KUOW Blog
News, factoids, and insights from KUOW's newsroom. And maybe some peeks behind the scenes. Check back daily for updates.
Have any leads or feedback for the KUOW Blog? Contact Dyer Oxley at dyer@kuow.org.
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Last known set of remains connected to Green River Killer case identified
One of the final mysteries surrounding the Green River Killer was solved Monday as investigators confirmed, through DNA testing, the person whose remains were known as “Bones 20” has a name: Tammie Liles.
Liles, who went missing at the age of 16 in 1983, was originally identified as a victim through dental records in 1988. Part of her remains were found at the Tualatin Golf Course near Tigard, Oregon in 1985, along with those of another woman.
Gary Ridgway, dubbed the Green River Killer, was arrested in 2002 — 20 years after beginning his decades-long killing spree. In an agreement to avoid the death penalty, he led investigators to sites where he'd dumped some of his victims' bodies and helped solve some of the murders. One of those locations was on Kent-Des Moines Road, where the rest of Liles' remains — then unidentified and referred to as "Bones 20" — were found.
It would take law enforcement another 22 years to make the connection between Liles’ remains identified in 1988 and “Bones 20,” which were initially thought to belong to another, unidentified person.
Typical DNA matching compares about 20 markers. It can also only make identical DNA matches, or matches between a parent, child, or sibling. The DNA testing that recently identified Liles was conducted by Othram, a forensic sequencing laboratory that specializes in identifying human remains and helping law enforcement solve violent crimes.
Othram CEO David Mittelman said the company took samples with 100,000 DNA markers from Liles’ remains and found a match through a third or fourth cousin. When scientists have significantly more DNA markers, like the profile Othram created, it’s easier to match relatives as distant as fifth or sixth cousins, Mittelman said.
RELATED: 'She’ll forever be a child'. DNA testing identifies teen victim 4 decades later
Of Monday's news, King County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Eric White said there is a “great sense of relief and accomplishment for our major crimes detectives that have been working on this for decades.”
However, the case isn't closed, White added.
“Even with the identification of Tammie Liles, we will still continue to look and see if there are more victims out there. This does not represent that we're done looking for victims or that these are the only victims," he said. "We're still keeping an open mind.”
RELATED: Youngest Green River Killer victim identified 37 years later
In December 2003, the Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway, was convicted of murdering 49 women and girls, including Liles, between 1982 and 1998. However, investigators believe he killed 65 people or more.
Ridgway is serving 49 consecutive life sentences for murder at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. According to the King County Prosecutor’s Office, if Ridgway is convicted of additional murders outside of Washington state, he could face the death penalty. On April 21, 2023, Washington state Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation removing the death penalty from the state’s law.
RELATED: Missed crime lab evidence could've stopped Green River Killer decades earlier
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Republican initiatives you’ll be voting on in Washington state
Six initiatives backed by Washington state Republicans could be on their way to voters’ ballots in 2024.
“These initiatives would significantly change the policies laid out in Washington right now and the state’s trajectory on things like climate change,” Northwest News Network reporter Jeanie Lindsay told Seattle Now.
Hit the play button above to hear Jeanie Lindsay’s full conversation with Seattle Now host Patricia Murphy, and keep reading for key take-aways
The initiatives are the work of a number of high-profile Washington Republicans. They were filed with the Secretary of State’s office by Jim Walsh, a lawmaker representing Aberdeen in the House of Representatives and Washington State Republican Party Chair. The group Let’s Go Washington, backed by Republican mega-donor Brian Heywood, funded the process of collecting signatures needed to advance the initiatives to the state Legislature.
The group gathered more than 320,000 signatures from Washington voters for each initiative. Three have already been verified by the Secretary of State’s Office. The next stop is the state Legislature, where lawmakers have the option to respond before sending them to voters.
Two of the initiatives would repeal part or all of landmark Washington laws passed by the Democratic supermajority in the Legislature over the past three years: The Climate Commitment Act and Washington’s Capital Gains Tax.
The Climate Commitment Act created Washington’s carbon emission auction, where companies operating in the state bid for credits that allow them to release carbon pollution. The law reduces the number of credits available each year to reduce carbon emissions in the state.
In its first year, the program brought in $1.8 billion. That money goes towards climate projects including low-emission transportation, clean energy jobs and habitat restoration. Critics of the law say it has contributed to Washington’s high gas prices in the time since it went into effect.
Initiative 2117 would ban the state from enacting any cap and trade program and repeal sections of the Climate Commitment Act.
The state’s capital gains tax is the target of Initiative 2109, which would entirely repeal the law. It taxes money made by individuals on the sale of long-term assets (like stocks and bonds) over $250,000. In 2022, roughly 3,800 households met the requirements to pay the tax. It brought in $900 million in revenue.
“State law says the money from the capital gains tax goes to school construction, and then it goes into a state funding account specifically for education, including early learning and childcare,” Lindsay said. “So it's a pretty significant chunk of change that the state would no longer have access to, if the capital gains tax is taken away.”
The other four: Parents’ bill of rights, police, payroll and income taxes
Initiative 2081 would create a so-called "parents' bill of rights," outlining parents' authority over their children’s schooling. It would allow parents to request academic, medical and mental health records from schools, some of which are currently shielded by privacy laws.
Initiative 2113 would roll back restrictions on when law enforcement officers can engage in car pursuits, an issue the legislature has revisited several times in recent years.
Initiative 2124 would allow residents to opt out of the state’s 0.58% long-term care payroll tax enacted in 2022. It funds benefits for people in the state who need in-home or residential medical care.
And Initiative 2111 would ban income taxes in Washington, something already illegal according to courts’ interpretations of the state’s constitution.
Before the initiatives move onto voter ballots this November, lawmakers in Olympia have a chance to respond.
Lawmakers’ first option is to accept the initiatives and enact them as written.
“That isn't going to happen,” Lindsay said. “These proposals [are targeting] democratic priorities, so the Legislature is not going to adopt these.”
But lawmakers could add an alternative option to the ballot, giving voters the choice to reject a proposal, accept a proposal, or vote for an alternative presented by lawmakers. Regardless, Washington voters will be the ones making a final decision in November.
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Are Washington state Republicans fully behind former President Trump?
Republicans in Congress have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to keep Donald Trump on Colorado's primary ballot, but only one of two GOP representatives from Washington state have signed on to the effort.
Last month, Colorado's Supreme Court threw Donald Trump off the state’s primary ballot, calling him an "insurrectionist" involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. That case is now slated to be in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 8.
RELATED: WA Republican Newhouse won’t say if he’ll endorse Trump in 2024
Challenges to placing Trump on ballots across the USA are largely based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars anyone from running for office if they have engaged in insurrection. Trump's challengers state that he did exactly that on Jan. 6.
This week, a supermajority of Republicans in Congress signed an amicus brief to support Trump's place on Colorado's ballot. Included among the signers is Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state's 5th Congressional District.
Trump's supporters argue that the former president can't be an insurrectionist because he "quickly" called for peace. The amicus brief also states that the court in Colorado "adopted a malleable and expansive view of 'engage in insurrection,' which will easily lead to widespread abuse of Section 3 against political opponents."
RELATED: What inspired 8 WA voters to challenge Trump's presence on the primary ballot?
Absent from the signatures is Washington's only other Republican representative in Congress — Rep. Dan Newhouse from Washington's 4th Congressional District.
In an interview with C-SPAN this week, Newhouse also would not commit to backing Trump for president, even if he's the GOP nominee. Newhouse did say that, “it's critically important that Republicans return to the White House,” that it was too early to determine support for Trump, and that he is "waiting to hear from the American people and who our options are going to be."
Newhouse was among 10 Republicans in the U.S. House who voted to impeach Trump in 2021. Of those 10, eight either did not run for re-election or faced GOP competition and were voted out of office. Newhouse kept his job in Congress.
Another Washington Republican, Rep. Jaimie Herrera Beutler, also voted to impeach Trump. She was ousted after being challenged by a far-right candidate and failing to receive enough primary votes in Washington's 3rd Congressional District.
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Seattle light rail riders report delays, crowds amidst repairs
Work to repair damaged rails on Sound Transit's 1 Line is causing delays and overcrowding.
Salvador Aranda commutes daily on the train. He said he’s seen delays on his trip between Angle Lake and Westlake.
"If I miss the one that goes all the way straight, that puts me about 30 minutes behind on my arrival to work," Aranda said.
RELATED: Price tag for Seattle's streetcar connector skyrockets even higher
"You can see there's a lot of people that are stressed because they don't know what's going on," he added. "Some of them are just completely clueless, like me, for the first few rides."
Riders with bikes, like a man who gave his name to KUOW as Stoney, may have an even tougher time getting on crowded trains.
Floyd Blanton is a frequent light rail rider who told KUOW his typical commute takes a matter of minutes. He knew the delays were coming, but wasn't expecting the capacity to be what it has been.
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Snowpack status check: How are Washington's mountains after the cold snap?
An abysmal December stretch of warm weather added up to a lot of nothing in Washington's mountains, which went into 2024 lacking significant snowpack.
The region relies on that snowpack to store water until it is needed in the summer months. With many regions reporting below 50% normal snowpack, concerns were mounting.
RELATED: Early January storms bring much-needed snow to the NW
After the recent extreme cold weather, mountain conditions are looking up — and icy. Washington is up to about 73% of normal snowpack for this time of year. That's still lower than experts like to see.
“We started out quite low in terms of in our precipitation and had higher temperatures early on in winter, which leads to lower snowpack, and we already were starting out with a deficit in terms of last year, from last year’s drought," said Caroline Mellor, with the Washington State Department of Ecology.
Meanwhile, Oregon's snowpack is at about 105%. But Matt Warbritton with the U.S. Department of Agriculture told Northwest News Network that current levels could change for better or for worse.
“Just because we have near-normal snowpack right now doesn’t mean that will last,” he said, “especially if we have warmer temperatures.”
The current El Niño system has kept temperatures quite warm this season.
In Washington state, the Olympics, North Cascades, and areas east of Okanogan have concerning levels of snowpack. According to the Department of Agriculture, there are some regions across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho that are reporting more than 70% of regular precipitation (snow), and a handful of areas report more than 90%.
Mellor told Northwest News Network that, “People should continue to pray for snow. While things are starting to look better, we still need a significant amount of snow.”
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Price tag for Seattle's streetcar connector skyrockets even higher
Expanding Seattle’s streetcar along First Avenue would cost an estimated $445 million. That's an increase of $192 million from the city's last cost projection.
The streetcar system expansion — the "Culture Connector" — would connect the city's two other lines, in South Lake Union and First Hill. The new connection would operate in its own lane of traffic from Westlake to Pike Place Market, and to Pioneer Square.
A new consultant report states the additional line would likely cost more than three times the original 2015 estimate of $143 million. Consultants behind the report point to inflation and increased construction costs among factors in the latest, much higher price.
RELATED: Could a streetcar be the key to reviving downtown Seattle's arts and entertainment scene?
It’s not the first time the price tag has gone up. After then-Mayor Jenny Durkan called for an outside cost review of the project, the 2018 estimate ballooned to $252 million.
Many proponents of the plan have said the First Avenue line would be the missing link, connecting the two other streetcar lines. Both of the city's streetcar lines have been plagued by low ridership from their beginning. Proponents hope that a connection would make the system function as a whole, boosting ridership.
Current Mayor Bruce Harrell has recently hyped the proposed connection, arguing that it would help foster an arts district in Seattle, and help revitalize downtown.
RELATED: Seattle light rail is about to get heavy for those who don't pay the fare
Still, the project would be a massive undertaking at a time when far fewer people work in downtown office buildings, and when attendant ridership on the other streetcar lines still has not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.
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Former King County sheriff sees 'a new era of policing'
Former King County Sheriff Sue Rahr says policing doesn't attract people who want to be the "hero" anymore — and that's a good thing.
Law enforcement officials and advocates in Seattle have blamed a negative public perception of police for difficulty recruiting and retaining officers.
"I think that definitely discourages the people coming into policing that do it because they want to be the hero and they want people to admire them," Rahr said. "I think we are reaching more recruits that want to come into this to do something good. They're not looking for the adventure and the hero status. They're looking at their community and saying, 'I want to make this better.'"
KUOW series: Seattle's policing dilemma
Those new recruits are looking at the profession in a different way, one that Rahr said gives her hope.
"We are at the front of a new era of policing," she told Soundside's Libby Denkman. "The people that we want to get into law enforcement in 2024, we're targeting a different demographic."
Things like the "Defund" movement of recent years are not the core of what's driving staffing challenges today, Rahr argued, and she urged caution for those who assume that's the case.
That may be news to officials like Mike Solan, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild.
He recently spoke to KUOW, too.
Solan said progressive politics and a lack of support for police have undermined recruitment and retention efforts in Seattle.
“We mustn't forget about the ambitions of the activist class and how they want to paint police officers in this city," he said, though he's hopeful those "bad vibes" won't continue under the newly formed City Council, which is expected to more centrist than its the last incarnation.
Public perception of police is just a small piece of the story, though — the smallest, in fact, according to Rahr.
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From 'unreasonable scrutiny' to hope: Why Seattle's police union president is optimistic
The Seattle Police Officers Guild has hope that things will get better around town for the first time in a long time. Why? There's a new City Council at City Hall.
"We, for a very long time, have not had the political support from our elected leaders in this city," SPOG President Mike Solan recently told Soundside. "And the 2020 movement, the Defund movement, really hindered our ability to be an effective police force. And we’ve lost, since 2019, 700 officers."
KUOW series: Seattle's policing dilemma
Solan adds that Seattle police officers have been without a labor contract with the city for more than three years. It's all added up to a sour mood among officers. Solan places a lot of the blame on progressive politics in the city, and a past council that was largely unsupportive.
"We remain extremely hopeful and optimistic that those bad vibes from before won’t resurrect on this current council,” Solan said.
Novembers election put seven out of nine council seats up for grabs. Most of the winning candidates are viewed as more moderate. Some have promoted greater support for hiring police officers. In fact, KUOW reported in July that council incumbents distanced themselves from 2020's Defund the Police effort, sensing its unpopularity among voters. Councilmember Dan Strauss even sent campaign mailers stating, "Defund the police was a mistake."
RELATED: 'Defund the police' in the campaign spotlight
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Trump will stay on Washington state's ballot in 2024
A Thurston County Superior Court judge ruled Thursday morning that former President Donald Trump will remain on the Washington state primary and general ballot in 2024.
"The court is denying the request of the petitioner electors to take any action that would direct the Secretary of State to remove former President Donald J. Trump's name from presidential primary ballots," Thurston County Superior Court Judge Mary Sue Wilson said in court.
Judge Wilson added that the same decision goes for placing Trump's name on the general election ballot in November.
RELATED: What inspired 8 WA voters to challenge Trump's presence on the primary ballot?
Last week, eight Kitsap County voters filed a challenge to placing Trump on the ballot. They cited state regulations and the recent decision in Colorado that bumped Trump off the ballot in that state. Judge Wilson said that Colorado's ruling only pertained to that state's law, and not election laws in Washington.
There were two state election regulations that were part of the complaint, but the judge concluded that they did not allow the judge to take action in this case, and direct the Secretary of State to correct election errors.
The Secretary of State’s office asked the court to make the ruling Thursday. This comes as the eight Kitsap County voters challenged Trump’s eligibility on the ballot shortly before the deadline to speak up. The judge had five court days to respond to their motion, and ruled shortly before the deadline. Wilson announced her decision, 15 minutes after hearing oral arguments from both sides.
Speaking with KUOW, Frankey Ithaka, who spearheaded the challenge for the eight voters, said that they brought the challenge based on Trump's actions on Jan. 6, 2021. They argue those actions add up to insurrection and should bar the former president from office.
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What to expect from UW football's new coach Jedd Fisch
This is going to hurt for University of Washington football fans to hear. But it has to be said that the recent loss of coach Kalen DeBoer was, on some level, to be expected.
What should fans expect now? Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting, and according to Danny O'Neil with The Dang Apostrophe, that's what UW football is now focused on.
RELATED: Is it worth keeping a college football program, even if it's losing money?
Coming off a successful season that brought the Huskies to the national championship, Coach DeBoer is now leaving UW football to become the new head football coach at the University of Alabama.
“We like to think of (UW) as one of the elite, cornerstone programs. We are, but not in comparison to Alabama," O'Neil told Seattle Now. "Alabama plays in the Southeastern Conference, which is considered the best quality of college football. The Big 10, where the Washington Huskies are moving, is the richest, but the SEC is where the most future NFL players are, and Alabama has two of the winningest coaches in college football history. Kalen DeBoer is going to replace one of them.”
DeBoer is being replaced by coach Jedd Fisch from the University of Arizona, and while UW may lose some players along with DeBoer, the team is also likely to gain new players who will come to Seattle for coach Fisch.
“College football is different than it was even 10 years ago. It’s easier for players to move schools," O'Neil said. "It’s always been fairly easy for coaches to move schools, but because of the volume of money involved ... you used to have five conferences, now there are really just two top conferences. The shape of the sport is starting to resemble a pyramid … everything is becoming more fluid at the college level.”
What to expect from UW football under Coach Fisch
From coach Jedd Fisch, O'Neil says UW fans can expect "a polished, buttoned-down approach. A sharp offensive mind.” But perhaps Coach Fisch's most attractive quality is what he can do off the field.
Fisch's resume covers roughly 20 years. Previously, Fisch worked under head coach Pete Carroll as the Seahawks' quarterback coach in 2010. As a college coach, he has been known as a "relentless recruiter," O'Neil said. Fisch has been able to bring high school players to the University of Arizona when it didn't have much momentum. Still, under his coaching, the team had 10 victories last season.
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WA Republican Newhouse won’t say if he’ll endorse Trump
Donald Trump just smoked the competition in the Iowa Caucuses, but Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse of central Washington won't say if he’ll endorse the former president, even if Trump ends up being the GOP's 2024 nominee.
Newhouse was one of just 10 Republicans in the U.S. House who voted to impeach Trump after the January 6 attack.
On Wednesday, C-Span host Mimi Gerges asked Newhouse about this year's presidential race. Newhouse was emphatic about wanting President Biden out.
“I think it's critically important that Republicans return to the White House,” he said.
But what about Donald Trump returning to the White House? Newhouse would not commit to support him even if Trump ends up being the Republican pick.
Mimi Gerges: Would you support Donald Trump if he was the Republican nominee?
Dan Newhouse: I think it's very early to make that determination. Like I said, I am waiting to hear from the American people and who our options are going to be.
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Reporter's notebook: What inspired 8 WA voters to challenge Trump's presence on the primary ballot?
Last week, a challenge to former President Donald Trump's place on Washington's 2024 ballot was filed just before the state's deadline for voters to officially speak up. Frankey Ithaka, who is spearheading the effort for eight state voters, said that after hearing a segment on KUOW, they realized "the timeline was kind of tight."
RELATED: Trump's place on Washington state's ballot challenged by 8 voters
Ithaka recently spoke with KUOW's Kim Malcolm about their challenge to Trump on the ballot, and noted that the idea initially started with another interview Malcolm aired a week prior. That interview was with Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, who commented that no Washington voters had filed any challenges around Trump, and the deadline was fast approaching.
"And given that any registered voter could make this challenge … I’m a registered voter," Ithaka said, adding that they didn't want to simply think someone else would do it and move on.
“It’s sort of like when you’re driving on the freeway and you see a burning house, and you think somebody else has called 911. I wanted to make sure somebody filed (a challenge).”
RELATED: Where the Republican presidential candidates stand on Donald Trump
Ithaka argues that the issue surrounding Trump goes beyond political divides, and notes that similar challenges in other states have been filed by Republicans.
“When your own party is filing to make sure you don’t get on the ballot, because that’s how concerned they are about you being president again, that says something," Ithaka said. "That’s not just Democrats. That means something.”
The argument fueling these challenges is based on the 14th Amendment, which prohibits people who have engaged in insurrection from running for office. Challenges to placing Trump on the 2024 presidential ballot have been filed in 30 states, largely with the support of two left-of-center nonprofit groups — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, and Free Speech for People. Some Republicans also have been behind the effort, though not exclusively.
Republican John Anthony Castro has filed challenges to placing Trump on the ballot in 27 states, according to The New York Times. Before this, in August 2023, two Conservative academics — William Baude with the University of Chicago, and Michael Paulsen with the University of St. Thomas — wrote a paper in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, promoting that the third section of the 14th Amendment should bar Trump from being on a presidential ballot, based on his actions on Jan. 6, 2021.
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