Seattle Times announces more local news partners

The Seattle Times is expanding its partnerships with local news Web sites with the addition of five more sites today. That brings the total number of partner Web sites to 33. (See the complete list, along with their latest headlines.)

Partnering with The Times today are:

• The Signpost Blog | This information-packed blog is produced by the staff of the Washington Trails Association. Postings include everything from trail conditions to advocacy to volunteerism. It's named for the Signpost magazine (no longer in existence), which was started in 1966 by the late guidebook author Louise Marshall as a way for trail lovers in the Northwest to share their backcountry adventures and trail conditions.


• VintageSeattle.org | Editor Jess Cliffe's visual blog documents Seattle's history by way of old photographs, postcards, advertisements and buildings. The website's vast photographic archives offer an appreciation of where we've come from.

• Ravenna Blog | Editor Rebecca Nelson reports on hyperlocal news and events in and/or affecting the Ravenna neighborhood in Northeast Seattle. Her site also encourages community conversation and civic engagement.


• Hiking with my Brother | Nathan and Jeremy Barnes describe the site as "ramblings by Seattle-based brothers on hiking around the Pacific Northwest. Website contains photos, maps, route descriptions, gps tracks, etc."


• Plant Talk | Valerie Easton writes regularly about gardens and the people who make them. She has written a gardening column for The Seattle Times' Pacific Northwest Magazine for the last 14 years and is author of four books on gardening. A former horticultural librarian at the University of Washington, she now lives in the town of Langley on Whidbey Island where she loves to hike, read, garden and blog.

The Times' effort to build community-news relationships began in August 2009 with the launch of the Networked Journalism project. Read about that project here.

By partnering with these quality local sites, the Times can provide its readers with more links to important coverage about both neighborhoods and specialty topics.