The simple beauty of ‘soul chains;’ social-housing initiative passes, now what?; federal judge says Starbucks can’t fire union organizers; should Alaska chinook-salmon fishing be banned to save the orcas?

Remembering cartoonist Michael Dougan; Xbox ‘sleep’ mode and absurd conspiracy theorists; Sawant attacks caste-based discrimination against some South Asians in Seattle; activist running for Sawant’s seat.

Kshama Sawant to depart from City Council to start a national leftist org; ‘wealth tax’ proposed again in Legislature; MS hosted a private Sting concert in Davos before announcing big layoffs; bankrupt Regal Cinemas chain closing its downtown Seattle 16-plex.

Mourning ‘outsider artist’ Gregory Blackstock, Screaming Trees cofounder Van Conner, and author Jonathan Raban; Grand Illusion Cinema could be razed in two years; Microsoft confirms 10,000 worldwide layoffs.

Two local productions address race & the theater world; Amazon fires workers hired to handle worker complaints; ‘Niketown’ shutting down; can a movie’s killer robot be a Seattle gay-camp icon?

Wiazrds of the Coast backs off from rumored major changes to ‘D&D’ licensing; south-county shooter’s reported racist explanation for his acts; sexual-assault allegations made against a local documentary maker; Kraken on a roll, Seahawks on a stop.

Chess Club as the new midweek bar craze; Amazon’s projected layoffs climb to 18,000 globally; Tina Podlodowski quits as state Democratic chair; Harrell’s vow to have 2,000 fewer unhoused people in a year falls short.

Local Xmas records of note; downtown crime is apparently ‘on the decline;’ area hiring remains strong despite tech layoff; massive waterfront highway gets an Indigenous ‘honorary name.’

Psychiatric nurse helps the homeless, and seeks help for her own burnout; more about the almost-final city budget plan; injury pauses Sunny Day Real Estate’s reunion tour; Cafe Nordo’s last act (for now).

Starbucks workers strike on ‘Red Cup Day;’ how GOP pollsters exaggerated Tiffany Smiley’s chances; Native American cafe to open in Pioneer Square; state agencies prep for the possible end of Twitter.

Works by past and present incarcerated artists at UW Law School; new attempts to end gun violence in schools; a grim new record in local homeless deaths; climate change is killing trees in the Arboretum.

The UW’s big new greenhouse; post-‘emergency’ COVID era here begins on the Day of the Dead; Lavender Country singer (a lifelong gay activist) dies at 78; Tiffany Smiley’s debate prevarications.

Another concept for ‘reviving’ Third Ave.; Mariners drag it out to the bitter (elongated) end; grocery clerks’ union opposes Kroger/Albertsons merger; King County scraps expanded-shelter plan in SoDo.

Local doc profiles railway tycoon James Hill; labor judge slams Starbucks’ union busting; Nazi-sympathetic blogger had short-lived job with state GOP; security guard reportedly assaults handcuffed woman.

William Shatner on the sadness of space as seen from Jeff Bezos’ rocket; Seattle’s COVID ‘state of emergency’ to end; another post-CHOP report instructs SPD to ‘repair public trust;’ city of SeaTac to get the nation’s highest minimum wage (at least for some occupations).