Are you ready for some cricket?!: Today So Far

• Seattle just got a new professional cricket team.
• How do you recycle in the San Juan Islands?
• When will the cherry blossoms bloom this spring?

This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for March 17, 2023.

Would you go see a cricket game in Seattle? A group of locals are confident enough people will be interested to justify a new cricket team.

The Seattle Orcas is the newest team in town. It's more accurate to say that this team will represent our region. It doesn't have a playfield yet, but organizers are working with King County, Bellevue, and Redmond to build a 6,000-person cricket facility at Marymoor Park. The team is forming now and is slated to play in the 2023 season this summer against a handful of other teams popping up around the USA to create Major League Cricket.

An interesting point about the formation of this team is the group of investors bringing it to town, a veritable who's who of the local tech scene. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is one such investor, so is Sanjay Parthasarathy, former Microsoft and Valara executive.

“We are super excited to bring world class cricket to the Pacific Northwest, which has a vibrant and passionate community of cricket and sports fans," said Soma Somasegar, co-investor in the team and managing director at Madrona Ventures. "The Orcas name and the team’s colors pay tribute to our local community that has helped build that spirit of support."

For the non-sportsy type folks out there (I'm included in this group), our area already has one professional cricket team, the Seattle Thunderbolts, which is a minor league team that practices in Redmond and Issaquah. This team, and the new one, should spur some local curiosity. I look forward to checking out a game, and perhaps finally understanding what a "sticky wicket" is.

The folks living on the San Juan Islands are quite trashy, and I mean that in a very good way (I also mean it in a clickbaity way). Because, do you know how they recycle in the San Juans?

When you toss something into a recycling bin somewhere in the San Juan Islands — a can from San Juan Island Brewing, or a paper bag from the Lopez Island Farmers Market, or a jar from San Juan Sea Salt — that waste generally gets loaded onto a boat and shipped to South Seattle. That's where the processing facility is for much of the region's recyclables. All the materials get mixed up into one heap. But folks around the San Juans got worried that the materials weren't getting sorted well enough. Enter the Lopez Solid Waste Disposal District, which is a group of volunteers who separate out all the comingled recyclables for a little pre-processing. Plastic gets shredded and compacted. Glass gets ground up. That's a lot more efficient for travel.

Orcas islanders have a similar effort up and running and also have a composting program. They even grind up glass into sand which can be used in construction or landscaping. It's estimated that they have reduced what is shipped off-island by about 50%. You have to admit, this is all quite impressive. I'm a little inspired to get trashy myself. Soundside has the full story here.

If you've been planning your annual spring Instagram photos, then you'll be happy to know when the cherry blossoms will bloom at the University of Washington.

In short, peak bloom is expected in early April. That's when about 70% of the flowers will be on display in the Quad. UW has about 29 Yoshino cherry trees in its Quad, which draw a considerable crowd each year as they put on a flowery show. I'm not joking when I say to expect traffic delays around UW, potentially stretching out onto I-5, during this time. UW recommends folks try to visit during the week or early mornings to avoid the heaviest crowds. That way, you can capture the best family photo, Instagram glamor shot, or pretend like you're the star of your own anime.

The Friday Five: News you may have missed this week, and other cool stuff on KUOW.org

• Amazon makes move to disrupt the health care industry
• International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Putin
• Eavesdropping on orcas: Love, grief, and family
• Can those who need it rely on King County's in-home vaccination program moving forward?
• Tiny Trees, popular outdoor preschool in Seattle, shuts all locations: Mismanagement alleged

AS SEEN ON KUOW

According to a new study from the University of Washington and NOAA Fisheries, northern and southern resident orcas who live in the Salish Sea have different fish hunting patterns. The northern resident orca’s population has slowly increased. However, southern resident orca numbers are still dangerously low. Both types of killer whales eat salmon and other fish. (NOAA Fisheries)

DID YOU KNOW?

Happy St. Patrick's Day! As the patron saint of Ireland, a lot of legends have evolved over hundreds of years around this one person (some folks actually think the story of St. Patrick is a combo of two different people). The big tale you often hear is that St. Patrick came to Ireland to spread Christianity, and while doing so, he drove all the snakes off the island. That is why Ireland does not have any native snakes.

It's more likely, however, that an ice age is the reason that Ireland doesn't have any native snakes around. The last ice age ended around 10,000 years ago. During that time, Ireland was covered by ice or otherwise too cold for snakes. And after that, the fact that the country is surrounded by water made it difficult for any snakes to slither over. To date, there is also no evidence in the fossil record that there ever were native snakes on the island.

ALSO ON OUR MINDS

China leader Xi Jinping to visit Moscow in show of support for Vladimir Putin

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Russia from Monday to Wednesday, in an apparent show of support for Russian President Vladimir Putin amid sharpening East-West tensions over the conflict in Ukraine. Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine is expected to dominate discussions. China has sought to project itself as neutral in the conflict even while in 2022 Beijing declared it had a "no-limits" friendship with Russia and has refused to condemn Moscow's invasion.

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