9:49am

Thu May 9, 2013
American held in North Korea

North Korea: Detained Lynnwood man smuggled in propaganda

Credit Ahn Young-joon / Associated Press
A South Korean man watches a television news program showing Korean American Kenneth Bae at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 2, 2013.

North Korea says a Korean-American man sentenced last week to 15 years' hard labor smuggled in unspecified inflammatory literature and tried to establish a base for anti-Pyongyang activities at a hotel in the border city of Rason.

The statement late Thursday from an unidentified Supreme Court spokesman provides the most in-depth look so far of Pyongyang's allegations against Kenneth Bae. But it is still short on specific details. Bae hasn't made a public statement.

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5:01am

Thu May 9, 2013
sustainability

'Slow Flowers': Seattle author's case for sustainably-grown flowers

Credit Debra Prinzing

Like many other holidays, Mother’s Day has become quite commercialized. Along with a Hallmark card often comes a perfect-looking bouquet of flowers that have traveled thousands of miles to get to your front door.

But for those who long for flowers with a local tie and fewer pesticides, there are other options.

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5:48pm

Wed May 8, 2013
Criminal Justice

U.S. attorney: A 'buggy whip moment' in fighting cyber crime

Credit Associated Press
FILE - U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan speaks at a news conference about the arrest of a Dutch national for a computer hacking conspiracy Monday, June 11, 2012, in Seattle

United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington Jenny Durkan faced tough questions from senators in Washington D.C. on Wednesday when she testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism.

Durkan, who was speaking as chair of the U.S. Justice Department Task Force on Cyber Crime, was asked why more isn't being done to stop thieves who use the Internet to steal everything from credit card numbers to trade secrets.

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4:13pm

Wed May 8, 2013
resuscitation

Under new law, CPR training mandatory in Wash. high schools

Credit Associated Press

Starting this fall, all high school students will get CPR training under a new mandate signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Jay Inslee.

The students don’t have to get certified in CPR—the proposal for certification was rejected as too cumbersome for public schools. But the state-mandated health class, which kids typically take in 9th or 10th grade, will now include a day or two of CPR training. 

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3:03pm

Wed May 8, 2013
health

Born between '45 and '65? Get tested for hepatitis C, says CDC

Credit Lenny Ignelzi / Associated Press
Dr. Paul J. Pockros, head, Division of Gastroenterology/ Hepatology and director, Liver Disease Center, talks with patient Loretta Roberts as they view her liver on a computer screen in his exam room at Scripps Green Hospital in San Diego, in this photo t

A silent epidemic in the baby-boomer generation has health officials urging widespread testing. It’s hepatitis C, which can quietly infect your liver for years, leaving tiny scars but without showing any symptoms. 

Left untreated, you end up with cancer or in need of a transplant.

Now, a new battery of tests and better treatments are arriving, just as boomers reach an age when their livers could suddenly fail.

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3:02pm

Wed May 8, 2013
Ohio kidnapping case

Cleveland man charged with rape and kidnapping

Credit Cleveland Police Department
This undated combination photo released by the Cleveland Police Department shows from left, Onil Castro, Ariel Castro, and Pedro Casto.

A Cleveland man arrested after three women missing for a decade were found alive at his home was charged Wednesday with kidnapping and raping them. Prosecutors brought no charges against his brothers, saying there was no evidence they had any part in the crime.

Ariel Castro, 52, was charged with four counts of kidnapping — covering all three captives and the daughter born to one of them while she was held — and three counts of rape against the three women. The former school bus driver owns the peeling, run-down home where the women were rescued on Monday, after one of them broke through a screen door.

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2:10pm

Wed May 8, 2013
Starbucks

Starbucks, Green Mountain extend partnership

Credit gray_eminence / Flickr

Starbucks says it signed a new five-year contract to make single-serve packs for Green Mountain's Keurig brewing machines, a deal that also expands the companies' partnership beyond North America.

The deal comes after Starbucks last year introduced its own single-serve brewing machine, which was seen by many as posing a threat to Green Mountain's popular machines.

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1:06pm

Wed May 8, 2013
Global health

Why Bill Gates thinks ending polio is worth it

Originally published on Thu May 9, 2013 1:28 pm

Some critics say that ending polio has become Bill Gates' "white whale."

Why not just settle for the huge drop in polio cases that we've seen over the past decade and then spend money on other things that kill so many more kids, like diarrhea and malnutrition?

"Polio is special," Gates tells NPR's Robert Siegel on All Things Considered. "Once you get it done, you save $2 billion a year that will be applied to those other activities. There's no better deal economically to getting to zero."

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12:51pm

Wed May 8, 2013
KPLU Studio Sessions

Joan Osborne and The Holmes Brothers are a recipe for soul

Credit Justin Steyer / KPLU
Joan Osborne performing live with The Holmes Brothers in the KPLU Seattle Studios on April 19, 2013.

Want a good recipe for soul music?

Here’s what you do: Start with vocalist, Joan Osborne, who has had pop music hits, performed on The Grand Old Oprey, toured with members of The Grateful Dead and yet never strayed from her roots in rhythm ‘n blues music.

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11:37am

Wed May 8, 2013
unemployment benefits

Fed. spending cuts to lower Wash. unemployment checks

State officials say federal automatic budget cuts will lower an unemployment benefits program for people in Washington.

The Employment Security Department announced Wednesday that beginning on May 19 "emergency unemployment compensation" will be reduced by 21.08 percent under the so-called sequester. Emergency unemployment compensation is a federally funded program that is available for people who run out of state-funded benefits.

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11:19am

Wed May 8, 2013
kidnapping victims found

Sister of found kidnapping victim offers thanks, seeks privacy

Credit Tony Dejak / Associated Press
Beth Serrano, sister of Amanda Berry, speaks to the media after the arrival of Berry at Serrano's home Wednesday, May 8, 2013, in Cleveland.

Amanda Berry, who was held captive for about a decade before being rescued from a house along with two other women, arrived at her sister's home Wednesday morning to the cheers of hundreds of neighbors and swarms of journalists.

Berry's sister, Beth Serrano, spoke briefly to the crowd after their arrival, thanking the community for their support but asking for privacy during this difficult time.

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10:44am

Wed May 8, 2013
Barefoot bandit

'Barefoot Bandit' pleads guilty in Mount Vernon

Credit Ted S. Warren / Associated Press
Colton Harris-Moore, right, who is also known as the "Barefoot Bandit," appears in a court hearing with his attorney, John Henry Browne, left, Thursday, March 21, 2013, in Mount Vernon, Wash.

"Barefoot Bandit" Colton Harris-Moore has pleaded guilty in Mount Vernon to a burglary charge for breaking into the Anacortes Airport where he stole a plane and flew it to Orcas Island.

As part of a plea deal with Skagit County Prosecutor Rich Weyrich, the 22-year-old was sentenced Wednesday to three months he's already spent in jail.

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10:00am

Wed May 8, 2013
minimum wage gap

Why won't this McDonald's move 20 feet into lower-wage Idaho?

Credit Jessica Robinson
Tim Skubitz, in white, at his McDonalds in Newport, Wash., looks across the highway into Oldtown, Idaho.

The border between the states of Washington and Idaho is like a Petri dish for what the minimum wage does to the economy. That’s where two extremes meet.

Idaho has the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. While Washington’s is nearly $2 more, the highest in the nation. You might expect that wage gap to send Washington border businesses fleeing over to Idaho. But that's not what's happening.

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5:25am

Wed May 8, 2013
Food for Thought

Sniff, memory!

  • Dick and Nancy follow their noses into the past as they recall treasured food smell memories.

Some smells always bring back fond memories. Seattle Times food writer Nancy Leson says one whiff of mint, and she's suddenly 6 again. 

Two of my favorites are  flame-broiling meat in a highly air-conditioned room, and the aroma of onion soup on a freezing Quebec day. I guess I just like the memory of warm food smells in a cold environment. Not always, though.

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5:45pm

Tue May 7, 2013
The Salt

Bee deaths may have reached a crisis point for crops

Originally published on Tue May 7, 2013 7:56 pm

According to a new survey of America's beekeepers, almost a third of the country's honeybee colonies did not make it through the winter.

That's been the case, in fact, almost every year since the U.S. Department of Agriculture began this annual survey, six years ago.

Over the past six years, on average, 30 percent of all the honeybee colonies in the U.S. died off over the winter. The worst year was five years ago. Last year was the best: Just 22 percent of the colonies died.

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