English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in Seattle, WA

GameStop recently pulled the plug on nine Washington stores as part of a slew of closures around the country, its website shows.

Founded in 1984 — the same year that Tetris was introduced as a video game — GameStop has found it difficult to level up in the modern era, as the company goes head-to-head with major retailers and the latest technology.

The electronic retail company continues to manage more than two dozen locations statewide.

In recent years, the primary objectives of the Grapevine, Texas-based company have been to achieve profitability and expand its market.

That’s meant forfeiting its operations in Austria, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany and Italy, per company filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

As of February, the retailer operated 2,325 stores in the U.S., 374 in Australia and 311 across Europe. That count included 193 in Canada, though it sold its subsidiary in the Great White North since then.

The U.S. has not been spared from the cull. Almost 600 stores closed stateside in fiscal 2024, according to the filings, and GameStop planned to shutter “a significant number of additional stores in fiscal 2025.”

The company said in the filings that its biggest competition in the U.S. comes from Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Amazon, on top of opponents in the global market like Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft. “Technological advances,” including downloaded video games, have also strangled the business.

GameStop generated $821 million in net sales in its latest financial results for the third quarter of 2025 — a year-over-year drop from about $860 million. Net income amounted to $41.3 million for the period, compared to $17.4 million for the same quarter in 2024.

GameStop didn’t immediately confirm the list of closed locations. The affected locations are marked permanently closed online:

Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton: 206-652-6373 or mboyanton@seattletimes.com. Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton is a business reporter at The Seattle Times.

Climate Lab is a Seattle Times initiative that explores the effects of climate change in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The project is funded in part by The Bullitt Foundation, CO2 Foundation, Jim and Birte Falconer, Mike and Becky Hughes, Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Martin-Fabert Foundation, Craig McKibben and Sarah Merner, University of Washington and Walker Family Foundation, and its fiscal sponsor is the Seattle Foundation.

Washington’s Department of Natural Resources is making a renewed push for legislation that would allow it to sell carbon offset credits created from state timber lands.

Under bills proposed in the state Legislature, the credits would be sold to businesses during the state’s carbon-allowance auctions to balance greenhouse gas emissions and allow the state to conserve some forests. The bills would also allow the state to sell other environmental benefits like water rights and wildfire mitigation.

This latest effort comes with added urgency for Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove, who ran for office in 2024 on the promise to protect some of the state’s older forests. In August he signed an order to conserve 77,000 acres of “structurally complex” forests, which he says are vital to sequestering carbon, supporting critical habitat and providing biodiversity.

But DNR’s financial obligations have presented a thorn in Upthegrove’s plans. The state forestry agency is responsible for raising revenue through its land trusts to fund K-12 schools, counties and other services. DNR raised $198 million in the last fiscal year, primarily by auctioning off rights to harvest timber.

Upthegrove is pushing the state to find other ways to fund these services and local governments so his agency can focus on ecological sustainability.

“It’s an outdated system,” Upthegrove said. “We have lots of tools as a government on how to raise revenue. But when these older forests are gone, they’re gone forever.”

Now, he says it’s time for the state to enter the emerging markets for carbon and other “ecosystem services.”

A DNR report commissioned by the state Legislature and published in August found three near-term, economically viable ways the state could generate revenue off its 5.6 million acres of forest and other land that would not involve cutting down trees.

Among those, the most well-known may be to sell carbon credits.

As part of Washington’s 2021 Climate Commitment Act, the state’s largest polluters must buy allowances to release greenhouse gas emissions. Under proposed, DNR-backed bills, the state would generate offset credits from trees it protects from being cut down, selling them during the state’s carbon-market auctions. The idea is a company’s emissions would be canceled out by investing in conservation projects that absorb or hold what’s assumed to be an equal amount of carbon.

Offsets have been scrutinized for where they fall short, like whether they actually reduce carbon in the atmosphere. Drought, extreme heat, invasive beetles and wildfires — all becoming increasingly common — threaten the success of these projects if they destroy trees anyway even if they aren’t harvested for timber.

On average, carbon offset credits from timber lands could generate about a third of the revenue that timber sales currently do, according to DNR analysis. The report also stated there was a limited area — about 25,000 acres — where carbon offset credits could generate as much money as timber harvests. Plus, carbon regulatory markets can require commitments to preserve trees for 100 years or longer.

A second economically viable method is to enter another emerging market for “Avoided Wildfire Emissions,” in which companies pay for forest management that prevents wildfires.

Lastly, DNR’s report said the most lucrative way to make money off the state’s land trusts is to sell water rights. By directly leasing water rights to the rivers, lakes and groundwater on lands DNR manages to farmers or other customers, the report said DNR could potentially raise $15 million to $44 million annually. DNR staff said this option has social and environmental concerns, however, and would need further consideration.

Although analysis suggests that many of these markets may generate less net revenue than timber, DNR might want to explore them to diversify its current and future revenue streams, the report said. The report also found that entering new markets would likely take several years and require significant staffing along with changes in legal authority.

Upthegrove said he’s aware of the limitations of the approach.

“I’m not under the illusion that that generates the same revenue as wood products would, but it can be a piece of a larger solution that’s a meaningful part of it and has secondary benefits as well,” Upthegrove said.

His plan is drawing intense opposition from parts of the state that rely heavily on the timber industry.

“Selling carbon credits would not come even close to capturing revenue needed for Lewis County,” said Lindsey Pollock, a Lewis County commissioner.

She said the debate is not only over revenue DNR collects, but also the jobs and tax revenue the timber industry generates. She said those jobs provide income, pride and employment near workers’ families. And she said the timber industry already manages the land in a way that regrows trees in cycles.

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“This idea that you can give us pennies on the dollar to set aside even more land is reprehensible,” Pollock said.

In 2022, former Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz proposed removing 10,000 acres of state trust lands from timber markets for carbon offset credits, but 22 state legislators signed a letter expressing concerns and requesting a meeting with her. The effort failed.

Senate Bill 5999 and House Bill 2170 would grant DNR authority to generate revenue by selling carbon credits and other ecosystem services. They have both been referred to each chamber’s Agriculture & Natural Resources committees in the current legislative session.

Greg Kim: 206-464-2532 or grkim@seattletimes.com. Greg Kim is a reporter for Climate Lab at The Seattle Times who writes about the intersection of climate, energy and business. Previously, he worked on Project Homeless.

TACOMA, Wash. - The U.S. Department of Education has opened a civil rights investigation into four Washington school districts over allegations related to the participation of transgender athletes in girls’ sports and access to female spaces.

The districts under investigation are Tacoma, Sultan, Cheney and Vancouver, according to federal officials. The specific schools involved have not been publicly identified.

Allegations span multiple sports

Big picture view:

The complaints involve different sports and circumstances across the four districts.

In Cheney, concerns were raised about a transgender athlete competing in a women’s track team. In Sultan, the allegations center on a girls' volleyball team. In Vancouver, the issue involves girls' bowling.

In Tacoma, complaints allege that a male student was allowed access to female intimate spaces and permitted to participate on girls' sports teams.

Federal investigation tied to Title IX debate

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced the investigations as the U.S. Supreme Court considers the future of Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs that receive federal funding.

"Time and again, the Trump Administration has made its position clear: violations of women’s rights, dignity, and fairness are unacceptable," said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey in a press release. "We will leave no stone unturned in these investigations to uphold women’s right to equal access in education programs—a fight that started over half a century ago and is far from finished."

State law, local response

What they're saying:

The investigations come as Washington state law requires students to be treated as their identified gender while at school.

Just months ago, the Kennewick School Board approved an anti-trans ordinance. During discussion, opponents argued that there are fewer than a dozen transgender student-athletes statewide.

The Tacoma School District says it plans to continue following state law despite federal pressure.

In a press release, Tacoma school officials said they are concerned about the impact the investigation could have on upcoming spring sports tryouts, which are scheduled to begin in early March.

The district said it wants every student athlete to feel safe.

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SEATTLE - After a historic atmospheric river event in Washington took out roads, flooded entire communities, and caused damage across the Puget Sound region, locals and visitors alike have something to celebrate with the reopening of a large stretch of Highway 2.

US-2 was previously closed between Skykomish and Leavenworth, as drivers had to navigate detours via US 97 over Blewett Pass and SR-28 through Quincy. Weeks later, traffic returned to just the west side of Stevens Pass.

The highway acts as an important commerce corridor, in addition to providing commuting access to Stevens Pass. Skiers expressed frustration with the resort for not refunding season passes to ticket holders who did not have access to the resort.

The roadway was completely shut down back when Governor Ferguson allocated more state resources for a speedy recovery effort.

Those emergency repairs wrapped up on Saturday, Jan. 10 for US 2 Stevens Pass. Previously, just days before the new year, some earlier repairs had allowed for one-lane travel with a pilot car system ushering motorists across the washed-out area.

The highway that has been controlled by a pilot car is fully open to normal traffic flow, according to WSDOT East, all the way to Coles Corner.

What's next:

US 2 Tumwater Canyon, however, remains closed from Coles Corner to Leavenworth (MP 85-99).

The detour, Chumstick Highway, "is a county road with lower speeds and bridge restrictions and we will be doing repairs next week. Please be patient with fellow drivers and crews," says a WSDOT representative.

What they're saying:

"It's still a mountain pass in winter, so check conditions before you travel and be prepared."

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The annual U-Haul migration rankings offer a snapshot of where do-it-yourself movers are going, and where they’re leaving. The latest data — tracking more than 2.5 million one-way moves in 2025 — shows Washington is among the top states for the net gain in U-Haul one-way movers.

Nationally, the pull of the Sun Belt remains unchecked. Arrivals to Texas via U-Haul grew 3% from 2024, while departures rose just 1%. That was enough to rank Texas No. 1 for growth, marking the seventh time in the past 10 years. Florida followed closely behind, and the rest of the top five — North Carolina, Tennessee and South Carolina — continued the trend of warmer, generally lower-cost states dominating the leaderboard.

Washington in Top 10 for growth in U-Haul movers

The new U-Haul Growth Index report ranks Washington sixth in net gain in U-Haul movers in 2025. Texas had the largest in-migration, while California topped the states for out-migration.

But Washington — most definitely not a Sun Belt state — ranked sixth. Arrivals edged out departures by 1 percentage point here, but both grew significantly. Arrivals grew by 6% while departures increased by 5%.

Jobs and outdoor recreation are two factors that bring a lot of U-Haul movers to Washington, according to Seth McIntier, U-Haul area district vice president for most of Washington. “We see a lot of the younger generation moving into the state, especially the Seattle area,” he said.

Washington’s notable growth markets went far beyond the Seattle area. They were located on both the eastern and western sides of the state, including Anacortes, Bremerton, Chehalis, East Wenatchee, Ferndale, Gig Harbor, Lacey, Longview, Olympia, Port Townsend, Redmond, Ridgefield, Spokane, Tukwila and Vancouver. Clearly, the state’s appeal is not confined to its largest metro but extends to smaller cities where housing may be more affordable.

The Evergreen State climbed one spot in U-Haul’s growth index from 2024, marking its third straight year in the top seven. And for the fifth consecutive year, Washington recorded a net gain of U-Haul movers.

At the other end of the spectrum, California finished last for the sixth year in a row, with the largest net loss of U-Haul customers. On the bright side for the Golden State, at least its net loss was smaller in 2025 than the year before. Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Illinois rounded out the bottom five.

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Washington’s showing is impressive, I think, given that housing costs remain relatively high across much of the state — and in the Seattle area, of course, they are among the highest in the country. There have also been waves of tech layoffs in the past couple of years.

And one more thing: It rains a lot, at least on the western side of the state.

That really stands out because eight of the Top 10 growth states were in the Sun Belt. The other exception was Idaho, which ranked eighth. Conversely, nine of the bottom 10 states for growth were in the north, the exception being California.

U-Haul emphasizes that migration decisions are still primarily driven by personal circumstances. Even so, it seems clear that the combination of year-round warmth and affordable housing is a big part of the Sun Belt’s winning formula. Washington has neither of those things, but we are still drawing more do-it-yourself movers than we’re losing.

It’s also worth mentioning Oregon, which stood out as the state with the largest single-year climb in the rankings. In 2024, the Beaver State only ranked 34th and registered a net loss of U-Haul movers. Last year, it jumped to 11th, with a net gain of movers.

Gene Balk / FYI Guy: gbalk@seattletimes.com. Gene Balk is a columnist at The Seattle Times, where he writes about local demographics and other data for his FYI Guy column.