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
-
They 'have fueled so much of Boeing's success.' Washington officials react to machinist strike
It didn't take long after news broke that Boeing machinists were going on strike for state and federal officials to start weighing in, encouraging both parties to find a path forward.
"I strongly urge the parties to return to the negotiating table and participate in good faith discussions that result in a strong agreement," Congressmember Adam Smith said in a statement shortly after the union approved a strike late Thursday evening.
RELATED: Boeing factory workers go on strike after rejecting contract offer
Boeing and its machinist union reached a tentative agreement on Monday, but when it came time to vote, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers overwhelmingly voted to reject Boeing's most recent contract offer (by 94.6%) and to authorize a strike (by 96%).
The strike affects 33,000 machinists, most of whom are based in Washington state and work on the 737 Max, 777, and the 767 cargo airplane at factories in Everett and Renton. According to the Associated Press, Boeing machinists in Washington make an average of $75,608 annually. Boeing's offer to raise wages 25% over four years would eventually bring that up to $106,350. The union, however, is aiming for a 40% raise in wages as well as increase 401K contributions (Boeing nixed its pension program about 10 years ago).
“The message was clear that the tentative agreement we reached with IAM leadership was not acceptable to the members," Boeing said in a statement. "We remain committed to resetting our relationship with our employees and the union, and we are ready to get back to the table to reach a new agreement."
The strike was authorized shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday. Minutes later, Rep. Smith issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter). Smith represents the 9th Congressional District, which includes Renton.
"Across corporate America, so much of the wealth has wound up in the hands of so few people," Smith wrote. "Large corporations have increasingly prioritized their own profits and shareholders at the expense of workers. It is crucial that Boeing behaves as a responsible steward for its employees, so that every employee at their company is respected with fair wages and working conditions. Unions remain essential for workers and their families, and I will always champion the right to organize and collectively bargain for better working conditions. I sincerely hope that the parties reach an agreement that respects all employees as well as the company as a whole."
RELATED: With its new CEO, is Boeing about to write the 'turnaround story of the century'?
Continue reading » -
River otter drags child off dock, under water in Bremerton
A river otter pulled a small child off a dock and dragged them underwater at the Bremerton Marina Thursday morning.
According to a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife press release, a mother and child were walking down a dock when the otter attacked. It pulled the child underwater for “a few moments” before resurfacing, when mom was able to lift her kid out of the water.
The otter bit the mother on the arm, then chased the pair as they left the dock. On land, river otters can run at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour, according to the National Wildlife Federation.
The child was treated at a local hospital for scratches and bites to the top of the head, face, and legs. A fish and wildlife department spokesperson declined to provide the child’s age or gender.
Direct clashes between humans and river otters are rare, with six documented human-river otter incidents in Washington in the last decade, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife .
The department warns that otters, like all wildlife, are “inherently unpredictable.”
RELATED: Our super-bacteria spreading to Puget Sound otters, orcas
State officials say they have asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program to remove and kill any otters at the Bremerton Marina.
The federal wildlife-control agency reports killing 73 river otters in Washington state in 2023.
Any otter carcasses from the marina are to be sent to the state’s Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab in Pullman to be tested for rabies and other diseases.
“Trapping or shooting river otters should be a last resort,” a fish and wildlife department brochure states. “Removing river otters by any means is a short-term solution since other otters are likely to move in if attractive habitat is still available.”
Continue reading » -
Trump asked when Seattle protesters would be prosecuted. Answer: They have been
Former President Donald Trump wants to know why people in Seattle weren't arrested and prosecuted for crimes related to the 2020 protests and the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, known as CHOP. The answer is simple: Many people were arrested and prosecuted.
"When are the people who burned down Minneapolis going to be prosecuted, or Seattle?" Trump said during Tuesday night's debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. "They went into Seattle, they took over a big percentage of the city of Seattle. When are those people going to be prosecuted?"
RELATED: Federal prosecutors take over Seattle protester cases, concerning local attorneys
Trump pointed out Seattle in response to another question: If he regretted any of his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of his followers attacked police officers at the U. S. Capitol.
In 2020, protests against police violence erupted across the United States, following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis officer. Large protests took over downtown Seattle, and part of Capitol Hill was turned into a protest zone known as "CHOP." During these events, Seattle police did make arrests. Local authorities also prosecuted cases that stemmed from these incidents.
Continue reading » -
The Green River Killer has been brought back to Seattle, booked into King County Jail
Gary Ridgway, known as the Green River Killer, was moved to the King County Jail in Seattle Monday.
Ridgway was booked into the King County Jail at 10:42 a.m. Monday, Sept. 9. The King County Sheriff's Office has him there on an "institutional hold."
RELATED: Last known set of remains connected to Green River Killer case identified
A Sheriff's Office spokesperson would not say exactly why Ridgway was moved to Seattle, but told KUOW, "Since Gary Ridgway’s arrest in 2001 pertaining to the Green River murder investigation, the King County Sheriff’s Office continues to actively investigate potentially related cases."
Ridgway was arrested in 2001 for more than 70 suspected murders spanning the 1980s and 1990s. He entered a plea bargain for 48 murder charges in 2003 and has since helped authorities locate and identify the remains of some of his victims. Modern DNA technology has also helped identify victims in recent years.
He has been sentenced with 49 life sentences. He hasn't been back to Seattle in 21 years, according to KOMO.
RELATED: DNA testing identifies teen victim of Green River Killer 4 decades later
Continue reading » -
Deadly white-nose disease is spreading in Western Washington bats
A deadly disease in bats is spreading in Washington state.
Wildlife officials say the fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome has spread to seven more counties in Western Washington and four in Eastern Washington.
The fungus that causes white-nose syndrome was found for the first time in Clallam, Clark, Grant, Grays Harbor, Island, Kitsap, Klickitat, Okanogan, and Whatcom counties for the first time in 2024, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife bat researcher Abby Tobin said in a press release. Diseased bats were also found in Benton and Thurston counties.
The fungal disease has killed millions of bats across the country since it was first detected in a cave in upstate New York in 2006; according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's White-Nose Syndrome Response Team, white-nose syndrome is one of the worst modern wildlife disease oubreaks.
RELATED: 'Yogurt for bats': A new way to fight a deadly pandemic
Washington is home to 15 species of bats, which provide major economic benefits by eating insects all night long.
A new study finds that the widespread loss of bats in the Eastern United States has, indirectly, harmed human health there.
With fewer bats around to consume insects, farmers wind up using more pesticides, which can contaminate nearby communities’ air and water, University of Chicago environmental economist Eyal Frank wrote in the journal Science. In Eastern United States counties where bat populations collapsed as white-nose syndrome spread, farmers increased their pesticide use by nearly a third, Frank found. He estimated the increased pesticide use led to more than 1,300 infant deaths in those counties from 2006 to 2017.
Counties where bats had not (yet) been decimated did not show increases in pesticide use or infant mortality rates.
Despite the increased pesticide use, crop output also fell. The fungal disease caused more than $39 billion in total economic damage, according to Frank.
Continue reading » -
'I didn’t know it existed.' Why young people are the least vaccinated in Seattle area
Gillian Wolfe, a student at the University of Washington, didn’t get the last Covid booster. “I didn't know that it existed, frankly,” she said.
Wolfe isn’t alone. A total of 71% of King County residents never got one. And young people are the least likely to get the vaccine. Only 18% of people ages 18 to 34 got last year’s shot.
Not that Wolfe is opposed to it. Standing on University Way (The Ave) in northeast Seattle, Wolfe and her friend Evie Pearce said life got in the way.
“I just think I was really busy and probably just didn't care as much as I should have,” Pearce said.
Wolfe added, “It's kind of just a group mentality. No one's getting around to doing it. I feel like, if one of my friends was like, ‘Oh, I'm gonna go get vaccinated,’ I would just come along with.”
As the words left her mouth, Wolfe and Pearce had an epiphany. “Girls’ trip!” they said. “We’ll make a day of it. We could get coffee, get, like, a little sticker or something.”
Wolfe said that back home, she went regularly to a clinic, so she would have heard about the updated vaccines. But she hasn’t found a doctor here in Seattle.
“It's more difficult when you're moving around a lot,” she said. “Being transient makes it difficult.”
Alise Sheppard, 25, got the initial two Covid shots back in 2021, when it was required for her job, but she hasn’t gotten boosters since.
“I just didn't think that I would need to get it again and again and again,” she said. “I had no use for it. I haven’t gotten Covid, so…”
Continue reading » -
Seattle's non-police first responders prepare to expand footprint
Seattle’s unarmed crisis responders are staffing up as they prepare to answer calls citywide by next spring. Additional job postings for 18 responders and three supervisors should be online in the coming days, officials say.
The expansion is funded by a $1.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Under a pilot program, Seattle 911 dispatchers have been sending a team from Seattle’s new department of Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) to certain non-criminal calls alongside police downtown for almost a year.
RELATED: New mental health teams are hitting the streets in downtown Seattle alongside police
The calls for “person down” or welfare checks often involve helping people who are unsheltered, or dealing with mental health or substance use issues. Managers say about a third of the CARE team’s calls also involve transporting people to access necessary resources.
Catriana Hernandez is the community crisis response manager overseeing the CARE department. She said the existing team is already answering calls in the East and West precincts that cover the central swath of Seattle. Additional teams will expand first to north Seattle later this year, and then to south Seattle next spring.
The existing team is currently working out of the Seattle Municipal Tower, but Hernandez said the city is looking for appropriate spaces in six different sectors of the city.
“We really want the team to be able to respond quickly for one thing, and also just to consistently be out in the area — if you’re not out on a call — visiting community partners, getting to know resources,” Hernandez said.
“We’re also talking to potential community partners” including the University of Washington Police Department, she added, about providing space for the teams.
Under Seattle's pilot program, the existing CARE team can only respond to certain low-acuity 911 calls and cannot be directly dispatched without police.
RELATED: In Seattle area, 988 mental health hotline supports tens of thousands in crisis
Continue reading » -
Following Seattle woman's killing in West Bank, local officials respond
Seattle-area officials are responding to the death of a local woman, reportedly at the hands of Israeli soldiers in the West Bank Friday.
RELATED: Israeli soldiers fatally shot an American woman at a West Bank protest, witnesses say
Aysenur Eygi, 26, was a United States and Turkish citizen who lived in Seattle and graduated from the University of Washington in June 2024. According to the Associated Press, she was participating in a weekly demonstration protesting the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Witnesses said the shooting happened shortly after a communal prayer on a hillside outside the town of Beita, near the settlement of Evyatar. Israeli soldiers reportedly surrounded the prayer and tensions rose. Some Palestinians threw stones, and soldiers fired tear gas and rifles.
A spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that Turkey will make an “effort to ensure that those who killed our citizen [are] brought to justice.”
According to University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce, Aysenur Eygi was a peer mentor in psychology at the university.
"This morning brought the awful news that recent UW graduate Aysenur Eygi was reportedly killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank. My heart goes out to Aysenur’s family, friends and loved ones. Aysenur was a peer mentor in psychology who helped welcome new students to the department and provided a positive influence in their lives. This is the second time over the past year that violence in the region has taken the life of a member of our UW community and I again join with our government and so many who are working and calling for a ceasefire and resolution to the crisis."
The other fatality in the UW community was 32-year-old Hayim Katsman, who was killed in Israel during Hamas' attack on October 7, 2023.
Washington's chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on the Biden administration Friday to hold Israel accountable for Eygi's death at the hands of the Israel Defense Forces.
“For the past 11 months, we have seen how the IDF has continuously shown an utter disdain for innocent life, whether in Gaza or in the West Bank,” CAIR-WA Executive Director Imraan Siddiqi said in a statement. “We call on the Biden Administration to hold accountable the killers of Aysenur Eygi and bring them to justice.”
“In our lifetimes, we have seen the IDF kill Americans such as Rachel Corrie, Shireen Abu Akleh, and Furkan Dogan, while our government has barely acknowledged their murders. We must continue to stand for justice for Aysenur and all those who have been killed before her.”
Continue reading » -
Cringe-fest: KUOW newsroom brainstorms a 'cool' headline
Earlier this week, we published photos of what students at Roosevelt High School wore for the first day of school. Brainstorming a headline, editor Isolde Raftery asked her coworkers for help on Slack, the messaging platform.
We wound up with this headline: “First day fits lowkey slapped at Seattle's Roosevelt High,” for which we were mocked on X. Wrote Melissa Santos of Axios: “When local journalism is giving pick-me vibes.”
Fair. But what y’all don’t know is how bad it could have been. Here is that Slack thread, lightly curated, for your enjoyment, and our humiliation.
(You’re welcome.)
Isolde Raftery, online managing editor
What is a younger person word for "cool" these days?
Dyer Oxley, online web editor
dope. fire. extra?
Isolde
I think "fire" has been retired
Continue reading » -
'Wimpy' winter ahead for Pacific Northwest despite La Niña prediction, climatologist says
With a few weeks left of summer, climatologists are looking to cooler months ahead.
La Niña conditions are expected in the Pacific Northwest this winter, which usually bring colder, wetter weather to the region. After a dry summer — and a below-average snowpack accumulated last winter — we could use the moisture.
RELATED: Late-summer heat wave bakes Western Washington — but not for long
Climatologist Nick Bond said this year's La Niña will likely be weaker than previously expected.
"The La Niña, compared to what we were looking at a few months ago, looks to be on the wimpy side, to the extent that it really impacts our weather in a major way," he said.
That could mean a lower-than-average snowpack for the second winter in a row.
"Just how much [a weak La Niña] stacks the deck toward more snow in the mountains, especially after the first of the calendar year, that kind of remains to be seen," Bond said of the implications for the snowpack.
In February, Bond described the snowpack conditions as "a bit alarming." That was especially true in the Olympic Mountains, where it was just about 29% of normal. Other parts of the state were better off, like the central Cascades, where the snowpack was at about 60-70% of normal.
RELATED: Washington's snowpack is suffering this winter. It's not going to get much better
Continue reading » -
Late-summer heat wave bakes Western Washington — but not for long
Most of Western Washington will be under a heat advisory until 11 p.m. Friday, with higher-than-average temperatures expected and potentially record-breaking highs for the second day in a row.
RELATED: Five more Seattle libraries to become extreme-heat refuges
On Thursday, both Seattle and Olympia broke their previous records set in 1973, with highs of 90 and 95 degrees, respectively. Parts of the Olympic Peninsula got even hotter, with Shelton and Forks hitting 97 degrees.
The National Weather Service expected the Friday high in Seattle to reach 89 degrees. If it were to reach 90 again, though, that would be just the fourth time Seattle has seen back-to-back 90-plus-degree days in September.
The normal high for Sept. 5 at Sea-Tac Airport (Seattle's official weather station) is 75 degrees. For Sept. 6, it's 74. That means Thursday's forecasted high of 91 would be 17 degrees above normal. The record high for Sept. 6 is 90. And if 90-degree highs in September sound wild to you, that's because they are. According to the NWS, Seattle has seen 90-degree temperatures in the month of September just 12 times in the last 40 years.
The good news is things will get back to relative normalcy — you know, in the context of our changing climate — this weekend.
High temperatures will be back in the mid 80s on Saturday and the upper 70s on Sunday with lows in the 50s.
Continue reading » -
There is now a movie about the praying Bremerton football coach
Less than a year after Joe Kennedy returned to Bremerton High School to coach football and pray on the field, a bio film about the seven-year controversy is already in the can and heading to movie screens this October.
"I've been fighting my whole life ... so if you told me that saying a prayer on the 50-yard line is a thing that was going to get me into the biggest fight of my life, you cannot tell me that God doesn't have a sense of humor," the main character states in the trailer for "Average Joe."
RELATED: Department of Education updates guidance on public school prayer
The recently released trailer also comes less than a year after Kennedy's memoir was published, which the film is based on.
In 2015, Kennedy garnered headlines when he refused to stop praying with students on the 50-yard line after Bremerton High School football games. Some players voiced concerns to district officials, reporting that they felt pressure to join in on the prayers to be in good standing with the coach and get play time. Kennedy has insisted that praying with him was never mandatory and no one felt pressured.
Still, the school district became concerned about any potential pray-to-play dynamic and other lines that could be crossed.
Kennedy was asked to pray privately. That briefly settled the issue, but Coach Kennedy eventually returned to the field with students after each game. He was placed on paid administrative leave, and eventually opted not to reapply for the job the following year (contrary to some reports, Kennedy was never fired from the job). At the same time, the issue spurred local pushback and arguments over religious freedoms. Satanists showed up to make a point. Pro-prayer groups flooded the stands and reportedly knocked over marching band members as they jumped on the field. The team's head coach was harassed and reported that he feared someone in the crowd could shoot him.
RELATED: What does Kennedy v. Bremerton mean for how schools handle religious speech?
The First Liberty Institute, an activist organization focused on religious issues, elevated the matter to the courts and filed a lawsuit in 2016. After multiple courts sided with the school district, the case traveled all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled in the coach's favor in 2022.
Continue reading »