July 2012

Best Northwest Hikes and Walks

Best Northwest Hikes and Walks

Find serenity, soaring views—and a sweet workout—on these 20 spectacular trails.

A sweeping glacial vista on a bluebird afternoon…an ancient rain forest, trees dripping with moss…the fecund scent of a deep mountain meadow…come July, our hearts yearn for the sweet sylvan dream that is Northwest hiking. Like nowhere else in the world, here, a short drive and an adventurous spirit are all it takes to transport…

High Tech Help for Preventing Sports Brain Injury

High Tech Help for Preventing Sports Brain Injury

A Seattle company could hold a key to solving the nationwide epidemic of sport-related concussions.

The numbers are staggering: An estimated 3.8 million sport- and recreation-related concussions occur every year across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But a Seattle company could hold a key to solving the nationwide epidemic of sport-related concussions. X2Impact has created head-impact monitoring systems to help team physicians and athletic…

Three Livesaving Developments Pioneered Locally

Three Livesaving Developments Pioneered Locally

Including the first new drug approved by the FDA for Hodgkin’s lymphoma in more than 30 years.

Three Eastside tech firms have pioneered lifesaving new devices and treatments in the past year. Redmond’s Mobisante has created a MOBILE ULTRASOUND IMAGING DEVICE—the MobiUS SP1 ultrasound system—that is the first smartphone-based diagnostic device to be cleared by the FDA. The device, released last October, fits into a pocket and can be charged anywhere, making…

Multiple Sclerosis Update: Major New MS Center Opens in Seattle

Multiple Sclerosis Update: Major New MS Center Opens in Seattle

Multiple sclerosis is more prevalent in the Northwest than almost anywhere else on earth, for reasons that are largely unknown, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society—more than 12,000 people in the Northwest, Montana and Alaska have been diagnosed with the disease. To battle that statistic, Swedish Medical Center has just opened the largest and…

"Smart" Cancer Treatment for Kids

“Smart” Cancer Treatment for Kids

This developing therapy could potentially one day eliminate the need for chemotherapy and radiation.

There’s a powerful new weapon in the battle against pediatric cancer, thanks to a new “smart” therapy that could one day eliminate the need for chemotherapy and radiation. The therapy harnesses the power of the immune system to recognize and fight cancer. Here’s how it works: A child’s immune system is reprogrammed to recognize and…

Sleep Deprived in Seattle

Sleep Deprived in Seattle

Why local experts are prescribing fewer sleeping pills despite a growing insomnia epidemic.

When Courtney Crocker found herself wide awake and cleaning her house at 4 a.m., she knew she needed a different way to manage her insomnia. A recent nursing school graduate, Crocker, 30, of Eastlake, had been assigned the night shift at the University of Washington Medical Center’s intensive care unit. Within a couple of months,…

Share Wear: Shop for Kids' Secondhand Clothes Online

Share Wear: Shop for Kids’ Secondhand Clothes Online

Here’s a sweet, supergreen spin on kiddie consignment: a new online marketplace that lets you buy and sell those barely used “outgrowns” within your own neighborhood. Launched in March by West Seattle mom Pamela Boyd (and named for her nearly 1-year-old daughter, Clara), ClarasMom.com lists goods by item type (clothing, maternity, toys, gear and more)…

Websites and Apps For Your Health

Websites and Apps For Your Health

We checked in with local doctors* to find out which sites they recommend—and use themselves.

With thousands of health-related websites and smartphone apps to choose from, finding the best can be daunting. We checked in with local doctors* to find out which sites they recommend—and use themselves. 7 Great Websites I want trustworthy general medical informationNlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/The National Institutes of Health’s website offers very good general health information and a good…

Smart Stationery Makes Snail Mail Fun Again

Smart Stationery Makes Snail Mail Fun Again

Two new Seattle-based companies are focused on improving the mail we get.

inboxFounded by four Seattleites who wanted to share special photo moments with relatives who aren’t on Facebook or email, Postcardly (postcardly.com) delivers personalized paper postcards to your friends and family with a few mouse clicks. After signing up for an account (subscribe to five cards per month for $4.99; 15 cards per month for $9.99;…

Spend a Day on Vashon Island

Spend a Day on Vashon Island

Just a short ferry ride away from Seattle, this laid-back island’s quaint shops always enchant.

If you’ve been pondering a jaunt to Vashon Island, this month offers the perfect reason: The annual Strawberry Festival (July 20-22; vashonchamber.com) brings arts and crafts, live music, parades and carnival rides to the quaint downtown streets, which already play host to homegrown art collectives, niche shops and new restaurants that beckon the weekend adventurer…

5th Avenue Theatre Brings Back "Rent"

5th Avenue Theatre Brings Back “Rent”

And the staff promises this version will be like no other production you've seen before.

Based on Puccini’s La bohème, Jonathan Larson’s rock musical about starving artists living in the shadow of AIDS in New York’s East Village won the Tony, the Pulitzer and the hearts of countless audiences when it debuted in 1996. Fast-forward to 2012 (many seasons since we first heard Rent’s celebratory anthem, “Seasons of Love”), and…

Global Warming

Global Warming

With rejuvenation and rediscovery comes self-examination.

Our city is in the midst of a multidisciplinary—dare we say postrecession—renaissance. The 50th anniversary of the Space Needle and the opening of Chihuly Garden and Glass have reinvigorated the city’s creative spark, getting many of the most jaded cynics excited again. The Pike Place Market remodel is complete, and it’s all gussied up in…