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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Dave Reichert enters 2024 race for Washington governor
There is a new Republican candidate for Washington state governor in 2024. Dave Reichert has filed the paperwork.
So far, that's all Reichert has done, officially file as a candidate with the state's Public Disclosure Commission. He registered on Friday, June 30, but as of Monday morning, there has been no official announcement.
Reichert's name is familiar across Washington state. He first came to prominence when he was on the King County Sheriff's task force to bring in the Green River Killer, which led to the arrest of Gary Ridgway in 2001. He was King County Sheriff from 1997 to 2005, after which he ran for Congress as a Republican. He was elected to represent Washington's 8th Congressional District in 2004 (officially starting his term in 2005). After 14 years, he opted not to run again and stepped down in 2019.
RELATED: Washington Republicans believe governor's race is winnable
The field of candidates for Washington governor has steadily grown ever since Gov. Jay Inslee announced in May that he would not seek a third term in office. Washington's last Republican governor was John Spellman, who held office from 1981 to 1985.
Other official Republican candidates, so far, include Dr. Raul Garcia of Yakima who ran in the last gubernatorial election, and Richmond School Board member Semi Bird. Other candidates who have officially filed are Chehalis restaurant owner Laurel Kahn, James Daniel, Kristin Schuler, Martin Wheeler, Tony Tasmaly, and Daniel Miller.
Democrats also have a growing list of candidates, including State Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz, and State Sen. Mark Mullet.
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How AI would design Seattle's future: Today So Far
- What kind of city would an AI program design if we asked it to create a thriving downtown Seattle?
- It's time to talk about fireworks, injuries, and local bans.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for June 30, 2023.
Quick hits
- What does SCOTUS' ruling against affirmative action mean for WA?
- Theo Chocolate announces merger, plans to close Seattle factory
- Good deal: Savers Value Village worth nearly $4 billion after strong public debut
What kind of city would an AI program design if we asked it to create a thriving downtown Seattle?
Thanks to an effort from Mayor Bruce Harrell's office, we actually have an answer to that question. Harrell has been hyping his Downtown Activation Plan, which not only includes near-term policies, it also considers plans for far into the future of Seattle. The city could look at policies around housing and transportation, etc. to remedy current problems, but Harrell asked the architecture firm Olson Kundig to come up with AI-developed scenes for a future Seattle.
The idea was to think of a Seattle that took big steps, like it did when the Space Needle was built, forever changing the skyline, and which now iconically represents the city. KUOW's Joshua McNichols presents us with the results: a sports field under a massive umbrella; a new downtown arts and entertainment district; new markets and lots more food trucks. AI even drew up images if Seattle ever did decide to put a lid over I-5, creating a massive tree-lined park through the core of downtown. Check out the full story here.
Growing up, my folks were very anti-fireworks. The reason for this happened before I was born. My older brother loved fireworks. So did his friend from down the street, Larry. They liked to light firecrackers and throw them as high as they could into the air and watch them explode. That's what they were doing in our driveway one Fourth of July, long ago. Larry grabbed a firecracker, took a lighter, lit the fuse, and then threw the lighter. After the trip to the emergency room (Larry was fine, aside from some scrapes), I think my folks got a bit paranoid, so by the time I came along, I was lucky if I could get my hands on sparklers and smoke bombs.
Stories like this are why a hospital like Seattle's Harborview Medical Center is expecting to treat 65 people (adults and children) for fireworks injuries. That's its average over the past few Fourth of July holidays. And that's just one emergency room in our region. On top of that, there is the wildfire risk.
It's a good idea to find out if fireworks are banned in your area. I'm going to cut to the chase and say, "yes, most likely." While rounding up as many Western Washington fireworks bans as I could find, I found myself thinking that it might be a much shorter list if I just noted where fireworks are allowed.
Most major cities in our region have banned the sale or use of them, such as Seattle, Bellevue, and Tacoma. In King County, it's illegal to set off fireworks in unincorporated areas, which is most of the county. Pierce County has similar rules. I understand there is a holiday and all, and I enjoy a good fireworks show, but some illogical folks in the past said to themselves: "Ya know what, let's set off a bunch of explosions during the driest, hottest part of the year. What could go wrong?" We now know that it basically equals fires.
If you are planning to light a few fireworks this year on your own, my own personal advice (other than checking out a professional display, of which there are many to choose from in our area), is to have a water hose nearby and ready, and a bucket full of water to dispose of used fireworks. Also, it's a good idea to have something other than your hands to pick up spent fireworks, in case there are lingering explosions waiting to go off.
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Commuters beware: 520 bridge tolls rise July 1
The cost to cross a major connection between Seattle and Bellevue is slated to rise July 1, 2023.
Tolls for the 520 bridge will go up somewhere between 20 cents and $1.10.
According to the Washington State Department of Transportation: "The rate increase was approved by the Washington State Transportation Commission in 2021 to address long-term pandemic-related effects on bridge finances."
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Where to see July fireworks shows around Western Washington 2023
There are various professional fireworks shows scattered across Western Washington around the Fourth of July holiday. Shows generally start around dusk. Check out the list below.
RELATED: Where fireworks are banned in Western Washington
July 1
Bremerton / Port Orchard: 10 p.m. Fireworks over the Sinclair Inlet
Issaquah (Lake Sammamish State Park): 10 p.m. between Vasa Park and Lake Sammamish State Park. Best viewing from the south lake shore
Muckleshoot Casino, Auburn, Wash.: 10 p.m. at the casino
Newcastle: 10 p.m. at Lake Boren Park
July 3
Carnation: 10:15 p.m. Remlinger Farm
Kingston: 10 p.m. at Mike Wallace Park
Lacey: 10 p.m. at Rainier Vista Park
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What does Covid-19 look like this summer?
Around this time last year, Washington state was seeing a slight bump in Covid-19 hospitalizations.
This year, things are looking different.
Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths have been trending down across the state, hitting some of the lowest levels since the pandemic began.
In King County, the data tells a similar story.
However, while trends look promising, public health officials are cautioning people against letting their guard down completely as they prepare for summer gatherings and travel.
“We know Covid-19 tends to throw curveballs when we least expect it,” said Dr. Eric Chow, chief of communicable disease, epidemiology, and immunizations with Public Health – Seattle & King County.
Chow said his department tries to be vigilant, keeping an eye on the numbers and looking to other countries to see if there’s any indication that more concern is warranted in the near future.
With the unpredictable nature of the virus, he acknowledged that another wave is possible, although things are looking positive at this point.
"Either a new variant comes about, or because of people's activities and changes in behavior since exiting kind of that emergency phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, it's possible that we could see uptick and that's something that we're always looking out for," Chow said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking new variants of the virus. In Washington, omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 became dominant earlier this year, according to leaders of the UW virology lab. XBB.1.5 and other omicron subvariants make up the bulk of the lineages seen in the state.
None of them appear to be more severe than past variants.
One challenge in tracking variants in the state is the fact that fewer positive test samples are making it to labs for sequencing.
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Man who stalked and threatened Rep. Jayapal to lose guns for 8 years
The man who threatened Rep. Pramila Jayapal outside her West Seattle home last summer has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor stalking charge, as first reported by the West Seattle Blog.
Brett Forsell, 49, was sentenced this week to 364 days in jail, which he has served through a combination of jail time and electronic home monitoring. Forsell has been ordered to stay away from Jayapal, undergo drug and alcohol treatment. He cannot own a gun for eight years.
According to charging documents, Forsell told police he showed up to “protest” at Jayapal’s house three to seven times last summer, in 2022.
On July 9, 2022, late at night, Forsell drove a black SUV with gold-spoked wheels to Jayapal’s home with his Glock .40 pistol, a live round in the chamber.
Forsell, who is white, yelled at Jayapal to go back to India. He also made other vulgar and sexist comments.
“He drove his vehicle in a loud and aggressive manner with witnesses stating that he reached speeds of 40 mph in the quiet residential neighborhood,” records say.
“Even his mother described him as belligerent on the night of his arrest.”
The charging document continues, “When Jayapal’s husband opened the door, “the male seemed surprised, stepped back and hurriedly got back into a vehicle that was in the roadway, driven by another unknown male.”
But Forsell continued to fixating on Jayapal after his arrest, according to the charging documents.
“He is focused on getting his Glock. .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun back as quickly as possible and … also plans to obtain an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle. He also stated that continue his pattern of returning to Representative Jayapal’s house until in his words, “She goes back to India.”
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Seattle's Harborview averages 65 fireworks injuries around July 4
Among Seattle's summer traditions — like Bumbershoot, constructing homemade air filters for wildfire smoke, watching the Blue Angels perform high in the sky, and listening to cranky neighbors complain about the Blue Angels — is the long line of fireworks injuries heading into local emergency rooms around the Fourth of July.
That's why Harborview Medical Center is reminding folks that fireworks are explosives and therefore dangerous. Use with caution. Injuries are common.
"We normally see, unfortunately, two types of injury patterns, and large numbers of them: Injuries to the face and to the eyes and, sadly, injuries to people's hands as well,” said Dr. Steve Mitchell, director of Harborview's emergency department.
RELATED: Are fireworks banned in your area? Check here.
Harborview sees an average of 65 fireworks injuries each year around the Fourth of July, and that's just one emergency department serving the Seattle area. That's up from 2022's numbers, when Harborview said it expected 40-50 injuries.
“Oftentimes, the young children that we see are really innocent bystanders,” Mitchell said. “They were participating in a party or a family gathering and a firework was set off by somebody else. And then it oftentimes will hit them in the face and affect their eyes or their face. It’s a significant problem .... All of these injuries are very tragic."
A lot of Harborview's advice around fireworks is pretty basic, common-sense stuff. Don't hold fireworks in your hands (it's gunpowder after all, and that explodes). Don't point fireworks at others. And don't booze it up and then play with explosives.
It could also be said that nothing you can buy from a supermarket parking lot can compete with a professional, massive, fireworks show — of which there are many local options. So consider letting someone else do the work and catch a live show instead of lighting your own.
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Flight attendant mom ran out of sick time: WA Supreme Court decision could bring more limits on employee leave
A new decision by the Washington State Supreme Court in Alaska Airlines v. Dep't of Labor & Industry could affect flexibility for employees seeking to use various types of paid leave to care for family members.
“I would say that it creates a kind of a road map,” said Liz Ford, an assistant law professor at Seattle University. “If an employer was inclined to want to limit its employees’ access to leave to care for their kids, then this decision gives them a way to do that.”
In 2011, a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines sought to use vacation time to care for a sick child (she was out of sick time), but she faced discipline because her union contract required her to schedule vacation time far in advance.
The resulting lawsuit pitted the airline against the Washington Family Care Act, which allows employees to use any earned time off to care for family members.
The court ruled 5 to 4 in favor of Alaska Airlines, saying the collective bargaining agreement took precedence over the state law.
“Here the supreme court acknowledges that the statute says that, but then says, an employer can limit your access to those kinds of leave through the collective bargaining agreement,” Ford told KUOW.
Ford said this decision could lead to more restrictions from employers.
She doesn’t think most employers want to create barriers around family care, but she noted that tensions around scheduling and employee flexibility are especially acute in the airline industry.
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Washington state man arrested in D.C. neighborhood where Obamas live
A Washington state man connected to the Jan. 6 insurrection was arrested Thursday in a D.C. neighborhood where former President Barack Obama lives, according to the Associated Press.
Records show that Taylor Taranto, 37, lives in Pasco, although an NBC News report says social media indicates that he has been recently living in a van by the Washington, D.C., jail.
Taranto was found with weapons and materials to create an explosive device, though one had not been built, law enforcement officials told the AP.
According to the Tri-City Herald, Taranto was a webmaster for the Republican Party in Franklin County, in southeastern Washington state, where Pasco is located.
The Tri-City Herald wrote:
The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department confirmed to the Herald that Taylor Taranto, 37, was arrested outside of a home in the Kalorama neighborhood where the Obamas live. He was arrested on an outstanding warrant, and his van was searched by D.C. Metropolitan Police’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal team.
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Photos: The sun sets on a summer Seattle night
A pink sky illuminated Elliott Bay on Thursday evening.
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Getting naked in Seattle: Today So Far
- The robots have arrived, for our grandparents.
- Boeing design gets "x-plane" status.
- Just a reminder: It's legal to be naked in Seattle.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for June 29, 2023.
Quick hits
- Seattle Mountain Rescue celebrates first home base in North Bend
- How PNW's history of far-right extremism played role on Jan. 6
- To save Jewish culture, American Jews turned to summer camp
The robots have arrived. Pilot programs are currently up and running in various corners of Washington state, which are pairing seniors, often in rural areas, with robotic companions. It's being called "age-tech." This can range from "grandpads" (tablets designed for seniors), to an AI equipped portals (a combo of a tablet, smart speaker, video phone, and AI) that can interact with people. And there are even cuddly robot puppies and kittens that interact with you.
Northwest News Network reports that about 20 seniors along Washington's coast have received an ElliQ, which is one of those AI portals described above. These can carry on conversations with people, remind them of appointments, and even have virtual coffee dates. More than 700 interactive pets have been handed out across the state for about two years now.
Skipping past the fact that Saturday Night Live sort of predicted this, these pilot programs are points where pop culture and reality collide. In this case, they sound more like futuristic scenarios presented in the movie "Her" or even "Blade Runner 2049," where AI tech is used as assistants and companions. In the here and now, robots are being used to deliver food to seniors at a Tacoma retirement home, AI is being looked to as a potential remedy for loneliness, and some tech can even call 911 when a senior falls. There are so many angles into this fascinating story, so read the full article here.
I'm going to tell you how Boeing just got x-plane status for a new airplane design that is giving new hope for cutting down airline carbon emissions. But first, we need to clarify an important distinction.
"X-plane" does not refer to the Blackbird X-Jet used by Professor Xavier's elite team of mutant heroes who protect the world from various malevolent actors ... also, it does not refer to the T-65 X-wing starfighter famously used by Rebel forces to take down the Death Star. I'm sure that's what immediately came to everybody's mind when they heard this x-plane news, right? OK, I'm glad we cleared that up.
NASA contracted with Boeing earlier this year to develop a new single-aisle airplane that is more fuel efficient. The end goal is to push the airline industry toward reducing carbon pollution, or even get to zero-emissions. The design Boeing has come up with just received x-plane designation from the Air Force. That's a pretty cool designation to have. It's used for experimental aircraft that have historically advanced aerospace technology. The first x-plane broke the sound barrier. Others helped get us into space.
The design, now called the X-66A, will be a modified Boeing MD-90. But it's going to look a bit different. Read more here.
And just a reminder: It's legal to be naked in Seattle.
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Theo Chocolate announces merger, plans to close Seattle factory
For 18 years, Theo Chocolate has been a fragrant landmark in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. But now, company officials say rising costs are forcing them to close their local factory.
The store and headquarters will remain.
Theo Chocolate is merging with the Indiana-based American Licorice Company, which makes Red Vines as well as some higher-end sweets. Officials said in a press release that Theo’s commitment to making organic, fair trade products will remain unchanged.
CEO Etienne Patout called the changes “tough but necessary decisions to ensure the company's long-term viability.”
Approximately 60 employees will be laid off at the end of August, when factory tours will also end.
“We are committed to supporting those impacted by the transition ahead,” Patout said, adding that those employees were offered a severance package.
The factory space will be available for lease. Theo Chocolate will maintain its adjoining headquarters, flagship store, and “confection kitchen” in its historic Seattle building.
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