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Paul Roberts

@pauledroberts.bsky.social
102 followers 236 following 48 posts

Business & Econ reporter at The Seattle Times; author of The Impulse Society; The End of Food. Soylent green is purple.

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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
hillbilly allergy
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 29/06/2025
throwing shade
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 29/06/2025
I’d like to speak to the manager
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 29/06/2025
summer job
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
4pm in Seattle two days after solstice
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
"Some of the rarest & highest-end instruments, like that [$495K] ’59 Les Paul [or] advertised online. Instead, Boone acts as a matchmaker [for the] small group of collectors willing and able to buy them. some nice fret work by by @jimbrunner.bsky.social www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
seattletimes.com
Seattle shop attracts top rock stars seeking vintage guitars
Emerald City Guitars has weathered storms in Pioneer Square for nearly three decades to become one of the top vintage guitar sellers in the U.S., a word-of-mouth destination for touring musicians.
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
Ballard—Fremont border zone
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
Several Seattle school properties that were leased to developers in the 1980s are paying the district below-market rents, and won't expire until the 2080s--or, one case, 2181. “The language…is really in the tenant’s favor, and we’re stuck.” www.seattletimes.com/business/ami...
seattletimes.com
Amid $94M deficit, SPS leasing land across Seattle at 1980s-style rates
In the 1980s, the district leased unused properties to local businesses. But the century-plus deals have had unexpected, and not entirely welcome, results.
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
‘In Seattle, rising interest in co-homeownership is so evident that a new crop of housing developments & real estate companies [now sell] “fractional” homes—private bedroom suites w access to communal kitchens & living rooms.’ www.seattletimes.com/business/rea...
seattletimes.com
Buying a Seattle home is hard. Some found a friendly solution
People in Seattle are choosing to buy homes with friends and family, forging a new way to afford housing in a costly city.
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
“multiqueen super colonies” sounds like a something Elon Musk might have in for his Mars colony — but, no, it’s part of an earthly invasion— as The Seattle Times’ @pgcornwell.bsky.social reports www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
seattletimes.com
Odorous house ants are coming for your sugar. Here’s how to stop them
After a mild past winter, the ant population here is growing. Here's what you can do before ants come marching in one by one (hurrah, hurrah).
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
But Peter was a naughty rabbit who gossiped in Maths and had to stay after and write sentences and he missed his dinner.
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
Methow Valley police blotter is the best police blotter
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Historians uncover missing page from 1973 Whole Earth Catalog
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
sailor eclipse
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
January o’clock
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
After losing a legal battle with a developer, the Washington town of Cle Elum has swung from a potential housing boom to a $22 million bust, and is now contemplating bankruptcy, reports @jimbrunner.bsky.social www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
seattletimes.com
Cle Elum considers bankruptcy after giant bill leaves town deep in hock
The drastic step is a possibility as the town, with a general fund budget for this year of roughly $5 million, faces a staggering $22 million debt.
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
12 years of Inslee: @jimbrunner.bsky.social with a look back on the wins, losses and draws for one of Washington state's longest-serving governors. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
seattletimes.com
Jay Inslee’s wins and setbacks during his 12 years as WA governor
Climate and clean energy drew Inslee's intense focus, while critics point to the state's troubles in education, homelessness and ferries.
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
ivory towers
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
crack of dusk
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 25/12/2024
sleep in heavenly peace
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 25/12/2024
silent night
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
last direct sunlight of 2024!!! Also, until March!!!
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
Santa team building weekend, 2024!!!
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
the boys are back in town
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
history of flight
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
screen time
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
sun, dialed
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
After a summer of mixed guest reviews and a $4.6 million loan default in November, the new owner of Orcas Island's Rosario Resort has brought in veteran hotel experts and says he's close to having new financing & will fully reopen in May. www.seattletimes.com/business/str...
seattletimes.com
Struggling Rosario Resort looks to hotel experts, searches for cash
The vacation property’s new owner has brought in experienced partners and says he’s close to repaying defaulted loans – but still faces major challenges turning this 115-year-old resort around.
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Seattle's 'forever home' problem, via @heidigroover.bsky.social www.seattletimes.com/business/rea...
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
And that, children, is how Crown Hill saved Christmas
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Mary Ann Gwinn @gwinnma.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Good story by biz wiz @pauledroberts.bsky.social on the anti-Tesla backlash in Seattle
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
“It’s surprising how much more often I get flipped off now.” In liberal Seattle, driving a Tesla, whose maker helped reelect Trump, now can earn its own kind of ‘Seattle freeze’. Some Tesla fans say they won't get another--or have ditched the brand entirely. www.seattletimes.com/business/onc...
seattletimes.com
Once a must for wealthy Seattle liberals, Teslas now feel an Elon backlash
For years, Tesla enjoyed a celebrity status among Seattle area progressive and techies. But with the rightward tilt of Tesla's CEO, it's gotten complicated.
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
when AI designed a lamp
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
saturday, in the park
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Journal of Art in Society @artinsociety.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Mid-20th century artist Stanley Roy Badmin had a sharp, almost miniaturist eye for carefully composed detail, and shows a heroic disregard of modern trends in his depictions of an idyllic peacefully-ordered British landscape. Here’s his ‘Cushendall’ seek-unique-co.s3.amazonaws.com/guypeppiatt-...
Very tidy village in a wooded valley, with sea in background
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Donald Trump’s victory is giving Democrats—or some of them—political cover to rethink the government institutions that have been failing to deliver, argue @ezraklein and guests. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/22/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | In This House, We’re Angry When Government Fails (Gift Article)
The Democratic Party needs to rethink what it means to be the party of institutions.
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
How it’s done
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
“A lot has happened to me…I’m still standing and thriving, but I’m thinking to myself, ‘What’s the next big thing that could hit?’” For Seattle-area residents, Social Security isn't just a retirement income Via Jessica Fu/The Seattle Times www.seattletimes.com/business/eco...
seattletimes.com
For Seattle-area residents, Social Security isn’t just a retirement income
More than 1.2 million people over the age of 65 in Washington depend on Social Security benefits.
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
our lady of the perpetual discount
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Cruelest of all romance scams
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
9th remaining Sears closes ‘One customer noted the irony of Sears, founded as a mail-order retailer, losing out to abetter version of the same business model. “Everyone blames Amazon for closing brick & mortar stores. But these guys were the original Amazon.”’ www.seattletimes.com/business/at-...
seattletimes.com
Last Sears in WA is shutting down
The Sears at Southcenter mall, the last in Washington state and one of the last in the US, will close Dec. 15
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
The upgrade to a cloud-based system, which affects everything from driver licensing fees to foster care pmts, will now be 4 years late. An outside expert sharply criticized WA's project mgmt & raised pointed questions about how the new system is being tested. www.seattletimes.com/business/yea...
seattletimes.com
Giant WA project runs millions over budget, years behind schedule
Washington again postponed a major upgrade of state financial systems after a review found the project was so far behind schedule that it risked "catastrophic failure."
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Mike Baker @mikebaker.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
This is quite a chart. The median age of a first-time homebuyer is now 38, a record high.
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Oddly, demand is tiny for Seattle’s smallest non-floating home on the market—a 223-sq ft hotel room-turned-condo, w a little kitchenette & shared kitchen/bathroom sink. “We have to wait for the right buyer.” www.seattletimes.com/business/rea...
seattletimes.com
What the tiniest Seattle home for sale tells us about the condo market
At just 223 square feet, the Capitol Hill studio condo is one example of small living in Seattle.
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
“Less red” is the new “more blue”
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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 19/11/2024
My email inbox suggests the ratio is perhaps higher, as I'm pretty sure I've heard from at least 200k PR people.
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Stay Puft Marshmallow Man’s mom came around looking for him and she was pissed
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Paul Roberts @pauledroberts.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
November o’clock
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