KUOW Blog
News, factoids, and insights from KUOW's newsroom. And maybe some peeks behind the scenes. Check back daily for updates.
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Stories
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Shhh! The orcas are back in Puget Sound
At least 20 endangered orcas delighted Seattle-area whale watchers Thursday with their first visit of the fall to central Puget Sound.
Nurse Jolena Tagg was watching the orcas from shore in the fog, then hopped on the Edmonds-Kingston ferry for a better look.
“They were just everywhere,” Tagg said. “It made it actually really hard to even get a good picture at times because you didn't know where to look.”
Eastbound and westbound ferries stopped for about 15 minutes to wait for the southern resident killer whales to pass safely.
“It was insane,” Tagg said. “We're all on the ferries ooh-ing and ahh-ing.”
Beyond sparking joy in onlookers, the orcas’ return triggered a three-month-long voluntary slowdown for big ships motoring through Puget Sound.
“Today is the day that we start telling all the large commercial vessels heading into Seattle and Tacoma, ‘Please slow down to be safer and quieter around the whales,’” Quiet Sound initiative director Rachel Aronson said Thursday.
In the inky depths, orcas hunt by listening for their prey. Underwater noise can disrupt their feeding as well as their communications with each other.
The slowdown area includes a 25-mile long stretch of Puget Sound from Edmonds to Admiralty Inlet near Port Townsend.
Canada’s Port of Vancouver has been asking commercial vessels to reduce their speeds in some nearby areas since 2017, with seasonal voluntary slowdown zones at the entrance of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and in Haro Strait, west of the San Juan Islands.
Waters off the busy ports of Seattle and Tacoma are not included in Quiet Sound’s slowdown area, but Aronson said very few ships would accelerate there after passing through the North Puget Sound slowdown area.
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'Microsleep' blamed for 2022 ferry crash at West Seattle dock
"Microsleep" is the reason a Washington state ferry crashed into a West Seattle dock in 2022.
That's the conclusion of a National Transportation Safety Board investigation that came after the MV Cathlamet crashed into the Fauntleroy dock's dolphins (pilings) shortly before 8 a.m. on July 22, 2022. The ferry serves the Fauntleroy/Vashon Island/Southworth route.
RELATED: The price to ride a Washington state ferry just went up
The NTSB notes that the master of the ferry didn't take any action to correct the speed or course of the ferry as it approached the terminal. He also didn't recall what exactly happened before the crash. According to a statement: "Investigators found these events were all consistent with incapacitation from a microsleep, a brief period of sleep lasting a few seconds, due to fatigue."
The NTSB said that "fatigue and complacency" were core factors behind the crash.
“Fatigue affects all aspects of human performance, including decision-making, alertness, and reaction time,” the NTSB's report on the crash states. “Mariners should understand the performance effects of sleep loss and recognize the dangers of fatigue, such as microsleeps. When affected by fatigue, mariners should arrange for a qualified watchstander to serve in their place and avoid being on duty when unable to safely carry out their responsibilities.”
RELATED: Washington State Ferries looks to the next generation to staff
The agency adds that complacency among the ferry crew led to lax safeguards. The quartermaster did not keep an eye on the master as the ferry approached Fauntleroy. If they had, the quartermaster could have likely stepped in.
A little over a month after the ferry crash, the captain of the Cathlamet resigned.
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REI lays off about 275 retail employees as part of restructuring plan
Outdoor retailer REI is laying off about 275 retail employees, roughly 2% of its in-store workforce. Employees learned about the layoffs Thursday in an email shared with KUOW.
Despite the layoffs, the Seattle-based retailer is hiring about 1,300 workers ahead of the holiday shopping season.
In January, REI said it would be restructuring this year to get back to profitability. At the time, the company laid off 167 corporate employees.
A few months later, REI announced plans to close a store in Portland, citing safety concerns.
REI has worked hard to brand itself as a less-corporate corporation. The co-op closes its doors on Black Friday and encourages customers to hashtag-opt-outside. But layoffs and an alleged anti-union campaign are challenging that reputation.
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Partial solar eclipse in Washington: How to experience it safely
A solar eclipse will pass over the United States Saturday morning, Oct. 14. But how much of it will bee seen in Washington?
The moon will pass in front of the sun and darken Northwest skies between 8:07 a.m. and 10:39 a.m., with maximum coverage at 9:20 a.m. This eclipse will be partial in the Seattle area and Washington state. A total eclipse will pass through parts of Oregon.
"Up here in Washington state, we're going to have about 80% coverage of the sun by the moon," Alice Enevoldsen said. "So we're gonna get a very nice crescent sun kind of look."
RELATED: What parts of the USA will experience a full eclipse?
Enevoldsen not only teaches astronomy at South Seattle College, she also has a badge that says, "NASA Solar System Ambassador."
"And you have to admit, that is just about the very best title that exists," she said.
No matter where you are, or how much of an eclipse is in your area, there is one important rule.
"You must never look directly at the sun," Enevoldsen said. "If you are using a pair of safe, reputable solar viewing glasses, which is different than sunglasses, then you can use those to look directly at it. Keep them in front of your eyes anytime you're looking at all towards the sun."
Enevoldsen stressed repeatedly: You have to be safe.
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Live, love, Costco: Couple searches the globe for warehouse treasures
David Schwartz saw it at a Costco in Taiwan. He couldn't believe it. A 1.75 liter of Glenmorangie Scotch, and it was only $55! He figured the price could be double that anywhere else, maybe more. What a deal! And he only had to travel internationally to find it.
"Basically, I left David unsupervised for about five minutes, I walk back over ... and I see this large bottle in the cart," David's wife Susan said. "I look at my husband, who knows we have carry-on luggage, and I said, 'Wow, that's a pretty big bottle of booze you got there. How to you plan to get that home?'"
The solution was simple: Buy a whole new suitcase to carry the bottle of scotch all the way back to their home in New York City. It actually worked out for the best. This way, they could stuff the bag with even more Costco deals.
RELATED: Former Costco CEO among top donors trying to sway Seattle voters
For any other couple, this all might seem a bit odd. But for David and Susan Schwartz, it's part of their obsession with Costco. It was also, sort of, their job at the time, doing research. The Issaquah-based company has inspired generations of shopping fans, including the Schwartzes. The couple turned this fandom into their new book, "The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z." The book's release aligns with the 40th anniversary of the first Costco.
The couple stopped for a chat with Seattle Now before their appearance Thursday at Seattle's University Bookstore.
"We became that couple that goes to Costcos whenever we go on vacation," David said. "Some people go to national parks, some people go to major league baseball stadiums. We go to Costcos."
They visited more than 200 Costcos in the United States and across the globe. They even flew to New Zealand just to visit the single Costco location in that country. Along the way, they made a few observations and picked up a few facts about the company. Like how Costco sells more than half of the world's cashews, and far more hot dogs than at all U.S. baseball stadiums combined. David noted that "40% of the items at any given warehouse are regionally or locally sourced."
"In Anchorage, they sell reindeer sausage. In Taiwan, they sell rotisserie chicken with the head on, because that's they way the Taiwanese like their chicken," he said. "It's that kind of thing that makes the experience really interesting ... we went to New Orleans, they had a huge bucket of shrimp boil."
"We've been to 14 countries around the world, and tomorrow we are going to the last two of the 46 states that have a Costco," Susan added. "Wherever we travel, we send home boxes filled with stuff, like, 'Oh my God, we don't have this at home.'"
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Starbucks is out, Stumptown is in on Alaska, Horizon flights
Seattle-based Alaska Airlines is switching its in-flight coffee from Starbucks to Portland's Stumptown on all its routes starting Dec. 1. The switch applies to Horizon Air flights as well.
The trade-off isn't just about changing from one Northwest brand to another. Stumptown and Alaska are hyping the fact that they crafted and tested an entirely new blend for this deal. This coffee is intended for consumption at thousands of feet in the air.
RELATED: Behind boarded up windows, Seattle coffee entrepreneur dreams big
"We wanted a crowd pleaser — something that would delight folks who enjoy milder coffees and also speak to guests who enjoy medium-bodied roasts," Stumptown President Laura Szeliga said in a statement.
Frequent fliers are aware that things can taste different within pressurized airplane cabins. This is the reason people more often order tomato juice on a flight. Coffee can taste different, too. Stumptown spent a few months roasting and grinding, and then flying, to come up with something that can hold up at 30,000 feet.
The company said it took more than 200 pots of coffee, accounting for 20 variables, on various flights to perfect the blend. Stumptown also tested the coffee using Alaska's in-flight milk and cookies. The result is a medium-dark brew.
RELATED: There are as many pho restaurants as Starbucks coffee shops in Seattle. Here's why
Seattle-based Starbucks has spent more than 10 years in the sky with Alaska, and more than three decades with Horizon.
Alaska refused to provide details on the financial terms of the new contract with Stumptown.
Stumptown is not the only Oregon brand Alaska has embraced. It also serves Tillamook cheese and Salt & Straw (ice cream). It also serves Beecher's cheese, Fremont Brewing, and Evergreens Salads, which are both based in Seattle.
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Fentanyl spike leads to record overdose deaths in King County
The number of overdose deaths in King County so far this year has officially set a new record, making 2023 the deadliest year for drug and alcohol fatalities.
There were 1,001 overdose deaths recorded in the county in 2022. As of Thursday, the county’s dashboard shows a total of 1,010 people have died from overdose so far this year.
The number of people fatally overdosing has risen dramatically in recent years, almost doubling since 2020.
The spike has largely been driven by the rise in fentanyl — a potent, synthetic opioid that's widely available and very cheap.
According to Brad Finegood, strategic advisor on behavioral health for Public Health – Seattle & King County, roughly 80% of overdose deaths this year are fentanyl-related.
That’s compared to about 70% last year, and 50% in 2021, Finegood said.
The county’s dashboard shows that more than 800 of the deaths that have occurred in 2023 so far have involved fentanyl. In 2015, the county saw only three such deaths.
As in past years, the American Indian/Alaskan Native and Black populations in the county are disproportionately impacted by overdose deaths in 2023.
A disproportionate number of deaths are also occurring among people who are experiencing homelessness.
The majority of deaths have been recorded in Seattle.
Officials in King County, and across the state, are struggling to address the crisis. However, more funding has been earmarked for harm reduction, treatment, and other strategies to help curb the number of overdose deaths, and several new initiatives have been launched in the past year.
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Israeli flag flies over WA Capitol in wake of Hamas attack
As fighting intensifies between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli flag is flying over the Washington State Capitol in Olympia.
Gov. Jay Inslee directed the Israeli flag to be raised at the Capitol Wednesday. Inslee also directed flags at all state agencies be lowered to half staff.
"Today, I am directing flags be lowered to half-staff to honor the lives lost, show solidarity with the injured, and for the safe release of those held hostage. We also recognize the sacrifice and service of members of the U.S. Armed Forces deployed to the region," Inslee said in a statement.
RELATED: 'Shock, disbelief, and disorientation.’ Seattle leaders react to Hamas attack on Israel
Meanwhile, Washington's two top state Senate leaders — Majority leader Democratic Sen. Andy Billig and Senate Republican Leader John Braun — sent a letter to Gov. Inslee, urging a public showing of support for Israel.
"HAMAS not only holds Americans and Israelis hostage. They also hold the Palestinian people in Gaza hostage. Anyone who opposes their tyrannical rule is killed," the senators wrote in their letter to Inslee. "The United States is Israel’s closest ally and the demonstration of our support for the Jewish homeland is an important show of solidarity ... Lowering our Washington and the United States flags to half-staff will say that we stand with all who have been murdered and oppressed by HAMAS. Flying the Israeli flag over our Capitol will say that, in our corner of the world, we stand with our friends on the front lines whose blood is being shed in the defense of freedom and the quest for peace."
Inslee's flag order comes a day after an estimated crowd of 1,500 gathered at Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Seattle's Capitol Hill for a vigil and solidarity event. At that event, Washington's Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray affirmed the United States' commitment to Israel and opposition to Hamas.
"We must show our support for the people of Israel and our stand against terrorism," Cantwell said at the event. "There is no justification for terrorism. The grisly execution of children, of grandmothers, of daughters should be condemned by every country, by every person, and by every religion."
Seattle's Mayor Bruce Harrell has also instructed the city's police to increase patrols around places of worship and to “monitor and respond to any threats.”
RELATED: 'We will stand with Israel,' Biden says as U.S. condemns Hamas attack as 'evil'
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'Please don't break our hearts.' Seattle parents, teachers protest widespread classroom shuffles
Seattle parents and teachers flooded a school board meeting Wednesday night to protest recent class size adjustments at about half of the district’s schools.
The move, announced to families and educators last week, means some students and teachers will be moved to new classrooms, while other students may end up in a larger “split classroom” that combines two grades.
Among the students affected is Naomi Strand’s son, Kitten, a kindergartner at Orca K-8 who already loves his teacher and school, and was just getting used to his new routine.
Strand worries about what will happen when Kitten is moved to a split classroom of kindergartners and first graders.
“I’m deeply concerned that this proposed disruption is going to negatively impact my child and many others,” Strand told the board, before letting her son speak.
“I’m in Teacher Tyler’s class,” Kitten said, “and I love it.”
“Please don’t break our hearts," Strand said.
Seattle Public Schools officials say the shuffling is a result of staffing imbalances at some schools that need to be corrected in order to meet state requirements that encourage smaller class sizes at the lowest grade levels.
If the district were to remain out of compliance with the state’s recommended staffing ratios of one educator for every 17 students in K-3 classrooms, it would lose out on $3.6 million in state funding.
While staffing reconfigurations are typical every October, district officials acknowledge that it’s affecting more students and educators this year.
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'Shock, disbelief, and disorientation.’ Seattle leaders react to Hamas attack on Israel
Mourners in Seattle gathered Tuesday night at a Capitol Hill synagogue to reflect on the recent surprise attack from Hamas.
“For Israelis and for Jews around the world, we are still in a stage of shock, disbelief, and disorientation that this happened,” said Senior Rabbi Daniel Weiner. “And that this happened to the extent and in the manner that it did that is incredibly reminiscent of some of the darkest days of our not-so-distant history, in terms of the ways in which these atrocities were committed, the number of people that were victims, and that continue to be victims who are held hostage.”
Weiner led the vigil and solidarity event at Temple De Hirsch Sinai that drew an estimated crowd of 1,500. The gathering came just days after Hamas broke through border fences into Israel and launched an unprecedented attack.
Initial estimates are that more than 1,000 armed militants killed at least 700 Israelis and injured more than 2,100 in the initial incursion. As days pass, the number of killed civilians has continued to rise in Israel and in the blockaded Gaza strip. More than 400 Palestinians were killed, and more than 2,300 were injured after the initial military response from Israel. Israel's new unified right-wing government is now vowing to destroy Hamas and appears to be preparing for a full-scale ground offensive into the Gaza Strip.
RELATED: How to talk to children about the violence in Israel and Gaza
For Rabbi Weiner, now is a time for healing, self-examination, and to find a way forward. He noted that part of Jewish theology is to understand this issue through the scope of the lives involved in this conflict.
"We must always rise to the ramparts forced upon us by those who seek a world without Jews,” Weiner told the crowd. “Though our souls are seared with fury, and our faith tried by uncertainty, we must be driven not by the bloodlust of vengeance, but by the clarion call of justice, not by a corrupting hatred, but by a defining determination, not by a desire only to eradicate today's enemy, but a responsibility to combat the evil for which we are the world's eternal witness, with eyes ever turned toward tomorrow's path to peace."
Tuesday night's event also included comments from Washington Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, who both affirmed the United States' commitment to Israel and opposition to Hamas. Sen. Murray sent a member of her staff to read a statement. According to the statement, Murray plans to work with the president and both sides of the aisle to “ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself.”
“My heart aches for the innocent civilians in the middle of escalating violence that they had no part in and do not want, including Palestinians who want to live in peace and safety with dignity and justice that has too long been denied,” Murray's statement read. “We must all work toward a future that ensures peace and justice for Israelis and Palestinians.”
RELATED: 'We will stand with Israel,' Biden says as U.S. condemns Hamas attack as 'evil'
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Cal Anderson BLM garden to be removed by city despite pushback
A community garden planted during Seattle’s 2020 racial justice protests could be gone by the end of this week.
Seattle Parks and Recreation says it needs the space at Capitol Hill’s Cal Anderson Park for other uses, and plans to reseed the area to restore its turf. Last week, the department gave gardeners two weeks’ notice to vacate.
Marcus Henderson is an organizer with the group Black Star Farmers, which maintains the Black Lives Memorial Garden created in the “Sun Bowl” area of Cal Anderson Park three years ago. He was one of the first gardeners to break up the soil to let plants take root that summer.
Henderson said it’s not the first time Parks and Recreation has launched an effort to move the garden. In public surveys, the department has offered to relocate the garden to nearby pieces of land, including in the park — an offer that’s still on the table. But Henderson said the department has never included an option to keep the garden where it currently is.
“We've noticed that Parks and Recreation has started this conversation from a one-sided perspective of ‘You will move the garden’ instead of starting...a conversation around the space [to] talk about why this space is important,” he said.
Seattle Parks and Recreation sees the importance of that area of the park differently.
“The ‘Sun Bowl’ remains one of few spaces that is appropriate to host gatherings and large events at Cal Anderson Park because of its intentional design as a natural amphitheater and proximity to electrical and water hook-ups,” the department said in a statement provided to reporters.
Stephanie Webb is also an organizer of the Black Lives Memorial Garden and said it was once much bigger, with a greenhouse and other sections. But little by little, pieces have been taken away, either through sweeps, people destroying parts of the farm, or things being carried away, she added.
But it hasn’t been all destruction, Webb said. Many people pass through the garden, enjoying and taking in the plants.
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Financial losses slow for WA hospitals, but concerns remain
Hit hard by the pandemic, hospitals in Washington state have been sounding the alarm since last year over steep financial losses.
Last year’s operating losses totaled over $2 billion for hospitals across the state, according to the Washington State Hospital Association.
This year, things are looking slightly better.
Losses in the first six months of 2023 slowed, compared to the previous year, according to survey results released by the Association this week.
But concerns remain.
“The losses remain significant, which is challenging, particularly when layered on last year’s losses,” said Association CFO Eric Lewis during a media briefing Wednesday.
Total operating losses were nearly $750 million for the first six months of 2023, according to Lewis.
In the first six months of last year, hospitals across the state had a much higher cumulative net operating loss, more than $1.1 billion.
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