Drayage Brokersin Seattle, WA

A zebra that escaped from a trailer east of Seattle last weekend remained on the run on Friday, as authorities closed off trailheads at a nature area in hopes of keeping people away and easing her capture.

The zebra was one of four that escaped as they were being transported from Washington to Montana last Sunday.

The driver had taken the Interstate 90 exit for North Bend, in the Cascade mountain foothills about 48 kilometres east of Seattle, to secure the trailer, when the zebras got loose, surprising residents and drivers as they galloped into a rural neighborhood.

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Three were quickly captured after being corralled in a pasture.

But the fourth — a mare called "Z" — hopped a fence and has proved more elusive, spawning popular social media memes that have placed the animal everywhere from riding a ferry across Puget Sound to rounding the bases at T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners.

There have been several more realistic sightings, most recently on Thursday, according to Regional Animal Services of King County.

On Friday, King County officials closed off trail access points along the Snoqualmie Valley Trail in the Boxley Creek Natural Area, where the zebra seems to be frequenting.

People trying to come out to see the zebra may be spooking it and making it harder to recapture the animal, they said.

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"We're hoping that by closing the trail and getting people out of that area, maybe that will help us do a successful capture," said animal services spokesman Cameron Satterfield.

The zebra has been seen grazing and has been spotted on residents' trail cameras. There are dangers: The cameras have also recently captured cougars in the area.

On her Facebook page, King County Council Member Sarah Perry urged people to keep their distance.

"She is in an area where there are feeding zones to coax her out for a rescue, but every time a well-intended walker, bicycle or unleashed 'search dog' comes near her it makes rescuing her so much more difficult," Perry wrote Thursday.

"She is in good hands, and a rescue seems imminent, as long as we work together to give them room to achieve our goal."

SEATTLE -- Washington head men's basketball coach Danny Sprinkle announced the hiring of four assistant coaches on Thursday.

Andy Hill, Tony Bland, DeMarlo Slocum and Jerry Hobbie will serve as assistant coaches for the Huskies beginning in the 2024-25 season.

Hill comes to Seattle after a two-year stint on Coach Sprinkle's bench at both Utah State and Montana State.

"Coach Hill has done an incredible job the past two seasons, and I am thrilled for him to join me in Seattle," Sprinkle said. "He is a grinder who is tremendously detailed in his craft. Our players will love his daily approach and the positivity he brings. Andy has an impressive winning resume and is a great person to have on our bench."

Hill was promoted to Associate Head Coach during the 2023-24 season which saw the Aggies advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He has helped four programs advance to eight NCAA Tournaments and was named by Silver Waves Media to the top 75 Rising Assistant Coaches and top 100 Most Impactful Assistant Coaches lists several times over the last few years.

"As a kid who grew up in the state of Washington, having the opportunity to be a part of the Washington Husky Basketball program is a privilege and honor," Hill said. "It will be exciting to work with the great coaches in this state that I grew up watching and building relationships with. I look forward to representing this program and university in a state that I love. I'm thankful for the opportunity that Coach Sprinkle has provided me to be a part of Husky basketball and I look forward to a bright future with the Dawgs."

Hill's previous stops include Montana State, New Mexico, Utah and Montana, all as an assistant coach. While at Utah, Hill helped the Utes to five consecutive postseason appearances.

Tony Bland joins the Husky staff after most recently serving as the Head Basketball Coach at St. Bernard High School in Los Angeles. Bland was the Associate Head Coach at USC from 2013-2017 under Andy Enfield.

"Coach Bland has tremendous basketball knowledge and a winning pedigree," Coach Sprinkle said. "He has worked with and learned from some of the greatest coaches in our game and our guys will appreciate his perspective as a former player himself. He has a passion for developing young kids and that is why he is excellent in this line of work. He is the gym rat who will be in the gym at 6 a.m. shooting with players until late at night. I am super excited to welcome him to UW."

Bland spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, San Diego State, helping lead the Aztecs to the NCAA Tournament both seasons. He played for two national championship coaches in Jim Boeheim at Syracuse and Steve Fisher at San Diego State, advancing to three NCAA Tournaments as a player.

"I am thrilled to embark on this journey with the University of Washington, where every dribble is a step toward excellence, every play an opportunity for growth, and every game a chance to inspire greatness," Bland said. "I'm ready to lead, ready to learn, and ready to make every moment count. Go Dawgs!"

DeMarlo Slocum comes to Seattle after a second stint at the University of Utah, where he spent a total of 11 seasons on staff for the Utes men's basketball program.

"Coach Slocum is incredible in recruiting and developing young players and we are lucky to have him on Montlake," Sprinkle said. "He is one of the most respected assistant coaches in the country. He has worked at the highest level with some of the best coaches in the country and he will have a great impact on our players as well as our staff."

Slocum has over 20 years of Division I coaching experience, with stops at Utah, UNLV, Colorado State, Idaho, USC and Utah Tech (formerly Dixie State). Silver Waves Media named Slocum one of the most impactful high major assistant coaches in Division I basketball in 2022.

"I am extremely humbled and honored to be a part of such rich tradition here at the University of Washington," said Slocum. "Spending 11 years in the Pac-12, I always felt Washington had an elite platform for today's student athletes. I couldn't be more excited and thankful to work with Coach Sprinkle and the UW Athletics staff across the board. Go Dawgs!"

During his first stint at Utah, Slocum worked alongside Hill and developed a trio of Utah players into first-round NBA Draft picks. Slocum recruited Delon Wright and Kyle Kuzma to Salt Lake City, both of whom were drafted, along with 2016 Pac-12 Player of the Year, Jakob Poeltl. During that stretch, the Utes were the only Pac-12 school to produce a first-round draft pick in three consecutive years.

Jerry Hobbie returns to the Husky bench as an assistant coach. Hobbie was elevated to Assistant Coach prior to the 2023-24 season after serving as Special Assistant to the Head Coach for six seasons.

"Coach Hobbie has a wealth of experience and basketball knowledge that will greatly benefit our team," Sprinkle said. "He is well-connected all over the country, especially on the east coast and Texas, which we will need heading into the Big Ten."

Hobbie spent seven years on the Southern Methodist staff, making the NCAA Tournament in 2015 and 2017. The 2017 season saw the Mustangs record their most wins in program history with a 30-5 record.

"I'm very honored and grateful for the opportunity to work with Coach Sprinkle and the staff," Hobbie said. "As we join the Big Ten, it's an exciting time to be a part of building an elite program that will compete for championships."

Hobbie was an assistant coach at the University of Houston from 2007-10, during which time the Cougars reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nearly two decades.

Follow @UW_MBB on X/Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates on Husky Basketball.

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The transfer portal was a few hours from closing, which meant that Rutgers was four hours from guaranteeing the presence of an experienced backup quarterback on the roster. That is a huge deal in Power Four college football, where a capable backup quarterback is a luxury in this NIL world.

Yet, there was Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano, sitting in the Hale Center's football offices, discussing the direction that he was taking Rutgers' offense with his two quarterbacks. Hours before the portal closed, he told the relevant parties that Minnesota transfer Athan Kaliakmanis won the starting job.

It meant that seasoned quarterback Gavin Wimsatt and his 19 starts, including all 13 last season, had a few hours to get things in order before the transfer portal closed. It does not open again until the late fall, so if Schiano delayed the meeting by a day, Wimsatt was locked in as a Scarlet Knight.

That is not how Schiano operates. Players would see through it. So would Wimsatt. And recruits. And parents. And NIL reps and high school coaches.

"Coach demands we keep it real with him all the time, and he keeps it real with us," a source said. "That's the culture he instilled."

The move with Wimsatt comes with a potential cost of vulnerability in the fall.

Whoever wins Rutgers' backup job — redshirt freshman Ajani Sheppard and his two career pass attempts and true freshman AJ Surace are the contenders, unless Wimsatt withdraws from the portal and stays — brings a wealth of inexperience with it.

The conversation with Wimsatt could have waited. The next day, week, month or training camp could have produced the same conversation, but with the assurance that Wimsatt would be on the roster. Schiano did not want to do that.

It is a decision built on experience with quarterback transfer decisions.

Ryan Granger has never seen “John Wick.”

This may come as a surprise to some familiar with the coffee-roasting rock ‘n’ roller’s plans to open Seattle’s newest music venue — one that is definitely not named after Keanu Reeves’ assassin alias in the shoot-‘em-up action flicks.

The guitarist/vocalist with local psych-rock bruisers The Grizzled Mighty has spent the past six months hammering and sanding away to build out a longtime Pioneer Square nightclub space he’s turning into Baba Yaga.

Baba Yaga is one of several new or recently opened music venues in Seattle (more on others below). Granger hopes to open the “morning, noon, and night rock and roll clubhouse,” which will serve Mexican-inspired street food, by Cinco de Mayo. As the tagline suggests, the new hangout aims to be a place where music lovers — or anyone craving tacos, burritos or tortas — can start their day with a cup of house-roasted coffee and finish it with a Rainier (well, hopefully) and a rock show.

“It’s going to be an all-day clubhouse for people to come hang and have music several days a week and be open to all the events that happen in Pioneer Square,” said Granger, a former partner and roaster at a Portland Caffe Vita. “[We’re] excited to be part of the Pioneer Square renaissance.”

It will be another month or so until Baba Yaga’s downstairs venue space, with a capacity of around 200 and a Seattle underground vibe, will start filling out its concert calendar with regional bands and national touring artists. In the meantime, the upstairs bar/restaurant/cafe portion will be able to host smaller shows.

“I have a pretty good Rolodex of bands I want to bring in here that I know and love,” said Granger, who also plays with Seattle/Mexico City garage-punk quartet Mala Suerte. “It’ll be cool to offer a unique space to bands that haven’t played down in Pioneer Square before or aren’t familiar with Pioneer Square from outside the region.”

Nathan Chambers, who’s previously booked Alma Mater in Tacoma, Chop Suey and the Sunset Tavern, will join Granger as Baba Yaga’s talent buyer.

Prior to Granger getting the keys, the multilevel space at 124 S. Washington St. was most recently home to the Box House bar and downstairs dance club The Underground, although the location is perhaps best remembered for its nightclubbing years as the Last Supper Club in the 2000s.

Granger has been busy redoing the bathrooms, floors and bar area, building booths and stages, and updating the lights and sound system for Baba Yaga. It wasn’t exactly unfamiliar terrain for the former Sunset Tavern bartender who helped with the Ballard bar/venue’s pandemic remodel.

Oh, about the name: Baba Yaga is a recurring character in Slavic folklore, alternately depicted as a child-eating villain or a kindly old woman assisting the protagonist, whom the rocker developed an affinity for during the pandemic.

“She’s a witch that roams around the countryside in her cabin that’s semi-sentient and has chicken legs,” Granger explained. “I just thought it was a cool story and thought it would be a great logo for what we’re doing down here.”

While many bands playing Baba Yaga will deploy amplified guitars, the venue’s stages won’t exclusively host rock acts.

“We’ll have all sorts of shows for sure,” Granger said. “Any quality music deserves a home and we’re happy to provide it. But my wheelhouse is in rock ‘n’ roll stuff, so definitely gonna have the tendency to lean towards that, just because that’s what I know and love.”

Baba Yaga is the second musician-run venue to open in Pioneer Square this year, following the nearby Seattle Jazz Fellowship, which is temporarily filling the old Cafe Nordo space. Grunge-era institution the Central Saloon, perhaps a more obvious kindred spirit, is also just a block or two away.

Longer term, Granger dreams of throwing a music festival in Pioneer Square (RIP Upstream), a neighborhood he sees as being on an upswing after a longer pandemic recovery, and potentially adding a recording studio in the basement.

“It’s going to be the start of something that can only grow,” Granger said, “and I’m excited that Pioneer Square is also growing up, too.”

Baba Yaga joins a few other new additions (or revivals) to the Seattle club scene. After getting the development boot from its University District home last year, punk rock pirate bar Kraken Bar & Lounge reopened in a new location in April. The crew behind the definitely-not-a-hockey-bar with food critic-approved burgers didn’t have far to lug their L-shaped wooden bar from its previous space, taking over the old Cafe Racer location just a half-mile away at 5828 Roosevelt Way N.E. The Kraken 2.0 resumed hosting weekend shows in mid-April, and this Saturday’s slate features post-hardcore destroyers Yellfire, Wipes and Fell Off.

Across town, the long-anticipated Black & Tan Hall (5608 Rainier Ave. S.) began ramping up its events this spring with biweekly Thursday jazz jams, a Black punk film, food and music weekend back in March, and a recent date with Seattle hip-hop stalwart Gabriel Teodros and sizzling newcomers Day Soul Exquisite. Named after a fabled Seattle club that was part of the Jackson Street jazz scene until the 1960s (the phrase “black and tan” referring to racially integrated clubs during segregation), the cooperative venue and restaurant purchased its Hillman City building with help from a $1.2 million city grant at the end of 2020.

With its community-centric ethos and designs of being a cultural hub through food and performance art, the Black & Tan Hall is a gentrification counterpunch that makes for one of the most exciting venues to open in recent years. On Friday, astute KEXP DJs Riz Rollins and Supreme La Rock throw a James Brown tribute party at the Rainier Avenue venue, spinning cuts from the Godfather of Soul, his band mates and disciples (9 p.m. May 3, $10, 21-and-older).

Michael Rietmulder: mrietmulder@seattletimes.com; Michael Rietmulder is The Seattle Times music writer.

After landing in Seattle Thursday morning, Byron Murphy II and his family made their way to the Virginia Mason Athletic Center for Murphy's introductory press conference and they caught Seattle on a good day, the sun was shining and the weather was relatively warm. To open up his presser, Murphy introduced some very important people who were sitting front row: his mother, father and girlfriend.

"Today who I have with me in the corner right here. Got my dad, Byron Murphy Sr. Got my mom, my queen, Seneca Murphy. And my beautiful girlfriend, future wife, soon, Maya Hurd."

Outside of having a press conference, Murphy was fitted for his helmet, took photos by Lake Washington and started meeting all the new people that will be part of his everyday routine at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

Murphy's parents and girlfriend tagged along, all with faces full of happiness.

"It was something we've been waiting for," Murphy's mother said. "This is the ultimate goal for what he's been wanting to achieve, and he finally reached that ultimate goal of being a professional. And being picked and not only being picked but being picked in the first round, and not only the first round but the top 20. I was happy… That's a blessing not many people get to experience."

Before arriving at the team's facilities in Renton, the family celebrated Murphy being drafted with friends and family in Texas.

"The whole city of Dallas came out and showed him love and we were excited about that," Murphy's mother said.

Leading up to draft night, the family said they didn't really know what to expect because of all the buzz around Murphy. "I actually thought he was going to go before he was picked," Seneca said. "Because mock drafts had him going to Atlanta or Chicago, so we really didn't know…We were just excited and proud of him of everything that he's achieved. For me it was just pure excitement for him."

Seneca teased that she didn't cry on draft night, but her husband did.

Murphy Sr. said he was, "Very emotional, it's an amazing feeling, seeing my son reach his dream and I had the same dream too, once as a kid. It's an amazing feeling. Blessed and highly favored."

One sentiment that the Murphy family kept expressing was how grateful, blessed and excited they were for Murphy II.

"Definitely excited for the new chapter," his girlfriend, Hurd, said. "Because we're starting it together. It felt good to know that we were going to go somewhere that God had planned."

And on a goal that Seneca has for her son, "Come out here and give it all he has. Like he said, 'Put his head down and go to work.' Like I always expected him to do. No matter what level he plays on, whether it was pee-wee, high school, middle school, or college. I expect the same thing when he's with the Seahawks. I expect him to come out, work hard, give it all he's got and be successful. Impress his coaches, do what they ask, be coachable, do what you're supposed to do, on and off the field. The expectations have not changed since becoming a professional."

As for Murphy Sr. his goals for his son were straightforward: Defensive Rookie of the Year and staying "true to what got you here."

His parents both have high hopes that Murphy II can have a good rookie year and bring home the award.

"I've seen it, the last couple years they cheated the Seahawks out of Defensive Rookie of the Year, he's going to break the cycle," Seneca said.

PHOTOS: Seahawks 1st Round Pick Byron Murphy II Arrives At The Virginia Mason Athletic Center

Seahawks 1st round pick Byron Murphy II arrived at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center for the first time on Thursday, May 2, 2024. Check out some of the best photos from his first day with the Seahawks.