Will All-Star traffic be a home run for Seattle? Today So Far

• It's Major League Baseball's All-Star Week. That means traffic, which is a good and bad thing.
• Hyping Puget Sound's out-of-this-world industry.
• Amazon is preparing for its Prime Day event that's coming up next week.

This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for July 7, 2023.

Quick hits

• Seattle leader ignites change by sharing caste identity
• Red flag, dry conditions, multiple wildfires worry Northwest fire managers after Fourth holiday
• How fast can the auto industry go electric? Debate rages as the U.S. sets new rules

Today marks the first day of Major League Baseball's All-Star Week. That means traffic.

I know, I know. It means an array of sports delights to most people, and a chance to see their favorite athletes on the field. But if you're like me, your mind immediately thinks about all the cars that are going to funnel into Seattle — plan accordingly. For everyone flocking into town, please consider parking outside the city, and taking the light rail to the stadium. It goes right there.

For a lot of Seattle's downtown shops, this event means much-needed business. As KUOW's Joshua McNichols points out, "even the yarn store expects a rush." MLB"s All-Star Week starts Friday and continues through Tuesday. Each day, fans are encouraged to walk through downtown, from Pike Place Market to T-Mobile Park. Along that route, businesses are aiming to draw in the crowds, and many might not be the type that you'd expect to find sports fans frequenting. But they have plans. Read the full story here.

Another local economic event happened this week, but it went under the radar for most folks. Leaders from throughout the region's space economy, along with NASA and Sen. Maria Cantwell, gathered at Blue Origin's Kent HQ for an industry trade show. It offered a chance to network and see what kind of local activity is brewing around here, and it has been brewing. The Seattle-area space industry has doubled in just four years and more growth is needed if the region wants to compete.

It was also an opportunity for Sen. Cantwell to show off Washington's aerospace and tech capabilities. The space industry, and related STEM fields, has been a focus of the senator (she previously introduced a bill to clean up space junk in orbit around Earth). Her office had been hyping the event weeks in advance. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson was present this week to see everything from Blue Origin's work on the Artemis mission to what local colleges are cranking out. Read more here.

Amazon is preparing for its Prime Day event that's coming up next week. At the same time, the region is heating up and folks are pointing out that Prime Day requires the company's workers to brave that heat, such as delivery drivers who have to hit the hot roads. UPS is facing similar criticism.

Amazon tells KUOW's Monica Nickelsburg that the company has taken a variety of cooling measures, and has been preparing for the heat. Read more here.

AS SEEN ON KUOW

Rogan Shannon (left) and Kellie Martin pose after the closing performance of Deaf Spotlight’s Short Play Festival at 12th Avenue Arts in Seattle, Wash. on March 5, 2023. The festival featuring six plays written, produced and performed by Deaf creatives is back. (Kelsey Kupferer / KUOW)

DID YOU KNOW?

Central Washington is known for its agricultural industry, but to a certain crowd, this area is a massive tech moneymaker. You wouldn't immediately know it, because all this work is done out of sight.

Earning cryptocurrency generally requires a computer to process a complex math equation. Bitcoin, for example, rewards one coin per completed equation. The more servers you have doing this work, the more cryptocurrency you can produce. All those computers need to be plugged in, and they need to be kept cool, which means they suck up a lot of energy. Washington has some of the cheapest energy costs in the nation, particularly around places like Wenatchee. So for more than a decade, people have constructed server farms around Wenatchee just to earn crypto currency. It's become a boon for many. But places like Douglas County have caught on to this trend, and have taken steps to mitigate the increased demand on the grid. The trend has created some friction between locals and out-of-town crypto miners.

ALSO ON OUR MINDS

The U.S. added 209,000 jobs in June, showing that hiring is slowing but still solid

Overall, the jobs data shows a labor market that continues to hum along in some sectors, but is slowing down in others in a sign that the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes to fight inflation and having some impact though the job is far from done. Employers continued to add jobs in health care, business services, and construction. But retailers cut jobs last month, and factory employment was relatively flat.

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