GeekWire's Most-Read Stories of the Week

Catch up on the top tech stories from this past week. Here are the headlines that people have been reading on GeekWire. ADVERTISEMENT [GeekWire]( SPONSOR MESSAGE: Grab your Sounders gear and join us for a Rooftop BBQ + Sounders Day.: [Register today!]( THIS WEEK'S TOP STORIES [‘Murder hornet’ nest cut from tree in Washington state; 1,500 developing insects found inside]( Another Asian giant hornet nest has been removed from a tree in Washington as the state’s Department of Agriculture tries to stay a step ahead of the invasive pest sometimes called the “murder hornet.” WSDA took the nest out of the inside of an alder tree in Whatcom County, east of Blaine, Wash., on Wednesday. [How is the ‘snowiest place on Earth’ faring in this record-hot summer? It’s a little rocky on Rainier]( Washington’s Mount Rainier is either the snowiest place on Earth, or a close runner up. [Cloud wars: Former Amazon Web Services leader Charlie Bell reportedly joins rival Microsoft]( Longtime Amazon Web Services leader Charlie Bell has reportedly taken a job at Microsoft. SPONSOR MESSAGE [GeekWire’s Summer Rooftop BBQ + Sounders Day Returns]( The party kicks off at 4:00 p.m. with a pre-game BBQ at First Mode in Pioneer Square, just footsteps away from Lumen Field. We can’t wait to get our favorite Geeks together to connect and enjoy the views! [Purchase tickets!]( [Jeff Bezos’ mom did not email me: How I got a troll to apologize, and why we might be friends now]( In my five-plus years at GeekWire, I’ve often wondered what it would take to get Jeff Bezos’ attention and how I would react if the Amazon founder emailed me about one of my stories. [Amazon cloud exec Charlie Bell’s new Microsoft job puts non-compete deals back in the spotlight]( What exactly will longtime Amazon executive Charlie Bell do at Microsoft? [Alaska Airlines plane evacuated in Seattle after passenger’s Samsung cell phone catches fire]( A cell phone fire in the cabin of an Alaska Airlines plane forced the emergency evacuation of passengers after the flight from New Orleans landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday night. SPONSORED: GEEK REAL ESTATE [Spacious Living with Incredible Sun-Filled Backyard in English Hill, Near The Eastside’s Tech Core]( [Seattle-area tech exec gets 2 years in prison in $5.5M scheme to defraud COVID relief program]( A Seattle-area tech executive who attempted to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 disaster relief loans through the Paycheck Protection Program was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday. [Toyota, Casio, Shell and others are using this Seattle startup to train their employees]( Companies today face a skilled worker shortage. [Microsoft to quadruple cybersecurity investments, spending $20B over five years]( [Updated below with Microsoft confirmation and related announcements from Amazon, Google, and Code.org.] Microsoft reportedly plans to quadruple its cybersecurity spending to $20 billion over a five-year period, according to a report out of a White House meeting this afternoon between President Joe Biden and U.S. [Tech Moves: Siblings at Seattle startup swap roles; Microsoft CVP departs to focus on DEI; and more]( — IoT startup Mason announced that founder and current CEO Jim Xiao will be swapping roles with his sister and current Mason President Nancy Xiao. [Seattle biotech firm Shape Therapeutics inks gene therapy deal with Roche worth up to $3B]( Shape Therapeutics has signed a deal potentially exceeding $3 billion with pharma giant Roche to support the development of gene therapies for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, the Seattle company announced Wednesday. [On The Dyrt road: Co-founders of camping app gain valuable startup insight while living remote vanlife]( Caught up in the grind of running their startup for the past several years, Sarah Smith and Kevin Long lost sight of the very thing they set out to help people do: go camping. [Judge removes ‘Compassion Seattle’ charter amendment from ballot; initiative aimed to curb homelessness crisis]( A state judge removed the “Compassion Seattle” measure from the November ballot on Friday, saying the proposal to change the way the city deals with its homeless population exceeds what the initiative process can legally do.  King County Superior Court Judge Catherine Shaffer said in an afternoon ruling that the initiative to amend the city’s charter conflicts with existing state law. [Seattle-area expense management software startup Center raises $50M]( Center, the Bellevue, Wash.-based startup that makes expense management software, has raised $50 million in new funding, the company confirmed Tuesday. [Ice cream news with a twist: Jeff Bezos has his own home soft-serve machine from popular L.A. brand]( This week-old news doesn’t exactly qualify as a scoop, but it is ice cream related, so dig in anyway. GEEKWORK: TODAY'S TECH JOBS - [INRIX: Sales Development Representative – Enterprise]( - [Chewy, Inc.: Software Engineer III]( - [Bluetooth SIG: Software Development Engineer in Test II]( - [Chewy, Inc.: Staff Product Designer]( - [Vulcan, Inc: Systems Engineer, Data Services]( - [Chewy, Inc.: Software Engineer III]( - [INRIX: Software Developer – Data Management]( - [Chewy, Inc.: Associate Director, Product Manager]( - [Chewy, Inc.: Software Engineer II]( - [Chewy, Inc.: Head of Forecasting]( [FIND MORE JOBS ON GEEKWORK]( [HIRING? 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