Top Stories

Featured

Entertainment Explosion's "A Really Big Shoe" raises money to help homeless children in Thurston County.

7 Things To Do in South Sound This Weekend, March 7-9

Daylight-saving time kicks in at 2 a.m. Sunday, and you can celebrate the end of the Dark Times in South Sound with live music, stage performances, a wine tasting event, a presentation by a world-renowned photographer, or screenings of daredevils doing their thing.

South Sound

Noting that the damage had apparently worsened overnight after his Tuesday visit, Steve Romines, director of Thurston County Emergency Services/Medic One, walks past a heavily damaged culvert overpass Wednesday on Prather Road near Gruenfelder Road.

Slide repairs speed up; rain ahead

Cleanup and repairs from a mudslide on Prather Road south of Rochester will be fast-tracked, thanks to an emergency declaration approved this week by the Thurston County Commissioners.

Government

Climate consultant refutes cost assumption

A consultant to Gov. Jay Inslee’s bipartisan work group on climate change is disputing Republican and oil-industry claims that a clean-fuels standard in Washington could tack $1 or more to the cost of a gallon of gasoline. In a memo dated ... 41 minutes ago

Sports

W.F. West’s Nike McClure shoots over East Valley of Spokane’s Taylor Morscheck in their Class 2A state tournament opener Thursday at the Yakima Valley SunDome. McClure scored 12 points as the Bearcats beat the Knights, 53-37, to advance to Friday’s semifinal against Lynden.

W.F. West girls waste no time in getting back to semifinals

YAKIMA — Playing in the 9 a.m. game to open the Class 2A girls state basketball tournament might be a drag, but “there are a lot of positives, too,” W.F. West High School coach Henri Weeks said. 30 minutes ago

Business

FILE - In this May 17, 2011 file photo, a Staples sign is displayed on the front of a Staple store, in Portland, Ore. Staples says it will shutter 225 North American stores, about 10 percent of Staples Inc.'s worldwide total of 2,200, by the end of 2015, and the office-supply retailer has started a plan to save about $500 million annually.

Staples to close 225 stores as sales move online

Staples has become the second major chain to announce the mass closing of stores this week, providing the latest evidence of how the retail landscape is being remade by shifts in American shopping habits.

Opinion

U.S. can’t object to Russian takeover on principle

Let’s be real. It’s one thing to say that Russia’s takeover of the Crimean Peninsula “cannot be allowed to stand,” as many foreign policy sages have proclaimed. It’s quite another to do something about it.

Living & Entertainment

Cavalia adds 'Odysseo' performances at Marymoor Park

Audiences have been stampeding to "Odysseo" - the Cirque du Soleil-like equestrian spectacle at Redmond's Marymoor Park. In response ten matinee and evening performances have been added to the schedule through March 30.

Nation & World

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference in National Harbor, Md., Thursday, March 6, 2014. Christie attacked the media in his return to the national stage for the first time since a political retribution scandal erupted in his home state.

Christie attacks media in return to national stage

Returning to the national stage for the first time since scandal erupted in his home state, a determined New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday that Republicans must "take on" the media directly as they work to improve the party's image ahead... 2 hours ago