Seattle’s four decades as the ‘Hollywood of video games;’ how locals have long rebelled against public health directives; cultural leaders push back against Durkan’s latest Office of Arts & Culture appointment; Amazon’s workforce diversity’s still mostly at the bottom ranks.

Heatwave-decimated snowpacks on Mt. Rainier; King County to require vax proof for many indoor and outdoor public spaces; waiting for the big rain/wind storm to show up; Inscape art studios endangered.

Montlake highway ‘lid’ project to get bigger in nine years; WA hits another cruel COVID mark with over 7,000 deaths; is Rep. Jayapal a cruel boss or a victim of sexist double standards?; how ‘hesitancy’ can be manipulated, exploited.

A neighborhood tree that didn’t deserve to die; remembering the chaos that was Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ release party; city council diverts some SPD budget savings to other uses; WA hits another grim COVID milestone while ID’s gov fiddles.

A network-TV tribute to Bam Bam singer Tina Bell; a ex-Amazon worker admits to “rigging” third-party sales platform; cops and crowds at a nighttime Pike/Pine arrest scene; an officially anti-vax-mandate county needs to rent a morgue van.

Beth’s Cafe, just reopened, is now re-closed; Proud Boys use anti-vax/anti-mask excuses for their hostile ‘rallies;’ a tentative union pact over state-worker vax mandate; ‘Compassion Seattle’ city-charter campaign dead (again).

Remembering a local icon of cartooning and TV; why one Black activist won’t back Bruce Harrell for mayor; court upholds state ban on forced ‘conversion therapy’ against gays; Pacific Galleries antique mall might be saved.

Locally-made, no-budget ‘Hunting Bigfoot’ film now showing; Boeing safety engineers speak out against management; philanthropist-arts promoter Kay Bullitt dies; when the delta variant (and the pandemic) just might finally end.

Mt. Rainier’s a lot less snowy and icy these days; state auditor’s office sez city’s ‘Black Brilliance Project’ grants were barely within the law; Portland police allowed far-right rally members to mostly just do their thing; 15 writers in search of Utopia.

Artistic mini-golf at Olympic Sculpture Park; City Council passes JumpStart payroll tax; why hasn’t county rent-relief money come through yet?; a summer of ‘frustration’ and ‘rage’.

Wing Luke group exhibit ponders Asian American beauty standards; music fest at the Gorge linked to 160+ COVID cases; wildfire smoke makes COVID worse; more on the trends seen in the new census data.

The new ‘Skid Road’ book’s parallels to the older one; more institutions impose vaccine requirements; controversial PCC president quits; city attorney Pete Holmes is out of the general-election race.

Local band Prom Date’s new Britney Spears tribute EP; new COVID case counts are close to last summer’s; Boeing ‘ekes out’ its first profits since ’19; southern resident orcas are finally back in WA waters.

Remembering the pandemic with tattoos; everybody’s asked to mask up again (at least indoors); racism/sexism claims at Amazon Web Services and Seattle Park Dept.; differing responses about cruise ships’ return to Seattle.

Performers and others re-gather in Chinatown-International District; Canadian border reopens Aug. 9; some of Durkan’s ‘missing text’ recipients identified; Bezos will go into space today (and, yes, come back).