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.
Stories
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Washington man charged with violent, racist threats against members of Congress
A 48-year-old Washington state man was arrested Wednesday and later charged in federal court for making threats against members of Congress.
Officials with the Justice Department allege that Mark Leonetti, of Longview, left hundreds of violent, racist, and antisemitic voicemails, most recently talking about murdering elected officials, using detailed and graphic language.
Over the last two years, Leonetti was warned several times by law enforcement and mental health professionals, but the voicemails continued, officials said.
Nick Brown, the U.S. Attorney for Western Washington, said law enforcement and the Department of Justice are seeing “a dramatic increase” in “political threats.”
U.S. Capitol Police told KUOW there were nearly 10,000 cases involving serious threats of violence aimed at members of Congress last year. That's up nearly 150% over a five-year period.
Brown said as U.S. Attorney he needs to take verbal threats seriously, in part because of concerns that verbal threats can escalate into physical violence.
“We've all seen horrific acts of violence against elected officials or their family members, most recently with Speaker Pelosi's husband in California,” Brown said.
Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was attacked by an intruder in his San Francisco home in October.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Western Washington did not release the names of the lawmakers Leonetti allegedly threatened.
Leonetti appeared Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Tacoma. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison because threats were made across state lines.
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Tacoma pastor calls Pierce County Sheriff’s acquittal ‘troubling but not surprising'
“Disappointing” and “troubling.” Those are the reactions of one Tacoma pastor to the not-guilty verdict for Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer.
This week a jury acquitted Troyer of both misdemeanor counts stemming from his confrontation with Sedrick Altheimer, a Black newspaper carrier, nearly two years ago.
Annie Jones-Barnes is pastor of Rock City Church in Tacoma. She said it seems like Troyer is avoiding any penalties for the trauma he caused Altheimer.
“What does that do for this young Black man — and there are a lot of other people that look just like him and feel like the system is rigged against them,” Jones-Barnes said. “As a person who really holds hope high, when you consistently get things that are more of the same, it really depletes the hope for change.”
She said Troyer’s trial was top of mind among her acquaintances, and she saw the signs in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood calling on him to resign.
Jones-Barnes says she would feel more hopeful if the case could spur people to seek more common ground and understanding. And if there were some next steps by the people and agencies involved.
“I feel like the Sheriff’s office and many offices around here need to be in trainings around anti-racist behaviors," Jones-Barnes said. "How do we set up policies to ensure that everybody thrives?”
But instead Troyer “just gets to walk away,” she said.
“I have grandchildren that I don’t want to have to deal with these issues,” she said.
Troyer said he was unfairly accused of lying and racism for following Altheimer on his paper route and calling in a police response. Troyer said he couldn’t see Altheimer’s race until Altheimer confronted him, and that Altheimer threatened to “take him out,” which Troyer took as a threat on his life.
Altheimer has filed a federal lawsuit seeking $5 million in damages against Troyer and Pierce County.
Update 12/16/2021 :
Dr. Gregory Christopher of Shiloh Baptist Church is the president of the Tacoma Ministerial Alliance. He called the jury verdict perplexing, and a setback for building community trust. "Sedrick Altheimer could have been killed," he said. "Naturally we're frustrated. We're trying to build better relationships with law enforcement, but this makes it difficult."
Christopher said he appreciated the courage of Tacoma police officers who testified, including Detective Chad Lawless who said Troyer told him that night that he was not threatened by Altheimer.
Christopher said Troyer's defense attorneys "demonized Sedrick Altheimer, and tried to make Troyer look like an angel." Christopher said that clashed with his memory of Troyer's misstatements about the facts of Manuel Ellis' death at the hands of law enforcement in 2020.
Christopher said "we've got great Tacoma police officers and great sheriff's officers," but added, "in every group there are some people that don't have the temperament for the job, and should be held accountable."
The Washington Coalition for Police Accountability, which is led by family members of people who died in police encounters, also issued a statement on the verdict in Troyer's case:
"Just because a person has a badge doesn't give them the right based on a person's color to deem them a threat to the community, resulting in harassment and lasting trauma. Mr. Altheimer was simply doing his job. WCPA will continue to push legislation for transparency and accountability, and challenge the narrative so that this type of conduct doesn't happen to another community member in any jurisdiction across Washington state."
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Washington’s youngest kids can now get an updated Covid-19 booster
Kids under 5 are now able to get an updated Covid-19 booster shot in Washington state.
Federal regulators approved the omicron-specific shots for young kids last week, and providers in the state started receiving doses Monday.
Michele Roberts with the state Department of Health said Tuesday that kids 6 months and up are becoming eligible for the booster at a crucial time.
"Our hospital systems in Washington state are being overwhelmed with pediatric cases of many respiratory illnesses," Roberts said. "Having updated protection against Covid-19 is an essential step towards keeping our kids out of the hospitals and our community safe.”
Last month, children’s hospitals across the state were seeing an unprecedented influx of young patients with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Public health officials say RSV cases appear to have peaked in the state and are now leveling off, but flu and Covid-19 cases continue to rise in various age groups.
As of earlier this week, 71,700 doses of the updated boosters for kids 6 months and up had been ordered in Washington state, according to the state Department of Health. More than 60,000 of those doses had been delivered to providers.
Providers will continue to receive more doses in the coming weeks as the state is allocated more inventory.
Eligibility for the updated boosted differs slightly for state’s youngest kids, compared to other age groups, like no mixing and matching.
According to the state Department of Health, the criteria include:
• Children 6 months through 5 years of age who received the two-dose Moderna Covid-19 vaccine series are now eligible to receive a booster of the updated Moderna Covid-19 vaccine two months after their last dose.
• Children 6 months through 4 years of age who have not started or completed their three-dose Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine series will now receive the updated Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 booster as the third dose following two doses of the original vaccine.
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What is legal, what is logical, and what happened: Today So Far
- Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer has been found not guilty by a jury.
- Housing and homelessness are a major focus of Gov. Inslee's new proposed budget.
- Hospitals face a considerable funding crisis while flu and Covid cases rise.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for December 15, 2022.
Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer is not guilty, according to a jury's conclusion that came down last night.
Troyer was charged by the state with false reporting and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant. He was acquitted of both charges. The state accused the sheriff of telling a dispatcher one thing (that a Black newspaper carrier threatened to kill him), and then telling responding officers something else. Troyer said that was not the case, and that he did tell officers he was threatened, but that they reported otherwise. The state argued that Troyer was not threatened, he was disrespected (perhaps not just by the newspaper carrier, but later, when officers called him a "douchebag" in private messages).
Troyer has laid out a counter narrative, which basically says that the attorney general and governor were going after him, and the media was targeting him. “The media’s made me out to be a racist, and the state’s made me out to be a liar,” is the big quote that emerged from his testimony.
There are a lot of angles to the Troyer trial (and there will be more legal challenges over this), but a big issue here is one that I've seen happen in a lot of cases: What is legal and what is right/wrong. They're not always the same. Without getting into the specifics of the case (I'm not a lawyer), sometimes there is what is written down in the law, and therefore what juries are deciding on, and then there is what the rest of us are thinking.
It's 2021, you're a sheriff, but you're in a city's jurisdiction, and you see something suspicious. Just call 911 right away. Why are you getting up close and nosy like that one annoying neighbor everybody avoids (and who always seem to mess with delivery drivers)? If you really think you're spotting a thief, a porch pirate (in the early a.m. hours when no deliveries are being made), then stay in your lane and call the appropriate authorities. Do you honestly think that if you, the sheriff, calls a dispatcher, you're not going to get every patrol car within radio distance? That seems logical to me, but it's not what happened. That's the sort of conversation I've had. But that's not the same conversation a jury is charged with. We're all likely to eventually hear the reasoning behind the jury's decision. My Dyer prediction is that it could fall along these lines.
KUOW's Amy Radil has covered this trial well over the past couple weeks. Check out her coverage here.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has put forth his budget proposal for next year. As I brought up yesterday, this proposal places a significant focus on housing. The proposal still has to be approved by lawmakers, but if Inslee's plan gets a thumbs up, voters may have to ultimately decide whether or not they want the state to spend $4 billion to address affordable housing and homelessness. As the Associated Press reports, that money will likely come from bonds.
We're not in the "pandemic era" anymore. At least, not like we were over the past couple years.
I'll say that in another way — we are not experiencing the pandemic anymore, however, our medical and emergency systems are still in a similar state as during the lockdown times. Currently, Washington's hospitals face a dire financial situation. Revenues are not covering expenses.
The concept a lot of people had difficulty understanding during the pandemic is that we were trying to protect our hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. So while it's great that Covid wasn't bad for you, it was still bad for the next person, and the person after that who got sent to hospitals. If Covid patients fill all the rooms, that's bad news for the heart attack patient, or the car crash patient — there's just not enough medical personnel, beds, and funding to go around.
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Walmart poised to pay Washington millions for opioid programs
Attorney General Bob Ferguson says Walmart is poised to pay Washington more than $62 million for opioid recovery programs in the state.
“This is another important step in our fight for accountability for the opioid industry,” Ferguson said. “These resources will increase prevention efforts and help Washingtonians in need.”
RELATED: More people have died from overdoses so far in 2022 than in all of 2021
This is part of a $3.1 billion multi-state resolution that still needs to be approved by other attorneys general. At least 43 states have to approve the resolution for it to to kick in. Ferguson says he plans sign off on it. According to the AG's Office, at least 85% of litigating and non-litigating local governments in the settlements have to approve as well.
RELATED: Seattle is suing marketing firm over opioid crisis
Funds will be split among state, county, city governments.
In addition to the payout, Walmart has agreed to tightly monitor opioid prescriptions and prevent patients from getting multiple prescriptions.
To date, Washington has recovered more than $800 million from companies that fueled the opioid epidemic.
RELATED: King County declares fentanyl a public health crisis
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Jobs and unemployment up in Washington and Oregon
Unemployment numbers in Washington and Oregon rose last month, even though both states also added jobs.
Washington’s jobless rate rose to 4% in November, and the state added about 13,000 jobs.
Oregon’s unemployment rate rose to 4.4%, though it added 8,500.
RELATED: Tech industry is shedding employees in the NW
State economists on both sides of the Columbia River say, even if jobless rates are edging up, they’re still low by historical standards.
There are several reasons why unemployment rates can rise even when more payroll jobs are being filled. Gail Krumenauer with the Oregon Employment Department says self-employment had been rising in the state, until recently.
“So we’re seeing a bit of a reversal in that now, where self-employment has been declining for the past few months," Krumenauer said.
RELATED: The brave Seattle foodies who opened restaurants during Covid — and flourished
If more self-employed people report being out of work, that could push Oregon’s unemployment rate up.
Read more by Kate Davidson at Oregon Public Radio.
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3 fish from 3 King County lakes that you should not eat
Think twice before eating fish from three King County lakes. Poisonous fish have been discovered in these popular fishing spots.
- If you’re fishing in Lake Washington and you catch a cutthroat trout — don’t eat it.
- The largemouth bass in Lake Sammamish and the smallmouth bass in Lake Meridian are also not healthy choices.
RELATED: Washington state is nixing fish farms in public waters
A recent assessment from the Washington State Department of Health found that these fish and others contain a perfluorinated chemical, which could have harmful health effects. Such chemicals can disrupt your immune system, raise your cholesterol, and increase your risk of certain kinds of cancer.
According to DOH: "Your risk of developing health problems depends on how much, how often, and how long you were exposed. Age, lifestyle, and overall health can impact how your body responds to PFOS exposure. The best way to protect yourself and your family is to lower your exposure."
Some of the fish in these three lakes are still healthy to eat. The brown bullhead catfish in Lakes Sammamish and Meridian received a clear bill of health.
More details about which fish are OK to eat, or not, are on the state's health department website.
In general, the department says, fish are good for you! Eat fish ... just not contaminated fish.
RELATED: $1B up for grabs to help salmon get to where they're going
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Inslee proposes billions for housing, would need voter OK
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee proposed Wednesday that state spending during the next two years prioritize housing, including an effort to quickly build thousands of units that would require the OK from Washington voters.
The governor’s proposed budget would spend $70 billion over two years starting in July 2023, The Seattle Times reported.
That figure represents a roughly 12% proposed increase in spending from the current budget. The budget proposal also reflects other focus areas including behavioral health, the environment and public safety, as lawmakers head into the 2023 legislative session.
Lawmakers will meet in Olympia starting Jan. 9 and will write and pass the budget, which requires the governor’s signature.
Washington continues to grapple with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and Inslee’s proposal describes the economic context as creating a “mixed bag of good and bad fiscal news” in which job losses have been recovered, but inflation is stressing consumers and driving up state government costs.
The governor hasn’t proposed any new tax increases but the budget reflects new sources of funding recently passed by lawmakers: a capital-gains tax and revenues raised by a cap-and-invest program to curb greenhouse-gas emissions.
The capital gains tax faces a legal challenge and the Washington Supreme Court in January will hear oral arguments on that case.
To address the growing lack of affordable housing and number of people experiencing homelessness, Inslee is proposing the state raise $4 billion by issuing bonds outside the state’s debt limit.
If lawmakers OK the referendum and voters approve it next November, the money would be spent on emergency supportive housing for unhoused people, affordable housing units and helping low-income first-time homebuyers with down payments and closing costs.
“Unfortunately, we no longer have the influx of federal funding we are using today to quickly build thousands of new supportive housing units for people experiencing homelessness,” Inslee said in a statement. “I don’t want to lose momentum, and I don’t want the problem to get worse because we aren’t moving fast enough.”
The additional money would pay for about 5,300 housing units between 2023 and 2025 and 19,000 in the following six years, according to the proposal. Nearly 13,000 people are living unsheltered throughout Washington state — up from more than 10,500 in 2020, according to the state’s 2022 Point in Time Count.
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Jury finds Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer not guilty
The state Attorney General's Office had charged Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer with false reporting and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant. On Wednesday, a jury acquitted him on both counts.
“Part of upholding the rule of law is respecting the decision of a jury,” Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement. “I appreciate the jury’s service, and thank my team for their hard work.”
Troyer testified during the trial that he never lied about his late-night encounter with a Black newspaper carrier, Sedrick Altheimer.
The encounter took place Jan. 27, 2021. After following Altheimer on his paper route, Troyer called an emergency line and claimed Altheimer "threatened to kill me.” Dozens of officers headed to the scene in response to the call.
Prosecutors said Troyer weaponized the police against Altheimer because Troyer felt disrespected.
Troyer’s defense lawyer called it a wrongful prosecution and said Altheimer was motivated by his own civil lawsuit.
The trial lasted more than two weeks. The jury returned its verdict after deliberating for about seven hours Wednesday.
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Washington hospitals say financial situation remains dire as viruses surge
Hospitals across Washington state continued to see financial losses in the third quarter of this year. That’s according to survey results from the Washington State Hospital Association released Tuesday.
While the third quarter losses were smaller than those seen early in the year, they were still large, officials said.
Over the first nine months of 2022, hospitals around the state collectively lost about $1.6 billion.
“Simply put, revenues are not keeping up with rapidly escalating costs,” said hospital association CEO Cassie Sauer during a media briefing Tuesday. “This is really concerning.”
Total operating revenues for hospitals across the state topped $23 billion in the first nine months of the year. While expenses were over $24.6 billion.
Sauer and other hospital leaders have warned that continued financial losses will result in reductions or cuts to services at some hospitals, and possibly even hospital closures in the future.
On Tuesday, Sauer said some cuts and reductions are starting to happen.
“Losing hospital services is something every Washingtonian should be concerned about,” she said.
Hospital officials attribute the massive losses to a range of things. Those causes include increased costs of supplies and drugs, high costs of contracts for temporary staff, low Medicaid reimbursement rates, and the continued issues of discharging patients who no longer need hospital care to places like nursing homes.
The hospital association will be asking the Legislature to help address some of these issues during the upcoming legislative session.
Brian Gibbons, CEO of Astria Health in the Yakima Valley, said Tuesday that travel staffing contracts have been reduced at Astria hospitals in order to try to cut costs, and that means that there are fewer intensive care unit (ICU) beds now operating at the group’s Sunnyside hospital.
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Where are you when it comes to masking?
The conversation around masking is once again bubbling to the surface as Washington state deals with the triple threat of Covid-19, flu, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
This comes at a time when the health-care system is already under immense strain.
Hospitals are often running at, or over, capacity and hospital leaders said Tuesday that they continue to see large financial losses that are starting to lead to reductions and cuts to services in some areas.
State secretary of health, Dr. Umair Shah, said there are no plans to bring back a mask mandate in Washington.
But he, and other public health officials, are urging the public to wear high-quality, well-fitting masks in public indoor spaces like grocery stores, theaters, and airports.
Throughout the various surges and seasons during the pandemic, masking habits have changed.
KUOW reached out to community members in the Puget Sound region last week to ask about their masking habits and how, if at all, the current virus season is impacting them.
For some, masking has been a constant for the past couple of years and remains so now.
“I mask indoors as much as possible. I don't feel the need to mask outdoors away from crowds. Masking to protect others is a social responsibility! We should know this much after 3 years of the pandemic! It should be common sense by now.” – George, Queen Anne
“I have never stopped masking up when leaving my house. I wear an N95 mask any time I am around other people whose status I don't know. My whole household does the same and none of us has had covid, nor the flu since the pandemic began. We don't anticipate abandoning the strict masking protocol for many years.” – Shelley, Seattle
“I am at risk of severe infection if I catch COVID (which I have so far avoided), so I have continued to mask in public throughout this pandemic. In summer months with lower transmission rates, I have removed my mask to eat in outdoor spaces; otherwise, I have been masking since the beginning of the pandemic. However, I am more alert to the masking habits of OTHERS when assessing my own risks regarding the various respiratory illnesses circulating.” – Samuel, Tacoma
“My masking habits have not changed drastically. I still see value in wearing a mask in crowded, indoor public spaces. It's comforting to see others also wearing masks, but I respect the choice the others are making for their own lives. With a 3-year-old at home, we certainly get bombarded with our fair share of germs and viruses, so adapting to mask wearing culture has been a welcome adjustment to our everyday lives.” – Kelsey, Tacoma
On the other end of the spectrum, some people said they almost never mask anymore.
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Truth over party: Today So Far
- On Washington Republican exiting DC has some advice for her colleagues in Congress.
- Solutions to affordable housing are going to be heavily discussed around Washington state in the legislative session ahead.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for December 14, 2022.
Before she leaves office, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler is offering some advice to her colleagues at the nation's Capitol. In short: Put the truth over your party.
"...the truth is somewhat the last thing people want to hear, especially if it doesn't fit their narrative. But that doesn't make it any less true and we don't do Americans any favors if we deceive them, or if we stand by quietly as they deceive themselves. Hardcore partisans on both sides will tell you that their party is blameless and the other party is the only one that engages in deception. But the truth is, there are people in both parties who have made an industry of it."
Herrera Beutler represents Southwest Washington's 3rd Congressional District.
The advice is notable as she was among a handful of Republicans who voted in favor of impeaching former President Trump. It was a move that led to her defeat in August's primary election. She was knocked out of consideration by MAGA Republican Joe Kent (who ultimately lost the election in November, though he has asked for a recount).
Check out Herrera Beutler's full statement here.
Politicians in Olympia are looking forward to 2023, and many aim to fix Washington's housing woes. There are a few points that lawmakers seem to be on board with, and therefore we can expect them to be pushed in the upcoming session. They include: Spending $1 billion more on affordable housing annually; removing bans on denser forms of housing; eliminating design review boards statewide for residential projects. Read more about what to expect here.
That second point — nixing design review boards — has also been a move gaining momentum in Seattle. As of this week, Seattle is temporarily halting the design review requirement for affordable housing projects. The requirement will be put on hold for a year while the City Council develops a new policy for these builds.
Many folks might not be familiar with the design review process. It looks over plans and makes sure they are up to par with land use codes and local regulations. Part of this process is also a city's defense against "ugly." For example, when someone goes into a quaint, small town and plants a neon offense in the middle of Main Street. Same thing happens in cities like Seattle. Usually, a design review board considers aesthetics, landscaping, etc. The public gets to weigh in, too. But all this adds a layer of permits, processes, and extra time. It's a heavy layer for affordable housing projects on tight budgets. That has run afoul of folks who want to find ways to speed up affordable housing and make such projects less expensive to build.
If you're like me, you're scratching your head, worried about developers coming around and beating Seattle with the ugly stick. Now, I'm no expert architect, but I have walked around Seattle quite a bit and have admired Smith Tower, the Arctic Building, the brick glory spread throughout neighborhoods like Pioneer Square or Ballard. Even odd buildings that make it work, like Rainier Tower or the Seattle Public Library.
If you're worried about new, unappealing construction (like me), well, you're too late. There's already a range of oddly painted big boxes with mixed-panel siding scattered throughout the city. We've already been using a design review process, and we've still ended up with whatever that is across from the Fred Meyer, or what's popping up around the U-District. It all prompts passersby to ask, "Is that an apartment or public storage?"
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