Seattle Conditions
☼
Sunrise 5:09am · Sunset 9:08pm
☰
Tides: Next: High 11.5 ft at 1:55 AM
●
AQI 52 — Moderate
◆
No quakes M4.5+ in last 24h
Seattle Sports
8th in Western Conference Division
LOSS Sparks 88 at Storm 83 YesterdayLatest News
Updated 1 minute ago
Capitol Hill Seattle
City Cast Seattle
Daily Journal of Commerce
Davy Jones Locker Room
Eater Seattle
Field Gulls
Fremont Neighbor
GeekWire
International Examiner
KUOW Seattle Now
Lookout Landing
My Ballard
NW Progressive Institute
On Montlake
Phinney Wood
PubliCola
Puget Sound Business Journal
Seattle Gay News
Seattle Medium
Seattle Met
Seattle Transit Blog
Seattle Weekly
Sounder at Heart
South Seattle Emerald
The Needling
The North American Post
The Seattle Times
The Spectator
The Stranger
The Urbanist
West Seattle Blog
Westside Seattle
Davy Jones Locker Room
9 days
Seattle Torrent Sign Alex Carpenter, Protect Her From Expansion Thieves
The Seattle Torrent re-signed forward Alex Carpenter to a 3-year PWHL Standard Player Agreement on June 2, keeping one of the franchise’s foundational pieces through 2028-29 and committing one of the team’s 3 protection slots under the league’s Expansion Roster Distribution Process (proper noun) ahead of 2026-27. If that sounded like word salad, it’s the entire expansion process is word salad. Carpenter signed as one of Seattle’s foundational players in June 2025 and played all 30 regular-season games of the inaugural season, serving as one of the first alternate captains in team history. The 32-year-old from North Reading, MA, tied Julia Gosling for the team scoring lead with 20 points, led the Torrent with 12 goals, and ranked second with 8 assists. Carpenter came to Seattle after playing 2 seasons with the New York Sirens. She’s the third all-time leading scorer in PWHL history with 63 points (31, 36A) and she has 16 power play assists, the actual most in league history. She’s also an Olympic medalists, having won gold in the 2026 Winter Games, and winning silver in Beijing 2022 and Sochi 2014. (She was left off the She represented the United States at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan and won her first gold after silver in Beijing 2022 and Sochi 2014. (She was a shocking cut from the 2018 gold medal-winning Pyeongchang team, so Milan was her first Olympic gold). She has 18 Olympic points (11G, 7A), which is fifth all-time in U.S. Olympic women’s history. The PWHL is adding four teams this season, and since so much of the league is not under contract, they can’t do a traditional expansion draft, so they have this byzantine six phase process that is…well, the video does a good job explaining it. But Carpenter is locked into one of the 3 protection slots available to teams during Phase 1. Teams have until today at 2pm to finalize their three protection slots before Phase 2: Expansion Team Foundational Signing Period. (No, seriously, that’s how it’s officially communicated by the PWHL. That is a proper noun.) There’s going to be a lot of turmoil with the league expanding by 50% from 8 teams to 12 teams. In addition to all the roster turnover, the Torrent also fired head coach Steve O’Rourke. These first few years of expansion are real Wild West.
Davy Jones Locker Room
10 days
Melinda French Gates Becomes Minority Owner of the Seattle Kraken
Melinda French Gates is becoming a minority owner of the Seattle Kraken, the team’s parent company said Monday, pending approval from the NHL. The size of her stake and the terms were not disclosed. French Gates, 61, the philanthropist and ex-wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is buying into One Roof Sports and Entertainment, the company that owns the Kraken. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan first reported the deal. French Gates is worth about $30 billion, according to Forbes, and the investment is her first ownership stake in a major professional sports team. She joins a group led by majority owner Samantha Holloway that includes minority investors David Wright, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Holloway became majority owner in December 2024 after the death of her father, David Bonderman, the TPG co-founder whose group, Seattle Hockey Partners, won the expansion franchise. “As a longtime Seattle resident, it means a lot to me to have the chance to make this investment in our city and its future,” French Gates said in a statement. “I’m a big believer in the power of sports, and after many years of cheering on Seattle from the sidelines, I’m excited to have an even deeper connection to the Seattle sports community. Seattle is an engine of innovation in so many ways, and Samantha Holloway’s leadership of the Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena reflects that.” Holloway said in the statement, “Melinda is an impressive business leader, philanthropist and importantly, a Seattle sports fan. We share many of the same values, including a deep commitment to Seattle and a belief in building organizations that create lasting impact.” “It’s just time,” French Gates told ESPN. “What you’re seeing is a generation of women coming into their full power. I’ve walked into tough rooms, and being one of the few is very hard. Once we can create enough that we’re one of many, it just gets easier.” Though originally from Dallas, French Gates has lived in the Seattle area for nearly 40 years. She joined Microsoft in 1987, where she met Bill Gates, and worked on multimedia products before leaving in 1996. She co-chaired the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from 2000 until 2024 and now runs Pivotal, a Kirkland-based organization she founded in 2015 to support women and young people in the United States and abroad. One Roof Sports and Entertainment, created in March, owns the Kraken and controls Climate Pledge Arena, along with the Kraken Community Iceplex, the rebuilt Memorial Stadium, and the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. The group is pursuing an NBA expansion team for Seattle. What this means for the Kraken Nothing changes from a hockey operations standpoint. Jason Botterill will continue to be the GM, they are conducting an audit, they will pursue free agents and make draft picks and attempt trades and it will be business as usual there. The addition brings financial security. Though the NHL has a hard salary cap, Scouting, front office salaries, player development, analytics, facilities, and support staff are not subject to an NHL salary cap and can vary from organization to organization, depending on the owners’ willingness and ability to spend money. A group with French Gates’s money can cover all of that through a rebuild without needing the team to turn a profit, and won’t be forced to cut costs or tear the team down in a bad year. There is also a very expensive NBA bid going on. In March, the NBA’s Board of Governors voted to explore expansion in Seattle and Las Vegas, and Holloway’s group, advised by JPMorgan Chase and Moelis, is the only public Seattle bidder. The NBA hired PJT Partners to evaluate the markets, ownership groups, and arenas and the expansion fees is projected to be somewhere in the $6 to $10 billion range. French Gates is now an owner in One Roof, the group pursuing the NBA team, so her money is already behind that effort. Though we don’t know the extent of her stake, her fortune is several times the projected fee, and because the NBA weighs the strength of each ownership group, her name helps the Seattle bid. Her most visible impact will probably be in the community. The One Roof Foundation has focused on getting more kids into sports, and French Gates has spent her career working on opportunities for women and families. Holloway said, “We’re really aligned on that.” For the Kraken, the deal leaves them with a richer, steadier ownership group. For One Roof, it adds another prominent name as it tries to bring the NBA back to Seattle.
Fremont Neighbor
11 days
Release the Kraken: NW 36th Street reopens with new public art
NW 36th Street, between Leary Way NW and 3rd Avenue NW, quietly reopened last week to cars and pedestrians. The street had been closed as part of the Ship Canal Water Quality Project. The reopening also gives Fremont its first full look at “Release the Kraken,” a new mural by artist Justin Gibbens painted directly […]
Fremont Neighbor
12 days
Fremont in the Wild: The enchanted bathroom of N 36th Street
Green light. Flickering candles. A cat staring at you from the toilet seat lid. This enchanted bathroom belongs to Mr. B’s Meadery, the tiny tasting room tucked beneath Rudy’s Barbershop on N 36th Street. Head down the stairs and you’ll find yourself in what the owners call their “little Hobbit Hole,” a cozy, art-filled space […]
Fremont Neighbor
13 days
Kelp workshop coming to Fremont Library June 3
Gather kelp? Care about Puget Sound’s coastal ecosystems? The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is coming to the Fremont Library on June 3 for a free workshop on kelp gathering and conservation. They want to hear from you. Free food, possible compensation for your time, and translation services available. Registration required at survey123.arcgis.com/share/829ff906240541629117a924d8b0e1b9.
Fremont Neighbor
14 days
Ballroom Block takes shape: Holland Partner Group shares design with Fremont
Holland Partner Group gave Fremonsters their first detailed look at the building planned for the Ballroom block Tuesday night, presenting designs for a seven-story, 178-unit mixed-use project at 452 N 36th St. The presentation at the Fremont Neighborhood Council’s May meeting covered everything from unit counts to tile colors, and drew pointed questions from neighbors […]
Fremont Neighbor
15 days
Stone Way Rising: The block that smells amazing
We’re back again for the next installment of Stone Way Rising. The previous installments were heavy on the evo connection, and interestingly, the company will make an appearance again. The block stretching from 36th to 37th is long and packed with commerce so we’ll break it up into multiple parts. But before we start walking […]
Fremont Neighbor
18 days
Local illustrator Ro Stastny wins 2026 Solstice Parade poster contest
Local illustrator Ro Stastny was recently announced as the winner of the Fremont Arts Council’s 2026 Solstice Parade poster design contest. Stastny’s storybook-inspired design was chosen through the FAC’s annual contest, where a panel narrowed submissions to a group of finalists and the public voted to select the winner. The winning artwork will appear on […]
Fremont Neighbor
18 days
On a Friday night in Fremont, Route 40 crews got to work
Crews work on a Friday evening to finish painting crosswalks and bike lane markings at N 34th St and Fremont Ave N. A new protected bike lane will run northbound on the east side of Fremont Ave N between N 34th and N 36th streets. Temporary no-parking restrictions will be posted weekdays through June 5, […]
Fremont Neighbor
20 days
Two-alarm fire breaks out on Linden
Firefighters work the scene of a two-alarm fire at a three-story duplex in the 4400 block of Linden Ave. N. on Thursday afternoon. Engine 9, home to Fremont’s famous “Nine Lives” cat sculpture, was first on scene. Crews rescued one cat from the residence, but a second remained missing, according to the Seattle Fire Department. […]
Fremont Neighbor
21 days
Public Safety Forum brings city officials to Fremont
The Fremont Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Public Safety Forum on Thursday, May 28, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at the Indoor Sun Shoppe (160 N Canal St). The free event brings together local business owners, residents, government representatives and city partners to talk about public safety in the neighborhood. Attendees can expect meet-and-greets, […]
Fremont Neighbor
22 days
FamilyWorks food bank grand opening
On Saturday, April 4th, many Wallingford residents joined local dignitaries in celebrating the grand opening of the FamilyWorks Wallingford Food Bank. The following recap was provided by FamilyWorks Executive Director Marcia Wright-Soika. What a joyful, heart-filled day it was to celebrate the grand opening of the Wallingford Food Bank with our community on a beautiful […]