revealed
Data: MLS Players Association; Note: Guaranteed compensation includes a player's base salary, agent fees and all signing, marketing and guaranteed bonuses annualized over the term of the player's contract, including option years; Table: Axios VisualsAttacking midfielder Albert Rusnák and center forward Raúl Ruidíaz are the Seattle Sounders' top-paid players, according to the recently released Major League Soccer Players Association salary guide.Why it matters: Spending a lot of money on players doesn't ensure victory, unless you're Inter Miami, which pays the most in team salaries at $41.7 million and currently leads the Eastern Conference standings.Driving the news: Albert Rusnák earned $2.2 million in base salary and Ruidíaz earned $2 million, according to the latest numbers.The Seattle club's total guaranteed compensation for 2024 is $16.6 million, putting it in 12th place out of the league's 29 teams, according to the spring-summer salary guide, which includes players' base salaries and guaranteed compensation as of April 25.The team is 10th in the MLS Western Conference standings.By the numbers: Rounding out the Sounders' best-paid players are Jordan Morris with $1.6 million in base pay, Cristian Roldan with $1.4 million and João Paulo, also $1.4 million.
How Seattle could be affected by the national Realtors lawsuit
The National Association of Realtors recently agreed to settle a big lawsuit that questions how real estate agents are paid — and who foots the bill.Why it matters: The changes could eventually bring down the cost of real estate transactions — including in Seattle — but in the interim, they're causing confusion for buyers, sellers and their agents.The big picture: Beginning Aug. 17, agents won't be able to advertise commission rates in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), the database where real estate agents post homes for sale.Additionally, buyers will have to sign a compensation agreement before a realtor can show...
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