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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Ken Jennings knows about everything. That now includes the afterlife
Well, he has at least tried to get a solid grasp of death lately.
Who is he? You might know Ken Jennings as the Jeopardy! genius-turned host. But he's also an author, and a guy who really wants to know stuff.
- Jennings rose to prominence as a contestant on the game show starting in the mid 2000s, becoming one of the highest earning winners to ever compete, amassing millions of dollars.
- Since then, he's become a fixture in the Jeopardy! universe. Jennings is a host for the show, as well as the author of many books covering history, humor, and now, what we can learn from our understandings of afterlife.
What's the big deal? Jennings' new book, "100 Places to See After You Die: A Travel Guide to the Afterlife," takes on his knowledge of just about everything, and attempts to extend it to the great unknown: death.
- The book focuses on the afterlife — including heaven, hell and everything in between — as depicted in religion, pop culture, literature and more.
- Jennings' research spanned from reading and analyzing descriptions of hell from ancient Tibet, to watching The Good Place, and parsing what these portrayals could tell us about humanity, religion and what we feel about the great beyond.
What are people saying? Jennings spoke with NPR about his fascination with the unknown, and what he learned about the afterlife.
On the research process:
Just like any traveler, I enjoyed revisiting some of my favorite afterlives. I mean, it's not really a book about death, honestly. It's a book about pop culture. And so it was a joy to me to revisit the creepy room with the little person from Twin Peaks or the disappointing afterlife in the last episode of Lost or Beetlejuice or the cornfields from Field of Dreams.
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Seattle's City Hall Park reopens after 2-year closure, following violent incidents
Downtown Seattle's City Hall Park reopened Tuesday, two years after it was closed in response to a string of violent incidents. It has since undergone a lot of changes.
“City Hall Park is revitalized," said King County Superior Court Presiding Judge Patrick Oishi at the reopening event. "Hopefully, as people are coming here, people will feel much more safe and comfortable when coming to the courthouse and accessing justice."
Judge Oishi said that in the past, court employees and jurors have expressed safety concerns. He also hopes court employees and others can go back to using the space as a popular lunch spot.
The park located on the corner of 3rd Avenue and Yesler Way garnered a lot of attention over the summer of 2021. In June of that year, a letter signed by 33 county judges cited safety concerns and urged city officials to close the park. It was closed after a stabbing, and an attempted rape at the nearby King County Courthouse. In August 2021, an encampment at the park was cleared. Eventually, Seattle and King County agreed to a land swap and the county took ownership of the park.
For two years, City Hall Park has been fenced off, and has undergone a clean up. The public was welcomed back this week.
Gavin Muller works at the courthouse. On Tuesday, he ordered lunch from a food truck at the park. He said he’s excited to have his lunch spot back as there are not many green spaces in the area.
“It's been kind of a bummer that it's been fenced off," Muller said. "This is kind of my one spot to eat lunch, not inside the courthouse. I hope that it stays open. I hope that it's a good environment for people to hang out."
The park is slated to get more lights and two patrolling park rangers. The city also plans to bring in more food trucks, buskers, and other entertainment. Muller says he is glad that the rangers will be present, but hopes they will not intimidate or push certain people out. He wants everyone to enjoy the park.
The reopening of City Hall Park was part of Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s Downtown Activation Plan. He set revitalizing parks as a top priority. Harrell plans to add 28 patrolling rangers throughout the park system.
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Washington state Superintendent Chris Reykdal will run for re-election in 2024
Washington state's superintendent of public education, Chris Reykdal, is running for re-election in 2024.
“To be the best, we have to keep innovating, transforming, and developing systems that support the unique needs of every single learner,” Reykdal said in a statement. “I can’t wait to lean into this work in the next phase of developing our excellent public school system.”
Reykdal announced this week that he is aiming for his third term in the office that oversees K-12 schools throughout the state. His current term ends at the start of 2025.
“Washington is recognized as one of the best states to raise a family, start a business, and thrive,” Reykdal said. “One of the reasons we rank so high is our outstanding public schools. In six years, despite a pandemic, we are near record highs in graduation rates; assessment scores are rising once again; enrollments are re-accelerating, we have expanded access to college credit while in high school; increased options to become a bilingual learner; added record investments to support students with disabilities; and we have opened up robust pathways that empower students to focus on college, apprenticeships, military service, or straight to work after high school.”
In his campaign announcement, Reykdal said he wants to build upon his listed achievements with a new agenda, including more mental health in schools; career and technical education in high school; universal nutritious meals; reforming student transportation; and more education for financial literacy, media literacy, civility, and computer sciences.
Reykdal was first elected to the post in 2016 (with 51% of the vote), then re-elected in 2020 (with 55% of the vote). He presided over the state's educational system as schools locally and across the country weathered the pandemic, controversies surrounding mask mandates, and online learning.
At one point, Reykdal had plans to withhold state and federal funding from any school district that knowingly violated the face mask requirement in schools.
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Homelessness count reaches record high in Whatcom County
The number of unhoused people in Bellingham and Whatcom County has reached an all-time high.
The latest point-in-time census report shows 1,059 people, from 850 different households, were either living in shelters, vehicles, tents, or on the street in Whatcom County as of January.
According to the Whatcom County Coalition to End Homelessness 2023 Annual Report:
"Between 2022 and 2023 there was a 27% increase in persons experiencing homelessness counted (from 832 persons experiencing homelessness last year to 1,059 this year). The number of households experiencing homelessness increased by 33% between 2022 and 2023 (from 639 households to 850 households). The numbers of both individuals and households counted in 2023 are the highest reported since counting began in 2008."
The Bellingham Herald also reports that there was a slight drop in the numbers last year, thanks to support programs created in response to the pandemic.
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Take 2: Workgroup formed to develop new Seattle drug possession law
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, and a team of city and community leaders, plan to go back to the drawing board to bring the city's municipal code in line with Washington state's new drug possession law.
A 24-member workgroup has been formed to develop an ordinance that will align Seattle's local law with state law. (A list of workgroup members can be found below.)
“We are committed to addressing the deadly public health crisis playing out on our streets, holding dealers accountable for trafficking illegal drugs harming our communities, and advancing innovative health strategies to help those struggling with substance use disorder,” Mayor Bruce Harrell said in a statement. “There is a time for appropriate constitutional arrests when people are posing a threat to others; however, when people are a threat only to themselves, they need compassionate treatment. Updating the Seattle Municipal Code to align with recently passed state law makes sense, as does demonstrating how this additional tool will be applied and how it fits in the broader spectrum of treatment and diversion options.”
The state's new law goes into effect July 1. There was a previous attempt to establish a local drug possession law, but the Seattle City Council rejected the proposal last week. That bill proposed to allow the city attorney to prosecute the cases, which are now gross misdemeanors under state law. A majority of council members voted against the idea, citing fears it would lead to more low income and people of color being charged.
RELATED: Finger-pointing and fallout in the wake of Seattle City Council drug law vote
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Where are we gonna put that airport? Today So Far
- Where are we gonna put that airport in Washington state?
- The 2023 wildfire season in the Northwest to be among the worst in the USA.
- The 50th anniversary of when the Seattle City Council took its first steps for gay rights.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for June 13, 2023.
I said it last week, and I'll say it again: Now is a good time to make sure you're stocked up on air filters. All those N95 masks from the pandemic could also come in handy this summer. Fingers crossed that this prediction will fall flat, but as of now, experts expect the 2023 wildfire season in the Northwest to be among the worst in the USA.
"With the lower and mid elevations, where most of the timber and burnable material is, it's been in drought and it seems to be worsening week by week," said John Saltenberger, manager with the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. "That's why, first and foremost, we're anticipating the fire threat in Washington to be probably the greatest in the nation at this point."
The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center is the agency in charge of organizing wildfire responses across Washington and Oregon. Western Washington has already begun taking action — various burn bans have emerged, including in our area. Read more here.
Washington's Legislature formed a commission in 2019, tasked with finding a location for a new regional airport. Their final recommendation is due on June 15. They're not going to make it.
If you've followed the news over the past year, you know why. The commission narrowed in on three potential locations in Western Washington. It didn't get an opportunity to narrow further to one spot, because opposition to the idea was so fierce.
"We recognize and acknowledge the deep levels of anxiety that people have in this decision, we recognize that people feel threatened by this work," said Commission chair Warren Hendrickson at the group's final meeting last Friday.
So this commission was never able to take off, but that doesn't mean this story is permanently grounded. The state Legislature began priming a new engine for this effort last session. Another workgroup was established which will start over from square one. Get ready for another round of potential airport sites in our region, along with another round of opposition to those ideas. Olympia correspondent Jeanie Lindsay has the full story here.
This June is not only Pride month — 2023 is also the 50th anniversary of when the Seattle City Council took its first steps for gay rights.
Councilmember Jeanette Williams sponsored a bill in 1973 that made job discrimination illegal based on marital status, political ideology, and sexual orientation. This was the first time in Seattle that gay rights were mentioned in law. The ordinance passed. In 1975, Seattle expanded these protections to housing.
There was pushback, however. SOME group spearheaded an effort to knock down the laws in Seattle. The group was literally called "SOME" — Save Our Moral Ethics. They got Initiative 13 on the ballot in 1978, which would have nixed Seattle's protections for gays and lesbians when it came to employment and housing. It also proposed to shut down the city's Office of Women's Rights. By a two-to-one margin, Seattle voters rejected the initiative.
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Did You Know?: The first and last time Spock showed up in Medford, Ore.
This "Did You Know?" segment was published as part of the June 13, 2023 Today So Far newsletter.
On April 15, 1967, actor Leonard Nimoy showed up in Medford, Ore. in full Spock costume to be the grand marshal of the town's Pear Blossom Parade. It was a big deal for the small town. Spock was on the front page of the Medford Mail Tribune the next day (this newspaper ceased operations in January 2023). It was also a big deal, in a way, for "Star Trek." At the time, the show was between its first and second seasons, and its ratings were struggling. Local appearances like this were encouraged to drive up publicity. It worked ... a little too well. Nimoy's experience in Medford is why he never appeared as Spock in public again.
While the first documented "Star Trek" fan convention was in 1969, Spock's appearance at the parade in Medford has been seen as the first fan gathering. A few hundred were expected at the small town's annual parade. Instead, thousands descended upon Medford.
As Nimoy recalled in his 1995 memoir, "I am Spock," after the parade, he was led to a bandstand in a local park where he and officials expected a couple hundred autographs would be handed out, but thousands of people showed up in Medford that day to see Spock. The bandstand started to sway as the crowd swelled and pushed against the stage. Nimoy became concerned that someone would be crushed. A police escort was required to escort Nimoy through the crowd and away from the park.
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Would you live here in Seattle? Today So Far
- Facing a shortage of housing, and a lot of empty office, Seattle's leaders are considering how they can remodel many of the city's buildings.
- Carbon pollution is getting more expensive in Washington state.
- It's interesting how history sometimes repeats itself, which is what appears to be happening in Seattle.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for June 12, 2023.
There are some news cycles when a certain figure seems to show up in just about every story — more than Smokey the Bear during wildfire season, more than Danny Trejo pops up in Robert Rodriguez movies, or more times than Ciscoe Morris says "Oh la la" upon seeing wildberries. Lately, that person seems to be Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell.
Facing a shortage of housing, and a lot of empty office, Seattle's leaders are considering how they can remodel many of the city's buildings. The main idea here is to convert empty office space into living space. As someone who has mostly lived at their office (and I don't mean working from home, but rather, working so much I slept at the office), I can say that this can be done, despite complaints from co-workers about your plants taking up too much room, or that you "shouldn't sleep under your desk," or "put on regular clothes, I can see your sock garters."
The ideas for this floating around Seattle are a little more advanced than my experience living at the office. Mayor Bruce Harrell recently asked the area's architects and builders about how they would perform such a massive conversion. A few buildings popped up as examples of old space that could be turned into the city's newest housing. Here's a preview of one such option.
The Mutual Life Building in Seattle's Pioneer Square is a good-looking building, but it's pretty empty these days. Experts say its interiors could be turned into hotel-style housing — private rooms with shared bathrooms and kitchens. Others considered the city's warehouses-turned-office space, and various nooks and crannies around town, because the way housing is going in Seattle, many of us would be grateful for any decent nook or cranny to call our own.
The idea seems simple enough. You have empty space in a building, why not fill it with space for people to live? How hard could that be? As KUOW's Joshua McNichols points out, there are significant challenges to this solution.
RELATED: Could transformable buildings help revive downtowns?
Carbon pollution is getting more expensive in Washington state. The second auction for carbon credits in Washington was held in May. The result was a price tag of $56 per ton of carbon dioxide. That's 15% higher than the price that was set at the state's very first carbon auction in February. That first auction raised about $300 million. This second auction produced $557 million. KUOW's John Ryan has the story here.
There's also a lot of talk about emissions in Seattle, where Mayor Harrell has proposed new standards for existing buildings (yep, another Harrell headline). The key word here is "existing." Usually, when you hear about getting buildings to go green, it's about new construction. This effort sets a timeline for existing buildings to upgrade and get off fossil fuels, and lessen their emissions. How hard could that be? Just nix some old equipment, and install some new equipment. Well, some building owners say the timeline is too aggressive, and some activists say it isn't aggressive enough. Read the full story here.
It's interesting how history sometimes repeats itself, which is what appears to be happening in Seattle. After state lawmakers failed to pass a drug possession law in April, the finger pointing started immediately. As KUOW's Amy Radil puts it, that's where Seattle leaders currently find themselves after voting down a local drug possession bill.
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NW braces for 2023 wildfire season, expected to be a costly one
It's fire season in the Pacific Northwest and officials say it could be a costly one.
"With the lower and mid elevations, where most of the timber and burnable material is, it's been in drought and it seems to be worsening week by week," said John Saltenberger, manager with the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. "That's why, first and foremost, we're anticipating the fire threat in Washington to be probably the greatest in the nation at this point."
The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center brings together federal and state firefighting teams throughout Oregon and Washington.
Precipitation readings were down around Washington state last winter, which has led to "peak dryness" arriving sooner than expected for the region.
Saltenberger adds that the Northwest fire threat in 2023 may be the worst in the nation, and that all of Washington and parts of Oregon will be facing an unusually high risk, especially in July and August.
He's urging campers and others who manage fires to be very careful.
Burn bans in Washington state
As of mid June, Burn bans throughout Western Washington have already emerged.
- Kitsap County began a stage one burn ban on June 12, meaning most outdoor burning is prohibited. People can still light recreational fires, however, in approved appliances and locations.
- A modified burn ban went into effect for parts of Whatcom and Skagit Counties on June 9. No residential or land-clearing fires are allowed. The same goes for unincorporated King County.
- Pierce County has prohibited land clearing fires and fires for yard debris. Gas and charcoal grills as well as fire pits are still allowed as of June 12.
- Snohomish County has a stage 1 burn ban. All residential burning is prohibited, even if a permit has been issued. Some small, recreational fires are allowed with restrictions.
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3 more glaciers gone from Mount Rainier
A warming climate has claimed three more glaciers in Washington state. All three were on Mount Rainier, which is home to more ice than any U.S. mountain south of Alaska.
Scientists with the National Park Service say that Stevens Glacier was gone as of 2021.
RELATED: RIP Washington’s Hinman Glacier, gone after thousands of years
Glaciologist Mauri Pelto looked at satellite imagery from last fall and says that he found that two other glaciers had dwindled down to ice patches, too small to be considered glaciers anymore.
“As we continue to have these warm summers and these heat waves, all the glaciers are going to really suffer, and any glacier that's not in pretty good form is going to be lost," Pelto says.
Park service researchers say Rainier has lost half its ice since the start of the 20th century. The losses have accelerated in recent years.
Pelto also notes that it’s too late to save the Northwest’s smaller glaciers, given the warming already baked into the climate by human pollution. But he says it’s not too late to slow global warming enough to save the Northwest’s bigger glaciers.
Read the full story on these lost glaciers here.
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Seattle Storm retires Sue Bird's jersey
All eyes turned to the rafters of Climate Pledge Arena Sunday night as the Seattle Storm retired Sue Bird's number 10 jersey. Bird wore the number for her entire 21-year career with the WNBA, as a point guard in Seattle.
Bird came to Seattle from New York, where she grew up, but said Sunday night that Seattle is home.
"Seattle wasn't always home, but that's exactly what it became, and that's in large part to all of you. And I may have given you rings, some fun moments, some game winners. While I may have given you all of those things, you gave me a home."
RELATED: 'To us, she is the greatest of all time.' Sue Bird plays final regular game with Seattle Storm
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What's next for Seattle drug law? Mayor, council look ahead
Seattle City Councilmember Andrew Lewis said Friday he is working with City Attorney Ann Davison’s office and other stakeholders to craft a new framework to handle drug possession cases. That’s after Lewis cast the decisive vote Tuesday to block the city attorney from enforcing a new state law.
That vote prevents the city attorney from prosecuting drug possession cases, at least for now. The new state law making drug possession and public use a gross misdemeanor takes effect July 1. Lewis said he hopes to help craft a more comprehensive proposal to bring before the council in the coming weeks.
“Look, I think we fairly well established that on this issue I’m the fulcrum vote,” he said. “So in terms of where I can apply my leadership to drive the conversation, I think I’ll be in a position to build a coalition among my colleagues.”
Lewis said any new proposal must spell out, and fund, pathways to treatment that keep people out of court and jail.
“What we need to do this month is come together as a city and do the work the people of Seattle expect us to do,” he said. “To respond with urgency to this crisis that is killing so many of our neighbors, and make sure we get it done and get it done right.”
Lewis said the plan must also come up with a new type of alternative court, since the City Attorney’s Office said last month that it would no longer participate in Seattle Municipal Court’s community court program. The program was envisioned as a way to divert low-level offenders from jail, and connect them with services. But Davison’s office said the court wasn’t effective at getting cases resolved.
Still, Lewis said the process should have unfolded differently.
“I think there’s plenty of room for improvement with the community court,” he said, “but I’ve always been a fan of coming up with a reformed replacement before you get rid of a current institution.”
Lewis said the city attorney’s resulting dismissal of 1,000 misdemeanor cases harms those crime victims and the defendants who needed services. He said a new therapeutic court should be “part of the puzzle” as the city considers how to enforce the drug possession ordinance. He also wants the city to offer diversion services focused on helping people with substance use disorder.
The new state law says courts and prosecutors are "encouraged" to consider diverting someone to treatment and services rather than charging them, a step known as "Pre-Filing Diversion."
Prosecutors typically contract with nonprofits that try to address the root causes of the person’s criminal case. If the person completes the steps set out by the court, the potential charges against them are never filed.
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