Keith Seinfeld

The rush is on, to get healthier lunches into public school cafeterias. But administrators say you almost need an advanced degree to comply with the latest rules.

Western Washington is wrapping up its driest August ever, says KPLU weather expert Cliff Mass, a professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington.

And, with no precipitation in sight for the next two weeks, Mass says we may even break an all-time streak for the most consecutive days without rain. The record is 51 days, set in 1951.

"We are thirty-eight days in, right now," he says. "So, we certainly have a shot at the big record."

To make city streets safer, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn announced a plan to step up the number of speed zones monitored automatically by radar and photo enforcement – while urging everyone to slow down and show some "empathy."

Confusion is inevitable as drivers, bus-riders and cyclists on one of Washington’s busiest roadways face an all-new landscape this week.

The giant road project on Seattle’s Mercer Street – between I-5 and Seattle Center – is entering a new phase. Several streets that have been closed for months are re-opening, while other streets close to traffic until next year.

It might seem like a space-age fantasy, but there will be a lot of a serious talk in Seattle this weekend about a “space elevator.”

You might think of it as a space railroad. In theory, the technology could make going into orbit as cheap and easy as buying a first-class airline ticket.

The idea calls for a cable that stretches from a spot on the equator out to an anchor orbiting thousands of miles in space. On that cable, a remote-controlled cabin or elevator zips up and down.

Enjoy a beautiful weekend, says KPLU weather expert and UW professor Cliff Mass.

But we've entered a late-summer pattern that should start bringing occasional showers, starting early next week. That brings an end to an annual dry period that makes the northwest drier than the deserts of Arizona, says Mass. It's been four weeks without measurable rain in western Washington.

One of public radios most creative storytelling teams is in Seattle this weekend – turning radio into a live theater performance.

Radiolab calls itself a show about curiosity. KPLU science reporter Keith Seinfeld talked with the show’s two hosts about how they make science come alive, and then turn it into live theater.

(Listen to the interview ... and for serious Jad & Robert fans, we've added an extra 3 minute excerpt that didn't fit into the edited interview.)

(For information about the shows on Friday and Saturday, visit the KPLU calendar page.)

You might have trouble finding any attractive vegetables or fruits if you shop in the wrong stores. It’s especially challenging in poor neighborhoods, where mini-marts packed with beer, cigarettes and junk food may be all you can find.

One solution to be tested in Seattle this month will be in the form of a healthy corner store. Call it a mini-grocery.

Seattle’s a hub for cancer research, and usually that means scientists are looking for cures or new treatments. Now a new project will try to tell us if those treatments are worth the price-tag.

Sometimes, like this weekend ... a miracle happens, reports our weather expert and University of Washington professor Cliff Mass. 

That miracle may bring the hottest day of the year this weekend.

Breastfeeding is already a civil right in Seattle, and now it’s getting financial support everywhere. Under new health rules taking effect today, as part of President Obama’s health law, women will get a number of new "preventive" services covered for free (no co-pays). 

The most talked-about new benefit has been contraceptives – and how some Catholic groups prefer not to pay for birth control. 

But seven other provisions now must be covered by nearly all health insurance plans. One of them is breastfeeding supplies and counseling. 

A single tow-truck charge of nearly $800 made headlines last winter. Now, Seattle leaders are proposing rules that would keep most impound charges under $200.

The city also will create a new inspector's position, to serve as tsar of tow-trucks.

A potential new cure for blindness is showing promise in an experiment at the University of Washington and University of California. The study shows that losing your eyesight as you grow older may someday be reversible. 

The experiment used mice – blind mice.

Even though the AIDS epidemic is still spreading, the disease is not killing as many people as it used to, because of new drugs. And that's emboldened many leading AIDS researchers and policymakers to talk about ending the epidemic in the next few years.

Federal health investigators say a new clue has emerged about the whooping cough epidemic in Washington.

The epidemic shows no signs of waning – and the U.S. is on track to have more whooping cough cases than any time in 53 years. Washington and Wisconsin have the biggest outbreaks this year, with 3,000 reported cases each.