Bellamy Pailthorp

Responsible fishing and fish consumption were among the agenda items at the annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society in Seattle. The conference (in its 141st year) has brought thousands of scientists, wildlife managers and other experts together for five days of wide-ranging discussions.

One of the more intriguing messages: Eating more sardines may be one of the best things you can do to help keep the planet healthy.

The same forces of nature that create natural hot springs and volcanoes may soon become a source of electricity in Snohomish County. The county’s Public Utility District has broken ground on a deep geothermic well, just north of the town of Skykomish.

The exploratory well is the first of its kind in Washington. 

It’s been eight months since Nissan made its first delivery of its all-electric Leaf car to a customer in the pacific Northwest.

Now, driving an all-electric vehicle is well on its way to becoming mainstream reality. A pilot program is installing thousands of electric car charging stations in the Puget Sound region and making them more available to regular folks.

One of Seattle’s most exclusive addresses is fixing an alarming problem: tempered glass panels from luxury balconies at the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences have been crumbling and raining down from the sky. 

It’s happened three times since July. 

One of Seattle’s most exclusive addresses is fixing an alarming problem: tempered glass panels from the luxury balconies of the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences have been crumbling and raining down from the sky.

Another landmark retailer is leaving Seattle’s Pioneer Square. 

Masins Fine Furnishing and Interior Design has put its building up for lease and started looking for another Seattle location where its customers won’t get so many parking tickets.

It’s the beginning of the end for the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Demolition work will shut down the double-decker highway for 9 days about two months from now, from October 21 – 31. According the state Department of Transportation, it’s the longest full closure of a Seattle area highway the city’s ever dealt with.

Cooler temperatures this year have given Washington’s wheat famers a boost. The cool wet spring combined with good ripening conditions in July and August have increased yields here. At the same time, severe drought has diminished the harvest in the nation’s Plain states. 

As a result, Washington is expected to surpass Texas and Oklahoma in winter-wheat production this year, making it second only to Kansas.   

Get ready to pay if you drive on the floating bridge across Lake Washington. The state Department of Transportation has announced the much-delayed tolls on the 520 bridge will start in December.

Tolling on the bridge was originally set to begin this spring, then that was bumped to this summer. Now, the state says the all-electronic system will be up and running four months from now. 

Nearly 40 years ago, the U.S. government began setting federal standards to clean up water pollution with the passage of the landmark Clean Water Act. Now, many environmental groups say that law is under attack and they’re worried about consequences.

The first of the nation’s 75 million baby boomers are turning 65 this year. That’s a milestone that incites a lot of fear. But at least one woman thinks it doesn’t have to be that way. 

Kaycee Krysty, the former CEO and now "president emerita" of the Seattle wealth management firm, Laird Norton Tyee, believes baby boomers are redefining an age once known as the end of work and productivity. She is challenging her generation to write 65 words on turning 65.  (If you'd like to join her, click here.)

Seattle voters will face a proposed car tab fee on the November ballot. The city council has unanimously agreed to ask for an additional $60 annually for the next 10 years to help pay for road and transit projects. 

The news comes just a day after the King County Council added a temporary $20 car tab fee to maintain bus service.

A grand compromise, showing that bi-partisanship and good government still exist. That's what members of the King County Council are saying after the announcement that they have a super majority to back a temporary $20 car tab fee and stave off massive cuts to metro transit.

Two Republicans - Jane Hague and Kathy Lambert - have agreed to back the deal when the council votes on Monday. Among other things, it will phase out Metro's subsidy for the free ride zone in downtown Seattle starting October 2012.

As interest in solar power gains momentum, Seattle City Light is marketing a new program to make it more widely available. 

Community Solar gives people who can’t install solar panels on their own homes the chance to reap the rewards of a cash investment in solar power.

From carousels to picnic shelters and libraries, solar power is becoming more commonplace in Seattle.

City Light says it has seen big growth in customer demand for alternative energy over the past decade – and small solar is one of the biggest draws.