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The dog that climbed trees

Posted Fri, Sep 4, 6 a.m.

The marvels of a morning walk in a Seattle park, amid one's dog-walking neighbors

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6,000 things you can't say in Seattle (or Portland)

Posted Tue, Jun 16, 6 a.m.

The list grows longer once the public weighs in on local taboos.

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Six things you cannot say in Seattle

Posted Thu, Jun 11, 6 a.m.

Seattle doesn’t like to say No. (Look how many times we tried to say Yes to the monorail.) But that doesn’t mean we’re a city without no-nos.

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Isolation for sale

Posted Mon, May 18, 6 a.m.

Mining towns like Metaline Falls are struggling as auto sales slump, but across the border in British Columbia there is evidence that other places have found a future with another valuable resource.

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The dive king

Posted Fri, May 8, 6 a.m.

If Rick Steves were a drunk, this might be the book he'd write. Seattle's grittiest bars and taverns are the subject of a new guide to local dives, shadowy repositories of the real, slurring-its-words Seattle.

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If sturgeon could talk

Posted Wed, Apr 29, 6 a.m.

A short history of Lake Washington, as told to our author by one very long fish

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Cure the economy by reviving 'animal spirits'

Posted Fri, Mar 6, 6 a.m.

A bright blue scrotum, vicious chimps, Bobo, and sexually incompetent pandas: Here's a stimulus package of wildlife stories that could lead to an economic recovery.

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Jean Godden: madcap days at The P-I

Posted Mon, Jan 19, 6 a.m.

The paper generated legendary tales and unforgettable characters. Here are some that Godden, who joined The P-I in 1974, deems suitable for public consumption.

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Does Seattle have a fashion sense?

Posted Mon, Dec 22, 6 a.m.

In a place where people show up at the opera in fleece, what should beauty look like?

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Up yours, Virginia

Posted Tue, Dec 2, 6 a.m.

Dispatch from the War on Christmas: Atheists make fools of themselves in Olympia while violence breaks out at Wal-Mart. The sacred season is now a very, very sick season.

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Sarah Palin, comic book heroine

Posted Tue, Oct 28, 4:33 p.m.

A Bellingham publishing entrepreneur sees force and fortune in the Palin story, no matter how it turns out.

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Indiana Jones, meth addict

Posted Sun, Oct 12, 4:09 p.m.

The strange link between looting Indian artifacts and methamphetamine users.

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Pit bulls, bears, and lipstick: more attacks involving animals

Posted Tue, Sep 16, 4 a.m.

Lessons learned from the places where people, animals, and politics collide.

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Sidewalk crack addict

Posted Mon, Aug 4, 11 a.m.

As a public service, we bust a few myths. Suffice it to say that all roads do not lead to Rome.

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All the rage

Posted Mon, Jul 28, 4 p.m.

What's to blame for all the anger as cyclists, drivers, and citizens fight over their rights on the streets? Is it $4 gas? Young punks? Class warfare? Poor urban design? It's time to theorize.

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Vanity profanity! The 600 license plates banned by the state

Posted Thu, Jul 24, 8 p.m.

Try as they might, some motorists can't outsmart officials when it comes to custom license numbers. On the other hand, sometimes seemingly illicit alphanumerics are actually demonstrably proper.

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More fun than Deliverance!

Posted Fri, Jul 18, 5 a.m.

Spend your summer vacation in Eastern Washington, an exotic locale where lakes are slippery, the Scablands surprising, and wheat farmers are smashing stuff for fun.

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When animals attack, and also when they don't

Posted Mon, Jun 30, 5 p.m.

It's the time of year when animal-human encounters are on the rise. Bears are picnicking on hikers, moose are invading trailer parks, and muskrats are blamed for destroying entire towns. You could be next.

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The animal-waste problem is, and is not, a load of crap

Posted Tue, Jun 10, 10 a.m.

Researchers in Snohomish County estimate that pets there account for waste equivalent to a city of 32,000. That's a lot of nasty bacteria in surface-water runoff.

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The case of the doomed diner

Posted Wed, May 21, 11 p.m.

Seattle's Landmarks Board greenlights the demolition of Ballard's Googie landmark. The decision leaves a lot of wreckage in its wake.

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Other media

The bill comes due for Mt. Vernon's decision to host Glenn Beck The total: Nearly $18,000, mostly for police overtime. Plus unused anti-riot supplies that are in the closet, in case the native son comes back again.

The sports chutzpah hall of fame Reliving the worst examples of cheating at sports, including the fake epee and the not-dead race horse.

Is Tacoma becoming a Nanny Town? Some citizens are trying to draw up a code of conduct for Tacomans. Example: We pick up after ourselves.

White Sox general manager gets a jaywalking ticket near Safeco Field Apparently Seattle isn't like Chicago, after all?

Oddball politicians in sobersides Minnesota Why does a state of Scandinavian rectitude keep electing politicians like Al Franken and Jesse Ventura.

Blog posts

Adventure or child abuse?

Posted Sun, Aug 30, noon

The debate about a 13-year-old sailor girl who wants to go around the world solo.

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Ash for clunkers

Posted Mon, Aug 17, 9:36 p.m.

Selling the virtues of cremation in a recession: cheap, green, and liberating.

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Who needs Google?

Posted Sun, Aug 2, 1:06 p.m.

Overheard conversations in summertime Seattle.

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With street food goes responsibility

Posted Thu, Jun 18, 6 a.m.

Just what is Seattle's favorite, indigenous hot dog of choice?

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A gross anecdote to chew over

Posted Mon, Jun 15, 4 p.m.

Seattle scores high on another list of top places to visit.

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There's no Bigfoot?

Posted Sun, Jun 7, 8:03 p.m.

It's one thing to doubt the existence of God, but this?

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Mossback of the Week!

Posted Wed, Apr 29, 5 p.m.

A story about old growth on a young man. Portland claims to be the beardiest city in the Northwest, so how come the World Beard Champion is from Olympia?

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River of coffee?

Posted Thu, Apr 2, 2 p.m.

A Washington place name proposal that could make a mark in latte land.

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Happy Nazi New Year

Posted Thu, Jan 1, 4:50 p.m.

2009 starts with a bang in terms of Nazi stories, which were a strong theme in 2008 too. In addition, we gained insights into the similar reading habits of Bush and Hitler.

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Filling the polling void

Posted Wed, Dec 3, 3 p.m. 2008

The story of the Federal Way kid who returned $10,000 he found in a bathroom makes its way into the national mania for polls. Are you ethical? (Yes or no.)

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