KUOW Blog
News, factoids, and insights from KUOW's newsroom. And maybe some peeks behind the scenes. Check back daily for updates.
Have any leads or feedback for the KUOW Blog? Contact Dyer Oxley at dyer@kuow.org.
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Should Seattle have a 'no idle zone' for cruise ships?: Today So Far
- The Port of Seattle is working toward a bold new policy for the many cruise ships that frequent our shores — they have to plug in.
- About $28 million in Washington state is now slated to address food insecurity.
- It appears that most Seattle City Council members support Mayor Bruce Harrell's goal of a $1 billion housing levy.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for April 6, 2023.
The Port of Seattle is working toward a bold new policy for the many cruise ships that frequent our shores — they have to plug in.
Right now, when a cruise ship ties up in Seattle and drops off its many passengers, it's likely idling its engines to keep its own electricity running. This is like when you pull into your driveway, but can't turn off your car because you need your radio on to finish listening to a story on 94.9 KUOW. Unlike your tiny car engine, however, cruise ships have massive engines that can spew tons of carbon pollution into the air. An option to get around this is to simply have them plug into power on the shore and turn their engines off.
"We are working towards having all of our cruise ships plug in. It will be a requirement by 2030, if not sooner," Stephanie Jones Stebbins with the Port of Seattle told Soundside.
This is already an option for ships, but participation has been low — 37% of ships in 2021, and 21% in 2022. Stebbins notes that not all cruise ships have the ability to plug in, currently, but as that changes, participation is expected to go up. The trips these ships take to Alaska, however, could potentially pump 2,800 metric tons of carbon into the air (That's sciency talk for "a lot"), and there are other ports along the way. Big picture: The Port of Seattle has started an effort toward a "Green Corridor," which aims to decarbonize the Northwest shipping channel. Cruise ships are the first targets for this effort. Soundside has the full story here.
About $28 million in Washington state is now slated to address food insecurity. Lawmakers just passed a bill to make it happen. The money will be funneled to hunger relief organizations. In the Seattle area, one such organization tells KUOW that donations are not keeping up with demand.
“Part of the challenge is that grocery donations have also been down as people are challenged to deal with higher costs of food for their own household tables as well,” said Christina Wong with Northwest Harvest.
The money is coming as a couple factors (among others) are influencing food insecurity in our region. Inflation has been the big one we've all noticed over the past couple years, driving the price of food up and making us all visit multiple grocery stores to find the best price for eggs. The second factor is that over the past few pandemic years, government assistance for things like SNAP (food buying assistance) was increased. That helped as finances were tight. Now, those increased benefits have phased out, meaning less financial assistance for food at the same time prices are up. KUOW's Ruby de Luna has the story here.
It appears that most Seattle City Council members support Mayor Bruce Harrell's goal of a $1 billion housing levy. The mayor's plan is to use the levy to pay for affordable housing and related services.
Seattle's current housing levy (which began in 2016) expires this year, meaning a big chunk of revenue is about to go away. The city has used these funds to pay for an estimated 2,741 rentals. It has also helped low-income buyers purchase a home in Seattle. The new levy is not only being crafted to replace the expiring one, it's doubling down on it. To be more accurate, the current levy proposal is three times larger than the old one.
While the mayor's proposal will likely be favored by the City Council, KUOW's Joshua McNichols points out that each member has their own priorities for the money. Expect a financial tug of war at City Hall as different interests try to pull some funding their way. Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda is bringing up labor. Councilmember Sara Nelson wants consideration for helping small landlords offering affordable housing. And Councilmember Lisa Herbold wants more of the funding to flow into her district in West Seattle. Read the full story here.
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Rolling toward Washington state: support for e-bikes
If you want to drive an electric car, all sorts of tax breaks and government programs can help with the expense: a $7,500 federal income tax credit and an exemption from Washington state’s 6.5% sales tax, to name just two.
But if you want to ride one of the most climate-friendly electric vehicles of all, you’re basically on your own.
Legislators in Olympia aim to change that.
As part of their proposed $13 billion transportation budgets, the Washington state Senate and House of Representatives have both approved spending several million dollars to expand access to electric bicycles.
Both chambers support creating $2 million worth of e-bike libraries to lend out the climate-friendly, space-saving vehicles.
The Senate has also approved $5 million in rebates for people who buy an e-bike: a $300 rebate for any Washington resident who buys an e-bike or a $1,200 rebate for a low-income buyer.
What actually gets funded over the next two years awaits budget negotiations between the two chambers and the governor’s signature.
As Washington state tries to shift from fossil fuels to clean electricity, the main push has been for electric cars.
Cars are the dominant transportation vehicle in the state and can do things—like transport a family of four—that no bike or e-bike can.
On the other hand, an e-bike costs a tiny fraction of what a new car costs to buy or operate.
E-bikes have small electric motors as well as pedals and can be propelled by a mix of human and battery power.
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Is a capital gains tax coming to Seattle?: Today So Far
- Some Seattle leaders are considering a capital gains tax for the city.
- We need to find something to do with all these green crabs showing up in the Northwest.
- Washington state is stockpiling doses of the abortion drug mifepristone.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for April 5, 2023.
Seattle is looking at starting up its own capital gains tax.
Last month, Washington's Supreme Court concluded that the state's new capital gains tax was A-OK (long story short, the court said that it's an excise tax, not an income tax, which is not allowed under state law). It didn't take long, like a week and a half, for Seattle leaders to start planning for their own capital gains tax. KUOW's David Hyde consulted some experts, who say that capital gains taxes at the local level are now entirely possible, so something like this was inevitable following the court's ruling.
“I think that the court ruling reaffirms what many of us already knew, which is that capital gains should be considered a viable option at the state or local levels,” Seattle Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda told KUOW.
It's unclear exactly how this tax is going to influence Washingtonians. Only time will tell. The state's capital gains tax is targeted. It only hits profits on the sales of stocks and bonds exceeding $250,000. It doesn't kick in for real estate sales or retirement accounts. So the pool of people this affects is small. The tax is expected to produce $500 million annually. Still, one financial company has already opted to move its headquarters out of Washington as a result of the tax. Startup leaders told GeekWire that this will have ramifications on Washington's startup scene, specifically whether companies will choose to come to, or expand, in the area. Stocks can be a form of compensation for such companies. Others in the scene say it won't scare off too many folks. GeekWire also reports that existing data indicates wealthy people don't seem to move based on taxes.
What is certain: Seattle is slated to come up about $200 million short each year, starting in 2025. A new, local capital gains tax is likely to be part of a package to address that shortfall. Read more here.
We need to find something to do with all these green crabs showing up in the Northwest. Shellfish growers are calling for a "blitz" to knock down their population. Over on the Long Beach Peninsula, around Willapa Bay, folks have been farming oysters and clams for years. About 70% of the state's oyster harvest comes from this one area. The invasive green crabs knock down these local populations, which is bad for the growers, and bad for seafood menus. Green crabs basically take everything, because they're very shellfish.
"They'll eat all the shellfish if they get established, then move on to everything else that they can eat. All the habitat – the eelgrass which is so important, they even take that out eventually," Willapa Bay Shellfish owner Warren Cowell told Northwest News Network. "So, what's at stake here is Willapa Bay as a whole, the whole ecosystem and everything that it contributes."
People like Cowell are now setting crab traps, aggressively, to "hold the line." They're taking in as many green crabs as they can catch. We could eat the green crabs, but they're not as easy to dish up as other varieties. There has also been talk of using them as fertilizer. A Bellingham company can turn the shells into textiles and other products, but it only uses the shells, not the rest of the crab. Some people have even tried turning them into whiskey. Maybe this is an "all of the above" type situation. Perhaps a new green crab industry is on the horizon, producing fertilizer, compost, booze, textiles, and more. If any of our region's entrepreneurial minds want to make a buck, I'd point you in this direction. Read more here.
Washington state is stockpiling doses of the abortion drug mifepristone. The move comes as a federal judge in Texas is expected to make a ruling that could limit supply of the drug nationally, potentially making it as difficult to obtain as it is to say the word "mifepristone."
Washington has a plan to counter the decision, but the way the state is going about it is a bit odd. Washington's Department of Corrections has a pharmacy license, which allows it to purchase and store drugs. The DOC is getting 30,000 doses of mifepristone, and lawmakers in Olympia are pushing through a bill that would allow the department to distribute the drug to health care facilities around the state. On top of that, the University of Washington is getting 10,000 doses of its own. Gov. Jay Inslee says this will give the state a four-year supply. Read more here.
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King County Sheriff urged to provide more interpreters for non-English speakers
An oversight committee is urging the King County Sheriff's Office to do better around how it communicates with people who don’t speak English.
The recommendations stem from a 2022 internal investigation. It looked at a traffic stop involving two King County Sheriff’s deputies. The man they pulled over alleges he was discriminated against because of his Hispanic heritage, and alleges the deputies used excessive force. At one point, the man ended up on the ground as deputies arrested him.
According to the investigative report, "The complainant alleged that one of the deputies at one point placed their knee on his face while he was on the ground, resulting in a minor mark. The complainant stated that he was not hurt by this but was sure that it occurred."
During the interaction deputies had struggled to find a way to communicate with the man. He had a blood alcohol level higher than the legal limit for someone to drive in the state of Washington.
The man was arrested before a Spanish-speaking detective was able to help translate for the deputies. The report says the man arrested did not speak English well, but “that he can understand everything.”
Katy Kirschner is with the county’s office of law enforcement oversight, which takes a look at such cases.
“We noticed that the policy that addresses use of interpreters actually only had requirements for American Sign Language, and not a lot of policy that spoke to non-English speaking individuals," Kirschner said.
She says they have plenty of resources, but not many are requirements, or even outlined in officers' handbooks.
The oversight committee outlined several ways for the sheriff’s office to address this gap in a letter, including ways to identify language barriers and provide interpreters.
In a statement provided to KUOW, the sheriff’s office says it’s currently working to update its policies to reflect best practices, and has a language access liaison who is "actively addressing and improving the department’s policies, tools, and processes to assist community members needing assistance with languages other than English or sign language."
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Twitter labels NPR's account as 'state-affiliated media', which is untrue
Twitter added a "state-affiliated media" tag to NPR's main account on Tuesday, applying the same label to the nonprofit media company that Twitter uses to designate official state mouthpieces and propaganda outlets in countries such as Russia and China.
NPR operates independently of the U.S. government. And while federal money is important to the overall public media system, NPR gets less than 1% of its annual budget, on average, from federal sources.
Noting the millions of listeners who support and rely upon NPR for "independent, fact-based journalism," NPR CEO John Lansing stated, "NPR stands for freedom of speech and holding the powerful accountable. It is unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way. A vigorous, vibrant free press is essential to the health of our democracy."
NPR officials have asked Twitter to remove the label. They initially assumed it was applied by mistake, NPR spokesperson Isabel Lara said. "We were not warned. It happened quite suddenly last night," Lara said.
In response to an NPR email for this story seeking comment and requesting details about what in particular might have led to the new designation, the company's press account auto-replied with a poop emoji — a message it has been sending to journalists for weeks.
'Seems accurate,' Musk says of state-affiliated label
Twitter's owner and CEO, Elon Musk, has acknowledged the new tag was applied to NPR. Responding to a tweet about the shift, Musk posted an image of a screenshot showing Twitter's policy defining state-affiliated media, with a short message: "Seems accurate."
Twitter's policy describes state-affiliated media as "outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution."
As recently as Tuesday, Twitter's policy page stated explicitly that NPR would not be included in this label — before the wording was altered to remove NPR.
"State-financed media organizations with editorial independence, like the BBC in the UK or NPR in the US for example, are not defined as state-affiliated media for the purposes of this policy," the document said.
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Relief is on the way for Washington food banks struggling to keep up with demand
House Bill 1784, a hunger relief bill, is making its way to Gov. Jay Inslee’s office for his signature. The bill will earmark $28 million to hunger relief organizations to address food insecurity.
Northwest Harvest’s community market in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood opens its doors three days a week. Here, people fill their bags with grocery staples and fresh produce.
Christina Wong, the organization’s director for public policy, said donations have not kept up with demand for food.
“Part of the challenge is that grocery donations have also been down as people are challenged to deal with higher costs of food for their own household tables as well,” Wong said.
Wong notes part of what’s driving demand is people on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a federal food assistance program also known as SNAP, lost their emergency aid in February.
“That end of emergency SNAP allotments doesn’t mean that there’s a reduction in need,” she said. “If anything, it just means people have less money to shop for food.”
Wong said the state funds will help keep food banks stocked for the next few months.
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OK, OK, OK! Let's talk about Trump: Today So Far
- The case against Trump has finally reached the court Tuesday and the full charges have been revealed.
- Seattle considers a new tax for affordable housing.
- Small Washington communities, far from Seattle, also face affordable housing challenges.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for April 4, 2023.
When I arrived in Los Angeles for vacation last week, I met up with some friends, and the first thing they said to me was: "Did you hear Trump got indicted!?" Even when stepping away from work, it seems that all anyone wants to talk about is the news — that news.
Trump facing an indictment is a big deal. This has never happened to a former president. He's in New York right now to face the music (but he'll head back to Florida soon). Expect more headlines later today, and stay tuned to KUOW.org, as this story develops.
RELATED: Trump pleads not guilty to 34 charges; admonished by judge
Here are a few basics. Trump was arraigned today. That means his first court appearance, which is usually just getting the judicial process started — paperwork, fingerprints, mugshots. Don't expect to see a mugshot any time soon, unless you're donating to Trump's campaign. This is also when a defendant hears the charges against them and can enter a plea. Trump is pleading "not guilty," and not just because he's Trump and that's the sort of thing he does. In my experience covering various (lower level) court stories, defendants almost always plead "not guilty." This is a bargaining tactic. I've seen defendants say "not guilty," then get lower sentences, different charges, etc. before pleading "guilty." I doubt that will be the case here. Todd Blanche, a former federal prosecutor, is heading up Trump's legal defense. Pleading "not guilty" could mean this goes to trial.
The main takeaway from the 34 charges Trump is facing is that he is accused of falsifying business records. A 23-person grand jury just spent months going over such details to produce these charges. Until today, they had not been released to the public.
Just in case you've been living under a rock for a few years: Trump had an affair with pornstar Stormy Daniels, then paid her hush money to cover it up. While that story has garnered a lot of headlines, that is not what this case is about. Rather, it is about how that hush money was used in the context of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. This case is about laws around campaigns and financing, which is a lot more boring to talk about, sorry.
The lack of details — days ahead of today's revelations — didn't stop Washington's politicians from weighing in on the matter, proving that, despite their status as major decision-makers, they have the same faults as everyone else — they comment on stories they know nothing about after only reading headlines.
Washington state's GOP has already accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of "weaponizing the justice system to go after political opponents." The state Democratic Party also jumped into the mud, aka Twitter, saying, "Trump was a criminal before, during and after his time in office." Who needs potential foreign threats from TikTok to set a bad example when you can have American politicians on Twitter?
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Spokane) was perhaps the most crafty in her response to the whole ordeal, saying, “We are in uncharted territory. Even the appearance of this being politically motivated is doing irreparable damage to the trust and confidence in our justice system. President Trump must receive the same right to due process as every other American.”
That's a lot of basic sentiment which folks can't really disagree with (people should have due process), layered with enough rancorous rhetoric to keep the base off her back, all while leaving enough wiggle room to walk anything back later if needed.
And wait, did you hear that? I believe that is the clicking sound of countless political fundraising emails being sent far and wide, spurred by this one event. Read more local responses here.
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WA Dems criticize GOP for defending Trump before charges are made public
Lawmakers are responding to former President Donald Trump's indictment in a New York court.
He was indicted by a grand jury for his alleged role in covering up hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels during Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
The Washington State Democratic Party said in a tweet, "Trump was a criminal before, during and after his time in office."
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Seattle) said nobody is above the law, including presidents — whether Republican or Democrat — and she's criticizing Republicans who say the indictment is politically motivated.
"They're undermining our legal system and our rule of law," Jayapal told KUOW's Paige Browning. "And I think that they will have a responsibility if this blows up in a similar way to the way that the insurrection was incited and blew up."
In a tweet, the Washington State GOP accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of "weaponizing the justice system to go after political opponents" and "seeking political vengeance instead of focusing on protecting the public."
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Spokane) was among those criticizing the indictment.
“We are in uncharted territory," she said in a statement. "Even the appearance of this being politically motivated is doing irreparable damage to the trust and confidence in our justice system. President Trump must receive the same right to due process as every other American.”
Jayapal argued the case has gone through the proper legal process thus far and that critics are making judgements before all the facts are known. As of Monday, the indictment was still sealed, leaving the exact charges and evidence against Trump unknown.
"I think that it is extremely dangerous for my Republican colleagues to be criticizing this indictment, when they don't even know the details," she said. "I don't think we can divorce the statements that Republicans are making right now, that Donald Trump is making right now from the increased violence that we have already been seeing and that we will continue to see."
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Mayor Harrell 'swings for the fences' with big, proposed property tax hike to fund affordable housing
Bruce Harrell wants to triple a Seattle property tax to raise nearly a $1 billion to fund affordable housing.
In making the announcement on Thursday to a room filled with hundreds of affordable housing developers, Harrell admitted it’s a lot of money.
“That's a bold investment that reflects our city's combined urgency and an understanding of the challenge in front of us,” Harrell said.
The anticipated price tag for residents starting in 2024: around $380 a year on the median home, up from the current cost of around $114 a year, based on current home values.
Harrell hammered home his case for the tax proposal with a baseball metaphor to mark the Mariner’s opening day game on Thursday.
“We need to swing for the fences. The housing levy is the tool that we can count on to make a difference, not just by building units but by giving people a place to call home,” he said.
Seattle currently funds thousands of units of affordable housing with the housing levy voters last approved in 2016. That levy expires this year.
Among other things, the new Seattle Housing Levy would fund 3,000 new affordable units as well as pay for supportive housing. It would also provide funding to maintain existing units.
Critics like Councilmember Alex Pedersen say Seattle housing taxes are already too high, and that this isn't the only property tax hike on the table this year.
The Seattle City Council will take up Harrell's proposed levy next. If the council approves it, the housing levy could be on the Seattle ballot this fall.
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What do you think of the word 'landlord?': Today So Far
- Seattle birders hatch new name.
- What do you think of the word "landlord?"
- Former Starbuck CEO (as of last week) Howard Schultz was in front of a Senate committee this morning.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for March 29, 2023.
The group formerly known as "Seattle Audubon" has hatched a new name: Birds Connect Seattle. That's the name of Seattle's birding organization after months of engaging in a process to change its title. Seattle is among a wave of cities where bird-watching groups are nixing the name "Audubon" for its association with John Audubon, a guy connected to racism, slavery, and anti-abolition. He also didn't watch birds as much as he shot them.
The naming committee sifted through hundreds of proposals after hearing from more than 1,000 people. I previously suggested "The Murie Society" as a potential new name for this organization, based on Margaret Murie who was born in Seattle and was an important figure in developing the Wilderness Act and establishing the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (she also reportedly spent her honeymoon bird watching). Birds Connect Seattle, however, had a few rules for coming up with its new name. Among them: no eponymous names, and no "society." It didn't want "society" because group members felt it wasn't inclusive enough. That pretty much meant that names like "The Murie Society" weren't gonna happen.
Which, OK fine, but that still doesn't explain why my other ideas didn't make the cut. What's wrong with "The Seattle Awesome Society," "Seattle Bird Nerds," or "Birds and Brews"?! Read more here.
Speaking of naming things, what do you think of the word "landlord?" Bill Radke's latest Words in Review episode focuses on "landlord" and questions whether the term is still relevant.
The word "landlord" comes from old, old English feudal systems (and French). This was back when there were kings and knights and nobility. Lords were appointed to oversee land, and the people living on that land were serfs or peasants doing the work. Today, that has evolved and we just say "landlord" for a property owner who rents to another person. We have a lot of words like this. While on Week in Review, I mentioned that "mortgage" originally meant "death pledge," and "tragedy" is derived from "goat song." The word "girl" used to just mean a little kid, but now we have gender associated with it. Whiskey comes from a Gaelic term meaning "water of life."
Ayda Cater rents a house in Seattle, and told KUOW's Joshua McNichols that she doesn't like the term "landlord." She adds that she doesn't feel like she's living like a "lord" (as a renter in this area, I can add that I don't feel like a lord either).
“I liken the housing market to a food market, a grocery store,” Cater said. “Would you call your grocer your 'foodlord'? I sure wouldn't."
There is an effort in Washington (and other states) to shift from saying "landlord" to "housing provider," which technically works. But then again, parents are housing providers. People know exactly what a landlord is. So if we're searching for specifics, I had a few ideas to throw out there.
- Room-meister or lease-meister: Due to strong association with funk-meister, landlords should become familiar with Parliament-Funkadelic.
- Managing director of human storage facilities: Now this is specific and hits the mark. And let's be honest, most of the new apartments around Seattle would be adequately described as "human storage."
- Accommodater: Derived from "accomodations." The problem would be getting Arnold Schwarzenegger's voice stuck in your head whenever you say it.
Former Starbuck CEO (as of last week) Howard Schultz was in front of a Senate committee this morning, answering allegations that the coffee company engaged in union busting. In short, Schultz denied any of that was happening.
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More than half of people in Thurston County's 2023 homeless count were unsheltered
Thurston County's homeless population is at least 749 people, on any given night.
That's according to preliminary data from the county's 2023 point-in-time homeless count conducted on Jan. 26, and reported by Thurston County Public Health and Social Services.
The numbers reflect a count of unsheltered people, folks staying in shelters, or those in transitional housing programs. There were 50 people staying in transitional housing, and 274 people in emergency shelter. More than half of those counted, 425 people, were unsheltered. This group was counted in sanctioned/unsanctioned encampments, RVs, vehicles, doorways or "other places not meant for human habitation."
In 2022, Thurston County counted 766 people, based on a count held on Feb. 24 of that year. The majority of those counted in 2022, just like this year, were unsheltered. Thurston County Public Health points out, however, that 2022's count was "based on an abbreviated survey," while 2023's was more extensive.
Thurston County's numbers for 2022 and 2023 are down from 2021, when 1,145 people were counted as experiencing homelessness. A total of 995 were counted in 2020.
Nearby King County no longer does a point-in-time count, but service providers are taking a longer term tally. Data for 2022 should be released in April.
A previous version of this story reported that 792 people were counted in Thurston County's point-in-time count for 2023. This post has been updated to reflect that Thurston County Public Health and Social Services later adjusted that number to 749 people counted.
Dyer Oxley contributed to this report.
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The numbers are in: Washington's carbon credit auction raised nearly $300M
Washington state's first ever carbon credit auction raised nearly $300 million, according to the Department of Ecology.
This is the first year Washington has implemented its new cap-and-invest program. The first auction for those credits was held in February.
RELATED: Washington state starts 2023 with ambitious new climate efforts
Major polluters in the state cannot surpass a certain pollution amount, unless they buy credits to offset their emissions.
The first auction was highly competitive. A total of six million credits were sold. The final auction price reached $48.50 per ton of carbon dioxide. Added up, the total comes to $299,983,267.
The proceeds go toward funding climate mitigation programs and clean energy projects. The Department of Ecology notes that how exactly the money is used is "subject to appropriation by the Legislature."
Dyer Oxley contributed to this blog post.
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