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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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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NW volunteers are baking a difference from their home kitchens
If Randy Cummings could pick a dream job, it would be to open a bakery and bake bread, all day, for his local food bank. Currently, he bakes bread for the food bank three days a week at his Federal Way home.
“I’m getting ramped up to bake 16 loaves,” Cummings said as he checked on this bread dough that had been resting for a few hours. “It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s an all day process for four.”
Cummings is part of Community Loaves, a program with more than 700 bakers across four states to help reduce hunger, and hopes to recruit even more volunteers.
Community Loaves is the brainchild of Katherine Kehrli. She was dean of the Culinary Program at Seattle Central College when the pandemic hit. Kerhli says while work kept her busy at home, like many people she also used that time to dive into bread baking. And that sparked an idea.
“What if we could also make a difference from our home kitchens, because everybody has been displaced, people are not going to the office.”
Back then, food banks were dealing with supply chain issues and overwhelmed by the demand from people laid off due to the pandemic. Kehrli persuaded her bread friends to bake and donate the loaves to their neighborhood food bank. And not just any kind of bread. Their sandwich loaves contain whole grain flours that are locally milled. Community Loaves sells the flours to bakers at a discount.
“Food banks often get the discarded food materials,” Kehrli said. “They get, yes, some healthy food, but more times than not, not necessarily the items that we would self-select for health.”
The bakers also make energy cookies for people without kitchens. The cookies are nutritionally dense, made with chickpea flour and almond meal.
What started as a pandemic project soon became a long-term endeavor. Kehrli retired from her culinary dean position to focus on Community Loaves.
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As kids get mugged at gunpoint in Ballard, Seattle police says it will add more officers ‘as staffing allows’
Following a string of student muggings near Ballard High School and Whitman Middle School, the Seattle Police Department said it will post more officers in the area, when staffing allows.
"These crimes against our youth in our communities are a high priority for the department. We do ask that you keep your safety a number one priority and be vigilant in identifying a potentially dangerous situation," the department said in a statement.
Investigators believe that four muggings since September are related. In each incident, four to six people wearing ski masks or hoodies drove up in a Kia or Hyundai and stole students' phones and other possessions. The suspects are believed to be teens. A gun has been reported at at least one of the muggings.
The Seattle Police Department said it plans to dispatch a mobile precinct to the area, along with more officers to deter such crimes, but only "when staffing allows."
The police department asked that any information about the muggings be reported to its violent crime tip line: 206-233-5000.
RELATED: What have been your experiences with Seattle Police? We’re listening
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'An honest mistake.' Washington state senator arrested in Hong Kong for bringing gun on an airplane
Washington State Sen. Jeff Wilson was aboard a flight between San Francisco and Hong Kong when he reached into his briefcase for some gum. He found a gun instead.
Wilson is currently out on $2,500 bail after being arrested in Hong Kong for bringing a gun onto the flight and into the foreign region.
“It was an honest mistake, and I expect the situation to be resolved shortly,” Wilson said in a statement.
Wilson, a Republican from Longview, said he was unaware that the unloaded gun was in the briefcase he took with him while traveling. The firearm made it past security agents and screeners at the Portland airport, which has raised concerns. The senator said he became aware that the gun was with him during a flight between San Francisco and Hong Kong.
RELATED: An $8 rifle spurred a change to Washington's background check law. Here's how
Once in Hong Kong on Friday, Wilson said he alerted customs officials about the gun. He was promptly arrested, and released on bail Sunday.
Wilson has a concealed weapons permit in Washington state, but in Hong Kong, he has been charged with possession of an unregistered firearm. The New York Times reports that the crime is punishable in Hong Kong by up to 14 years in jail and a fine amounting to $12,800. Wilson is set to appear for a court hearing on Oct. 30 and said he hopes the legal matter will conclude within a week.
“I’m going to remain in Hong Kong. I’m quite happy and healthy," Wilson told Oregon Public Broadcasting Monday.
The arrest comes as Wilson and his wife were embarking on a five-week vacation in Asia. The state senator is also a port commissioner in Longview and planned to meet with trade officials from the port of Shanghai.
While talking with Oregon Public Broadcasting, Wilson also blamed security at the Portland airport for not finding the weapon in the first place. In a statement provided to Oregon Public Broadcasting, the Transportation Security Administration said that it "is aware that a passenger on a flight departing from (PDX)... passed through security and traveled with an unloaded firearm in his carry-on bag. TSA takes this situation very seriously and is currently investigating the circumstances.”
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WA sues Meta over 'youth mental health crisis that is costing lives'
Washington has joined a coalition of states challenging Meta, alleging it knowingly harmed the mental health of young users of its social media platforms, and targeted them with features designed to be addictive.
While Washington is part of a 33-state coalition that filed a lawsuit Tuesday — a bipartisan effort — a total of 42 states are filing lawsuits against Meta on similar grounds. The states aim to significantly change the way social media platforms operate, such as altering the "like" button and creating a new type of account strictly for younger users.
RELATED: Seattle, Kent schools sue Meta for youth mental health crisis
"Virtually any parent who has a young person in their household, who has a phone, understands the challenges of how addictive these social media platforms can be," Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said at a press event Tuesday morning.
"Parents are doing their best to protect their kids against this addiction, but they are up against a sophisticated social media giant that is exploiting its most addictive features for profit."
Meta owns and operates the social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and now Threads. Ferguson's office notes that the lawsuit includes a range of confidential information that plaintiffs are not releasing to the public yet, however, it does make a handful of initial allegations, including:
- Meta has engaged in deceptive and unfair business practices.
- Meta targeted youth with the intention of getting them hooked on its social media platforms. The lawsuit points out the "like" button, push notification, and the endless scroll of content as such tactics.
- Meta knew children under the age of 13 were using its social media platforms and collected data from them without parental consent.
- Meta knew there were risks for younger users but downplayed them.
- Ferguson said Tuesday that these social media tactics have resulted in higher rates of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, low self-esteem, sleep disruptions, and attention deficit disorder.
Ferguson called the issue a "youth mental health crisis that is costing lives."
"Meta intentionally designed its social media platform to be more addictive to kids and young people," Ferguson said. "The company knew that targeting youth posed risks to their mental health. Meta did not just disregard those risks, the company exploited them to maximize their profits. Meta did all of this while publicly downplaying and misrepresenting the science of the risks to kids, contradicting their own claims that they put safety first. These tactics did not just harm kids and deceive the public, they also violated the law."
RELATED: Meta's Threads needs a policy for election disinformation, voting groups say
The Attorney General's office states that such laws include consumer protection laws in Washington state, as well as the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
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Covid is on the rise at King County nursing homes
The number of Covid-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities in King County rose significantly heading into fall, according to public health officials.
The county saw an increase in Covid-19 coming out of the summer, as virus season began to set in.
That uptick in the general community has been mirrored in long-term care settings, where many older and more vulnerable adults reside.
Many of these facilities were hit hard by the virus early on in the pandemic.
This summer, during the May through July period, an average of seven outbreaks were reported per week in settings like nursing homes, according to Public Health — Seattle & King County.
Since August, that number has almost doubled.
“There has been an increase of Covid-19 outbreaks reported across long-term care facilities recently compared to the summer months. Since August, an average of 12 new outbreaks reported per week,” a public health representative said in an emailed statement.
Public Health — Seattle and King County continues to provide recommendations and guidelines to help curb the spread when outbreaks occur, the statement said.
According to leaders at the Washington Health Care Association, long-term care providers who are contacting the group about outbreaks say they’re following the guidance from local, state, and federal health bodies.
“When outbreaks occur, our providers report they are masking and using necessary [personal protective equipment] and respirators,” Carma Matti-Jackson, president and CEO of the Washington Health Care Association, said in a statement.
However, Matti-Jackson said her organization has not heard of any facilities going back to universal masking requirements at this point.
State mandates for universal masking in health care and long-term care settings have long since expired.
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Spoons up Bellevue, Salt & Straw ice cream is coming to you
Salt & Straw continues to grow in the Seattle area with a new scoop shop coming to downtown Bellevue.
"We started in Portland, and we had tons of people from Seattle ... they would drop by and always say, 'When are you opening in Seattle? Please come to Seattle,'" Malek said.
It didn't take long for Malek to answer those fans. Scoop shops opened in Ballard and Capitol Hill in 2018. A spot in Kirkland followed. Salt & Straw plans to expand into Vancouver, Wash., in January.
A Bellevue shop expected in late February is another response to fans. It will be located at 10300 NE 8th Street, next to Bellevue Square. About 20-25 people will be hired for the nearly 1,300 foot shop.
RELATED: Voodoo Doughnut bakes up plans for new Seattle sweet spot
Salt & Straw is among the handful of businesses that have emerged from Portland's culinary scene. With just a small ice cream cart, Malek started the business with her cousin in 2011.
The business quickly opened up brick and mortar shops, and became known for its frequently changing menu with adventurous flavors. Those flavors are still crafted in Salt & Straw's Portland kitchen, before being shipped out to Oregon and Washington where it has expanded.
Wherever Salt & Straw has opened up, it can be easily spotted by the long lines through the door.
"You don't really see people standing there on their phones [in line]," Malek said. "It's one of the only places you see people talk to strangers. We've had marriage proposals and job offers in line.
"They're talking about the new flavors this month, and 'you got to try this.' It's not uncommon that someone gets to the front of the line to pay and they'll pay for the person behind them, who they just met in line."
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Western Washington is about to chill out, mountain snow is coming
The first significant snowfall of the season is on its way to Washington state's mountains as the region begins to chill out.
"Ranges from 6-11 inches [of snow] in the Olympics to maybe closer to 6-15 inches in the Cascades, and we could even see a couple areas get higher amounts, exceeding 20 inches of snow," said Harrison Rodemacher with the National Weather Service in Seattle.
As a colder weather system moves into the region this week, Rodemacher also warns the mountain winds could be gusty Tuesday and Wednesday.
"Have a plan if you are traveling, especially in the passes," he added. "Keep that survival kit with you, and be able to change travel plans just in case the roads are treacherous."
Western Washington's temperatures through the coming week will, generally, only top out at 50ish degrees, and overnight lows in the 30s.
"We'll see a lot of temperatures drop, going into Thursday through Sunday, especially," Rodemacher said.
With local temps taking a dive, places like Bellingham and the Cascade foothills could see a rain-snow mix by Wednesday. Rodemacher says it will likely just be a few flakes without any accumulation.
As for the lowlands, expect rain, and at times heavy rain, with an inch or more forecasted in some places by Wednesday.
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After another shooting, The Postman is leaving Seattle's Central District
UPDATE: Less than a week after announcing The Postman would be closing, the owner reversed course and announced the store will continue to operate. Read the full story here.
The Postman, a shipping and postal shop in Seattle's Central District, is closing indefinitely, one year after its founder was shot and killed in front of the store. The reason for the closure — continued gun violence in the area.
"Yesterday morning, our beloved storefront windows were tragically shot at," The Postman's owner KeAnna Rose said in a Saturday morning social media post. "It feels like a cruel retaliation for an incident that may have occurred during an unsanctioned candlelight vigil held the night before in honor of our late co-founder, D'Vonne Pickett Jr. It has been just a year since his tragic murder at the same location."
RELATED: Remembering D'Vonne Pickett Jr., a pillar of Seattle's Central District
Pickett was a beloved community member and business owner. When he was shot and killed near his business, it rattled the community. A large vigil was held. A stretch of Union Street has since been renamed in honor of Pickett.
KeAnna Rose, Picket's wife, continued running the business, but the shooting last Friday morning was the last straw.
"The incident we experienced has left us feeling unwelcome and has highlighted the need for accountability and unity within our village," another online statement said. "We cannot allow hate to prevail, but we also cannot overlook the safety of those who make our community thrive. While we do not seek to be impacted by such senseless gun violence, this is the second time we have been targeted within the span of a year."
The Postman's online message continued to state that they have heard concerns from the community that their continued operation could "inadvertently cause further harm," and that, "we believe it is in the best interest of our family, staff, and community to prioritize everyone's well-being over the essential services we provide."
RELATED: Seattle day care owner calls for 'action on Jackson' after a bullet struck her business
The Postman's regular customers should submit a change-of-address form to the United States Postal Service as soon as possible.
Ashton Christopher Leffall, 31, has been charged with Pickett's murder. He was reportedly friends with Pickett in high school, and had been harassing the family for years before the shooting in 2022.
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