Planet Seattle

The week of March 15–21 in Seattle promises to be busy: from intimate jazz at Jazz Alley and big pop and rock shows at Climate Pledge Arena and the Paramount to family St. Patrick’s Day events and the Irish Festival at Seattle Center. Circus and theater fans will find Cirque du Soleil and the comedy production Baskerville; film lovers — short film festivals and the Seattle Jewish Film Festival; and for the active — mass runs, an RV show, and major expos in parks and exhibition centers. Also on...

In British Columbia, gasoline prices are setting records, approaching $2.10 per litre. A unique real estate listing has appeared — an estate with a private waterfall priced at $22.6 million. Meanwhile, the disappearance of a film-location scout remains unsolved six years later. Disappearance of a British Columbia location scout remains unsolved six years later It has been six years, but the disappearance of Michael Gacetas, a 51-year-old film-location scout from British Columbia, continues to...

Debate over bringing back the Lapu-Lapu festival after the tragedy, preparations for a powerful storm, and the conclusion of a years-long court battle over the Kingsgate Mall — the main stories from Vancouver. Returning the Lapu-Lapu festival in Vancouver: between healing and pain Nearly a year after the tragedy that claimed 11 lives, the Vancouver community is divided over whether to revive the Lapu-Lapu cultural festival. Organizers plan to hold the event in April 2026 with an emphasis on...

In British Columbia the allergy season started early and aggressively due to a warm winter and climate change. The coast is expecting several days of rain from an atmospheric river, which could cause localized flooding. At the same time, the province’s housing market is experiencing a downturn: in February sales and average prices fell in almost every region. Allergy season in British Columbia is becoming harsher If you’ve been sneezing, coughing and dealing with a scratchy throat in recent...

Overview: the province's housing market is slumping, Taylor Swift fans will get refunds for obstructed-view tickets, and Vancouver's Filipino community prepares for Lapu‑Lapu Day — the first since the 2025 tragedy. British Columbia housing market slips in February Overview: British Columbia's housing market continued to show signs of weakness, according to February 2026 data. Sales fell in nearly every region of the province, and average prices also declined, indicating a continued difficult...

A great white shark has been recorded in British Columbia, indicating shifts in habitat range. A powerful storm left thousands without power. The region has also detected a bat-killing fungus. Great white shark off Vancouver: what does Kara’s visit mean? A unique visitor — a great white shark named Kara — was recorded in waters off the coast of British Columbia, near Vancouver. This is the first documented case of a tracked great white in the region, drawing interest from scientists and marine...

In Vancouver, a man accused of a series of apparently unprovoked attacks on women will face court. At the same time, scientists are tracking a great white shark off the coast of Vancouver Island, emphasizing the scientific value of the sighting rather than reasons for alarm. Suspect in series of attacks on women in Vancouver to appear in court A man has been arrested in Vancouver, accused of a series of seemingly unprovoked attacks on unfamiliar women in the downtown core. Police released a...

Vancouver news: journalist Frances Bula is running for office, authorities are closing problematic SRO hotels, and the region was hit by an unexpected snowfall. Well-known journalist Frances Bula runs for Vancouver city council An interesting development is brewing in Vancouver politics: one of the most respected and well-informed journalists who has covered municipal affairs for decades has decided to run for a seat on city council herself. After more than thirty years of observation, Frances...

News from Vancouver: snowfall forecast, opening of police training centres, and a packed events schedule for the week. New police training centres in Vancouver and Victoria: response to rising demand British Columbia authorities have announced the opening of two new training centres for police recruits in Vancouver and Victoria. The decision was driven by a significant increase in demand for recruits from police services across the province. The initiative is intended to strengthen the staffing...

Three seemingly unrelated news items — a shooting scare on a Florida beach during spring break, a celestial “explosion” from a meteor over Ohio, and a string of nighttime break-ins in Norfolk — unexpectedly form a single theme: how modern society responds to alarm, noise and the sense of threat. People flee the beach in panic even though the “gunshots” turned out to be popping plastic bottles; Ohio residents experience a tremor-like impact and think of a house explosion when it was just a shock...

The throughline of all three stories is not surprisingly the fire, the murder, or the resignation themselves, but how quickly and painfully trust collapses: trust in safety in public spaces, trust in the people closest to us, and trust in political institutions. Each account centers on a moment when habitual certainties (“the parade will be peaceful,” “marriage and family are a refuge,” “the state protects rather than drags us into war”) prove to be illusions. Both society and individuals must...

The stories behind three very different pieces of reporting at first glance seem unrelated: the mysterious disappearance of Nancy Guthrie in Tucson, a debate about national security and naturalized citizens in the U.S., and a small Pennsylvania college’s record number of marketing awards. But if you look beyond the discrete facts to the common thread, the same tension emerges: how modern society tries to simultaneously protect people, preserve freedom, and build trust — in government,...

A late-winter storm in the U.S., record snowfall across the Midwest and local NFL drama may seem like disparate news — from the CBS weather roundup to discussions of the Baltimore Ravens’ free-agent market on Fox45. But behind this routine media flow another, far more consequential global story is taking shape: the rapid reshaping of military reality around the U.S. and allied confrontation with Iran, and the roles of drones, space, artificial intelligence and defense supply chains. This story...

Each of the three pieces describes not just an isolated incident but a small fragment of the broader backdrop of contemporary life: from a street shooting to a meningitis outbreak on a university campus to the daily routine of a reporter who drives along the coast and turns other people’s fears into news. Taken together, they do not tell the story of three separate places so much as a single picture: our everyday life is increasingly infused with the sense of fragile security, and the role of...

Three seemingly unrelated stories — the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie in Arizona, the purchase of investment bank Eastdil Secured by Savills, and a U.S. airstrike on Iran’s oil hub Kharg — in fact tell one story. It is a story about how deliberate targeting, complex technologies and competing interests shape a new sense of vulnerability: in private life, in markets and in international politics. These cases show that “security” no longer exists as something separate: it is interwoven with the...

In three news stories that at first glance seem unrelated, a common theme emerges: the idea of security as something both vital and extremely fragile. A terrorist attack at the University of Virginia, the happy return of a missing child after six years, and the crash of a U.S. military refueling plane in Iraq — three different narratives in which the state, security forces, individuals and chance fight for human lives in different ways. Together they form a mosaic yet coherent picture of how...

At first glance, there is nothing linking tensions around Iran, the deaths of U.S. service members, and how the resort city of Miami Beach is reworking rules for students on spring break. But beyond the headlines the same theme runs through all these pieces: how states and local authorities learn to balance hard security with normal life, strength with openness, deterrence of threats with maintaining appeal for allies, residents, tourists and business. This is a story about how the world lives...

In three seemingly unrelated news items — a major takeover in global real estate, the tragic death of a skier in Oregon, and a stark statement by Iran’s new supreme leader — the same underlying narrative repeats: how modern world vulnerability is arranged, when local events instantly become global and vice versa. Financial deals, human tragedies and geopolitical shocks are elements of a single system in which infrastructure, risk and trust play key roles. An article about Savills’ purchase of...

The US administration has sent urgent warnings to governments of various countries about a high risk of possible Iranian attacks on their territories. According to diplomatic sources, Washington has launched a large-scale diplomatic campaign aimed at undermining Tehran's military and operational capabilities abroad. American diplomats were instructed to inform foreign governments that Iran has demonstrated "real intent and capability" to attack American and Israeli interests, including targets...

The Venezuelan national baseball team made a historic breakthrough, reaching the final of the World Baseball Classic for the first time after defeating Italy 4–2 in the semifinal match. This victory was especially significant given that en route to the final the Venezuelans eliminated the reigning champions — Team Japan. The team now faces a decisive match for the title against Team USA, and Venezuela has a unique chance to win the main trophy of this prestigious international tournament for...

A new military escalation has occurred in the Gulf countries. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain were attacked with ballistic missiles and drones. These strikes followed direct threats by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to hit facilities with stakes held by American tech companies in the region. Iran said this was in response to an alleged U.S.-Israeli attack. Saudi Arabia reported that its air defenses destroyed more than 96 drones attacking Riyadh and the Eastern...

Former U.S. president Donald Trump is working to assemble an international coalition to resume shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blocked by Iran. According to Axios, he hopes to announce the initiative as early as this week. A more radical military option is also being considered — seizing a key Iranian oil terminal on Kharg Island, which would require deploying U.S. ground forces. These plans are being developed amid rising global oil and gas prices due to the closure of...

Acting President of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez instructed Minister of Foreign Trade Koroómoto Godoy to immediately step up efforts to find and strengthen positions in international markets for the export of Venezuelan cocoa and chocolate. The directive was given during the head of state’s visit to the facilities of the chocolate company Cakawa. Rodríguez emphasized that the cocoa sector needs to be given strategic importance similar to the coffee industry, which already occupies a prominent...

Former US President Donald Trump launched a sharp attack on the mass media, accusing them of spreading "misleading" information. In his statements on the Truth Social platform he claims that Iran is using artificial intelligence as a new weapon of disinformation, creating and distributing fake images and video clips of military operations. Among the fakes, Trump says, are footage of attacks by small boats, strikes on tanker aircraft and on American ships. Trump said that some US media knowingly...

According to reports from American sources, Israel has encountered an acute shortage of systems for intercepting ballistic missiles. Tel Aviv officially notified Washington of a "significant shortage" of interceptor weapons. This situation has arisen amid Israel's ongoing military operations against Iran and Lebanon, which are accompanied by intense exchanges of rocket and drone strikes. The American administration, it is reported, has been aware of problems with Israel's missile-defense...

In an exciting World Baseball Classic quarterfinal, Venezuela met Japan for the first time in the tournament's history and claimed an impressive 8–5 victory. The game began with a historic moment when Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a home run in the very first inning, immediately answered by Japan's star batter Shohei Ohtani — the first time in the tournament's history that both teams hit home runs in their first at-bats. Although the Japanese took a 5–2 lead after a home run by Shota Morishita, the...

The United States has released the names of six service members who died in the crash of a refueling aircraft in western Iraq. The Pentagon confirmed the deaths of John Kleiner (33), Ariana Savino (31), Ashley Bright (34), Seth Koval (38), Kurtis Angst (30) and Tyler Simmons (28). The incident occurred amid rising tensions in Iraq and the wider region, prompting Washington to urgently call on its citizens to leave the country. The total number of U.S. service members killed since the war...

Imagine an ordinary diner that sells hamburgers and fries. Now imagine that this diner pays for its employees to go to college. Sounds like a fairy tale? But in Seattle there's a place where this has been happening for 70 years. And the most surprising thing is that the owner didn’t get the idea from business books—he was once a poor student and remembered how hard it was. The story began in 1954, when a young man named Dick Spady opened a small diner called Dick's Drive-In. Dick grew up in a...

In 1999 something surprising happened on the streets of Seattle: people in giant sea turtle costumes marched alongside truck drivers, and together they changed the way the world thinks about justice. This unusual friendship grew out of protests against the World Trade Organization (WTO), and it showed that protecting nature and protecting people are really the same cause. Why the turtles took to the streets It all began with real sea turtles living thousands of kilometers from Seattle — in the...

In the center of Seattle there’s the famous Pike Place Market. Today it’s a lively place with fishmongers who toss fish across stalls, musicians on the corners, and the smell of bread and coffee. But once city officials decided to... demolish it. And most surprisingly — they thought they were doing a good deed and building a “city of the future.” The story of how ordinary citizens stopped this “beautiful disaster” can help other cities avoid losing their most important places. The city of the...

Imagine you moved to a new country where nobody speaks your language, and you miss home terribly. But you have a hammer, a saw, and nails. And you know a secret: you can build a house so it whispers stories of your homeland to those who know how to look. That’s what immigrants did more than a century ago when they built the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle — one of the city’s liveliest and most creative districts, home each summer to the famous Capitol Hill Block Party. Secret messages in...

Have you ever noticed that many cool cafés, offices, and restaurants look like old factories? Exposed brick walls without wallpaper, pipes under the ceiling, a concrete floor, large windows, and wooden tables. This style is so popular now that architects deliberately make new buildings look like old factories. But where did this trend come from? It turns out it was accidentally invented by poor brewers in Seattle 40 years ago — and they did it not to be fashionable, but simply because they...

In the early 1900s, unusual women walked the streets of Seattle with tape measures, notebooks, and determined faces. They peered into house windows, knocked on doors, and asked a strange question: "Is there a place in your home where a child can daydream?" These women were neither police nor teachers. They were architectural activists, and they had a bold idea: a home can raise children as well as parents and school can. Today, when you walk through Seattle neighborhoods like Ballard, Fremont,...

Imagine a city that is home to Amazon’s headquarters — the giant company that sells books online and because of which thousands of traditional bookstores closed across America. Now imagine that in this very city small bookstores not only survived but became stronger than ever. And most surprisingly, they turned into places where people didn’t just read about nature, they began to protect it for real. This is the story of how bookstores in Seattle became "greenhouses for ideas," where pages read...

Imagine: the dead of night, the foggy waters of Puget Sound near Seattle, and dozens of fast boats slipping across the dark water. On board are thousands of bottles of whiskey, rum, and gin. The boats follow secret routes, captains exchange coded messages over the radio, and trucks with their headlights off wait on shore. This is not a scene from an adventure film — it's the real story of 1920s Seattle, when one man turned alcohol smuggling into a vast business. And most surprising of all: that...

Imagine your favorite teacher promised to stay at your school forever, then one day simply disappeared because another school offered her more money. That’s roughly how Seattle residents felt in 2008 when their basketball team, the SuperSonics, left town after 41 years together. But the worst part wasn’t just that the team left — it was that the new owner had planned it from the start, despite solemnly promising the opposite. This story of a stolen team still teaches America an important...