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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Only 4% of detained youth are offered attorney access by Seattle police, audit finds
Two out of every 50. That's the rate of youth getting legal counsel after being detained by Seattle police officers, according to a new audit of the department.
The audit found that in the two years following the passage of a law requiring youth access to legal counsel, Seattle police officers only complied 4% of the time, despite being trained on the requirement.
“This is one of the most straight forward civil rights protections we’ve enacted — police should not be able to question children until they have talked to a lawyer," Seattle Councilmember Lisa Herbold said in a statement.
The audit was performed by Seattle's Office of Inspector General at Herbold's request.
"It’s such commonsense legislation that King County and then all of Washington state adopted it soon after we did. That Seattle police officers were only following this law 4% of the time is very disappointing. We know it’s possible to comply with this law — nearly every law enforcement agency in Washington state appears to have done so.”
Juvenile access to an attorney
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The Year in Pictures: Memorable moments of 2023
In the last year in Seattle and western Washington, we witnessed moments of both heartache and joy. Loss and celebration. Community and resilience.
F
rom protests to floods, wildfires to pointe shoe fittings, we documented the lives and stories of Washingtonians as the year's events unfolded. In April, Indigenous survivors of the federal Indian boarding school system shared their experiences with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, on the "Road to Healing" tour. In July, Wedgewood neighbors rallied to save a roughly 200-year-old ancient cedar tree, Luma, from development. In September, 57,000 Beyonce fans dressed to impress during the Seattle stop of her Renaissance tour.
Here are some of the images that stayed with us.
'I'm still healing.' Boarding school survivors recount stories of abuse, trauma
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WA lawmakers propose to ban companies like Amazon from spending on local elections
A new campaign finance bill that targets election spending by big companies will be introduced in Washington state in the coming session.
The bill would specifically prohibit "foreign influenced" corporations from spending any money at all on state or local elections in Washington. By "foreign influenced," lawmakers mean a company that has a significant amount of stock owned by people from other countries.
Rep. Sharlett Mena (D-Tacoma), who is sponsoring the bill, said her goal is to level the political playing field.
“That’s really important to me as someone who doesn't come from a family that's well connected or has a lot of money,” Mena said. “Ensuring that we can hear more from the folks that live in our communities as opposed to folks who are somewhere else and care more about the economic landscape for their business.”
Foreign nationals are already banned under federal law from participating in elections. Mena said her bill would close what she calls a “loophole” to that ban, which she sees occurring through foreign stock ownership.
Under the proposed law, any company that issues stock with 1% ownership by a single foreign national, or 5% in the aggregate of several foreign nationals, would not be allowed to make contributions.
Seattle passed a similar campaign finance law in 2020, after Amazon poured over a million dollars into city council races the prior year. Local law has since then prevented public corporations including Amazon from spending on city elections.
The idea is that because companies are answerable to shareholders, foreign stock ownership could, in practice, mean foreign “influence,” Mena said.
To illustrate her point, Mena brought up a climate ballot measure that voters rejected in 2018 after large companies rallied against it. Mena said that "foreign-influenced" corporate opponents spent about $31 million to defeat Initiative 1631, which would have taxed carbon emissions from big businesses in the state, with an aim of lowering pollution."
“Almost all of that came from BP, and also funding from Phillips 66, Koch Industries, Valero, and these are all companies with massive foreign influence who care about protecting their profit,” she said.
Mena's proposal would not prevent wealthy individuals — or groups like labor unions or real estate associations — from unlimited spending on political action committees.
Critics of Mena's new bill say it would unfairly restrict the First Amendment right of companies to participate independently in campaigns.
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Jury rules in favor of 5 Black UW police officers in racial harassment case
A jury ruled Thursday in favor of five Black University of Washington police officers who accused the school's police department of racial harassment and discrimination.
The ruling in King County Superior Court includes more than $16 million in damages.
While the amounts vary among the officers when it comes to past financial damages, all were awarded $2 million in emotional damages, and four were awarded more than $1 million in future damages.
Following the decision, the University of Washington issued the following statement:
We are disappointed in the decision reached by a King County Superior Court jury today in a racial harassment and retaliation case brought by four former officers and one current UWPD officer. Our attorneys are reviewing options for our next steps, including the potential for an appeal.
The University of Washington is committed to providing a safe, secure and welcoming working environment for all staff. This case alleged issues that took place largely under previous leadership and went unreported through official channels. The allegations of racial harassment and retaliation are deeply disturbing and counter to the UW’s commitment to fostering a diverse, inclusive and equitable community. We are confident that under UWPD’s new leadership — including a new Chief of Police and new leadership team — the department will remain focused on mission-driven service, continuous improvement, building meaningful relationships with the communities UWPD serves and ensuring the department lives up to its values of professionalism, respect, integrity, diversity and excellence.
Lawsuit against UW Police Department
The lawsuit was filed by five officers with UW's Police Department two years ago. They alleged widespread racial harassment and discrimination in the workplace, such as use of racial slurs, stereotypes, physical intimidation, and preferential treatment of white officers.
The lawsuit stated that such behavior was heightened after the murder of George Floyd and amid the protests of 2020.
The officers said they were retaliated against for speaking up about the issues. While the court upheld allegations of harassment and discrimination Thursday, it did not find that the officers were retaliated against by the department.
After the lawsuit was filed, one of the officers said their brake lines were cut, and another said someone shot at their home, shattering a window.
Four of the plaintiffs have left the department, and law enforcement, since the lawsuit was filed.
UW President Ana Mari Cauce previously commented that none of the allegations among the university's police department were ever reported to UW leadership.
Cauce said in 2021 that such issues "were not reported through union representatives, and they did not surface during an independent review of the department in 2019."
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Grinch fungus is coming for Northwest's Christmas trees
Like a Grinch with a grudge against holiday greenery, a fungus is targeting the Northwest's Christmas trees. That’s essentially the findings of new research exploring how climate change is affecting the region’s tree farms.
RELATED: "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" goes to No. 1 — after 65 years
Gary Chastagner, aka “Doctor Christmas Tree,” is a plant pathologist at Washington State University. He’s been working with Christmas trees for nearly 50 years. Over the last couple years, he says there’s been an uptick in sick trees.
“There's a variety of diseases that affect the production of Christmas trees, many of them are caused by fungi,” Chastagner said.
Christmas trees are generally a non-irrigated crop, so hotter summers can stress fir trees, leaving them more susceptible to disease. On top of that, more rain in the spring and fall (like the past few years) also cause problems. A changing climate means more rain, which can oversaturate tree roots, causing fungi to grow, Chastagner said. Fungi then affects the roots of the trees, choking them until they die.
“Some trees may be more tolerant to the moisture stress and drought stress,” Chastagner said. “Those are the trees that growers could utilize to avoid the problems that we're seeing now in the future.”
He notes that scientists are currently experimenting with Eurasian fir trees, to see if they are more tolerant to drought conditions. Chastagner and his team plan to survey multiple growing sites in Washington and Oregon throughout 2024, with the aim of helping to find solutions.
According to the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association, Oregon is the top Christmas-tree producing state, and Washington ranks sixth.
Read the full story at Northwest Public Broadcasting.
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'It adds up.' Consumer group alleges Starbucks' app traps customers into paying more
Consumer advocates are calling on the Washington State Attorney General's Office to investigate what they say are manipulative practices related to Starbucks' Rewards program.
Speaking outside the Starbucks First Avenue and Pike Street shop, advocates recently argued that the coffee giant's mobile app is designed to make it difficult for consumers to spend down existing balances.
RELATED: Starbucks increases U.S. hourly wages and adds other benefits for non-union workers
Misha Wershkul, executive director of the Washington State Budget and Policy Center, laid out a typical scenario. Say a customer wants to make a purchase that costs $6.50, and has a $5 balance on the app.
“I’m not able to add just $1.50 to cover my full purchase,” Wershkul said. “I’m actually required to reload a specific amount. So, I would add another $10.”
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JuneBaby, acclaimed Seattle soul food restaurant, to close at year’s end
The restaurant that put Seattle on the map for Southern cooking will soon close. Chef Edouardo Jordan announced he’s closing JuneBaby permanently.
JuneBaby opened in 2017, a follow-up to Jordan’s first restaurant, Salare. Unlike Salare’s Italian and French influences, JuneBaby focused on recipes from Jordan's grandmother’s cooking, including fried chicken, chitterlings, and pound cake.
The following year, JuneBaby was named the James Beard Award’s Best New Restaurant. That same week, it received rave reviews from The New York Times.
But in 2021, The Seattle Times reported on allegations of sexual misconduct against Jordan, prompting most of Jordan's to walk out. Seven months later, JuneBaby reopened.
In an interview with KIRO Radio in September, Jordan said he has gone through a lot of sexual harassment training, and has been reflecting on the experience.
Jordan announced JuneBaby will close at the end of this month. Salare closed in 2022.
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Molbak's announces it is closing in Woodinville
After growing its Woodinville roots for 67 years, Molbak's Garden + Home is shutting down its business.
"After considering many different possibilities and a great deal of discussion with the Molbak family, we’ve determined that we no longer have a path forward," Molbak's CEO Julie Kouhia wrote in an online statement.
"Over the next few weeks, we will be putting together a plan to shut down operations and permanently close Molbak’s. Our main goal is to close down with integrity and in a way that respects our employees, vendors and customers. We also want to find a way to celebrate the history, impact and joy of Molbak’s. We are working on a transition plan and will share more details with you in early January."
As KUOW has reported in late November, and Soundside has covered, Molbak's was founded by immigrants from Denmark, Egon and Laina Molbak, in 1956 — a time when the area was far more rural. The garden center grew over the decades as Woodinville took shape around it.
In 2008, the business sold 19 acres of its property to a developer, The Seattle Times reports, with an understanding that Molbak's would be the center of a new development. That project was slated to include apartments and stores.
Instead, Molbak's became the center of a recent drama unfolding in Woodinville.
Molbak's accused the developer — Green Partners, which is operated by Bill Gates' Cascade Asset Management Company — of pushing the legacy business out of the project plans. Green Partners has denied this allegation, and has argued that it never planned to remove Molbak's from its current location. A November statement from the developer further said:
"While Cascade is no longer planning to develop the Gardens District, we had been negotiating with Mr. Molbak toward the inclusion of his family’s business as a key feature of a possible future Gardens District. However, Mr. Molbak upended the discussions even in the face of Cascade’s offer of concessions, including free rent. We expect that the Gardens District will serve the needs of Woodinville, regardless of what Molbak’s decides is in its interest."
Since November, Molbak's and Green Partners entered into mediation, according to Kouhia, Molbak's CEO. She said in her statement that the mediation effort was not successful, and that "Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to come to an agreement with Green Partners that would allow us to stay in our current location in Woodinville."
Kouhia maintained that Green Partners "kicked" Molbak's out of the Green Gardens development project.
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Seattle Public Schools wins nearly $2 million in vaping lawsuit
Four years ago, Seattle Public Schools joined districts across the state and country to sue JUUL Labs and other vaping companies.
They alleged the companies deliberately advertised and designed their products to target kids, leading to a dramatic increase in youth vaping and nicotine addiction.
Now, the suit is paying off: Last week, the school board accepted a $1.75 million settlement. It’ll be paid in installments over the next four years.
As part of the settlement agreement, which states proceeds must be used for “compensatory restitution or remediation,” the district says the funds will be used as part of a “multi-pronged approach” to fight youth vaping. That includes prevention, early intervention, and cessation.
The district says the money also may be used to address mental health issues that might lead a student to vape.
Seattle is set to get its first payment of $750,000 from JUUL this month.
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Supporters of Manuel Ellis dismayed as Tacoma police case goes to jury
Jury deliberations are scheduled to continue Monday in the trial of three Tacoma police officers. Two are accused of murder and all three face manslaughter charges in the death of Manuel Ellis, who died in an encounter with police after being punched and restrained with a spit hood put over his face.
Some supporters of Ellis’ family say observing the criminal trial has left them with doubts.
“Do I feel good about it? I don’t. I’m hopeful. But you know, if I wasn’t a man of faith I would have turned this movie off a long time ago. Because trust is just not there," said Anthony Steele, senior pastor of the Allen AME church, the oldest Black church in Tacoma, and a member of the Tacoma Ministerial Alliance.
Steele told KUOW he’s made a point of attending the trial of police officers Matthew Collins, Christopher Burbank, and Timothy Rankine.
Steele said, for him, it was plain Ellis didn’t have to die in that 2020 encounter. But he said he’s been disappointed with decisions by the judge throughout the trial that Steele perceived as favoring the police and strengthening the case of their defense attorneys.
Prosecutors said the officers disregarded Ellis’ statements that he couldn’t breathe. Attorneys for the police argue that Ellis’ death was caused by methamphetamine and an enlarged heart. They also said none of the three officers charged were responsible for placing the spit hood on Ellis.
Steele said observing in the courtroom is an important next step after the racial justice protests of 2020. He said he’s also saddened by the lack of national attention on this case so far.
“My only last regret is that the Ben Crumps and the Al Sharptons of the world did not show up for this trial. This trial is important, not just for Tacoma but for America. This is some of the first times in our history where you actually have police officers on trial for their actions," Steele said.
“We must be present. Not just Blacks. Everyone must be present, just like we were during the pandemic,” he added. “People marched, all races together.”
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Demonstrators block University Bridge traffic as they call for a ceasefire in Gaza
Demonstrators led by Jewish Voice for Peace-Seattle blocked four lanes of traffic on the University Bridge for several hours on Thursday evening while calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
"The whole world is watching" and "Let Gaza Live" read a large banner hanging from the bridge.
Marking the eighth day of Hanukkah, demonstrators led by Jewish Voice for Peace shut down bridges and highways in eight cities across the country: Seattle, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Portland, Washington DC, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Atlanta.
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The price of pollution in Washington state hits $2 billion
Washington state’s latest carbon auction has raised nearly a half-billion dollars from businesses that pollute the climate.
Preliminary results from the Washington Department of Ecology show the Dec. 6 auction raised $480 million.
In total this year, big polluters in Washington have now paid more than $2 billion for the right to keep polluting. That money is destined for various projects aimed at fighting climate change and helping communities adapt to a hotter world.
Republicans and some business groups say the state’s system for capping carbon pollution has driven up the price of gasoline. They aim to weaken or overturn the carbon cap in the legislature or with a ballot initiative next year.
The Inslee administration aims to link the state's fledgling carbon market to the decade-old markets in California and Quebec. The aim is to help bring down the price of carbon, which has come in higher than predicted as businesses put a high value on the ability to keep polluting.
Climate scientists say carbon dioxide, methane, and other heat-trapping pollutants will almost certainly make 2023 the hottest year in recorded history.
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