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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SuperSonics champ, NBA coach Paul Silas has died
The first man to coach Lebron James professionally, and a member of the 1979 Supersonics championship team, has died.
Paul Silas passed away from cardiac arrest over the weekend. He was 79 years old.
Silas was a three-time NBA champion (two with the Boston Celtics) and spent 16 years playing before he turned to coaching. LeBron James is one such player he coached.
Silas played with the Seattle SuperSonics from 1977–80, going to the NBA championships with the team in 1978 and 1979.
Silas was a three-time All-American basketball player in college, from 1961–64. In 2017, Silas was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
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A record number of unhoused people have died in King County in 2022
At least 253 unhoused people in King County have died, so far, in 2022. That's a record for the county. A vigil will be held for them this month in Seattle.
The recent number continues a rising trend in annual unhoused deaths in King County. In 2021, WHEEL Women in Black noted the record numbers then, saying it was "unbelievable."
RELATED: People experiencing homelessness may lose decades of life
Michele Marchand told KUOW in December 2021 that the group felt, "it was the end of the world" when the record hit 139 in 2020. It rose to 178 in 2021.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office says common causes of death in 2022 include hypothermia, drug overdose, and carbon monoxide poisoning. The Medical Examiner confirms deceased peoples’ identities and ages.
For two decades now, a local group has been holding vigils for deceased unhoused people outside Seattle City Hall. This year, a record 253 names will be read aloud on National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day. That’s Dec. 21, the longest night of the year.
According to a report released by the county's Medical Examiner earlier this year, the "median age of presumed homeless decedents was 51 compared to the median age of all King County residents who died which was 79."
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Seattle Councilmember Lisa Herbold will not run for reelection in 2023
Seattle Councilmember Lisa Herbold will not run for reelection in 2023.
Herbold has represented Seattle's District 1 since 2016. She won her first election with a 39 vote lead (49.8% of the vote). She took 56% of the vote in 2019. Now, Herbold says her time on the dais will come to an end after 2023. Still, she wants to work to keep a progressive voice in the role.
"I feel like it’s time to do my part to create an open seat election in District 1. I believe that an open seat can better drive turnout and deliver District 1 to another progressive," Herbold said in a statement.
Otherwise, Herbold speculates that Seattle will face a strategically divisive primary election in 2023. She cites a recent article in The Stranger, which states that a coalition of activists and progressive groups will target council seats in 2023. This coalition favors a 50% cut to Seattle police funding, among other demands. The recently passed Seattle budget does not make such a cut.
"I am reminded that we cannot repeat the 2021 race for the City Attorney when a very strong and proven progressive didn’t advance to the general, forcing a choice between a carceral system abolitionist and a Republican. In a similar 2023 scenario, progressives could lose District 1, and a seat on the Council," Herbold stated.
In that 2021 race, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes was knocked out of consideration through the primary election. After that, abolitionist Nicole Thomas-Kennedy went up against Republican (and former Democrat) Ann Davison. Thomas-Kennedy stated she wanted to dismantle the system, stop prosecuting misdemeanors, and significantly defund the Seattle Police Department. Davison campaigned on remodeling the City Attorney's Office, transforming its mental health approaches, and prioritizing repeat offenders. Davison won with 52% of the vote.
Herbold continues to say that she is also not worried about the "other side of the political spectrum," such as the Chamber of Commerce or "the cynical big money Independent Expenditure campaigns in what would be yet another likely very ugly re-election bid if I were to run again."
"Rather, my choice is because I love and honor the work the progressive left has done in Seattle and I don’t want to do anything that makes it less likely for a non-progressive to be elected to represent the great District 1."
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Health officials say it is time to mask up
If you’ve been a little lax with masking over the past few months, health officials in Washington state are urging a change in behavior.
Dozens of hospital leaders and county health officers from around the state are urging people to once again become diligent about masking in public indoor spaces.
“This joint statement from a broad coalition of public health and healthcare professionals is an indication of our shared level of concern. We hope people share that concern and do what they can to help reduce the risk of this situation becoming even worse over the coming weeks,” Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County, and a signatory to the joint statement, said via email.
The plea for a return to widespread masking comes as the state is being hit hard by multiple viruses.
Children’s hospitals have seen an unprecedented number of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases in recent months, with many operating well over capacity.
In the past few weeks flu cases have also begun to surge, with 26 deaths, including three children, already reported in the state.
That’s equal to the total number of deaths reported during the entirety of last flu season, according to state Department of Health data.
In addition, Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are ticking back up once again with the state reporting 449 people hospitalized during the week of Nov. 20.
“We don’t want to see our hospitals in full blown crisis. There are simple, effective steps that can and should be taken community wide to reduce serious illnesses and healthcare system impacts during this respiratory virus season,” Duchin said.
Duchin and others are asking people to wear high-quality, well-fitting masks when around others in indoor spaces.
Dr. Helen Chu, an infectious diseases physician with UW Medicine, agrees it’s a good time for people to mask up and said there are some settings where it will have the most impact.
“In these crowded spaces, when you’re sick, when you’re around people who are likely to be sick, at gatherings with vulnerable people like young children,” Chu said.
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Moose spotted on Mount Rainier for first time
Officials at Mount Rainier National Park say they've recorded the first ever moose sighting in the park.
They also said, via social media this week, that this is the first moose sighting in southwest Washington.
Moose can typically be found in northeastern Washington, but to see a moose this far south is rare. Mount Rainier National Park says that, as of 2015, there were approximately 5,000 moose in Washington state, with most of them living in Eastern Washington.
While moose are not native to the park, it is possible that this individual may have migrated in search of greener pastures.
"Moose are a species that are fairly sensitive to extreme heat," says Kyle Garrison with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. "They're very well cold-adapted. So, it might be that it's motivated to move due to a changing climate.”
Wildlife experts think it may be the same moose that was seen using a wildlife under-crossing along I-90 near Snoqualmie Pass over the summer; however, no one knows for sure if this is the same moose.
By the way, Garrison notes the plural of moose is not "meese" or "mooses." It’s simply moose.
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Impressions, misconceptions, and inspiration: How ballet in Seattle leapt beyond my reporting
The holiday season is a time for traditions, and for some, it's also a time to create new ones, especially after the pandemic when many events and gatherings were put on hold. Something I’ve started doing with my kids is taking them out to have experiences I didn’t get a chance to have when I was growing up.
One of the reasons I wanted to write a story about ballet dancer Jonathan Batista was because of the history he was making at the Pacific Northwest Ballet as the first Black person to be promoted to the role of principal dancer. His story is meaningful to so many in the Black dance community, and to people of color who are getting to see representation in the highest ranks of ballet, right here in Seattle.
I met Batista and his fellow company dancers at a class rehearsal on a clear Monday in October with KUOW photographer Megan Farmer. We caught up with him just before the company performed The Seasons' Canon.
My first impression of Batista: This guy is talented. He keeps a tight schedule that begins at 4:30 a.m. and includes two separate breakfasts, a couple of workouts, classes, show rehearsals, and sometimes side projects. The way Batista talks about the freedom ballet has given him to express himself is inspiring. As a woman of color, it made me proud to share the story of Batista’s history-making promotion.
As a young kid, I never saw a person who had dark skin like me performing ballet. If I did see a ballet at all, it was usually on television and it didn’t feel real or attainable. Understanding Batista’s career, and the history of PNB, felt like a story that had to be told. I knew it could potentially impact younger generations, and adults, who also didn't grow up attending ballet; and maybe help them see for the first time that the world of ballet is for them.
Ballet is an art form that has long had a reputation for being for the upper class, and for White audiences. Reporting this story was incredibly eye-opening for me, not just because I got a chance to see Batista bend and spin his body, but because I got to see him with his colleagues. Each of them was moving and expressing themselves to music in such a beautiful way. There was a lot of representation in the rehearsal room. Not just by color, but by body shape and size as well. As a woman born in West Africa, seeing people with my skin tone was heartwarming and welcoming. Some dancers were on the lighter side, like my own children. It felt as if, all the people in my life were somehow fully represented in that room.
I was proud to learn that half of PNB’s company identifies as people of color. They also have dancers that are transcending the traditional male and female ballet dance roles. PNB is writing a new chapter for the organization and future patrons.
Audiences may not understand this, but off stage, it takes a lot of time and effort to maintain being a professional dancer, not just to become one. As PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal explained, it’s not about male or female, or fitting “the part,” it’s about talent, and whether or not someone is a good enough dancer. It all adds up to beautiful, athletic dancers, moving and expressing themselves to tell stories with their bodies. Bodies that resemble the members of the community in our region.
I honestly expected to merely report a story, but I was moved by the whole experience. After 90 minutes of watching Batista and his fellow dancers in their company class, I asked myself if it was too late to take ballet and pursue a professional career. Through my reporting, I discovered that I am a big fan of ballet! I felt welcome in the rehearsal room, watching people who looked like me and my family perform at the highest levels.
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The price of a high-capacity magazine in Washington: Today So Far
- Washington's Attorney General's Office is targeting these gun stores.
- Sen. Patty Murray says Senate Democrats now have breathing room.
- Did Seattle landlords break the law when they all used the same software (which ended up inflating rent prices)?
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for December 9, 2022.
Washington's state Legislature passed a ban on the sale of high-capacity magazines earlier this year. Some gun stores don't seem to care about that law.
Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson has filed a lawsuit against a Federal Way gun store that has refused to stop selling high-capacity magazines (which hold more than 10 rounds). The AG's office says it is investigating a second store, too.
In the case of the Federal Way store — Federal Way Discount Guns and Indoor Range — Ferguson says store employees, and its owner, attempted to hide the sales. For example, they wouldn't issue receipts for the magazine sales.
"They literally tore them up and put them in the trash can. In one case it was the owner of the business that did that...and so they understood what they were doing — these were quite out in the open. It was brazen to be honest with you, and they sold numerous high-capacity magazines, including one up to 50 rounds."
The store could be fined up to $7,500 for each high-capacity magazine it sold, or each time one was offered at the store.
Read the full story here.
"Breathing room." That's what Washington Senator Patty Murray says Democrats now have in the Senate after Georgia's runoff election concluded. Georgia's election favored Raphael Warnock, which means Democrats have a 51-49 Senate majority.
Sen. Murray tells Soundside that the majority will make it easier "to pass legislation, to get nominees through, and be able to do it in a more expedited manner than we have been for the last two years."
Of course, that statement was made before Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's announcement today that she is leaving the Democratic Party.
You may have heard that Seattle landlords have been collectively inflating rents over the past few years. Well, this is a sort of "yes and no" situation. As UW Professor Douglas Ross tells Soundside, there's the way things have played out (rents consistently rising), and there's what can be proven in court.
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Is Seattle really 'fun'?
Seattle is not very fun. At least, that's the case according to one recent analysis. Get ready, I'm going to gripe about another pop analysis that I found a bit amusing to think about. What makes a city "fun"?
WalletHub has compiled a list of the "most fun cities" in the USA, considering: movie costs; beer prices; fitness centers; dance clubs; bars; park acreage and playgrounds; restaurants; and festivals. It also factored in a range of attractions like bowling alleys, coffee and tea options, spas, and sports venues.
Add all that up and Seattle ranks 22nd on the list. Spokane is 109th, Tacoma ranks 120th, and Vancouver, Wash. comes in at 145th. Portland is 14th. Overall, the Northwest doesn't come off as very "fun" on this list.
We're beat out by cities like Honolulu at eighth place. I visited Honolulu within the past year. It's a lovely city where I had a swell time and came away with great memories ... however, the area seems to be unaware that "Magnum PI" was filmed there. Also, there are only five pinball games on Oahu, two of which are the "Wizard of Oz" machines.
Topping the list is Las Vegas, a city I have never really had any desire to visit (if they bring back a Star Trek attraction of some kind, then we'll talk). Las Vegas always comes off like a city for people who say "back in college" yada yada yada. At the very least, it works for sitcoms where people wake up with a hangover and a wedding ring.
WalletHub's list doesn't consider certain regional realities — Seattleites go hiking nearby, for example. Seattle also has Shorty's, MoPOP, and Emerald City Comic Con. Tacoma has its dome and Grit City Comic Show. The McMenamin's Elk's Temple is an entire day unto itself. In short, "fun" is relative. I know plenty of people who like to visit Las Vegas. But on my personal list of what makes a place "fun": pop culture connections; pinball; quirkiness; local music and food; and no crowds.
But that is just me, and admittedly, I'm a bit odd. "Fun" is going to be something completely different for someone else.
I therefore put to my TSF readers: What makes a city fun? What is your criteria for fun? And what makes our Northwest cities fun? Be it Seattle, Tacoma, Cle Elum, wherever, feel free to weigh in.
Let me know at dyer@kuow.org and maybe we can come up with a local list of reasons/attractions that show our area is fun.
This segment was originally published in the Dec. 8, 2022 Today So Far newsletter.
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Why you should have candles and be a good neighbor: Today So Far
- Four attacks on electrical substations have happened across Oregon and Washington state recently.
- Washington state officials are finally figuring out how to implement a voter-approved gun measure from 2018.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for December 8, 2022.
As I consider next year's resolutions and things to personally work on, checking in on my neighbors, helping people beyond our differences, and generally being prepared are quickly rising to the top of my list. Why?
KUOW and OPB have uncovered a total of four attacks on electrical substations in Oregon and Washington in recent weeks. Two attacks involved firearms. The four incidents span the Bonneville Power Administration, Portland General Electric, and Puget Sound Energy.
Update: After publishing this newsletter, KUOW learned of two additional attacks on substations in the Northwest.
If this sounds familiar, that's probably because there were recently similar attacks at two substations in North Carolina. This also happened in 2013 in Coyote, Calif.
The FBI isn't saying anything about the local attacks (which is pretty normal), but all the Northwest electric utilities say they are cooperating with the FBI. CNN has further reported that the FBI issued recent warnings about extremists and antigovernment groups targeting infrastructure like substations. It is unclear if that warning is at all related to the local incidents. What is clear is that the attacks are intentional.
I'm sure that such groups are aware that we've all heard of candles. So, as the FBI has previously stated, the goal here is to create civil disorder and violence. Or perhaps these groups' perception of the general public is so low, they think that if we cannot stream the latest season of "Firefly Lane" we will collectively lose it.
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Washington state gun shops caught illegally selling high-capacity magazines, says AG Ferguson
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Wednesday that his office is suing the Federal Way Discount Guns and Indoor Range, one of two stores he says his office caught illegally selling high-capacity magazines.
The high capacity magazines hung on the walls at Federal Way Discount Guns. Employees there sold nine of the banned magazines to state investigators on four occasions.
That's according to Ferguson, who is suing the shop in King County.
RELATED: Gun sales went up around Seattle in 2020, and didn't go back down
It's one of two firearm retailers in Washington found to be in violation of the state's ban on high-capacity gun magazines. The second has not been named by Ferguson's office, as it is under investigation.
Ferguson said in Federal Way, employees indicated they knew the sales were against the law.
"The individual selling the high-capacity magazines would not give us a receipt," Ferguson said.
"They literally tore them up and put them in the trash can. In one case it was the owner of the business that did that...and so they understood what they were doing — these were quite out in the open. It was brazen to be honest with you, and they sold numerous high-capacity magazines, including one up to 50 rounds."
Federal Way Discount Guns could be fined a maximum of $7,500 for every time high-capacity magazines were sold or offered at the store.
The store has not responded KUOW's request for comment.
It is illegal for Washington retailers to sell magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, a rule the state Legislature made in 2022 in the spirit of preventing gun violence and mass shootings. It passed 55-42.
Ferguson's office investigated 25 stores across the state. He said the good news is that most are in compliance with the new law.
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Did you know?: Why you shouldn't mess with Bigfoot in Washington state
Think twice if you're aiming to go hunt for, or just pester, Sasquatch around Washington. Some areas have laws against that.
Up in Whatcom County, the Council passed a resolution in 1992 that established the county as a Sasquatch protection and refuge area. Of course, resolutions are kind of like "happy thoughts" that councils like to pass. If the existence of Bigfoot is ever proved, then the county council might have to pass a more concrete ordinance.
That's what Skamania County has done. The county council there passed a law in 1969 that forbid any harming of a Sasquatch. Breaking this law could result in a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail. Just in case the first ordinance wasn't clear, Skamania amended the law in 1984. According to the original ordinance, Skamania County noticed a lot of Bigfoot hunters coming through the area, some with cameras and others with guns. The lack of any laws around this made locals nervous, and lawmakers felt it encouraged "the laxity in the use of firearms and other deadly devices."
Therefore, the Council passed a law that stated, "Any premeditated, willful and wanton slaying of any such creature shall be deemed a felony punishable by a fine not to exceed $10,000, and/or imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed five years."
This Did You Know segment was originally published in the Dec. 7, 2022 Today So Far newsletter.
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Kirkland on camera: Today So Far
I've slightly derided Kirkland in the past (in an endearing way, sort of), but the city deserves a virtual high five for its recent trend of innovation and embracing new tech.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for December 7, 2022.
Kirkland has begun phasing in body cams across its police department. The traffic department has already started using them. The patrol unit will be issued cameras Dec. 15-29. Specialty units will get the body cams in January 2023.
The body cams can be manually turned on, and they will also start recording any time an officer draws their weapon. It also turns on when an officer activates their patrol car lights. At the end of a shift, the cameras are placed in a docking station that automatically downloads the video files. Officers also have some level of discretion, such as when speaking with sexual abuse victims.
There's a sentiment that you often hear from police departments and cities when body cams come up in conversation. It's usually something like, "This is such new technology, we need to think really hard about it."
Police departments should certainly think hard about it — specifically about how to get them on every officer as fast as possible. This is not new technology. UK police started using body cams in 2005. That's before the iPhone existed. The National Institute of Justice issued guidance for the cameras in 2016. The NIJ would say that results of body cams are mixed. But studies, like this one out of the University of Chicago found that police departments using body cams have seen a 17% drop in complaints, and a 10% drop in use-of-force incidents. A DOJ study concluded that, while officers wearing cameras made more arrests and issued more citations, the cameras ended up saving cities money (fewer complaints, and resolving complaints was easier and quicker). Ultimately, the DOJ said the cameras "have compelling effects without increasing costs."
So, in short, this is not exactly some strange new tech that we don't know much about.
Kirkland's new tech doesn't stop with body cams. The city is currently engaged in a Street Racing Noise Pilot Program. The city has set up two listening stations with cameras geared toward catching illegally modified cars. The idea is similar to red light cameras — race along these streets, get caught on video. Since this is a pilot, the city isn't actually saving or viewing video data, and it's not issuing tickets. The results of the pilot could inform how this tech is used in the future.
And it's not innovative tech, per say, but Kirkland also ran a few gun buyback events over the past few months. Over the summer, the city paid $18,000 to take in more than 150 guns.
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