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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Seattle steps in to foot bill for migrants living in hotel
A group of about 200 migrants seeking asylum will be allowed to remain at a hotel — at least for now.
The City of Seattle stepped up at the last minute to pay for them to stay at the hotel for one more week. That's after a group of asylum-seekers and their children stayed at City Hall for hours after sharing their need for safe housing with the City Council.
Advocates said the city and its county and state partners came up with this solution within a matter of hours, and they expect to see more results now that they've bought more time.
The families who demonstrated are part of a bigger group of asylum seekers that have been staying at Quality Inn in Kent since Jan. 10 with the help of the national nonprofit Save the Kids. However, the hotel manager said the card on file was repeatedly declined; Save the Kids told KUOW the credit card was provided by a private startup company to help pay for some housing.
That left the asylum-seekers with a hefty bill of about $3,600 per night, and few options before a Tuesday deadline to leave the hotel.
RELATED: Venezuelan migrants booted from Seattle-area hotel after nonprofit credit card maxes out
The group took the matter to Seattle City Hall on Tuesday. Now, Seattle officials have promised to pay their hotel bills for about a week.
Hamdi Mohamed, director of Seattle's Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, made the announcement to demonstrators at City Hall, prompting audible gasps of relief as a translator shared the news in Spanish.
The news came after demonstrators had waited hours for information. Advocates brought them water and food, yet another necessity that has been hard to come by.
"One of the things that the city is committed to — and we've been doing for quite some time — is working with our nonprofit organizations to help provide legal clinics to connect you guys with legal services; to provide some sort of consultation; to help with employment authorization cards, because I know that's important to a lot of you guys," Mohamed said. "So, any services that are out there in the next week or so, we will also communicate that to you all."
This just a temporary solution, though.
Mohamed said the city does not have the resources to support the asylum-seekers' needs long term.
"Migrant issues is a federal issue, and the city doesn't have resources, specifically, to respond to that," she said Tuesday. "But we are today."
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King County Homelessness Authority gets new leader, for now
Changes are in the works at the troubled agency in charge of homelessness in King County.
L. Darrell Powell will become the second interim head of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, pending approval by the governing committee.
If approved, Powell will start work on Feb. 14. The interim position is temporary. The search for a permanent CEO continues.
RELATED: How a regional homelessness board became so dysfunctional
Powell is a former CEO of the United Way of King County, and was once CFO for the YMCA of Greater Seattle.
"The work of the King County Regional Homeless Authority to reduce homelessness and ensure our neighbors who are homeless and unstably housed are supported in the ways they need is one of our region’s highest priorities and deepest challenges,” United Way president and CEO Gordon McHenry, Jr said in a statement. “We have great confidence that Darrell will be an effective leader as Interim CEO of the KCRHA.”
McHenry is also part of the Homelessness Authority's implementation board.
King County's Homelessness Authority has been struggling. In May 2023, its former CEO, Marc Dones, suddenly stepped down. Dones gave two recommendations for whoever takes over the job: revisit the structure of the Homelessness Authority board; focus more on underlying policies that led to the national homelessness crisis and less on blame.
Moving forward
Alison Eisinger heads the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, an advocacy group. She says leaders need to spend a lot more money on homelessness. Otherwise, any new agency head is being set up to fail.
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Why Washington cars could get a little Smokey in 2024
Washington drivers could soon see Smokey the Bear on the road — not behind the wheel, but on a new specialty license plate that lawmakers are currently considering.
“Since 1944, Smokey Bear has reminded with his signature catchphrase that, ‘Only you can prevent wildfires,’” State Sen. T'wina Nobles (D-Fircrest) said in a statement. “Putting his image on vehicles across Washington would increase awareness by reminding us of our shared responsibility to safeguard our state’s natural legacy. As 90% of wildfires are human-caused every year, his message has never been more important.”
RELATED: Put a (Sue) Bird on it — Specialty license plates in the Pacific Northwest are growing
Nobles introduced SB 5910 last week. The bill, which aims to raise money through the sale of the specialty Smokey plates to fund prevention efforts aimed at human-caused fires, has so far been heard by Washington state's Senate Transportation Committee.
The plates would initially cost $40, and then $30 to renew. The bill states that the funds are "only for the department of natural resources to use for wildfire prevention programs." If approved, the plates could become available in October 2024.
A companion bill, HB 2108, has also been introduced.
Smokey the Bear became a household name in the 1940s when the federal government kicked off campaigns for wildfire prevention. Since then, Smokey has been woven into forest fire prevention ads starting with posters, then radio, and TV.
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UPS is cutting 12,000 jobs just months after reaching union deal
UPS will cut 12,000 jobs and released a revenue outlook for this year that sent its shares down sharply at the opening bell.
The company also hinted that its Coyote truck load brokerage business may be put up for sale.
The Teamsters in September voted to approve a tentative contract agreement with UPS, putting a final seal on contentious labor negotiations that threatened to disrupt package deliveries for millions of businesses and households nationwide.
On a conference call Tuesday morning, CEO Carol Tome said that by reducing the company's headcount UPS will realize $1 billion in cost savings.
UPS also said Tuesday that its board approved an increase of 1 cent in its quarterly dividend to shareholders of record Feb. 20.
"We are going to fit our organization to our strategy and align our resources against what's wildly important," Tome said.
Tome said that UPS is ordering employees to return to the office five days a week this year.
United Parcel Service Inc. anticipates 2024 revenue in a range of approximately $92 billion to $94.5 billion, short of Wall Street's expectations for a figure above $95.5 billion.
Shares of UPS dropped nearly 9% Tuesday.
Revenue also came up short in the fourth quarter, sliding 7.8% to $24.92 billion. That's just shy of Wall Street projections for $25.31 billion, according to a poll of analysts by FactSet.
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Skate Like a Girl picks up the pieces after Seattle bus smashes into skate park
Everything was "normal" at Seattle's Skate Like a Girl. Loud music was playing. People were chatting. Others were skating and filming as they rolled through the indoor skate park.
"All of a sudden the whole building shakes, the lights kind of sway above us and there's dust everywhere and it smells like dirt. We're all looking at the same spot at the wall, and the bus just kind of appeared out of nowhere," said Spirit Miska, Skate Like a Girl's Seattle program manager.
RELATED: This 13-year-old skateboarder just made history in front of Tony Hawk
On Wednesday, Jan. 24, a King County Metro bus smashed through the wall of the skate park, shortly after a car turned in front of it and cut the bus off. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
It’s hard enough to make a safe space for female and non-binary athletes in sports that are typically dominated by men. That’s what Skate Like a Girl tries to do. It’s a non-profit that teaches skateboarding to whoever wants to learn. Making that safe space means finding the funding, the location, the instructors, and the equipment. At the moment, the bus accident has hampered this mission.
The pictures and video from the accident are stunning; a King County Metro bus jutting through the side of the building, leaving swaying metal and exposed insulation. The bus's right tire hangs over a skate ramp.
RELATED: Washington skate — history on 8 wheels
The bus remains in the same spot, sticking partially inside the building. It’s unclear yet if removing it would be structurally safe. This leaves Skate Like a Girl in a bind.
"As of right now, nothing has been solidified," Chapter Director Finn Bradberry said. "We've moved one of our programs, a two week long high school program up to All Together Skatepark in Fremont. But other than that, the programs are just on pause until we're able to find a space that we can host them."
Hear the full segment on Skate Like a Girl by clicking the audio above.
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Endangered baby orca J60 missing, presumed dead
The baby orca known as J60 is missing and presumed dead, according to the Center for Whale Research.
The month-old male was the youngest member of the Northwest’s endangered population of salmon-eating killer whales, which often die before their first birthday due to toxic pollution and a lack of food.
On Saturday, a three-person team from the Center for Whale Research spotted most of J Pod in Washington’s San Juan Channel between San Juan Island and Shaw Island. J Pod is one of three extended-family groups that often travel together -- the other two are K and L Pods.
They documented the orcas from their research boat, with telephoto lenses and a federally permitted drone, for nearly two hours and observed every member of J Pod -- except J60.
“Given his young age, it is extremely unlikely that J60 was off on his own for the entire duration of the encounter,” the research team writes. “While our protocols require at least three full censuses of the group to confirm mortality, we now believe that J60 is likely deceased.”
READ: Newborn orca spotted near Seattle off Bainbridge Island
While the birth or death of a single wild animal is rarely newsworthy, the population of southern resident killer whales is so low – now estimated at 74 – that the fate of an individual can be important to the survival of their kind.
Tom Wooten, chairman of the Samish Indian Nation, told KUOW earlier in January that the tribe would give the young male whale a traditional Samish name but would hold off until the whale’s first birthday, given the high death rate among newborn orcas.
A scarcity of Chinook salmon to eat remains a dire problem for these top predators.
“Our research really is indicating that it's the lack of prey. That is the driving factor,” biologist Deborah Giles with the nonprofit Wild Orca told KUOW in 2023.
Orcas accumulate toxic PCBs and other persistent pollutants in their fat and can inadvertently deliver a pulse of poison when nursing their offspring, especially if a lack of salmon leaves them undernourished enough to have to metabolize their fat reserves.
Biologists and whale lovers hope that efforts to improve salmon habitat and reduce pollution and boat noise will give the beleaguered orcas better odds of survival.
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Former Washington First Lady Nancy Bell Evans has passed away
Former first lady of Washington state Nancy Bell Evans has died.
The wife of three-term Republican Governor Dan Evans, who held office between 1965 and 1977, passed away Friday night after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 90 years old.
At 31, when her husband took office, she was the youngest First Lady of Washington (and at 39, Dan Evans was the youngest Washington governor).
"I think she took on more interests in more things than was typically the case for first ladies at that time," Dan Evans told KUOW's Will James last summer. "But she was a lot younger than any first lady — she was just barely 30."
RELATED: After being shunned in California, Washington Gov. Evans welcomed thousands of Vietnamese refugees
A Spokane native, Nancy certainly championed a range of issues as First Lady. She founded the Governor's Mansion Foundation; was the national chair of the First Ladies' Mental Health Month; was founder and chair of the Friends of Cancer Lifeline; and was a founding trustee of Planned Parenthood of Olympia.
The Seattle Times reports that she learned last week her breast cancer had returned for the fourth time, and had metastasized to her bones.
Evans is survived by her three sons, nine grandchildren, and her 98-year-old husband.
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T-shirt weather in January? Seattle area warmed by record-breaking temps
Western Washington's in the middle of a bout of what some might call T-shirt weather.
Update, Jan. 30: Monday marked the fourth time in 80 years that Seattle has had back-to-back January days with temperatures at 60 degrees or higher.
It was the second day in a row that areas like SeaTac and Olympia broke records.
Bellingham, too, set a stunning new record, hitting 68 degrees Monday night. That's the normal high temperature there in June.
Highs in the region were expected to reach 60 degrees again Tuesday.
Come Wednesday, though, a cold front will return Western Washington to temperatures more typical for this time of year; highs are expected to drop to the 40s by the weekend.
Original story posted Jan. 29: Record-breaking highs were recorded at SeaTac and Olympia Sunday, reaching 61 and 63 degrees respectively, according to the National Weather Service.
That might not sound like balmy weather exactly, but it is unusual for this time of year.
The previous record in SeaTac was just 57 degrees, set on Jan. 28, 2018. And Olympia's previous record of 60 degrees held on since 1976.
This warm spell comes after Seattle experienced its warmest December on record, a pattern that is likely to continue through the rest of winter.
That hasn't been consistent so far this month, though. Subfreezing temperatures and some snow hit the region just about two weeks ago. The King County Medical Examiner has reported at least seven weather-related deaths, and local shelters were at capacity as people sought refuge from the cold.
The severe cold appears to be behind us for now.
The warm trend is expected to continue Monday. Highs should reach the low 60s once again.
Don't get too excited, though.
While cloudy skies made for a stellar sunrise Monday morning, those clouds may yield rain later in the day.
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Seattle has a new City Council. What will change in a year?
Seattle City Hall has a different vibe these days. The appointment of Tanya Woo to the City Council adds another hand on the wheel, pulling the city into the center lane and away from the previous Council's path.
With new leadership and a new direction, what will change around Seattle over the next year?
For starters, the Council will start working together, Council President Sara Nelson told KUOW's Week in Review on Friday. But beyond that, Nelson says the Council is primed to address what she sees as an interconnected web of challenges — police staffing, revitalizing downtown, public safety, transit, budgeting, and more.
RELATED: New-look Seattle City Council backs new president in unanimous vote
"I think in a year, you will see more officers at SPD, and people circulating more on buses and light rail — that is a prediction I will put forward," she said.
The question about what will change in Seattle was the first of many that Nelson tackled from the Week in Review panel, hosted by Bill Radke. The panel included Seattle Channel’s Brian Callanan, political analyst Joni Balter, and KUOW’s David Hyde.
Nelson said that she's hearing from Seattle's employers and workers that they would go downtown more often if they felt safe at bus stops and on transit.
"I chair the economic development (committee) still, so we need to bring more business downtown, more people on the street, and everything rests on the foundation of improved public safety," Nelson said.
To tax or to cut? That is the question
If there is one theme among Nelson's answers for all these issues, it's that the new council is likely to start asking questions about how the city does business. That means potential cuts to programs, and shifting how money is spent. For example, Nelson argues that Seattle is short on police officers, but hires new recruits slowly.
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PHOTOS: You can't look away from this bold, modern Palestinian art at Mercer Island gallery
In the face of ongoing violence, two Palestinian artists say they have turned to their craft as a creative outlet, as well as a social responsibility.
At the Mercer Island "SZ Gallery," curator Suzanne Zahr has brought together the works of 12 artists for a show she calls "We are human. We are hopeful. We are hurting. We are Palestine."
Zahr, who's also an architect, says she brought together this exhibit to amplify Palestinian voices and experiences.
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Western Washington is going to get drenched this weekend
Grab your rain gear before you head outside in Western Washington this weekend.
An atmospheric river is expected to settle over the region Friday evening and last through early next week, according to the National Weather Service.
The lowlands can expect up to three inches of rain during this time. Plus, snow levels will also rise above 7,000 feet, increasing the potential for river flooding in some areas. In particular, the National Weather Service is keeping an eye on flooding along the Skokomish River for the next few days.
RELATED: 'Hot droughts' are becoming more common in the arid West, new study finds
NWS also warned that there may be an increased risk of landslides this weekend into next week.
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Can Boeing correct course and fly right? Despite recent debacles, industry expert says skies will clear
It’s bad times for Boeing. How did one of the most recognized aerospace giants fly into such rough turbulence?
“Now you've got quality issues, which reflect, frankly, a culture that seems to have gone a bit astray,” said Richard Aboulafia, a consultant with Aerodynamics Advisory.
While speaking with KUOW’s Morning Edition, Aboulafia argued that Boeing’s culture has changed over the past few years, largely because of a “disconnect between senior management and the people actually designing and building jets … the company has been slowly spiraling down since.”
Boeing’s most recent woes began after a door plug blew out mid-flight over Portland. It was quite a scare, but the 737 Max 9 landed safely. The planes were grounded after that, but all 737 Max 9 jets could be back in the air as soon as Friday, now that the FAA has created a checklist for airlines to follow.
The incident renewed concerns over Boeing’s quality, five years after the company faced severe scrutiny over a software problem that caused two fatal crashes.
On Wednesday, workers at Boeing’s Renton plant conducted a “stand down” — a factory-wide staff meeting with a focus on quality control of their aircrafts. It adds another step in an uphill battle Boeing has been fighting for the past few years. After the fallout from the two fatal 737 crashes, the pandemic halted production across the aviation industry, delivering a blow to supply chains.
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