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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Tacoma approaches affordable housing from a new angle: anti-displacement
As cities throughout the Seattle area grapple with the dire need for more and affordable housing, Tacoma is attempting to come at the issue from another angle — anti-displacement.
“As a kid who grew up in Tacoma, I tell people that I got to live in every neighborhood, because there was something affordable in every neighborhood. We want to make sure that we’re building that same Tacoma," Mayor Victoria Woodards told Soundside.
“Density is coming, but we as a city have to be responsible for where we allow that density to happen. It has to happen in places that make sense."
The Tacoma City Council approved an anti-displacement plan in early February. It's an extension of the city's affordable housing strategy that was passed in 2018. While these strategies address overlapping issues, and utilize similar tactics, they are viewed as different approaches. Affordable housing deals with the creation of more units as the city evolves. Anti-displacement is designed to preserve what Tacoma already has — its residents and their homes. If successful, it would counter factors that force residents to ditch Tacoma. Woodard also notes that the anti-displacement plan is expected to change and adapt moving forward.
RELATED: Converting office buildings to housing in Tacoma
The anti-displacement approach is also viewed as a means of mitigating other issues, such as the lingering effects of Tacoma's past redlining policies. The plan references the Washington State Department of Commerce's Displacement Risk Map (currently in draft form), which highlights areas where residents face higher risk of being displaced. Notably, areas with a higher percentage of residents of color, and low-income households, are more likely at risk. One such area is Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood, which the plan specifically points out, along with downtown, South Tacoma, and East Tacoma.
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Beloved produce market in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood closes after fire. ‘We will be back’
Residents are mourning the closure of another Seattle neighborhood produce market. Rising Sun Produce, on the corner of 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 65th Street, is boarded up. The smell of smoke and soot linger. Burnt boxes and other cardboard debris line the loading area.
At around 3:10 a.m. Friday, Seattle Fire Department received 911 calls reporting fire in the building. According to department spokesperson David Cuerpo, crews extinguished a fire involving stacked cardboard that extended to the loading dock and overhead roof. Cuerpo said investigators ruled the cause of the fire as undetermined.
It’s not clear how long the store will stay closed. A sign by the parking lot reads “We will be back.”
RELATED: MacPherson's, longtime Seattle produce market, is closing
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Renton minimum wage initiative leading after initial ballot count
Update: Renton minimum wage initiative leading after initial ballot count
The city of Renton may be getting a higher minimum wage. As of Wednesday's ballot count, the measure to hike worker pay is leading by a healthy margin — 57.1% in favor, and 42.9% opposed.
Large businesses in Renton will need to offer $20.29 an hour if it ultimately passes. Advocates say it will be a big help to workers who are struggling to pay rent. David Hill who owns Fortune Casino and Fortune Poker in Renton told KUOW he has mixed feelings, however.
“It's the tipped employees that are really getting the boon here. My average tipped employee is making over $50 an hour," Hill said.
Those tipped employees (such as card dealers) are currently at the state minimum wage of $16.28 per hour, so the new rate would be a boost. Hill’s lowest-paid employees, like dishwashers, already make at least $20 an hour, so they won’t get much more.
The owner of Renton's Rose Gift House and Coffee in Renton Katie Newman told KUOW that she favors the wage hike, though as a small business, her shop would be except from the new rate. She recently gave her employees a $1.50 raise to match the state minimum.
"I kind of live with philosophy that if a job exists in society, the person who does it deserves a living wage," Newman said.
Original post published Feb. 12, 2024
If voters say yes this week, Renton's minimum wage could rise to be the highest in the nation, matching its higher-paying neighbor Tukwila.
"We see that businesses are increasing their prices to keep up with inflation, and what we're seeing on the other side of that is wages remain stagnant," said Guillermo Zazueta, who is spearheading the campaign for Initiative 23-02.
RELATED: Seattle now has highest minimum wage of any major city in the United States
Zazueta argues that the wage hike for large employers is needed due skyrocketing costs for housing and other basic needs in the area.
"We have tens of thousands of working families in Renton that are working long hours, maybe two to three jobs, trying to make ends meet. And we are leaving those folks behind," he said.
Renton's current minimum wage is set at the state's rate of $16.28. Under the proposal, the rate for large Renton employers would increase by nearly 25% to $20.29 per hour. Small and medium businesses would pay $18.29, but this rate would be phased up to the higher pay within two years. Businesses with fewer than 15 employees would be exempt. The wage would also be adjusted for inflation each year. If approved, the new rate would hit paychecks in July.
The proposal has its critics, however, such as the Renton Chamber of Commerce, which has backed a counter-campaign to the proposal. It argues that raising the local minimum wage will, in turn, push prices even higher in town, as local businesses pass the increased cost to customers.
CEO Diane Dobson also says that the wage hike would lead to job losses in Renton and reduced hours for employees. She adds that many Renton businesses are still struggling due to the pandemic and with inflation.
The Chamber's No On 23-02 website, further points to Seattle, where the raised minimum wage did not solve the affordability crisis.
"Household incomes have already increased significantly in Renton, while the cost of living has skyrocketed. This proposal will only widen the gap by causing the costs of groceries, restaurant meals, childcare, and other goods and services to increase even more for everyone."
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Open carry guns at zoos and bus stops in Washington state? That could soon be banned
The Washington State Senate approved legislation Friday that creates new limits on the state's open carry laws for guns, aiming to add to the list of public settings where openly carrying firearms is prohibited.
The goal is to help families and children feel safe "without fear of intimidation by folks who may be parading around with their weapons, openly carrying," bill sponsor Sen. Javier Valdez (D-Seattle) said.
RELATED: A new California law restricts carrying guns in public — testing the Second Amendment
Senate Bill 5444 would make it illegal to openly carry a firearm at zoos, aquariums, bus stops, and public libraries. The bill doesn't address carrying concealed weapons in Washington, which requires a license.
The legislation passed along party lines in the state Senate and now heads to the House for consideration.
Critics, including state Sen. Keith Wagoner (R-Sedro Woolley), call SB5444 another infringement on gun rights.
"Whether or not it's a right that we exercise for ourselves, it's our duty in this chamber to uphold those rights," Wagoner said.
Meanwhile, in the House, lawmakers passed another bill amending rules surrounding lost or stolen firearms. HB1903, passed on Friday, mandates that a gun owner who does not report a lost or stolen firearm within 24 hours of discovering it missing could face a fine of up to $1,000. The offense would be classified as a civil infraction.
In recent years, Washington state has seen a trend of new, approved gun control measures, either through the legislature or voters. I-1639 was approved by voters in 2018 and defined the term "semiautomatic assault rifle." It also prohibited the sale of such firearms to people under the age of 21.
In 2021, lawmakers prohibited the open carrying of guns at the state Capitol in Olympia.
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Photos: Squidding from Tacoma's Les Davis Pier
Each fall and winter, anglers line up at various locations around the Puget Sound to catch squid. A popular destination is in Tacoma at Les Davis Pier. On a November night in 2023, crowds gathered to cast their lines.
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Seattle celebrates Grammy win for säje
The female vocal ensemble säje brought their ethereal, contemporary jazz to the Grammys recently, winning the award for best arrangement.
Their winning song featuring Jacob Collier, "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," is off the group's debut self-titled album, "säje."
The group combines the vocal talents of Erin Bentlage, Sara Gazarek, Johnaye Kendrick, and Amanda Taylor. All have have deep roots in the Emerald City. Johnaye Kendrick lives in the Seattle area now, and is a professor of music at Cornish College of the Arts. Taylor and Gazarek both grew up in the city.
"Seattle definitely feels like home for me," Gazarek said, while speaking with Seattle Now's Patricia Murphy after the group's big win.
RELATED: Vocal supergroup säje garners a Grammy
While you're likely to find säje categorized as "jazz" or "vocal jazz", Gazarek said the group has been most influenced by "Black American music." The group's rhythmic and harmonic approach "captures the sounds that are inside of us as creators, and the sounds are influenced by what's happening in the world" — including the darkness.
RELATED: Brandi Carlile goes home with 3 Grammys, thanks Seattle for making her 'strive for this'
"There is a small subset of that in the jazz community that really prides itself on this concept of amplification of voices," Gazarek said. "Amplification of social issues. Intentional creation of music that means something beyond just romance and dreams, that is curious about music, that isn't just nostalgic references."
That means their songs carry a strong social message, like the Johnaye Kendrick original composition "Never You Mind" about Black Americans killed by police.
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Kiosks for free Covid and flu tests unveiled this week in Washington state
Washington state unveiled kiosks for free Covid and flu tests this week.
The kiosks, launched with tribal nations, will be available 24/7 at malls, food banks, transit stations, churches, schools, and libraries, according to a press release from the Department of Health.
Seventeen kiosks have been ordered so far across Washington state. A website showed that two kiosks are currently open in Spanaway.
According to the health department statement, “Kiosks make it possible to access health care tests and supplies at the push of a button in accessible locations.”
The kiosks will dispense free Covid rapid tests, Covid PCR tests, and tests that detect the flu. Each kiosk holds about 700 tests, according to the state.
Tribal nations may choose to add naloxone, pregnancy tests and other medical products.
"Rapid testing is part of our new normal," said Kristina Allen, Community Testing Supervisor, according to the statement.
Correction 2/15/2024: A previous version of this story included an incorrect photo caption.
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Both hands on the wheel, Washington drivers. Your insurance rates are about to jump 24%
Washington drivers may see an increase in vehicle insurance costs by an average of 24%, the biggest bump in a long time. This comes on the heels of a relatively tame period for rates over the last five years.
The Office of the Insurance Commissioner – the regulating body for the insurance industry in Washington state – approved a 2023 rate increase average of 24% for car insurance companies.
“We saw a 2.8% increase in 2022,” said Aaron VanTuyl, communications manager for the insurance commissioner. “No increase the year before that, and then 2020 there was actually a 3% decrease.”
VanTuyl added that consumers could look at this information and say insurers are just catching up on things.
He said the reason for the approved rate increase is because insurance companies have reported an increase in serious bodily injury and fatal auto accident claims over the years.
“The biggest factor we've seen is that there have been more severe accidents the last few years,” VanTuyl said.
More severe accidents have led to larger payouts. Another factor impacting rates is the cost of buying and repairing cars.
VanTuyl shared that the Office of the Insurance Commissioner has a new rule going into effect in June 2024. Upon request, insurance carriers will have to give consumers an explanation as to why their insurance rates have increased – in terms they can reasonably understand.
In 2027 carriers will have to provide this notice, even if a consumer doesn’t ask. The goal is to make things easier for consumers and require carriers to be more transparent with policyholders.
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UW's Burke Museum working with Native tribes to repatriate tribal objects
Museums across Washington state may no longer display some Native artifacts without permission under a new federal rule.
The nationwide rule, which took effect in January, bars museums from displaying or doing research on sacred objects without consent from their tribes of origin — the sort of things looted from Native gravesites.
Some museums, like the American Museum of Natural History in New York, closed entire halls in response.
RELATED: Repatriation celebration as stolen Native Hawaiian remains stop in Sea-Tac on their way home
At the University of Washington’s Burke Museum in Seattle, Justice McNeeley’s job is to return items tribes want back. McNeeley said the Burke has long worked with tribes to ensure that its displays are appropriate, and its exhibits will remain open for now.
“We, of course, are going to continue consultation with tribes to ensure that we are still up to date with everything that we have on display and making sure that we are taking proper care," McNeeley said.
Burke officials said the new rules may speed up the process of repatriating tribal objects. Curator Sara Gonzalez said she hopes it will make it easier for tribes to reclaim artifacts they want returned.
"At current rates, it would take over 200 years — those are best estimates — to actually complete the work of repatriation," Gonzalez said. "I am hopeful that it will help speed up the process and ensure that we've taken care of this work sooner rather than in several generations from now."
RELATED: The lasting effect indigenous boarding schools have had on Washington state
That was the Biden administration's goal: to speed up repatriation.
According to The New York Times, those government efforts date back to 1990 with the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA. The Act established rules for museums and other institutions to return human remains, funerary objects, and other items to tribes.
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Does playing soccer on artificial turf increase cancer risk, especially in kids?
Longtime University of Washington goalies coach Amy Griffin is not an activist by nature. But 15 years ago, she identified what she believed was a trend that she couldn’t ignore in good conscience — young goalies being diagnosed with blood cancer.
It started when she ran into two of her former goalkeepers at University Village, an outdoor mall in northeast Seattle. The two young women had grown up playing soccer in the same Seattle neighborhoods, on the same fields. When Griffin saw them at University Village, they had another thing in common: Both were bald from undergoing chemotherapy treatment for lymphoma.
After working with goalkeepers for decades (and playing in goal for the U.S. Women’s National Team), Griffin recognizes certain personality traits particular to goalies. Being a goaltender, especially at a high level, requires relentless optimism in the face of inevitable heartache: You can make spectacular saves, but it’s the one mistake people remember.
That day at University Village, Griffin saw that goalie attitude — unrelenting optimism and a sense of common fate — in her two former players. They saw their diagnoses as an ironic twist that was related somehow to their role on the field. Typical goalkeepers, they said, shaking their heads and smiling.
But also, “Why us?”
“One of them said, ‘I wonder if it's the stuff in the field,” Griffin recalled. “I wonder if it’s those little black dots, because we're eating them, we get them in our eyes, we get them in our abrasions.”
Those little black dots are the crumb rubber used as infill on more than 13,000 playing and practice fields across the U.S. Each of those fields uses 20,000 to 40,000 shredded waste tires to provide cushioning and traction. While waste tires are heavily regulated because they contain known carcinogens and heavy metals, when those same tires are chopped up and put on playing fields, they are unregulated.
For more than a decade, parents, coaches, and players have worried that the crushed-up tires pose health risks. Studies to date, both in the U.S. and Europe, have revealed extensive toxic chemicals within crumb rubber, but most conclude the level of exposure people have when playing or practicing on artificial turf is too low to put them in danger.
Meanwhile, Griffin’s list of former goalies and other athletes with cancer continues to grow. The list now includes close to 300 people, more than half of whom have a form of blood cancer.
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WA Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers won't run for re-election
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Spokane) announced Thursday that she will not seek re-election.
"It's been the honor and privilege of my life to represent the people of Eastern Washington in Congress," McMorris Rodgers said in a statement. "After much prayer and reflection, I’ve decided the time has come to serve them in new ways."
McMorris Rodgers has represented Washington's 5th Congressional District since 2005. Her seat is up for re-election this year. She's also currently chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
RELATED: McMorris Rodgers hopes to reset energy policy, if she heads House energy committee
Her statement did not indicate what McMorris Rodgers will do next, ending instead on a vague assurance that "the best is yet to come."
But Jordan Evich, a Republican political consultant, told KUOW he believes she has no plans to run for higher office, and is likely to take a job outside of politics.
That's at least in part because of the current dynamics in the House.
Evich said McMorris Rodgers wants to get legislation passed, and that's not happening much these days.
"When you are someone who wants to get something done, it's hard to do that in an increasingly gridlocked environment," he said.
Just this week, former President Donald Trump reportedly helped kill a bipartisan immigration deal that had been championed by leading Republicans in Congress.
McMorris Rodgers is the second member of Washington's congressional delegation to step aside ahead of the 2024 election. U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Gig Harbor) announced in November he would not seek re-election in Washington's 6th Congressional District.
According to McMorris Rodgers' office, she was the 200th woman elected to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and the first woman to give birth three times while in office.
She's been in the House through some tumultuous times.
Just last year, eight hardline Republicans joined Democrats to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his job. While all eight of Washington's Congressional Democrats voted to remove McCarthy, McMorris Rodgers and her fellow Washington Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse voted to keep him.
RELATED: Are Washington state Republicans fully behind former President Trump?
McMorris Rodgers also was in the House for both impeachment votes against former President Donald Trump in 2019 and 2021. She voted against impeachment both times.
In January, a supermajority of Republicans in Congress signed an amicus brief to support Trump's place on Colorado's presidential primary ballot. McMorris Rodgers was among them.
"No matter the division, we must unite in prayer," McMorris Rodgers said in her statement Thursday. "And as we do, we will bring hope and healing to broken lives, broken families, and broken systems failing broken people."
Several Democrats have already entered the race in her district.
The Spokesman-Review reported in November that Carmela Conroy, chair of the Spokane County Democrats, and small business owner Ann Marie Danimus were running. The paper also reported Bernadine “Bernie” Bank, an OB-GYN, was considering jumping into the race.
Danimus pointedly acknowledged McMorris Rodgers' exit from the race on X, formerly known as Twitter, writing, "Things just got interesting in the 5th CD."
KUOW's David Hyde contributed to this report.
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Seattle brewery crafts Chinese culture in every drop of this Lunar New Year beer
Lunar New Year holds special meaning for various cultures throughout Asia, and also throughout Washington state. At Seattle’s Lucky Envelope Brewing, it’s about Chinese culture, it’s about family and community, and importantly, it’s about beer.
Where else are you going to find beer made with dragon fruit or Sichuan peppercorns?
“The whole point of a lot of the major holidays in Chinese culture is to bring people together, particularly family and friends,” said Raymond Kwan, co-founder of Lucky Envelope Brewing. “And aside from your red lanterns and your lucky envelopes, it's about food and drink.”
RELATED: Will Lunar New Year become a state-recognized holiday in Washington?
Lunar New Year 2024 will bring a suite of new beers at the brewery — all special blends celebrating the holiday that begins on February 10, the start of the Wood Dragon year on the Chinese lunar calendar.
The holiday is a major celebration in many cultures across East Asia, notably China, Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Lucky Envelope founders Kwan and Barry Chan are among the roughly 740,000 Washingtonians who have heritage in countries that celebrate Lunar New Year. That pencils out to nearly 10% of the state’s population. It’s so culturally significant, there is an effort in the state Legislature to recognize the holiday.
Kwan and Chen celebrate Lunar New Year by bringing people together around their brewery. This year, they shut the taproom down early to host a Lunar New Year dinner for its staff, introducing many to new foods and traditions central to the holiday. The brewery also partners with others in Seattle’s Asian-American community to host special events.
Through their beer, Kwan and Chan emphasize the importance of bringing people together. They grew up in Chinese-American households. That meant piling into homes with dozens of family members and friends to celebrate Lunar New Year. In the west, it’s akin to family Christmas gatherings.
RELATED: Craft nonalcoholic scene is brewing in Seattle, just don't call it a 'mocktail'
Each year, older generations in the family hand out red paper envelopes containing money. It’s a stand-out memory from these childhood celebrations. Today, this tradition is Lucky Envelope’s namesake.
“The color red is meant to ward off evil spirits and the money inside is supposed to bring prosperity to the person receiving it,” Kwan explained. “It was exciting to kind of tie in our cultural heritage into the name of the brewery.”
“What’s really awesome about the craft beer community is it’s really a community that revolves around drink … the correlations we see between the craft beer industry and Chinese culture — bringing people together in a community setting to share a beverage, and cheers, and share stories, and have fun. It makes everything about what we’re doing with the brewery, how we’re engaging the community, and supporting the community, much more fun.”
2024 Lunar New Year beer
Lucky Envelope Brewing’s Ballard taphouse is generally full to the brim (literally) with eclectic flavors. A stout blended with peanut butter and coffee. A sour beer featuring pureed pineapple, passionfruit, and lemon. A hard seltzer mimicking the soda cult classic Baja Blast. Each Lunar New Year adds a few more flavors to the brewery’s palate.
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