Seattle, WA
Seattle Times amplifies more remote work whiners
The Seattle Times is again masquerading advocacy as journalism. The goal this time appears to be to advocate for remote workers to stay away from the office, likely in response to a vocal group of staff opposing return-to-office policies.
Business reporter Jessica Fu laments the supposed financial burdens of returning to the office, blaming everything from gas prices to food costs. But instead of offering newsworthy insights, the article reads like a poorly veiled lobbying effort to keep workers remote. Fu even solicited specific stories to tell that fit what appears to be her personal view that remote working should be adopted by businesses.
And let’s be honest: this isn’t about household budgets—it’s about perpetuating progressive narratives that their policies are not to blame for the very affordability crisis they complain about.
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What does The Seattle Times believe is so bad about returning to work?
Fu frames the piece to be sympathetic to remote workers who don’t want to return to the office like adults.
The article, titled “Seattle-area return-to-office mandates strain household budgets,” centers around Jessica Poe, a 41-year-old divorcee who moved to Spanaway with her two dogs because she couldn’t find a spacious enough apartment with her $1,900-a-month budget. The house she moved to belonged to her brother, and consequently, her rent was just $750 a month.
Three months after the move, Poe was laid off but found a new job in Bellevue with what Fu calls “a catch” — like most jobs, it required staff to work in the office.
“Such a requirement may come as no surprise to workers in the Seattle area,” Fu bizarrely notes. No one is surprised by this requirement because it’s how the workforce has always operated until a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic that remote workers took advantage of in order to stay home from work.
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Ignoring root causes
Fu goes on to note the stress of people like Poe, “who have organized their lives around working remotely.”
She took the job, even though it is in Bellevue. To get to work, she had to drive two hours each way, or more depending on traffic. Her costs ballooned massively. On gas alone, Poe was spending nearly $500 a month. Depending on how backed up her normal commute was, she sometimes opted to pay a $15 toll each way to take a faster route. On average, that added $300 a month or more, she estimates. The costs compounded quickly, eating into her annual income of $75,000.
The business reporter even complains about the depreciation of Poe’s car: “Each day, she would put another 100 miles on it. In three months, she had to get two oil changes.”
Of course, Fu conveniently ignores the root causes of these financial burdens on remote workers feigning outrage or surprise of having to return to the office.
Housing costs? Driven sky-high by Democrats’ policies that throttle development and overregulate landlords. Food and gas prices? Thank the Biden administration’s inflationary spending and, locally, Washington’s Climate Commitment Act, which voters recently declined to repeal. This law, sold as a climate win, has raised gas prices to some of the highest in the nation.
These are the very policies the Times’ staff and remote workers likely championed, yet now they bemoan the very predictable fallout.
The news report is missing any news
There’s no actual news in The Seattle Times article. It’s just a string of complaints from people who pretended they’d never have to return to the office.
Did these folks think the pandemic was permanent? Remote work was a temporary adjustment, not a new way of life. Employers, who’ve been paying for high leases on empty office space, have every right to call their employees back. And the rest of you, who’ve endured the traffic and rising costs throughout, are likely done hearing sob stories about how someone’s Starbucks bill went up because they’re commuting again.
The importance of returning to the office cannot be overstated. It’s an important detail left out of the advocacy journalism lobbying for remote workers.
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Remote workers should think about the economy
Beyond boosting productivity and collaboration (remember those things?), working in an office revitalizes local economies that have been decimated by the remote-work era.
Restaurants, coffee shops, dry cleaners, and countless other small businesses have been suffering because the workforce stayed home. Bringing people back restores vibrancy to our downtowns and helps repair the damage done by years of draconian COVID-19 policies.
The Seattle Times completely misses this bigger picture. Instead, Fu feeds into the entitlement of a remote workforce that doesn’t want to adapt to reality. Want to cut costs? Pack a lunch. Take public transit like progressives keep pushing on the rest of us. Or better yet, pressure the policymakers you voted for to enact reforms that reduce the cost of living.
A bunch of whining from remote workers
This report isn’t journalism — it’s advocacy-via-whining.
The Seattle Times is clearly siding with a particular agenda, hoping to shift public opinion against return-to-work policies. But their argument falls apart when you realize the hardships they highlight are self-inflicted wounds caused by the very leaders they defend and prop up.
If anything, this article should be a wake-up call to its readers: Democrats’ policies have created these burdens, and their enablers in the media would rather you work from home than demand better policies.
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.
SEATTLE – Remember that iconic Gap advertisement with the girl group dancing to “My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard” that took the internet by storm in August?
What we know:
Katseye, the girl-group in the ad, are taking center stage at Climate Pledge Arena on Nov. 17, with ticket sales dropping on Thursday, May 21 and their new EP, Wild, is set to release on Aug. 14 via Hybe x Geffen Records.
The global girl group announced their WILDWORLD TOUR on Wednesday, bringing Katseye to arenas across Europe and North America this fall.
Katseye’s tour will kickoff in Dublin, Ireland on September 1, at Dublin’s 3Arena, while the North American portion of their tour launches Oct. 13 in Miami, Florida at Kaseya Center. Other honorable tour venue mentions include UBS Arena in Belmont Park, NY and Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
The WILDWORLD TOUR will conclude at Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City on Nov. 27.
Keep reading for ticket information and the full tour itinerary.
Ticket Information
What’s next:
Tickets will be available beginning at the end of May. Specifically, Weverse Artist Presale tickets will be available on Wednesday, May 20 at 11:00 a.m. local time, before the Katseye.World Presale at 3:00 p.m. local time.
General onsale begins Thursday, May 21 at 3:00 p.m. local time at www.katseye.world.
Tour itinerary
KATSEYE – WILDWORLD TOUR
UK/EU
9/1 – Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
9/3 – London, UK – The O2
9/6 – Manchester, UK – Co-Op Live
9/9 – Paris, France – Accor Arena
9/11 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome
9/13 – Cologne, Germany – Lanxess Arena
9/15 – Antwerp, Belgium – AFAS Dome
9/17 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Royal Arena
North America
10/13 – Miami, FL – Kaseya Center
10/15 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
10/20 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center
10/22 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
10/24 – Belmont Park, NY – UBS Arena
10/28 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
10/30 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
11/1 – Hamilton, ON – TD Coliseum
11/3 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
11/5 – Chicago, IL – United Center
11/7 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
11/10 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
11/11 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
11/14 – Las Vegas, NV – MGM Grand Garden Arena
11/17 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
11/19 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena
11/21 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena
11/24 – Phoenix, AZ – Mortgage Matchup Center
11/27 – Mexico City, MX – Palacio de los Deportes
2026 Festival Dates
6/5 – New York, NY – The Governors Ball Music Festival
7/30 – Saint Charles, IA – Hinterland Music Festival
8/8 – Pasadena, CA – 88rising Festival: Head In The Clouds
The Source: Information in this story came from a press release from Katseye and the katseye.world website.
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SEATTLE – An upper level low will increase showers and isolated storms overnight. Some storms that develop could produce locally heavy rain, thunder and lightning along with gusty winds. The best chance will be along and east of the I-5 corridor. Scattered showers will be possible during the day. There is also a chance for a light dusting of snow in the higher mountains.
Upper level low will increase showers and isolated storms overnight with scattered showers possible during the day. (FOX13 Seattle)
Wind Advisory in Eastern Washington
As the disturbance crosses through the region, winds will be especially gusty in Central and Eastern Washington. A Wind Advisory will be in effect for many of these locations through late Wednesday night.
Winds will be picking up on Wednesday with gusts nearing 50 mph. (FOX13 Seattle)
What’s next:
After warming into the low 80s on Tuesday, Wednesday will feel quite a bit different. Afternoon highs will only be in the upper 50s and low 60s, a good 20 degrees cooler than just 24 hours ago.
Afternoon highs will be significantly cooler on Wednesday.
Looking Ahead:
Even after Wednesday’s early morning rain, the rest of the week will remain unsettled. Additional chances for showers and cooler into the weekend. We will again near 70 degrees by early next week.
Cooler and wet for Wednesday with additional showers possible this week.
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To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.
Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.
The Source: Information in this story came from the FOX 13 Seattle Weather Team and the National Weather Service.
There’s been a question about the future of Seattle Seahawks edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence this offseason.
It may have been answered Monday.
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Just weeks after the Seahawks won the Super Bowl in February, ESPN’s Brady Henderson said “one of the first questions” the Hawks had to answer this offseason is “whether or not DeMarcus Lawrence is coming back.”
Generally, the sentiment in the months since has been that the 34 year old is not retiring, but there has not been a concrete answer from the five-time Pro Bowler or the Seahawks on his status for 2026. The closest thing to it came from Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald in late March, when he said, “To my knowledge, he’s coming back” to reporters at the NFL’s annual league meeting in Phoenix.
In the Seahawks.com article Monday announcing Seattle’s signing of veteran edge rusher Dante Fowler Jr., there was a statement that seemed to indicate where Lawrence, who is a 12-year NFL veteran, stands on the retirement question.
Fowler said that before he ultimately decided to sign with the Seahawks, he talked for roughly a half-hour on FaceTime with Lawrence, who was his teammate with the Dallas Cowboys in 2022 and 2023.
Lawrence had a message that helped convince Fowler to join Seattle: “If you want to win a Super Bowl, you should come here.”
That sounds like a statement you’d hear from somebody who’s planning to play in 2026, doesn’t it?
Seattle Sports’ Brock Huard thinks so.
“(The Seahawks) have gotten no indication whatsoever that he is retiring. And on top of it, I kind of read this as I don’t think you go full-boat and sell the organization in that way unless you also want to be a part of it and … go get that ring again,” said Huard, a longtime FOX football analyst and former NFL quarterback, on Tuesday’s edition of Brock and Salk.
On top of it all, what Lawrence said to Fowler is a great sales pitch for the Seahawks.
“Dante Fowler made it really abundantly clear, the final push was DeMarcus Lawrence. And the final push was: you want to win a Super Bowl, then you’ve got to be a Seattle Seahawk. And I don’t think there is any stronger (sales pitch than) word of mouth,” Huard said. “… That’s what you want, right? In any business, in any kind of marketing, the best advertising and the best marketing and the best sales pitch is what? Word of mouth. And when it comes from within and somebody with the credibility that DeMarcus Lawrence has too and the relationship he has with Dante Fowler, that was the final selling point. Job well done.”
Brock Huard answers three football questions in the Blue 88 segment at 7:45 a.m. during each episode of Brock and Salk. Catch Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. on Seattle Sports.
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