Light-Rail Stations Could Open Years Earlier under New Sound Transit plan

Seattle Times | Mike Lindblom | May 26

“Light-rail extensions would be built faster than originally proposed, with Everett getting service in 2036, five years sooner than Sound Transit had announced, and Federal Way and Redmond coming online as soon as 2024, under a revised plan released Thursday. The quicker timelines, for a Sound Transit 3 ballot measure to go before voters this fall, are possible mainly because of new financial assumptions and strategies, said Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff…Other shortened timelines include Ballard light rail in 2035, three years sooner than in the March draft plan; West Seattle in 2030, three years sooner; Federal Way to the Tacoma Dome in 2030, three years quicker; and stations for South Graham Street in Rainier Valley, and Boeing Access Road in Tukwila, by 2031, five years sooner.” Read more.

This State Scholarship May Be Breaking the Cycle of Poverty

Seattle Times | Katherine Long | May 26

“A relatively new state scholarship designed to help low- and middle-income students move into promising careers appears to be breaking the cycle of poverty for many of its recipients. The Opportunity Scholarship, funded with state and private money, has been awarded since 2012 to Washington students who are going into high-tech careers in science, technology, engineering, math and health care. The College Success Foundation, a nonprofit that administers the program, recently finished a survey showing that 43 percent of graduates of the class of 2015 are earning between $40,000 and $60,000 a year after graduation, and 80 percent are earning more than $40,000 a year. That’s as much, or more, as the students’ average household income when they first applied for the scholarship.” Read more.

Amazon Ranks The Most Well-Read Cities in the U.S., And The Winner Is…

GeekWire | Monica Nickelsburg | May 24

“Amazon released its annual list of the 20 Most Well-Read Cities Tuesday and named its hometown of Seattle the most bookish in America. It’s the second year Seattle and Portland, Ore., came in at numbers one and two, respectively…Amazon crunched the numbers based on purchases of all books, magazines, and newspapers through its own site. With thousands of employees and far-reaching brand awareness in the region, it’s not surprising that so many Amazon.com sales come from Seattle and Portland.” Read more.

Boeing May Be Slashing Jobs, but There Will Still Be High Demands for Aerospace Workers in Puget Sound Area

Puget Sound Business Journal | Steve Wilhelm | May 24

“Boeing may be reducing aerospace jobs during the next decade, but the Puget Sound region can still expect the number of new aerospace hires to increase. Many Boeing workers are ready to retire, and Boeing and other aerospace manufacturers will need to hire workers to fill vacated positions and find workers who understand digital manufacturing, a new report shows. There may be fewer people working in the aerospace industry across the region, but the fight for talent to replace retiring workers and hire for newly created programming jobs is about to heat up. The Talent Pipeline Study for Aerospace prepared for the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County shows that overall aerospace jobs will decline by 0.8 percent annually in King County over the next decade, but hiring will increase by 1.3 percent annually.” Read more.

Designed in Seattle, This $1 Cup Could Save Millions of Babies

Seattle Times | JoNel Aleccia | May 23

“When babies in poor countries can’t breast-feed, the results can be deadly, but a trio of Seattle researchers has found an innovative way to help. Experts at the University of Washington, Seattle Children’s and the nonprofit global health organization PATH have spent the past five years developing a small, spouted feeding cup aimed at preventing millions of high-risk infants in the developing world from starving. “We had this idea and we’ve been waiting for this opportunity,” said Patricia Coffey, an expert in neonatal health technologies at PATH. Inventors of the NIFTY cup announced at the Women Deliver conference in Copenhagen this month that they will collaborate with Laerdal Global Health, a nonprofit manufacturer, to put the cups in the hands of hospital workers in Africa by later this year.” Read more.

Seattle Homes Selling Faster than Anywhere Else in the U.S., But Overall Sales Down 10% Due to Low Inventory

GeekWire | Kurt Schlosser | May 20

“It takes an average of eight days to sell a home in the Seattle area, making it the fastest and most competitive market in the country according to a new report from Redfin for the month of April. While demand and prices have increased in Seattle, the number of sales year over year fell 10.9 percent and overall inventory remains at a historic low with only 1.2 months of supply. The lack of new listings made that inventory number the lowest for any market in April, according to Redfin.” Read more.