Starbucks is defending its tip-sharing policy in New York, with its attorney telling the state's top court that baristas and shift supervisors divide up the cash jar weekly because they essentially provide the same customer service.

Attorney Rex Heinke says assistant store managers are excluded because they have an essentially different role and "real power" over the others.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson is appealing a federal ruling ordering the state to fix culverts that block salmon passages.

Ferguson says that the state on Tuesday filed a notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on the March 29 U.S. District Court ruling by Judge Ricardo S. Martinez.

Last fall, sixth-graders in Spanaway, Wash. were forced to confront a tragedy no student should have to go through when their beloved teacher Rob Meline died. To make matters worse, Meline's death was the kind that makes the evening news.

State officials are urging owners of backyard chicken to sign up their flock for bird flu testing.

The state is trying to prevent an outbreak of a new strain of bird flu like the one recently seen in China. At least 36 people have died of the disease since March.

When computer sales declined 14 percent in the first quarter of this year, fingers immediately began pointing at Microsoft.

The release of a new version of Windows is supposed to stimulate PC sales. But Windows 8 has received a lukewarm reception.

Strategic News Service publisher and KPLU technology commentator Mark Anderson doesn’t mince words. He thinks Windows 8 is a bomb.

Crews have begun removing the mangled steel, crumpled pavement and cars that fell into the Skagit River in Mount Vernon after a span of an interstate highway bridge collapsed.

The Washington Department of Transportation announced that the retrieval of the fallen section began, a day after barges with equipment arrived at the river.

For families who have lost loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan, Memorial Day can be a time of unbearable sadness. That’s especially true for Betsey Reed Schultz, a grieving mother in Port Angeles. But the woman is a shining example of someone trying to turn her sorrow into something beautiful.

A mother's worst nightmare

It was two years ago on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Betsy Reed Schultz got the visit every deployed soldier's mother fears.

The Sixth Annual Bellevue Jazz Festival starts next Wednesday and runs through the weekend.  There will be more than 40 live free performances in restaurants and other public areas in downtown Bellevue, plus three headliner concerts featuring Carlos Cascante y su Tumbao, Kendrick Scott Oracle, and the Cyrus Chestnut Trio + Stefon Harris.   This week we preview the festival and provide more info about other jazz events on Jazz Northwest.

The lead police agency in the investigation of missing Utah mom Susan Powell has said for the first time that investigators believe Josh Powell played a role in killing his wife.

Newly released documents from the West Valley City Police Department show Susan Powell had a tumultuous relationship with her husband, Josh Powell.

Feeling maddened by the madding crowd? Dreaming of a quiet beach, or a mountain lodge? Looking for a way to retreat from the chaos? Perhaps what you need is, in fact, a retreat.

Sand, sun, and surf may be the image you have when you think of a getaway. But for some, the vacation this year has little to do with the beach and more to do with quiet introspection. 

Welcome to the world of monastic retreats.