The Seattle Times

SEATTLE -- Why wasn't this intruder getting the message?

The lord of the manor had warned him repeatedly to back off, with threatening gestures and loud admonitions. But the trespasser just sat there -- singing.

"BRING UP THE BODIES." By Hilary Mantel. Henry Holt. $28.

Readers new to British author Hilary Mantel's work through her 2009 novel "Wolf Hall" were introduced to a writer who can turn the oldest of stories into a spellbinding tale. What schoolchild doesn't know the story of King Henry VIII and his six wives? Especially wife number two, the doomed schemer Anne Boleyn? But reading "Wolf Hall," knowing the outcome didn't mean a thing -- Mantel's story of Henry's early reign, told through his right-hand-man, chief fixer and henchman Thomas Cromwell, lit up the early 16th century in such a way that for this reader, it was a rude shock to pause and realize that the early 21st was right outside the window.

SEATTLE -- Dan Savage, Seattle's reigning journalist provocateur, has again stumbled into the cross hairs of political conservatives, this time for a speech involving the Bible, gays and what he called a "pansy-assed" protest by high-school students.

SEATTLE -- Conscious Care Cooperative has a solid footing in a growing industry, with three storefronts in Seattle and a loyal customer base. But for much of the last two years, the nonprofit medical-marijuana provider has lacked one business basic: steady access to a bank.

The cooperative has bounced among five financial institutions, and four others rejected the cooperative outright, said CCC's president, Nate Chrysler. In one case, a bank closed the account without notice.

Last week's rankings in parentheses

1 Tigers (1) For Prince, best part of being on an Ilitch-owned team: unlimited crazy bread

2 Rangers (4) Which will come first, Yu-mania or Neftali-mania?

BEND, Ore. -- It was when the 20-something guest-of-honor in a beer-saturated bachelor party aboard the Cycle Pub mooned a passing limo that Bend really proved that, if anything, it's not boring.

If there's any doubt that this Central Oregon city of 81,000 has become the ultimate destination for combining outdoor recreation with beer tourism, the Cycle Pub should cinch it.

This common sight around downtown Bend combines the elements of a bicycle and -- yes -- a pub. Six bike seats, each with a set of pedals, face inward on each side of a bar counter. There's a big tire at each corner, a canopy overhead and a non-drinking driver. Bike meets beer.

Cycle Pub builder James Watts, a Bend local, saw a similar contraption in Germany two years ago, and "I just knew the minute I saw it, it was a perfect cultural match for Bend."

Pregnant with her first child, and with her husband in Iraq, Karilyn Bales took advantage of what seemed like a sure thing -- tapping into their home equity to help stabilize the family's finances.

But Bales and her husband, Robert, fell into the same refinancing trap in 2006 that dragged the U.S. economy into recession and left millions of Americans facing foreclosure.