Featured Stories

On Sunday, Seahawk Marshawn Lynch did something he despises, that he rarely ever does: he gave an i...
Rachel Belle

Maybe Marshawn Lynch is just an introvert

Marshawn Lynch is famous for dodging interviews. He's dodged so many the NFL has fined him $100,000. But what if he's not just trying to rebel or hide from his fans, maybe he's just an introvert who isn't comfortable with public speaking and sharing all of his thoughts and feelings with the world? Susan Cain, the country's leading introvert expert, helps us understand the mind of an introvert.
12 years ago
A before & after of the Supply Laundry Building in South Lake Union, a Seattle landmark. Photo ...
Rachel Belle

How to save a historic Seattle building from condo fate

Seattle is the fastest growing city in America, and many of the city's beautiful buildings have been demolished to make room for newer, bigger, modern-looking condo buildings. Here we explore how to save a building by making it a city-approved historic landmark.
12 years ago
(Photo via CC Images, Sean Hobson)...
Rachel Belle

A Jewish mother & a rabbi ponder: Should Rachel Belle get a Christmas tree?

Being Jewish, I have never had a Christmas tree, and I never cared or considered getting one. Until two weeks ago, when I saw a snowy tree tied to the top of a car and thought it might be nice. This story is my journey to a decision about whether or not to get a Christmas tree, or as some might call it, a Hanukkah bush. You'll meet my mother, a rabbi and a local Jewish woman who just got her first tree at age 47.
12 years ago
Get it while it’s hot! Tom Douglas’ brisket chili (Photo courtesy of Alaska Airlines)...
Rachel Belle

You can now eat a Tom Douglas meal while flying the friendly skies

Alaska Airlines has started serving a brisket chili over a Yukon gold potato, created by Seattle Chef Tom Douglas, and there\'s more to come next year. But did Tom manage to elevate above the typically, notoriously bad airline fare? Rachel Belle got a taste.
12 years ago
Andrew Myers and his dog, Hunter. (Photo courtesy Andrew Myers)...
Rachel Belle

A Seattle veteran is trying to create the next Ice Bucket Challenge

Since Seattle veteran Andrew Myers posted a video of himself catching a burglar, trying to enter his home, it's racked up nearly four million views. He's trying to take advantage of the Internet attention by raising money for Paws and Stripes, a non-profit that matches veterans with PTSD with life saving service dogs.
12 years ago
Lifelong volunteer Jamie Kowsky with a couple Thanksgiving turkeys. (Photo by Revolution Innovation...
Rachel Belle

Lifelong delivers healthy Thanksgivings to sick people around King County

Lifelong, formerly Lifelong AIDS Alliance, delivers 150,000 meals a year to people who are too sick, and too poor to get the groceries themselves. Volunteers visit clients once a week, dropping off bags of super healthy groceries and special meals prepared by a chef.
12 years ago
Gabriela writing in her makeshift living room, at the Seattle Public Library’s downtown branc...
Rachel Belle

A Seattle woman writes a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, while library patrons look on

A Seattle woman is writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, while the public watches Every November, hundreds of thousands of people challenge themselves to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days for NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. But Gabriela Frank is doing it with a twist. She's set up a living room in the Seattle Public Library, and the public can watch her write the novel, in real time, on a big screen.
12 years ago
Inly singer, Mindie Lind, on her skateboard (Photo courtesy of Mindie Lind)...

Seattle singer Mindie Lind on Cripp Culture and why she doesn’t need your help

Mindie Lind is the singer of Seattle band Inly, who you might see cruising around town on her skateboard. Born without legs, Mindie is an advocate of Cripp Culture: showing the world that disabled people are about more than just their disability. There's a culture of art, music, design and sexuality that can't be defined by the symbol of the blue guy in the wheelchair.
12 years ago
Actor James Franco was the inspiration for Seattle’s newest literary magazine. (Photo, CC Ima...
Rachel Belle

Seattle’s ‘James Franco Review’ gives all writers celebrity status

Last Spring a prestigious publishing house published a book of poetry by actor James Franco. It was met with mediocre reviews and a ton of publicity. This got a Vashon Island writer thinking: what if everyone could submit their work as James Franco? Would we all have a fair shot at being published? So she created a literary magazine called the James Franco Review.
12 years ago
Woodland Park Zoo’s elephants, including the late Watoto.(Photo by Ryan Hawk)...
Rachel Belle

Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo to send its elephants to another zoo

Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo to send its elephants to another zoo Today Woodland Park Zoo announced it would be phasing out it's elephant program, and sending its two Asian elephants to another zoo. But this does not sit well with the elephant advocacy group, Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants. They says the elephants need to go to a sanctuary where they can have room to roam.
12 years ago
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray doing community service at Mary’s Place (Photo, CC Image, Ed Murray)...
Rachel Belle

500 women, children are cold and homeless in Seattle, but you can help

Mary's Place, a Seattle non-profit that provides shelter and services for 150 homeless women and a children a day, is trying to raise $250,000 to open a new shelter in time for winter.
12 years ago
The famous Paseo sandwich (Photo: Jessica Spangler via Creative Commons)...
Rachel Belle

Paseo lawsuit: Can undocumented workers sue and win?

Seattle's beloved Paseo abruptly closed yesterday, denying sandwich lovers their cult status, Cuban-style sammies. But then a lawsuit surfaced: four Hispanic, former Paseo employees are suing the owners, saying they weren't paid overtime or given breaks during long shifts. A Seattle lawyer says wage theft is VERY common, but undocumented workers rarely sue out of fear.
12 years ago
Brad and Sheena with their van Nacho and some new friends in Cambodia (Photo by Brad Van Orden)...
Rachel Belle

Couple drives around the world in their tricked out VW van

Brad and Sheena Van Orden were bored of their 9-to-5 routine, so they saved up their money and took off on a two-and-a-half year road trip that took them on adventures around the world. They just landed back in the US and chose Seattle as their new home.
12 years ago
Chef/owner Jemil Aziz, and his sous chef Benjamin “Bunny” Howe, serve up southern cooki...

Seahawks chow down on southern comfort food after every home game

The Seahawks eat lean and clean all week, but after a big, taxing game the healthy diet goes out the window. The Seahawks are fed New Orleans cooking from Seattle food truck Jemil's Big Easy after every home game.
12 years ago
A glimpse of Sara’s living room (Photo by Rachel Belle)...
Rachel Belle

The psychology behind hoarding, and the local company who’ll help you clean up your act

A Seattle woman hasn't allowed a single person into her home for five years, embarrassed that it's completely jammed packed with garbage and stuff. A secret hoarder, she's now working with Bio Clean, a local company that specializes in cleaning up hoarder houses, murder scenes and anything else that no one else wants to clean up.
12 years ago
Photo courtesy of Pho Bac...
Rachel Belle

A culinary pho-nomenon: The history of pho in Seattle

It's hard to walk a few blocks in Seattle without stumbling upon a pho restaurant. But I wondered what sparked the popularity of this Vietnamese soup in our city. What's the history behind it? Here you'll meet the owner of Seattle's first pho restaurant & the Governor who opened the state's doors to Vietnamese immigrants.
12 years ago
Troop 1775 in Ocean Shores. Ema Guzman, front row center. Troop leader Liz Wasson Coleman, back row...
Rachel Belle

Girl Scout leaders desperately needed, being a parent not required

The Girl Scouts of Western Washington says there are 2,600 girls in 17 different counties who are on a waiting list to join a troop, but there jsut aren't enough troop leaders. In this story, we meet a woman who became a Girl Scout troop leader 12 years ago, despite not being a parent or ever having been a Girl Scout, and stuck with her troop until they recently graduated from high school. The troop's story of success and friendship is truly inspiring.
12 years ago
Photo via Seattle Municipal Archives...
Rachel Belle

Why Google when you can ask the know-it-alls at the Seattle Public Library

Seattle Public Library's Quick Information Center (QIC) has been operating since 1976, and it's still going strong even with the Internet. A staff of 25 will try and answer any question you throw at them, over the phone, in five minutes or less. They receive about 300 calls a day.
12 years ago
Photo by Juhan Sonin via CC...
Rachel Belle

Less stuff, more experiences: How to clear your kids’ toybox clutter

Many parents struggle with their kids' overflowing toy chests. They can't stop buying toys, their kids get too many toys as gifts. California's Bea Johnson lives a zero waste lifestyle, which means her family usually chooses experiences over physical gifts. She talks about how her family got rid of 80% of their possessions to live the simple, happy life.
12 years ago
Live music at Love City Love (Photo courtesy of Avi Loud)...
Rachel Belle

Vacant Seattle Buildings Explode with Art & Music Before Demolition

A Seattle arts collective called Love City Love has been making deals with developers to use vacant buildings as art spaces before they're knocked down and replaced with condos. Their latest space is a former Azteca/Don Eduardo Mexican restaurant on Eastlake, and this time the developers offered them the space.
12 years ago
A Bio Clean Inc employee suited up for a job. (Photo courtesy of Theresa Borst)...
Rachel Belle

Meet the woman who will clean up Ebola in Washington state

Theresa Borst owns Bio Clean Inc: "We clean up after suicides and homicides, decomposed bodies, meth lab cleanup, hoarders, industrial accidents, car accidents, trains, planes, automobiles, oil spills, sewage, mold. Everything gross that nobody else wants to do." And the King County Health department has asked her to help create protocol, and do any actual clean up, if someone in our state is exposed to Ebola. She explains how she'll do it.
12 years ago
(Photo by Luke Jones)...
Rachel Belle

Seattle’s best trick or treat neighborhoods

Zillow has just put out its list of the best trick-or-treating neighborhoods, based on neighborhood density, safety, walkability and the wealth factor of the neighborhood. Meanwhile, in Mercer Island, one neighborhood gives out candy to 500-1,000 kids!
12 years ago
The owners of the Bellevue Quiznos franchise are Indian, and so are a lot of people who work in Bel...
Rachel Belle

Owners of a Bellevue Quiznos are serving native Indian flavors with a twist

The owners of the Bellevue Quiznos franchise are Indian, and so are a lot of people who work in Bellevue, so they got special permission to add chicken and paneer tikka sandwiches to the menu. The chutneys are homemade & the sandwiches are selling like crazy. This may reflect a new trend towards Indian fusion flavors in the West.
12 years ago
Photo courtesy of Brady Harvey/EMP Museum....
Rachel Belle

See the Lombardi Trophy at the EMP’s new Seahawks Exhibit

The new Seahawks exhibit opened at the EMP today, with a ribbon cutting ceremony headed by team owner Paul Allen and Coach Pete Carroll.
12 years ago