Smoke from a brush fire that started at about 1:15 today has got traffic backed up for miles on I-5. Q13 has raw video. The fire blocked all southbound I-5 lanes and four northbound, but WSDOT Twitter tells us that now 3 lanes are open each direction. Somewhere in all that traffic are people who were trying to head to Southcenter Mall just for the air conditioning, and got stuck on a sweltering, smoky I-5 instead. We feel for them. But this is exactly why we never leave Capitol Hill--wait, what's this about a brush fire on Broadway near Harborview? Folks, the end is officially near. more ›

Microsoft giveth, and Microsoft taketh away. The company overpaid severance to some laid off employees last month, and now wants its money back. It makes us want to scream, "No take backsies!" But how can you stay mad at Microsoft when they're offering free training for jobs that involve Microsoft products. Look into it. You can't spend your life aimlessly wandering the mall, especially now that Southcenter is cutting its hours. more ›

"Here" meaning "Southcenter," but we'll take what we can get. The first (and largest) of three stores planned to open in the Seattle area this year, the Southcenter H&M opens at 10 a.m. today. It's part of the mall's big expansion, which features a whole mess of new stores and restaurants, making the Tukwila shopping center the largest indoor mall in Washington and Oregon. Recession be damned. more ›

According to Google Analytics, any day we can mention the words H&M and Seattle in a post is a very good day. So we were thrilled to get a press release heralding the Swedish stores arrival ("FINALLY," it said in caps) in Seattle. Except it's not really in Seattle. The first H&M store in the area will open on July 25th at Southcenter Mall. As much as we H&M cravers want to will it to be so, Southcenter is not in Seattle. more ›

Okay, so it’s not the first in the area, and there are nearly 700 others in the country, but Chipotle is opening at Southcenter Square—today! more ›