Vanessa Romo

During the Holiday Season, from Thanksgiving to New Years Day, a lot of people are spending extra hours in the kitchen. And while that used to entail dusting off an old recipe box or paging through a sticky and splattered cookbook – today, more aspiring chefs are using their laptops, tablets or smart-phones to look up recipes online.

And when they do, there will be one Website from Seattle that will serve up more piping hot recipes than any other.

What happens when the captain of the financial industry is brought to Seattle to celebrate business leadership in the middle of a populist revolt aimed directly at the wealthy and financial companies?

Pepper spray. Arrests. Speeches. And a very nervous Seattle business school, caught in the crossfire, whose gala event of the year could be wrecked. What follows is a close look at the events and decisions leading up to the Nov. 2 clash in downtown Seattle gleaned from emails and documents obtained by KPLU. 

One of Seattle’s best known and beloved sons, Jimi Hendrix, is about to get a new park. It’s scheduled to coincide with what would have been the guitar hero’s 70th birthday.

Anyone still camped out at the community college in Seattle this afternoon can be cited for trespassing and forcibly removed from the campus said Jill Wakefield, Chancellor of Seattle Community Colleges.

But she says she hopes it won’t have to come to that kind of confrontation with Occupy Seattle protesters at Seattle Central Community College. And, according to one Occupy resident, the protesters have been tearing down and cleaning up. They've even brought in a dumpster for the effort.

Everyone went a little crazy. Police were called, road blocks set up.

It’s 1954, early spring, and tiny chips, pits and dings are popping up on car windshields throughout the Puget Sound region at an alarming rate. Suddenly, communities from Anacortes to Tacoma are in the grip of a textbook case of mass hysteria. (In fact, it is in the textbooks.)

Read more on I Wonder Why ... ?

Boeing machinist union members said 'Yes' by 74 percent to a new four-year contract – hammered out in secret – that will bring jobs to build the newest version of Boeing's 737 to Renton.

The yes vote begins a new era for the aerospace company and its most contentious union, ushered in also by the union's promise to drop a complaint it filed with the National Labor Relations Board. That complaint has been the subject of Congressional hearings and hundreds of news stories around the world.

Boeing and the Machinists union have apparently reached a four-year contract deal as well as a deal to build the 737 MAX in Renton and have the union’s labor complaint dropped.

“We look forward to new era of prosperity for IAM and Boeing,” said Tom Wroblewski, president of Machinists Union District 751.

Wroblewski added that the secret meetings started out as conversations about the 737 and evolved into a full-blown contract deal because outside influences were dampened and the negotiation climate was right.

'OMG! Finalst 4 jury - just like American Idol! ;)'

In the age of the smart phone, courts throughout the state (and around the world really) are grappling with serious problems caused by jurors using social media sites or other online services during trials.

Now, Washington’s courts are trying new tactics to stop jurors from over-sharing.

If you’re a local chances are you’ll find yourself at Westlake Park on the day after Thanksgiving – given that it’s Seattle’s epicenter for everything Holiday related. There’s the Macy’s Parade, the carousel and the tree lighting ceremony.

And this year, Occupy Seattle wants to take part in the festivities. 

Traffic was snarled in Seattle's University District as hundreds of Occupy Seattle demonstrators from Seattle Central Community College met union and other protesters at the University Bridge as part of a national day of action demanding jobs.

Reporting from the bridge, KPLU's Vanessa Romo said protesters were in the middle of the bridge but were not directly impeding traffic since it appeared vehicles had been rerouted. Some protesters climbed up on part of the bridge, but all protesters had cleared out and the bridge was reopened by 6:20.

The Occupy movement is in full force in Seattle with protesters taking to the streets showing their discontent with the way things are. And yet, when asked in a recent survey, are you happy? Most Seattleites said … yes, pretty much.

In fact, when it comes to happiness, Seattle is above average!

Maybe you’re a regular and know the cashiers by name, or maybe you only go in once a year - to pick up some rum to make that eggnog a little more grown-up. In any case, you might be surprised to learn your local state run liquor store could remain a liquor store.

Brian Smith of the Washington State Liquor Control Board, said the recently passed initiative folds the existing liquor licenses in to the new system.

For those of you who have them, get ready to bust out your best bedazzled unitard and start practicing your triple Lutz. Capitol Hill is getting its very first ice skating rink this month – December 6 through 24.

Frustrated consumers have something to say to big banks: It’s not me ... it’s you.  

And they plan to make it official on Bank Transfer Day Saturday.

Occupy Seattle protestors have set their sights on a new target: The highest paid banker on Wall Street who will be visiting Seattle on Wednesday.

Banker Jamie Dimon will be the keynote speaker at the University of Washington’s “Business Leadership Celebration” and Occupy Seattle protesters are marshaling their forces to welcome him loudly.