COVID takes a major figure in local science and political thought; unearthing the crisis’s confusing early days at Life Care Center; a year without SIFF (sniff); a dance fest, imagining a better future for humanity, may or may not have a future itself.

One barmaid’s temp-closing words of reassurance; a year without St. Patrick’s Day; Sawant repurposes her ‘Amazon tax’ proposal; Joe Biden wins WA’s Presidential primary.

Owner of a now-shut eatery wants more from local officials than just ‘social distancing’ mandates; lots more closures & cancellations; Legislature’s last moves to shore up transportation budget; what to do instead of shaking hands.

Amazon Go grocery’s biggest store yet opens on E. Pike; Kennedy High principal put on paid leave; two state House Dems will get primary challengers; 1 in 5 WA community college students are or have been homeless.

How Seattle’s bygone Queen of Neon was rediscovered; Re-bar at 30; Bumbershoot Lives! (in some form); another big ruling against Tim Eyman (whom Republicans still (heart symbol)).

Connecting the WWII internments’ lessons to today’s anti-immigrant hysteria; the downtown ex-Bon Marché’s final days; Caffe Vita’s new owner tries to heal past discord; local researchers try to invent a coronavirus vaccine.

Protests want gay Catholic teachers rehired; more praise for Pike Place’s Oriental Mart; Durkan says she’s more of a true progressive than (without naming) Sawant; keeping eagles from dining at the landfill.

A for-profit “selfie museum” lets you show yourself in various artsy settings; a Super Bowl ad salutes Police Chief Best; lotsa floods & mudslides in the region; Ballard P-Patch ‘saved’ for $1.95 million.

Swedish nurses’ strike begins; more toxic chemicals found in local waters; what hasn’t already worked on Third Avenue (more police); one more reason to dislike Amazon techies (giant umbrellas).

Anti-Marxist spray paint at St. Mark’s; another stupid shooting, this time in the heart of downtown at the evening commute; coronavirus-fueled face-mask buying frenzy; Tacoma doesn’t like Sea-Tac promoted as SEA.

Places near here that got big snow still have problems from it; a bill in Olympia would complicate changes to local schools’ gifted programs; big grants to three local radical artists; the threat of a ‘tech Cold War.’

Some places get a little snow, others a lot; Seahawks’ last comeback try falls short; Boeing accused of deliberately hiding MAX system revisions just to save on pilot training; (most) crime in Seattle’s way down.

MOHAI’s got a miniature Mont-Saint-Michel plus an AI virtual tour; Amazon threatens to fire workers who question its climate response; Swedish nurses are closer to a strike; Bill Gates sez folks like him should pay more taxes.

The year starts sans fireworks; an Olympia legal victory for Seattle’s MHA plan; Amazon delivery contractors’ high-pressure existence; how to make lower Third Avenue safer for all.

The local decade in review, for better and for worse; Microsoft blames a data breach on N. Koreans; more robots just make life worse for Amazon warehouse workers; high winds could cancel our NYE fireworks.