Bill Gates 2.0

Traditional methods of scientific research have not produced the medical breakthroughs he expected. Now he's going to use his money, through the Gates Foundation, to challenge old ways. The man is breathtaking.

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In the absence of an AIDS cure, prevention gains prominence

As vaccine research retrenches, scientists seek to provide a stopgap with new approaches to HIV prevention that were first explored with help from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

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Salmonella may be a key for a new vaccine

Gates Foundation-backed vaccine developers have found a way to send genetic text messages to the cells of the body to evoke immunity to pneumonia. It could save the lives of a million children a year, yet fluency in the language of the immune system will not come easily.

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Can Bill Gates also reinvent capitalism?

Michael Kinsley, the founding editor of Slate and a half-time Seattle resident, is involved in an interesting new project. It's a Web site gathering quality commentary about "Creative Capitalism." It's well worth looking at.

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Librarian Deborah Jacobs takes new job with Gates Foundation

Seattle City Librarian Deborah L. Jacobs, who joined the library system in 1997 and spearheaded a remarkable period of building new libraries, is leaving on August 10 to become deputy director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Global Libraries Initiative. The announcement is a surprise, as Jacobs had expressed her desire to serve many more years as City Librarian.

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The new Seattle Center: light on the vision thing

The new master plan for the signature park near the center of the city creates more open space and adds some good amenities, but it keeps the awkward Center House and proposes a living-together arrangement with school football teams.

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We're not as mega-rich as we thought

All you folks seething with envy over the fabulous wealth in the region, you can calm down a little. Not only is Bill Gates III demoted to No. 3 on Forbes' recent list of the world's billionaires; the Northwest, by my count, only places eight folks in the top 500. Nor does America hog all the wealth, as you might have imagined. Of the top 25 billionaires, only four are from the U.S. of A. They are: Warren Buffett (tops the list at $62 billion), Gates (third at $58 billion), Sheldon Adelson (the Las Vegas developer, 12th at $26 billion), and Oracle's Lawrence Ellison (14th at $25 billion). The country with the most billionaires in the top 10? India (with four).

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Northwest mega-donors were a little stingy last year

Slate.com is out with its annual list of the top 60 American philanthropists, and there's a surprise for the mega-wealthy Northwest. Only one person from the region makes the list, Phil Knight, the Nike CEO, who comes in 16th of the top 60 for his $100 million gift to the University of Oregon. That's it. No Bill Gates this year, though he's often led the list. Nor does any Washington institution figure as recipient of a large gift.

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How Sputnik 'beeped' Seattle into the 21st century

Fifty years ago, the launch of the first satellite changed the world, but one of the places that felt the impact most was Seattle. Not only did the orbiter alter the city's course, it influenced the generation of world-shapers that includes Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

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A tortuous course through Seattle Center and Seattle process

More than two years of planning and public hearings for a new skateboard park ended with an unplanned compromise site that is highly problematic. Here's what happened. Still unclear is why it happened.

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The paradox of Seattle billionaires: The bigger they are, the less we know about them

Paul Allen's recent interview with The Seattle Times provides a rare glimpse into the mind of a billionaire who's known more for his toys than for his intentions to develop Seattle.

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Timothy Egan unleashed

The longtime Northwest journalist and author lets fly some arrows in a guest column in The New York Times.

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Greening Seattle Center

With downtown crying for more park land, the pressure is on to make Seattle Center more park-like. New plans for recasting the Center seem to respond to that.

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