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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Supreme Court ruling against Trump tariffs gets bipartisan support among WA lawmakers
In Washington state, Democrats and some Republicans are welcoming the U.S. Supreme Court decision restricting the president's ability to impose sweeping tariffs.
In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that President Trump could not invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to set tariffs on imports. The court said Trump exceeded his authority when he used the act to impose tariffs on U.S. trading partners. Trump responded promptly that his administration has “other alternatives” to replace the tariffs struck down by the court.
RELATED: Supreme Court strikes down Trump's tariffs
NPR reports that tariffs affected by the ruling represent about half of all the import taxes the government is collecting each month. Other tariffs were issued under different statutes which are not being challenged.
The federal government collected more than $200 billion in tariffs in 2025 driven by Trump’s executive orders, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Washington state Democrats hailed the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat, issued a statement headlined “Good Riddance.”
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Fresh off their Super Bowl victory, the Seattle Seahawks are officially for sale
The Seattle Seahawks are officially for sale.
A statement announcing the sale of Seattle's NFL team Wednesday was brief, but noted that the process "is estimated to continue through the 2026 off-season."
RELATED: Paul Allen's big-money legacy haunts the Seattle arts scene
The Estate of Paul G. Allen, which owns the team, "has commenced a formal sale process for the Seattle Seahawks NFL franchise, consistent with Allen's directive to eventually sell his sports holdings and direct all Estate proceeds to philanthropy."
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen amassed a range of prized possessions before he passed away in 2018, leaving it all in a trust managed by his sister Jody Allen. The trust has been winding down operations and selling off holdings ever since, such as Seattle's Cinerama movie theater that was recently taken over by SIFF. The Living Computer Museum closed in 2020, and its trove of technological history was auctioned off. The trust also owns the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team, which is currently in the process of being sold.
RELATED: Paul Allen treasures go up for sale: Art, outer space, and computer history
Rumors that Seahawks ownership was preparing to sell the team, after the Super Bowl, began swirling around Seattle in January. At the time, Seahawks management insisted that there was no news to share.
The announcement Wednesday makes it official that the process to sell the team has begun. According to the statement, "The Estate has selected investment bank Allen & Company and law firm Latham & Watkins to lead the sale process, which is estimated to continue through the 2026 off-season. NFL owners must then ratify a final purchase agreement."
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'Black lives do matter. People do matter. Everybody is somebody': Remembering Rev. Jesse Jackson's visit to KUOW
Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson died Tuesday.
In a statement reported by NPR, Jackson's family said, "Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world. We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became part of our extended family."
Read NPR's full obituary here.
In 2015, before a speech at an event for Microsoft, Jackson stopped by KUOW to speak with Bill Radke.
"There are those who were for abolition and those who were for slavery. The abolitionists won," Jackson told Radke. "There were those who were for racial segregation for law and culture. We won that battle. There were those who denied women, people of color, the youth the right to vote. We won that battle. When we fight, we win. We've never lost a battle we've fought. Never won a battle, unless we fought. So. there is a tug of war. There are those who simply profit from fear. We must get the joy of hope."
RELATED: Longtime civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson dies at 84
They discussed a range of headlines of the day, including historical statues where the figures were slave owners. One such statue of George Washington was being discussed at the University of Washington.
"When you have the statue, on the lettering, the writing extols upon him great virtue. It does not mention slave master, it does not mention support for a crime against humanity," Jackson said. "That's a big piece of it, too. At least educate as to who this guy was."
RELATED: Remembering the night Jesse Jackson read 'Green Eggs and Ham' on 'Saturday Night Live'
They also discussed an incident at Western Washington University where a white student made threats against students of color. The threats prompted campus protests.
"Black lives do matter. People do matter. Everybody is somebody," Jackson said at the time.
Below is the 2015 article published by KUOW about Jackson's visit. Listen to the full audio below.
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Seattle Public Library intercepts Boston readers after Super Bowl bet
The real winners of Super Bowl LX are the Boston readers who will now be exposed to some Seattle culture.
The Boston Public Library unwisely entered into a wager with the Seattle Public Library ahead of the big game Sunday. The stakes: Loser hosts a list of books curated by the winner, directed at the losing region's readers.
The Seattle Seahawks, of course, dismantled the New England Patriots 29-13. The team celebrated the win with the city on Wednesday, somehow neglecting the literary victory.
RELATED: Seattle's 12s celebrate Super Bowl champion Seahawks
Seattle Librarian Eric Grob helped coordinate the list, which was built by him and his colleagues to highlight the region while also making a gentle jab at bummed Bostonians.
"Specifically, we asked for books that highlight and/or boast about Seattle and the PNW, the Seahawks, and Seattle sports more generally," Grob said in an email. "While some were clearly chosen to elicit laughter, it was also a chance to highlight some thoughtful and critical works."
The resulting list, dubbed "Seattle Picks for Patriots Fans," includes 35 books, movies, and music to show Boston why Seattle is great on and off the field.
It includes "Comeuppance Served Cold" by Marion Deeds, a historical fantasy novel set in Seattle. The selection is a nod to the retribution the Seahawks brought upon the Patriots, who beat Seattle in the 2015 Super Bowl after a game-ending interception at the goal line.
Seahawks fans — and reluctant admirers in Boston — may also recognize at least one author on the list. Former defensive end Michael Bennett's book "Things That Make White People Uncomfortable" is featured. The book discusses racism and police violence, Black athletes' relationship to institutions like the NFL, and athletes' responsibility to be role models.
Local sports journalism fans will also know the name Michael-Shawn Dugar, who covers the Seahawks for The Athletic. No list celebrating the Hawks' victory would be complete without Dugar's "The Franchise: Seattle Seahawks : a Curated History of the Legion of Boom Era."
The list also includes nods to the city's musical history, like "Broken Horses" by Seattle superstar Brandi Carlile, who performed "America the Beautiful" at Sunday's Super Bowl, and "Loser" by Clark Humphrey.
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Seattle Police escalated conflicts during anti-trans rally in 2025, report says
A new review from Seattle’s Office of Inspector General – which scrutinizes police practices -- cites dozens of contributing factors to the “poor outcomes” and clashes between police and counter-protesters around a conservative Christian rally last May in Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill.
The review found that police were in dialogue with the rally organizers but lacked similar dialogue with counter-protesters that could have achieved more peaceful outcomes.
The 10-person panel of police and community members assembled by the inspector general found that SPD’s lack of communication and aggressive police response likely escalated the confrontations with counter-protesters, which resulted in 23 arrests that day and 16 reported uses of force by police. The charges included property destruction and assault, most of which were ultimately dropped, according to the review.
The inspector general used this “sentinel event review” process to reach consensus findings between police and community members about the policing of 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. But this time the review states that the panel dissolved prematurely without consensus findings, because a community member violated the confidentiality agreement and leaked details of the discussions.
"The violation undermined the shared commitment to accountability and trust building,” the review said.
RELATED: Seattle City Council approves new police contract, boosting pay and expanding crisis response
Inspector General Lisa Judge said despite that setback, these reviews bringing together police and community members are “incredibly valuable and we hope to do it again.” But she said after this outcome the reviews “will involve repair work and scrutiny of our planning processes.”
Police said they did not receive sufficient notice when Seattle Parks and Recreation approved a permit last April for MayDay USA, a Christian fundamentalist movement, to hold a rally dubbed “#DontMesswithOurKids” May 24, 2025, in Cal Anderson Park. The rally was part of a five-city tour promoting anti-LGBTQ+, anti-abortion viewpoints and advocating for “the sanctity of human life [and] the sacrality of biological gender,” according to the review.
“Many in the community expressed concerns leading up to the event, questioning why the City would grant a permit for this rally in the historic heart of the LGBTQ+ community,” the review states.
Community members said the rally also took place in the context of the Trump administration’s hostile rhetoric and executive orders meant to restrict the rights of transgender people.
Meanwhile the review found that the “historic lack of trust between SPD and the LGBTQ+ community” meant that “the significant community concern regarding the rally was not understood by SPD. “
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Seahawks super fans scoop up Super Bowl victory merch
Seattle Seahawks fans are gearing up for the team's Super Bowl LX victory parade on Wednesday, and many are grabbing some new merch to celebrate the occasion.
Leftover green and blue confetti from Sunday night's victory celebrations floated into the Seahawks Pro Shop at Lumen Field the next morning, as devoted 12s waited in line.
RELATED: Seahawks dominate Patriots in 29-13 Super Bowl win
Randy Yim, a lifelong Seahawks fan, interrupted his regular morning commute to swing by the shop and add another championship hat to his collection.
"Having that merch is just good memories," Yim said. "I got to spend the Super Bowl this year with my family, so it was a good experience to remember and just cherish."
When the Seahawks won their first Super Bowl in 2014, Yim was working at the Pro Shop and had to miss the parade for work. But this year, Yim will get to wear his new hat at the celebration.
AJ Venkatesh and Venkat Raj purchased a black and silver Nike shirt emblazoned with the words "CHAMPIONS" and "SEAHAWKS" around an image of the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Giddy with excitement, the couple said grabbing some team gear is just another way of supporting the team.
Venkatesh became a Seahawks fan after moving to Seattle from Melbourne, and said she learned about American football by watching the team compete.
"We have been living here for the past five years, and we've been following the team so closely," Venkatesh said. "We've been waiting to be a part of the amazing celebration and big community over here."
Venkatesh said their early morning shopping trip was the result of a disappointing discovery: After the Seahawks' Super Bowl win, the pair immediately turned to the online sports apparel store Fanatics.com.
"The delivery date was too late, and the party is happening Wednesday, so we want to get our hands on our merch before that," Venkatesh said.
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Bellevue becomes destination for AI companies
Bellevue, Wash., is becoming an artificial intelligence hub as OpenAI and xAI look to establish outposts on the Eastside.
The San Francisco company behind ChatGPT is opening a second home in Bellevue. OpenAI plans to lease 10 new floors of office space in Bellevue’s City Center Plaza, according to GeekWire.
RELATED: The human coders hired to mop up AI slop
And it’s not the only AI company planting a flag on the Eastside. Elon Musks’s xAI is planning to set up camp in the Lincoln Square South building, according to permit filings with the City of Bellevue.
Neither company responded to questions about their new outposts.
The moves bring both companies closer to Microsoft in Redmond and Amazon in Seattle, important cloud partners underpinning the AI boom.
They also come amid thousands of layoffs in the tech industry.
RELATED: Amazon lays off 16,000 employees in major reduction of force
Although many tech companies are freezing hiring and shedding employees, AI remains a key growth area in the industry. The growing footprints of xAI and OpenAI in Bellevue indicate they will be adding jobs in the area.
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Despite success, family reading program in Washington state faces deep funding cuts
For kids across Washington state who are struggling readers, a type of book club for families is showing promising results. But state and federal budget cuts have shrunk the program by 85%. Supporters hope for a turnaround this year.
As with many book clubs, the Prime Time Family Reading Program involves eating as well as reading.
“We start off with a really simple meal, pizza or burritos," said Julie Ziegler, CEO and executive director of Humanities Washington, which oversees the program. "A lot of families are coming from school or work and hungry tummies don’t learn well.”
RELATED: In reading, the nation's students are still stuck in a pandemic slump
These meetings often take place in libraries or through after-school programs. The book clubs are intended for reluctant readers in third or fourth grade, who are referred through their schools.
“They’ve either decided reading is not for them — not good at it, don’t like it — for whatever reason school interventions haven’t helped,” Ziegler said.
At the weekly meetings, storytellers read books out loud to the group and lead meaningful conversations about them. They try to help parents with any hesitation they might feel about reading out loud to their own kids. And facilitators send books home with families to read for the coming week.
“Teachers tell us that kids who participate in the program often jump three reading levels or more just over that six-week period of time,” Ziegler said.
RELATED: Kids who use social media score lower on reading and memory tests, a study shows
Ziegler said the program got an infusion of $1 million in one-time federal funding in 2022, which allowed it to expand. But then the Trump administration and state lawmakers cut the program’s funding completely last year.
There’s demand for 92 locations statewide, but right now they can only offer 20 that obtained funding from private foundations. Ziegler said the goal is to serve communities that don’t have any private funders available.
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Justice Department 'workaround' keeps former immigration judge as Seattle’s top prosecutor
The Trump administration is using a workaround to retain its preferred U.S. attorney in Seattle, despite his lack of confirmation by the U.S. Senate. It’s a tactic the Justice Department has employed elsewhere, resulting in some legal challenges.
Former immigration judge Charles Neil Floyd has served as “interim” U.S. attorney for Western Washington since October. But facing a crucial deadline this week, the Justice Department changed his title to "First Assistant U.S. Attorney" — as it has done for Pete Serrano in Eastern Washington. The change keeps Floyd as the leader of the Seattle office, for now, since the position above him is technically vacant.
“While my title has changed, what has not changed is my leadership of the men and women of the U.S. Attorney’s Office," Floyd said in a statement to KUOW. "It is an honor to lead the experienced litigators and professional staff who work every day to do justice in our community.”
He added, “My background in immigration law has been very useful as we respond to department priorities around immigration enforcement.”
RELATED: Newly released court records reveal misconduct inquiry into federal judge
Floyd has previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney, a prosecutor with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an immigration judge, and a judge advocate in the U.S. Army. As an immigration judge in Tacoma, he helped initiate a new policy for immigration courts to more routinely deny bond, keeping many people in detention who in the past would have been released pending the outcome of their cases.
Matt Adams is legal director for the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, which brought a successful class action lawsuit to challenge the stricter bond policy. Adams said district courts across the country have found the policy unlawful but as interim U.S. attorney, Floyd has continued to defy those rulings and apply the new policy.
“How can the government that is responsible for enforcing the law at the same time willy-nilly be trampling over the law?” Adams asked.
In a Jan. 14 order, U.S. District Judge Tiffany Cartwright in Tacoma wrote that she was granting class members further relief "under a judgment they have already won" due to the government's "noncompliance."
The government has appealed her rulings, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in the case March 4.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, said she would block Floyd’s confirmation because that policy for immigration courts “does not align with Washington state’s values.”
In a statement Wednesday, Murray said the move to retain Floyd as first assistant U.S. attorney “spits in the face of the law and Congress—and it sets a dangerous precedent and risks jeopardizing the legitimacy of the U.S. Attorney’s office moving forward.”
In an interview last month with conservative journalist Jason Rantz, Floyd said Murray had never contacted him. Floyd said he believes he’s qualified for the position of U.S. attorney, and said turnover in the job just creates uncertainty and hardship for the people working there.
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Amazon layoffs include more than 2,000 jobs in Seattle area
The impacts of Amazon’s latest mass layoffs are starting to come into focus for the Seattle area, while other local companies also cut jobs.
About 2,200 employees in Washington state are losing their jobs, according to a state filing, as part of the 16,000 person layoff Amazon announced last week.
RELATED: Tech layoffs drive Seattle-area unemployment above 5%
Amazon’s latest layoffs hit software engineers the hardest. Hundreds of coders in the Seattle area are being cut.
Reductions in force have become habitual in the tech industry over the past few years. Andy Challenger, of the layoff consulting firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, doesn’t see that changing anytime soon.
“ I think there probably will be continued layoff activity, at least for the next quarter or two from within tech," Challenger said.
Other tech companies already appear to be drafting off of Amazon’s big layoff announcement.
RELATED: 16KAmazon employees just lost their jobs. Are we in a tech recession?
T-Mobile cut nearly 400 jobs this week. That’s on top of more than 300 employees Meta laid off earlier this month.
Tech sector layoffs are being pointed to as a major factor in the region's unemployment rate, 5.1% in November for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area. That's higher than the national unemployment rate of 4.5% at the time.
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2 teen boys killed at bus stop on Rainier Avenue in Seattle
Two male teenagers were shot and killed at a bus stop on Friday before 4 p.m. near South Shore PreK-8, according to an email from the superintendent of Seattle Public Schools.
South Shore is located near the intersection of Rainier Avenue South and South Henderson Street. According to an email to parents from Seattle Public Schools, the teens are believed to be students in the district.
RELATED: Seattle's first 2026 homicide stems from a shooting more than 50 years ago
“The loss is almost impossible to put into words, and it is made even more painful by the reality that tragedies like this are becoming far too common in our communities,” wrote Fred Podesta, the district superintendent.
According to the Seattle Police Department, officers who first responded to the scene provided medical treatment to the two boys until the Seattle Fire Department arrived. SFD pronounced them deceased at the scene.
The Police Department reports that a suspect fled the scene on foot before officers responded. The area was searched, but a suspect was not found.
The school district is working with the Police Department to confirm more details.
“We are especially concerned for the students and staff who witnessed this horrific event,” Podesta wrote.
RELATED: Father of Garfield student killed at school begs witnesses to 'do the right thing'
The district canceled all activities through the weekend at the following schools: Rainier Beach High School, Alan T. Sugiyama High School, and South Shore PreK-8.
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Seattle-area businesses, students join national general strike
With small business closures and student walkouts, some in the Seattle-area participated in a national protest against ICE Friday, Jan. 30. Others opted to use the day to raise money in support of people in Minneapolis.
"Our doors will be closed on Friday, January 30 in solidarity with the nationwide shutdown & general strike," Hood Famous Cafe and Bar wrote on Instagram. "If you are an ICE official or supporter, our doors are closed to you every day."
RELATED: 'If you hear something, say something.' After ICE scare, Seattle Public Schools updates guidance
Both the Seattle Art Museum and the Tacoma Art Museum closed their doors Friday. SAM released a statement, noting that it intended to open for free to the public, but "due to higher than anticipated staff shortages, we're not able to safely open our locations and are closed."
TAM planned to be closed on Monday, stating: "This action is in acknowledgement of the emotional weight of community members living in fear due to the horrific events in Minneapolis, and in solidarity with museum colleagues and arts communities there and other places around the US. We will resume normal operations on Saturday as a place for respite and reconnection."
RELATED: A dad's ICE arrest and the Seattle nurse who took his family in
At the University of Washington, a small crowd of students gathered in Red Square to protest ICE.
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