We have gathered some of the top political writers in the country and asked them to discuss the presidential race throughout the year. Today they discuss McCain’s new frontrunner status, religion in American politics, and Edwards’ departure. more ›

Mercer Island is not just the home of the fifth richest man on earth. And 98040 isn't just the wealthiest zip code in our state. It is now known as a childhood home of Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Dunham. more ›

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We have gathered some of the top political writers in the country and asked them to discuss the presidential race throughout the year. Today they review Tuesday's doings in New Hampshire. more ›

Corner of 3rd and Union last night, the air's full of crazies. The rabid anti-Hillary crazies, fueled by and fueling right-wing panic even as they convince the mainstream that she's unelectable because she's so polarizing ("Just look at us!"). The Ron Paul crazies, all suited and tied. The 9/11 crazies in search of evil conspiracies. more ›

Pearl Jam capped off this year’s three-day Lollapalooza blowout on August 5, and as anyone who knows much about the band might expect, singer Eddie Vedder badmouthed Big Government (Mr. Bush) and Big Business (BP Amoco) on stage. If you weren’t lucky enough to be there (as we weren’t), but caught AT&T’s “live” Blue Room webcast of the band’s performance, you missed some of Eddie’s poli-sci jabs because they were strategically removed. more ›

The Windy City has awakened to the news that Americans love miniburgers. We're glad the food writers at the Chicago Tribune finally noticed. more ›

We’ve been on a mountain bike clinic road trip smörgåsbord, starting in Bellingham a few weeks ago and then cruising through Hood River and ending up this past weekend near our hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah. This past weekend we coached a camp up in Park City, where it was a breezy 92 degrees for our afternoon rides—a temperature that is ridiculous in its own right yet still a respite from the record-setting spree of triple-digit temps currently being recorded down in the valley. This is not normal. Utah is generally populated by people who say they like the heat, in large part because it’s not too hot. That was our mantra when we grew up here: "It’s not like Arizona hot." Except now it is Arizona hot here. more ›

And in news related to what will fill the iPhones purchased at the U Village Apple Store this week: UW has announced that not only will they not protect students from file-sharing lawsuits, they will hunt them down and club them to death to protect the violated rights-holders. Ok, a shoot-on-sight order isn't in effect yet--for the time being the University of Washington will only serve legal papers to students who use the school's network to download music. more ›

When he named Sam Presti the Sonics' new GM yesterday, owner Clay Bennett also stripped Lenny Wilkens of the title of President and retitled him Vice-Chairman. A source told the Tacoma News Tribune Bennett wanted "to put Lenny out to pasture." Ranching metaphors: just one of the many joys of having your team owned by guys from Oklahoma City.

From Wilkens’ unsavory handling of the announcement of his position of president to his perceived mismanagement of the hiring of a general manager and coach, Bennett was said to be so upset with Wilkens the divide was irreversible. more ›

On Saturday, Frank Hughes of the Tacoma News-Tribune reported that local real estate developer Dave Sabey had offered to buy the Sonics from Clay Bennett and make them the centerpiece of a development he's planning south of Boeing Field. more ›

Gary Washburn Frank Hughes of the Tacoma News Tribune reports that real estate developer David Sabey (at right) has offered to buy the Sonics from an increasingly disillusioned Clay Bennett. more ›

Tom Porras, who started 17 games at QB for the University of Washington in the late 70s, is now wearing an electronic monitoring device along with his '79 Sun Bowl ring. He's been indicted for sexually assaulting a student at the Phoenix-area school where he was a substitute teacher and coach. more ›

Via True Hoop, the News Tribune's Frank Hughes reports today that the Sonics' organization is "enveloped by a cloud of paranoia, mistrust, distrust and, now, anger." more ›

The Tacoma News Tribune had their big Seattle cruise season preview a few weeks ago: 191 cruise ship calls, 3,000 busloads of passengers from the airport to the cruise terminals, 14,082 cruise industry jobs created in 2005, 1 article we couldn’t get completely through. Harpers index it ain’t. Unless this is it, we’re still waiting for the Seattle dailies to publish their yearly love poems to the cruise industry. more ›

There was just footage all over the TV news of a suspected explosive device at the Steilacoom ferry dock, complete with bomb squad guys dressed in their big pillow suits and Johnny 5 the suspicious package handler, however, Seattlest barely had time to start formulating an Escape From McNeil Island fantasy before the device was discovered to be just some kid's homemade submarine. Cool toy--we wonder how well it worked--but taped up segments of PVC probably aren't something you want to lose track of. more ›

We love Sanjaya. We love Eric Schwarz. And we love YouTube. Happy Friday! more ›

USS Mariner called Mike Hargrove "delusional" today for his advocacy of going north with 22-year-old pitcher Brandon Morrow on the basis of eight innings of spring training relief work. more ›

Howard Schultz, Inc. has made some interesting business decisions recently. The latest, as we obliquely mentioned yesterday: Signing former Beatle and Heather Mills survivor Paul McCartney to a record deal, the first from Starbucks' new Hear Music label. Actually, it’s not interesting, and that’s the problem. more ›

Not to kick the TAG people in the teeth while they're down, but that's ridiculous. They're talking about needing $100,000 in operating capital to keep the doors open, and foundations have never been crazy about that kind of in extremis giving. (Sometimes individual major donors will pony up via a foundation.) more ›

--Northwest stocks weren't immune from yesterday's stock downturn. The market is up so far, though. more ›

--Yeah dude, that's a pretty weird dream. more ›

While it's tempting to make fun of the Seattle Times (or the P-I, for that matter) for not getting the story the Los Angeles Times reported this weekend on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the conflicts that exist between the foundation's charitable work and its financial holdings, and while we're somewhat inclined to point out the fact that no one in Seattle is in a position to say boo to the Gates Foundation, it's really just fantastic work by the L.A. Times which continues to be one of the country's best newspapers despite the fact that it's under assault by its owner the Chicago Tribune. The Gates Foundation is based here so it's easy to lose sight of their place in the universe and jump on them for things like buying up the land that contains Seattle's only municipal skatepark and bulldozing it, but they're really a global giant with a tremendous amount of money. Thank you to the L.A. Times for pointing out that while a fraction of that money is injected directly into various charitable causes the Foundation also has a mountain of cash the size of Rainier that can also be working either for, or, in some cases against, those same causes. Take some time out on Snow Day #1 2007 to read the entire article - We learned more about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from that piece than we had previously through years worth of Seattle Times and Post Intelligencer full-release massage pieces. Kudos, at least, to the Seattle Times for reprinting it. more ›

Editor Dan loves you, Seattle. City, people, land, water and professional sports franchises; all of it. However, he cannot back you on the issue of the Seattle Seahawks vs. the Chicago Bears. If you're looking for calming words of compassion or hilarious Seahawks histrionics Seattlest will take care of you there, too, but one of us grew up with a Bears helmet painted on our neighbor's garage door and didn't appear in a photograph without any Bears paraphernalia until he was about 15, and that kind of indoctrination just doesn't wash away in half a decade of Seattle drizzle. In fact, to this day we maintain a close relationship with a few Chicago-based RSS feeds and we'll check in on them throughout the week. more ›

The announcement on Dec. 29 that San Diego-based Advanced Marketing Services is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection could have big effects for Seattle's tiny book publishing world. more ›

In a hallway, at about 7:30am. Witnesses say they heard three shots. Police caught the suspected shooter two hours later, about a quarter of a mile away. The dead student's name hasn't been released, and it's unclear what the shooter's motive is, or if the shooter is a student there as well. more ›

Dammit, do we really have to open up a front of the "War on Christmas" in Seattle? The Port removed a bunch of holiday trees from the airport this weekend ("holiday trees" are evergreens that have been decorated with lights and garland and small hanging ornaments - They're similar to Christmas trees, except holiday trees don't go to heaven when they drop their needles). The holiday trees were removed because a local rabbi sued the Port to get his 8' holiday menorah put up alongside the trees. more ›

The trains between Seattle and Tacoma are going to get faster over the next few years, at least in portions of South Tacoma. An improved track in that area has led Amtrak to new top speeds of 79 mph and other plans to ditch the scenic route that hugs the Sound will reduce conflicts with freight. more ›

--A P-I editorial targets what may be the state's last living Republican (via Northwest Progressive Institute) more ›