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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New push to ‘hold police accountable’ gains steam in Washington state
A Washington advocacy group continues to push for a statewide office that can charge police officers for misuse of deadly force.
"We're not asking to hurt any officers who are doing it right — we're just asking for the officers who are doing wrong to actually be accountable for their actions," said Fred Thomas, whose son Leonard was killed by police in 2013.
RELATED: Federal judge salutes 'the end of the beginning' of Seattle’s police reform efforts
When an officer kills someone in Washington, local prosecutors decide whether or not to charge the police involved. The Washington Coalition for Police Accountability has previously attempted to change that policy, but state lawmakers failed to pass a bill last session that would create an independent prosecutor's office. That office could file charges, and avoid local conflicts of interest for such cases.
That's a big selling point for Po Leapai, whose cousin was killed by police in 2018.
"When it comes to conflicts of interest without accountability and transparency, we will never bridge the gap that we're seeing between impacted communities and law enforcement," Leapai said.
Washington state already has an independent office to investigate deadly use of force. The bill to create an independent prosecutors office keeps stalling in the Legislature.
In 2020, a police task force for Gov. Jay Inslee recommended the formation of the independent investigator's office, as well as a special prosecutor designated by the governor. The argument was that the prosecutor should not have any conflict of interest (not be a local prosecutor that works with law enforcement). The investigation office was approved in 2021 and is now up and running. The prosecutor part of the recommendation never came to fruition.
The coalition aims to change that next year. With renewed momentum, it hopes some adjustments to the failed bill will improve its chances in 2024. It has placed this effort — HB 1579 — at the top of its 2024 legislative priorities. Expect to see this issue return to Olympia as the next legislative session takes form.
The coalition says it will focus on three points next time around:
- The Office of Independent Prosecutor would have concurrent jurisdiction with a county.
- The independent prosecutor would be housed under the Attorney General's Office.
- And the prosecutor would take over cases that come from the independent investigations office.
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Snohomish County businesses can't totally nix cash under new law
Just like country music, cash is king in Snohomish County now that the county council has passed an ordinance that will keep the dollars flowing.
“Cash is legal tender in the United States,” said Snohomish County vice-chair Nate Nehring. “Ensuring that residents are able to continue to conduct transactions using cash is important, particularly for those who tend to use cash more often, such as minors, individuals without access to credit, and senior citizens.”
Nehring sponsored the cash ordinance that the Snohomish County Council approved Wednesday. It secures the option to use cash at all businesses in unincorporated areas of the county. In other words, no businesses can go cashless. The cash rule goes into effect in 2025.
RELATED: Child care gets $7.6 million boost in Snohomish County
That's the same time that King County's cash law will come online, too. The King County Council passed a similar rule in June. Snohomish County cited the same reasoning as King for why it passed the law — not everybody has a bank account (known as unbanked or under-banked), or has limited access to electronic forms of payment. The county notes that an estimated 3% of Washingtonians are unbanked, and about 17% are underbanked.
"As we continue to advance technologically as a society, we need to take care not to leave behind those who are on the margins and may not have access to certain resources like banking and electronic services,” council chair Jared Mead said.
Cashless forms of payment have become increasingly common, from using a debit or credit card, to paying with an app on a smartphone. If a business only accepts these forms of payment, it can prevent those who rely on cash from buying food or other needs.
Under Snohomish County's new cash rule, businesses cannot charge a customer different prices for using cash. A cash exchange terminal must be available if they choose to go totally cashless. Businesses can apply for an exception if they have repeatedly been robbed, if they only have one employee on a shift, if they are located within a residence, or if the business' bank is more than 15 miles away.
Two warnings will be given to a business before they receive a citation for breaking the cash rule.
RELATED: What are the impacts of going 'cash-free' in King County?
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All quiet on the Northwestern giant hornet front (so far)
No northern giant hornets have turned up in Washington state so far this year, according to Washington agriculture officials.
Nearly 1,000 orange-juice-filled traps have been deployed since July, mostly in Whatcom County, near the Canada border, in hopes of detecting northern giant hornets before any of the unwelcome invaders can reproduce or spread to new territory.
“Our trapping teams haven't found any hornets this year yet, but the season is not over,” Washington state Department of Agriculture spokesperson Amber Betts said in an email.
Efforts to trap the the invasive hornet — the world’s largest — are planned to continue until the end of November.
U.S. and Canadian officials have been on high alert for the stinging invader since one was first spotted on Canada’s Vancouver Island in 2019.
The notorious hornets, sometimes called "murder hornets," are viewed as a major threat to the honeybees that pollinate major food crops. Giant hornets can wipe out a honeybee hive in a matter of hours. They use their mandibles to decapitate bees and feed honeybee thoraxes to their young.
Concerned citizens in almost every county in Washington have reported seeing what they thought were northern giant hornets in 2023. State entomologists say every report that included a photo turned out to be a wasp, sawfly, or some smaller species of hornet. Reports without photos could not be confirmed or refuted.
There have been no confirmed sightings of northern giant hornets in North America since the summer of 2021, when insect specialists found and destroyed three nests near Blaine, Washington, on the Canadian border.
In 2022 and so far in 2023, hornet traps in Washington and British Columbia have come up empty.
Research continues on both sides of the Pacific Ocean on how to attract and locate the apex predators known to scientists as Vespa mandarinia.
Hornet traps are typically filled with orange juice and rice wine, though the fruity smell can attract many different insects, even beneficial ones.
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It's in the bag! Washington's best baggers perform great grocery feats
On your mark. Get set. Bag!
This week, Washington state’s five top grocery baggers faced off in Shoreline for a chance to represent the Evergreen State on the national stage. The check stands here were filled with cereal boxes, canned food, bags of chips, and a range of other common goods. Shopping lists can vary, but nothing could throw these baggers off their game.
“I practiced a lot, but for this one, I’m just going to go for it!" said Emma Beeler, representing Spokane's Super 1 Foods.
All that practice paid off for the fastest bagger east of the Cascades. Beeler said, unlike the rehearsals where items were laid out within reach, she had to jump to grab some of the groceries. She packed them with an efficiency that would make a Tetris champion proud.
After three intense grocery bagging rounds, the Lilac City checker took the 2023 title.
“I was like, 'Don’t think about it too much, don’t think about it too much!'" Beeler said after taking the top prize. "But I really, really wanted to win!”
Beeler will now represent Washington state as she advances to the national championship in Las Vegas slated for March 2024. The grand prize is $10,000.
Washington's Best Bagger Contest
Destiny French with Ocean Shores IGA also did her best bagging at the Shoreline competition. For her, bagging is not just about convenience. It's about community. She argues that, despite the rise of self-checkout stations, checkers and cashiers will never fully go away.
“I have quite a few people that will skip a line just to come to my line so we can have our daily conversation," French said.
Plus, having your groceries ready and bagged is a considerable perk not found at self-checkout stands. But to stay competitive, baggers have to fight the machine. That fight produces the considerable grocery athletes found at the Best Bagger Contest.
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The Postman will stay open in Seattle's Central District after all
Less than a week after it announced it would be closing, The Postman has reversed course and now plans to stay open in Seattle's Central District.
"In times of challenge and adversity, it is inspiring to see a community come together, support one another, and rise above the difficulties we face. We stand united and affirm that we choose to stay. Gentrification should not define our reality, as it is when we succumb to the excuses to leave that it takes hold. Instead, we can create a stronger, more resilient community by staying and building together," owner KeAnna Rose Pickett wrote in a statement on Facebook announcing the postal store will remain open.
The Postman planned to close its doors earlier this week, following a shooting incident that sent a bullet through its storefront. The shooting came nearly a year after co-founder D'Vonne Pickett Jr. was shot and killed outside the store. Pickett was a respected local business owner and member of the community.
RELATED: Seattle renames block to honor D'Vonne Pickett Jr.
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Is Portland infiltrating Seattle? Which city wins? Reporter's notebook
Portland vs. Seattle. Having lived in both cities, this is a debate I've heard quite often. It once again popped up after I wrote about Portland-based Voodoo Doughnut opening a Seattle location.
Aside from Voodoo showing up, Portland’s Salt & Straw is expanding its footprint in the Seattle area, and Stumptown just booted Starbucks off of Alaska Airlines. And I hear some folks are even getting their news from a Portland State graduate who has infiltrated Seattle public radio...
“Is Seattle being ‘infiltrated’ by Portland brands?” one voice murmured around the KUOW office. Is Portland better? Is Portland winning?
RELATED: There are as many pho restaurants as Starbucks coffee shops in Seattle. Here's why
It’s something to think about when you’re getting your haircut at Bishops in Fremont (and surrounding suburbs), tying up your Nike shoes, throwing on a jacket from Columbia Sportswear, or quoting Old Spice commercials that came from Wieden + Kennedy (I’m on a horse!). Or even while you’re watching reruns of “The Librarians,” “Grimm,” “Leverage,” and the cancelled-way-to-soon “Stumptown” (because they actually film things in Portland).
Such thoughts added up to Online Managing Editor Isolde Raftery messaging (aka spamming) me on Slack, over and over again, while editing this very article.
"Portland is a lot cheaper, but there are a lot more annoying tech bros in Seattle. Seattle has breathtaking views of the mountains and water, and Portland does not."
"Homelessness is huge in both cities. Portland feels younger and gayer and more free than Seattle."
"I think Portland has been ranked the whitest city before, and Seattle the second whitest city, which is pretty funny, given the cities’ sense of liberal self. Both cities have a history of redlining."
Portland and Seattle, there is no more need for debate. After years meditating in long brunch lines, taking the gorgeous train ride between both cities, traversing the Kennedy School and Capitol Hill to get my McMenamins passport stamped (Oh, McMenamins, that’s another one!) — I have the answer to this perennial Northwest arm-wrestling match.
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Record fires or wildfire deficit, which is it for Washington state?
The 2023 fire season will go down as having the second-most ignitions in Washington state's recorded history.
"Statewide, we saw the second-most ignitions in Washington’s history this year, including the tragedies that were the Gray and Oregon fires,” Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz said in a statement. “But we kept 95% of DNR protection fires under 10 acres and remained well below the 10-year average for acres burned — a testament to the investments we have made in resources like additional aircraft, more firefighters, better training, and the great work done by firefighters and interagency partners."
About 165,000 acres were burned by more than 1,880 fires in Washington over the last wildfire season, including the two major blazes in Spokane County that killed two people. They were started by a combination of human and natural causes. More than half of these fires occurred in Western Washington.
While this is the second-most ignitions in state history, the Department of Natural Resources notes that it's below the annual average over the past decade, which is 470,000 acres.
Big picture: the Pacific Northwest is in a fire deficit. That's the conclusion of a new study from the University of Washington and DNR, that was published in Science Direct. The deficit appears to be caused by fire suppression policies and practices over the past 100 years.
According to a statement from UW's School of Environmental and Forest Sciences:
Prior to the 20th century, the drier, inland forests of eastern Washington and Oregon experienced active fire regimes, both from lightning ignitions as well as Indigenous cultural burning practices. The frequent fire activity played an important role in the ecosystem, removing grasses, shrubs, small trees, and dead leaves that act as fuel for fires, and maintaining forest health by promoting fire-resilient species across the landscape. Fire suppression practices, which became common in the 1900s, dramatically lowered the amount of fire activity at all severity levels. Combined with other land-use impacts, the resulting denser, simpler makeup of modern forests is less resilient to climate change and ecological disturbances.
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Karaoke hotspot Bush Garden will return to Seattle
The former Seattle karaoke bar and restaurant Bush Garden is going to reopen.
The iconic gathering space and bar in the Chinatown-International District closed during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Now, the karaoke hotspot is expected to return in spring 2024 at 714 South King Street.
"I can't believe it's been nearly three years since Bush closed," owner Karen Sakata said in an Instagram message earlier this month. "It's amazing how much my life changed when that happened. So I'm really missing seeing everybody and looking forward to seeing everybody in the new space when we open."
Bush Garden is asking for memories and stories on its website as it builds excitement for next spring.
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A glut of French fry potatoes means a big spud dump across Northwest
About 5,000 loaded-down semi-trucks of really nice Northwest french-fry-making potatoes are set to plop into cattle troughs or be destroyed.
Dale Lathim is the President of the Potato Marketing Association of North America.
“It is disheartening, obviously when you produce a crop you want to take advantage of all you can produce,” Lathim said. “It’s an economic hit, it’s a psychological slap in the face.”
It’s been a better year for Northwest french-fry-making potatoes than the last couple of years – too good in fact. Lathim said farmers eagerly planted more spuds this year than last. That all totals up to a big potato glut. Now, massive amounts of spuds must be destroyed: 165,000 tons of them.
The tubers are from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alberta.
Lathim said the industry has had two years of shortages but this year farmers overblew the hole by growing an additional 55,000 acres. In Lathim’s 30 years in the industry, he said he has never seen anything like it.
“Not wanting to be the last one standing in the game of musical chairs, they went ahead and are already starting to dump potatoes to feedlots, dairies, anyone that will take them,” Lathim said.
He said the unwanted spuds without a home keep costing growers. Even if they are not sold, they have to be harvested, transported and disposed of properly. That’s because he said they can cause disease, rot and insect problems if piled up or left in the earth.
Of the 55,000 acres, only about 5,000 acres of potatoes total will be destroyed – that’s because the pipeline was so empty. But it’s still a huge amount of spuds.
This problem will likely carry over to next year’s farmers’ woes. That’s because 10% more potatoes from this year will be used next year by major potato processors – the companies have already warned growers they will have to cut back an additional 10% in 2024.
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Illegal child labor is surging in WA and across US. Sen. Murray wants to hold businesses accountable
A record 138 businesses in Washington were fined for violating child labor laws last year, the highest number in recent memory, according to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat.
Murray introduced legislation Thursday to crack down on the growing problem.
“Companies have gotten away with it,” Murray said in an interview with KUOW. “And the more they get away with it and the more they have cheap labor and nobody's noticing you're doing anything, they just keep doing it.”
The CHILD Labor Act, which stands for Children Harmed in Life-Threatening or Dangerous Labor Act, would increase penalties companies pay for violating child labor laws tenfold. The civil penalty for child labor violations would jump from $11,000 to more than $150,000. The criminal penalty fine would balloon from $10,000 to $750,000.
The measure would also expand liability to contractors and subcontractors and give exploited children the right to sue for damages themselves.
Asked whether Murray would try to attach the legislation to a larger budget bill to circumvent disfunction in Congress, she said everything is on the table.
“I will look at every possible road to be able to make sure that people who are using child labor pay the price and that our kids are not being abused in this country,” she said.
Murray may have an ally in the White House. President Joe Biden launched an initiative to rein in child labor earlier this year. The administration is pushing for higher penalties for violating child labor laws and beefing up oversight spending.
Biden announced the new measures after the U.S. Department of labor revealed child labor has increased nearly 70% since 2018. In the last fiscal year, the federal government found 955 violations of child labor law. Often the children work in factories and other potentially hazardous workplaces.
Murray introduced her bill with co-sponsor Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat from Pennsylvania. The two are seeking additional lawmakers to co-sign the legislation.
“Obviously, our laws are not strong enough to make sure that these companies are not using our kids… as labor,” Murray said. “We need to crack down on this.”
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Jayapal votes 'present' on resolution to support Israel, condemn Hamas
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, voted "present" Wednesday on a House resolution to support Israel and condemn attacks by Hamas militants.
In a statement, Jayapal said the resolution ignored the impact of violence in Gaza on Palestinians.
“I cannot in good conscience vote for a resolution that ignores these critical factors and the humanitarian impact on Palestinian civilians and their families as this war has unfolded and escalated," she said. "I am voting present to be clear that while I still condemn Hamas’s attacks and the pain and suffering of the Jewish people everywhere, I also condemn the violations of international humanitarian law by Israel and the pain and suffering of Palestinian people everywhere that are not recognized anywhere in this resolution.”
More than 6,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's bombings of Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry has claimed about half of the dead are children, though President Joe Biden has said he has "no confidence" in the Hamas-controlled agency's count. Tens of thousands more have injured and displaced as they flee the violence.
More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, many of whom died in the initial attack by Hamas on Oct. 7. Thousands more were injured and more than 200 people were taken hostage.
Jayapal was one of six House Democrats who voted "present" on House Resolution 771. The other nine members of Washington state's congressional delegation voted for the resolution.
Nine other Democrats voted against the resolution.
Jayapal has also joined calls for a ceasefire, which U.S. officials oppose.
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Protesters sought new 911 response in Seattle. Here it is
During the Seattle protests sparked by George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police in 2020, a common refrain from advocates and elected officials was the need for someone besides an officer “with a badge and a gun” to respond to 911 calls for people in mental crisis.
It took years of preparation but this week Seattle officials say 911 dispatchers will begin directing teams of mental health professionals to certain emergency calls, alongside police officers.
Amy Smith is acting chief for the new Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) department, which houses 911 dispatch as well as the new crisis response teams. She outlined the launch of the “dual dispatch” pilot project (meaning both police and civilian responders) at City Hall Wednesday, along with Mayor Bruce Harrell, while surrounded by pastors, police and fire officials and nonprofit leaders.
They said that Albuquerque, New Mexico, and other cities have similar programs, with one of the goals being to reduce the current strain on police staffing.
Smith said initially the teams will respond to certain calls in a limited geographic area of the city, but if they are deemed effective, the program could expand its scope.
Smith said all the CARE team members have field experience in crisis response, as well as relevant bachelors or masters degrees. They will monitor 911 dispatch from an office in the Seattle Municipal Tower, near City Hall, and respond in their own CARE-branded vehicles.
"They will be dispatched at the same time as police to low-acuity calls,” Smith said. Those calls will be vetted by the 911 system “to make sure there is not a threat of violence, and this is not a medical emergency.”
Smith said crisis response teams will respond from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., in order to add coverage in the evening when other crisis responders aren’t available.
“Crisis calls tend to actually escalate and get worse” heading into the evening hours, she said.
Smith said “low acuity” calls can be calls of someone on the street who bystanders are concerned about. Initially the team will respond to 911 calls catalogued as “person down” and “welfare checks.” According to a statement from the mayor's office, there have been more than 8,000 calls in these two categories in 2023 so far.
For the pilot, the CARE teams will respond to calls within the city’s Downtown Activation Plan boundaries, west of I-5, and including the Chinatown-International District and Sodo.
“We’re not going to expand until we start to test and prove this concept, until police and fire are telling me that it’s useful, and that we’re responding to the types of calls that really relieve the burden on the system,” Smith said.
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