Seattle-based Nordstrom reported first-quarter earnings that were better than expected, but the company is still struggling to navigate a new retail landscape. Revenues met Wall Street expectations at $3.35 billion, but sales at Nordstrom's brick-and-mortar stores are down.

The Environmental Protection Agency has settled a lawsuit with Canadian-owned Pebble Limited Partnership over development of a copper and gold deposit in southwest Alaska. Two years ago, the EPA proposed restrictions on the Pebble Mine in the Bristol Bay region. The settlement walks back that proposal, giving the company up to 30 months to apply for proper permits and limiting the agency from pursuing further restrictions for four years. Bristol Bay is host to a world-class fishery and produces

Apprenticeships are common in sectors like building and manufacturing, but now Washington state is trying to apply the model to the tech industry. The first cohort of 41 apprentices were pinned by Governor Jay Inslee in a ceremony Friday honoring the state's only registered tech apprenticeship program called Apprenti . The typical pathway for jobs in the tech industry tends to stem from four-year universities and coding schools. People complete those programs hoping to come out with the

Amazon hosted a ceremonial tree planting Thursday as work continued on the large glass domes at the center of the company's downtown Seattle campus. The Australian tree fern is the first plant to call the spheres home. The spheres will house a kind of indoor park for Amazon employees with hundreds of different species of plants from around the world. "This is an opportunity to link nature to today's office space," said John Schoettler, Amazon's vice president of global real estate and facilities

Two security officers who work on the Amazon campus in Seattle say their hours were cut after they marched to the company's headquarters on May Day. The Service Employees International Union filed a complaint Wednesday to the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of Abdinasir Elmi and Betiel Desta. Elmi and Desta are employed by Security Industry Specialists, a California-based company that contracts with Amazon. "This problem has been going on for a long, long time. This is not the first

Boeing is reporting an increase in profits from the same time last year even though there has been a decrease in plane sales. The Chicago-based aerospace company did see an uptick in deliveries on its 787 Dreamliner and expects good prospects as it rolls out the 737 Max. But Boeing is cutting output of the 777 jet, which has consequences for workers in Washington state. The company announced late last year that it would cut jobs as a result of slowing orders . There have been a couple rounds of

A national nonprofit to help military veterans become entrepreneurs has recently opened up a Seattle chapter. Bunker Labs aims to help veterans start their own businesses by connecting them to the resources they need to do so. Nearly half of World War II veterans went on to start a business, according to the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University. But a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows that less than five percent of veterans who have served since

About a dozen juniors and seniors from Tacoma high schools are helping build airplanes as part of the state's first youth apprenticeship in aerospace and manufacturing. The Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee launched the program last week with several manufacturers in Pierce County.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked a law that would allow for-hire drivers, including drivers for companies like Uber and Lyft, to unionize in Seattle. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik's granted a preliminary injunction Tuesday stopping continued implementation of the law until two lawsuits make their way through court. The ruling is seen as a setback for Teamsters Local 117 , which was recently certified by the city as a potential driver union. "It's disappointing to see that the

Starbucks has long taken on the mantle of socially conscious retailer. The Seattle-based coffee chain pledged commitment to those endeavors at Wednesday's annual shareholders meeting at McCaw Hall.