Seattle, WA
Northeastern graduates in Seattle urged to embrace ‘new possibilities’ as they take next steps
SEATTLE—Maheswari Kanti, a graduate from the Faculty of Engineering, traveled 8,000 miles to be a part of the Northeastern group.
“I come from a tropical nation: India,” Kanti instructed households and graduates of Northeastern College.
Over the course of her research, Kanti, who’s graduating with a masters in data techniques, mentioned what she discovered throughout her instructional journey was “inclusivity, accomplishment, camaraderie.”
Northeastern College’s Seattle Campus commencement class speaker Maheswari Kanti provides her remarks in Seattle City Corridor. Photograph by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern College
She was the scholar speaker throughout Friday’s graduation ceremony, which passed off contained in the Seattle City Corridor cultural middle, not removed from the regional campus on the coronary heart of the colourful West Coast tech group.
Kicking off the ceremony, Dave Thurman, regional chief government officer and dean of the Seattle campus, in what’s change into a convention throughout Northeastern’s campuses, requested the graduates to hoist the flags of their respective residence international locations.
“This sea of colours, this illustration of a shared humanity,” Thurman instructed graduates. “It demonstrates that we’re a very international group that can have an effect world wide as you proceed along with your subsequent endeavors.”
Northeastern is a worldwide college system, with 12 campuses the world over, together with Boston, Seattle, Vancouver, San Francisco, San Jose. Toronto, Charlotte and London, in addition to Arlington, Virginia; Portland, Maine; and Burlington and Nahant, Massachusetts.
Following Thurman, Northeastern Senior Vice Provost Michael Pollastri highlighted among the Seattle-born initiatives which have taken off throughout the college system, such because the college’s ALIGN program—now a mainstay within the Bay Space, Boston, Vancouver, Toronto, and Portland.
The ALIGN program helps college students of various identities and academic backgrounds purchase a masters diploma in laptop science. Pollastri mentioned the broader laptop science group has “taken be aware of this system’s capability to convey those that, due to race, gender, or different circumstances, had not felt welcome or assured to review laptop science.”
“Since I first visited Seattle a decade in the past, as a college member within the chemistry division, I’ve at all times been impressed with the unimaginable and resilient scholar inhabitants, the dedicated and completed employees and college, and the campus’ location on this lovely metropolis,” mentioned Pollastri, who can also be the tutorial lead for the Roux Institute in Portland, Maine. “I discover that the Seattle campus typifies the place all of us anticipate Northeastern College to be sooner or later, on the vanguard of innovation in greater schooling.”
The Seattle occasion’s keynote speaker, Geng Lin, government vp and chief know-how officer at F5, Inc., spoke to graduates about perseverance—and the way to reach the tech trade.
He spoke about rising up in a rural Chinese language village within the countryside, the place he and his household survived a devastating earthquake. Within the aftermath, Lin—then 10 years previous—remembers pulling “meals and garments from the rubble.”
He recalled serving to deal with the wounded, sharing provides with these in want, and checking on neighbors. Lin mentioned these classes, which had come on the course of his father, would serve him 13 years later, when he’d arrive in Canada to pursue a doctorate diploma on the College of British Columbia.
“All through my profession, I’ve discovered that this braveness to consider in new hope isn’t one thing we be taught in lessons, or books,” Lin mentioned. “It comes from the hardest hardships in life. These instances that we thought would break us, however as an alternative helped us see new prospects.”
Lin instructed the graduates that as they navigate their very own life transitions, it’s essential that they proceed to “consider in new prospects,” to domesticate “braveness, compassion, and curiosity.”
“This capability is on the coronary heart of innovation, entrepreneurship, enterprise progress, and social transformation,” Lin mentioned. “It’s a potent and uncommon superpower to have the ability to look past what’s and see what might be, and what ought to be.”
Mother and father, relations, and siblings convened on the event to have fun the accomplishments of their graduates. Among the many many options that outline a Northeastern schooling, graduates and their households usually cite the prospect of discovering significant work upon commencement as among the many most gratifying.
Les Smith mentioned his son, Kendall Smith, graduated with a level in laptop programming after years of trying to find the suitable job.
“He was steadily transferring in the direction of programming on his personal time,” Les Smith mentioned. “He did a very good job pulling issues collectively.”
Kendall Smith now works at Radiant Earth Basis as a knowledge engineer—a place Smith’s father credit Northeastern in serving to to open up for him.
“There’s little doubt his time right here helped him alongside the way in which,” he mentioned.
For media inquiries, please contact media@northeastern.edu.
Manuhunt underway for Mason County assault suspect
Mason County deputies are looking for a man wanted in a shooting in Belfair on Monday.
MASON COUNTY, Wash. – The Mason County Sheriff’s Office is currently searching for a convicted felon wanted in a recent shooting.
The sheriff’s office says Michael Allen Beyer is wanted for first-degree assault and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
Deputies believe Beyer was involved in a shooting that happened in Belfair on January 6.
Beyer is considered armed and dangerous. If you see him, do not approach him and call 911 immediately.
Anyone with information regarding Beyer’s whereabouts is asked to call Detective Helser at 360-427-9670 x657, or Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
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Two more Seattle restaurants are calling it quits thanks to the untenable minimum wage hike.
At the same time that the Seattle minimum wage rose from $19.97 an hour to $20.76 an hour, the city ended the tip credit of $2.72. Under the previous rules, restaurants were able to pay $17.25 hourly wage if their staff earned at least $2.72 in tips per hour. But as cost of business continues to skyrocket in Seattle, a minimum wage hike without a tip credit is simply untenable for many small businesses.
Jackson’s Catfish Corner in Seattle’s Central District closed its doors in this new year. In an interview with Converge Media, owner Terrell Jackson argued Seattle is too expensive to operate in.
“I know that the minimum wages went up to 20 bucks an hour … I know that’s hard for my business as a small Black business,” Jackson said. “I’m not Amazon or Walgreens or Walmart who can pay their employees that much.”
Jackson isn’t alone in his complaints.
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A second West Seattle eatery closes, citing the minimum wage hike
Bel Gatto, a bakery and café, became the second West Seattle eatery to close its doors over the Seattle minimum wage hike. The owner posted a sign to the front door to thank supporters but said she can’t afford to stay open anymore.
“Our revenues, unfortunately, are not able to cover the close to 20% increase in mandated wages, salaries and payroll taxes put into effect by the Seattle City Council effective 1/1/25. This ruling has made the continuation of our bakery operations untenable,” the sign read.
The owner, Peter Levy, explained to the West Seattle Blog that, “we were approaching close to a break even status in the last quarter of 2024, but the requirement to absorb another $4,000 per month in payroll expenses with the new mandate by the city put a break even further from our grasp which is what led to the closure.”
Last week, a video by Corina Luckenbach, owner of Bebop Waffle Shop in West Seattle, went viral as she said the minimum wage hike was forcing her to close after 11 years. She said she didn’t have an extra $32,000 a year to pay her staff what the city mandates.
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Will more restaurants close?
Ahead of the minimum wage hike, restauranteurs offered many warnings over what’s to come.
Ethan Stowell operates a number of Seattle’s top restaurants, including How to Cook a Wolf, Staple and Fancy, and Tavolata. He warned this change would be exceptionally costly for businesses in an industry notorious for razor-thin margins. And restaurants can’t merely raise menu prices again.
“I know everybody wants to say, ‘Just raise things (on the menu) a dollar or two,’ and that’s what it’ll be. That’s very simplified math. I wish it was that easy, but it’s not. This is a large increase that’s probably large enough to be equal to or close to what most restaurants in Seattle profit,” Stowell told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.
Portage Bay Cafe co-owner Amy Fair Gunnar noted the minimum wage change will cost her about $45,000 more a month. She said restaurants will have to “seriously change what they’re doing or they’re going to close their doors.”
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Ignoring the warnings, mocking the business people
The warnings from restaurant owners were mostly ignored or mocked.
Efforts by the Seattle City Council to address the forthcoming crisis fell apart after activists said they didn’t want restaurants to get an exception. Council president Sara Nelson told “The Jason Rantz Show” they will take up the issue again this year but there’s no specific idea yet to forward for legislation. The Mayor of Seattle, Bruce Harrell, has been almost completely absent from the issue.
Left-wing voices, meanwhile, claim to not care. That if businesses “can’t afford to pay a living wage,” then they shouldn’t be in business.
One reporter with The Stranger mocked one of the closures, quipping on X, “Has anyone ever eaten at bebop waffle lol.” Left-wing Seattleites condemned the business for “creating a right wing media darling to complain about paying people a living wage.”
KING 5 reporter Maddie White helped elevate this talking point by citing the National Low Income Housing Coalition, claiming “the average renter needs to make upwards of $40 an hour to afford rent.” But she’s quoting a stat for two-bedrooms. Minimum wage jobs aren’t meant to cover the cost of a single person renting a two-bedroom home or apartment.
Ironically, as activists dismiss the concerns of small business owners, they fail to acknowledge the inevitable consequence: when those businesses shut down, people lose jobs. A $20.76 hourly minimum wage — even with a $2.72 tip credit — means nothing if you’re unemployed.
Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason Rantz on X, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.
A pair of candidates have surfaced in the Seattle Seahawks’ search for a new offensive coordinator.
An NFL insider’s view on Seahawks OC change and what’s next
The Seahawks are scheduled to interview Detroit Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley and Chicago Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown, according to multiple reports. NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero first reported the news Thursday morning.
Seattle will interview Fraley on Friday and Brown on Saturday, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
The Seahawks moved on from offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb on Monday after an up-and-down season for Seattle’s offense that included one of the worst rushing attacks in the league.
Fraley, 47, has been on Detroit’s coaching staff for the past seven seasons, including the past five as the team’s offensive line coach. Fraley has coached an offensive line that’s paved the way for one of the NFL’s best rushing attacks. The Lions rank third in Pro Football Focus’ run block grading and finished the regular season sixth in both rushing yards per game (146.4) and yards per carry (4.7).
During his time in Detroit, Fraley has helped develop four-time Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow and three-time Pro Bowl right tackle Penei Sewell. As a player, Fraley started 123 games at center and guard over a 10-year NFL career with the Eagles (2001-05), Browns (2006-09) and Rams (2010). According to Breer, Fraley has done groundwork in searching for a pass game coordinator that he would pair with as an OC.
Brown, 38, began the season as Chicago’s passing game coordinator. He then was promoted to offensive coordinator when Shane Waldron, a former Seahawks assistant, was fired as OC on Nov. 12, and then to interim head coach when Matt Eberflus was fired on Nov. 29. Brown went 1-4 as the Bears’ interim head coach.
Brown was the Carolina Panthers’ offensive coordinator in 2023. Prior to that, he spent three seasons under head coach Sean McVay in various roles on the Los Angeles Rams’ coaching staff.
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