PEMCO in the Northwest

​Cyclists, you can greatly boost the odds of getting a stolen bike back if you keep a record of its serial number. Otherwise, most bikes never get returned.That's according to city police in Bellingham, where 325 bikes are stolen each year. Police typically search state and national databases for serial numbers of recovered bikes to see if they've been reported stolen. If the serial number doesn't appear, police eventually donate the bFull post

Households across the Northwest are bustling with back-to-school excitement: new clothes, pristine pencils, the promise of new friends and new adventures. But for elementary and middle-school students with sensory processing disorders, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, emotional-behavioral disabilities, autism, and extreme anxiety, the prospect of "back to school" can seem daunting.  That's wheFull post

​Clouds may obscure Monday's much-anticipated solar eclipse in some Oregon locales, so if you go, keep an eye on updated weather forecasts. And tide tables.Authorities warn eclipse-watchers not to camp on Oregon's ocean beaches Aug. 20 because of an unusually high tide of 9.5 feet that night. You'll stand little chance of clear viewing on the coast, anyway. For example, Accuweather predicts Newport will have 76% cloud cover and a midmorniFull post

Seattle and environs set a record Tuesday for consecutive days without rain (now 54 and counting), and this weekend we should break the record for consecutive days above 80 degrees.Our weather has baked the Northwest tinder dry, and you might consider taking advantage of it if you have parched moss crumbling on your roof. I'm removing mine tomorrow.When I say "you might," that comes with the huge disclaimer that you should never clFull post

​Your lawn most likely will survive if you don't water it during this long, warm Northwest dry spell. But you might cause yourself problems down the road.Last night I mowed my lawn for the first time in three weeks. It hasn't needed mowing because it's pretty dormant. I'm one of those who rarely waters in the summer, knowing from experience that my lawn always bounces back come September. In part, my mulching mower enables me to do that since thFull post