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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Heavy rain, snow, and high winds, oh my! Western Washington Christmas forecast
A bridge in Sequim, Wash. built in 1915 over the Dungeness River that has been incorporated into modern hiking trails.Santa will be surfing an atmospheric river into the Pacific Northwest in 2024, as the region is slated for a wet Christmas.
Which might look something like this...
“It is a very active period," said Dev McMillian, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle. "We have a lot of hazards to consider. Bottom line, going into the holiday, primarily on Christmas Day, we have an atmospheric river that will bring high wind, heavy rainfall, and heavy snow at high elevations.”
RELATED: Atmospheric rivers aren't new. Why does it feel like we're hearing about them more?
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2024 recap: Readers' top KUOW stories from this year
Arts & Life
If there were any trends among all you KUOW readers over 2024, it was your love of animal stories (even if those animals are not very nice) and talking about the weather.VariousIf there were any trends among all you KUOW readers over 2024, it was your love of animal stories (even if those animals are not very nice) and talking about the weather.
RELATED: Listen to Bill Radke's 2024 Year in Review
But it wasn't all animals, sun, and rain. A range of other issues dominated your conversations throughout the year. Here are the top 15 stories that got the most attention on KUOW.org in 2024.
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I gave the Garfield High School victim CPR. Now I’m pulling my son from school
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'I was very concerned.' U.S. Rep. Adam Smith reflects on Biden's 2024 presidential campaign
Politics
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., speaks during the House Armed Services Committee on the conclusion of military operations in Afghanistan and plans for future counterterrorism operations on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington.Rod Lamkey / Associated PressIt's perhaps easy for Democrats to critique Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' presidential runs, now that the election is decided, but Washington Congressmember Adam Smith says that he had concerns about Biden for a few years.
"I think it was a really bad decision on behalf of Joe Biden and the people around him to decide to have him run again," Smith told NPR's Steve Inskeep.
RELATED: How AI deepfakes polluted elections in 2024
At the start of summer 2024, particularly after a poor debate performance with Republican Donald Trump, Smith was among a growing chorus of Democrats calling for Biden to step aside and let another party member run for the White House.
In July, Smith openly called for Biden to drop out of the race, saying "the stakes are simply too high." He added that the president should drop out as soon as possible, "to give the new ticket the maximum amount of time to make its case to the American people." When Vice President Kamala Harris took Biden's place, she had just over 100 days to campaign for president.
Inskeep's conversation with Congressmember Smith comes on the heels of a Wall Street Journal report, detailing the experiences of a handful of Democrats who spoke of difficulty scheduling meetings with the president, limited communication, and a tight inner circle around Biden.
Smith said he started developing an opinion about Biden, and a potential run for a second term, back in 2021, the president's first year in office. At the time, the United States was planning its exit from Afghanistan. As the lead Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Smith was highly anxious about the situation. He reached out to the White House and requested a meeting with the president.
"I was concerned that they were being overly optimistic about what was going to play out," Smith said. "But more than anything, I just wanted an interaction with the White House to talk about it, share policy concerns and where we're going in anticipation of the Afghan government collapsing once we pulled out."
Smith never heard back from the president in the lead up to the withdrawal. White House staff said they would try to get a meeting scheduled, but nothing happened. That's not too unusual. Presidents are very busy. But Smith felt an issue like leaving Afghanistan was important enough to prompt a conversation.
"I was not worried at all about the president's ability to do the job," Smith said. "I was not worried that he had any sort of mental problem or that he was not physically healthy to do the job. But the second piece of it is, and I've said this before, I never for one second thought it was a good idea for Joe Biden to run at the age of 82 for a second term. I had those concerns. There wasn't any particular reason at that point to go out publicly and start saying, 'Oh, he shouldn't run again.' That was 2021."
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More food safety rating signs coming to King County in 2025
Arts & Life
King County's new food safety ratingsCourtesy of Public Health Seattle and King CountyYou’ll be seeing more food safety rating signs — complete with their corresponding faces — come January. The signs indicate facilities have gone through health inspections. Once limited to restaurants, those signs will soon be posted on food trucks, food carts, and even stores selling meat and seafood.
RELATED: How's your favorite food cart's hygiene? New King County rules aim to make that transparent
Eyob Mazengia, the food safety program manager for Public Health – Seattle & King County, said all those food vendors and suppliers already undergo inspections. But their ratings have historically been posted online and were not readily visible.
“Many customers don’t either have the time or may find it difficult to access our website and may actually not be aware that these facilities are indeed getting routine inspections,” Mazengia said.
A rise in unpermitted food trucks and carts in the county also prompted the expansion of the physical signs. Still, Mazengia said the issue is more than a business permit requirement.
RELATED: Illegal food pop-ups are booming in Seattle
“It is not just that they purchased a license to operate,” he explained, “but rather it is a comprehensive review of their operation.”
That review includes whether they have proper handwashing facilities, and whether they follow food-handling safety protocols.
Just don't expect the signs to appear everywhere all at once.
Mazengia said the process of issuing the green signs will take several months. Some businesses will receive temporary signs to indicate they have a permit and are awaiting an inspection for their safety rating.
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Washington families seek jail improvements, one settlement at a time
Law & Courts
Ivan Howtopat carrying his nephew. His family has filed a claim against Klickitat County for his 2023 death in the county jail.Courtesy of Melissa HowtopatIn a new legal settlement finalized Dec. 4, commissioners for Klickitat County in south-central Washington have committed to broad changes intended to improve medical care at their jail and prevent suicides.
The commissioners have taken over jail supervision from the county sheriff, Bob Songer, and his appointed jail director, Loren Culp, who also ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2020. County leaders also agreed to require additional staff training, audits, and on-site medical services.
It’s the result of a local outcry over jail conditions and a civil rights claim by the family of Ivan Howtopat. He was an enrolled member of the Yakama Nation who died by suicide in the jail while experiencing opioid withdrawal in May 2023.
RELATED: To address overcrowding, WA plans new juvenile corrections facility at a state prison
In a statement, Ivan’s mother Melissa Howtopat said, “Losing a child was the worst pain I have ever experienced and I would give all the money in the world to have Ivan back. I hope that this settlement, and the commitments to policy changes the County made in our agreement, will ensure that nobody else’s children will die in that jail.”
Attorney Corinne Sebren represented the Howtopat family. She said the county will pay the Howtopat family $2 million.
As part of the settlement, Klickitat County also committed to improved medical and mental health care, including screening and monitoring the people held in jail for opioid withdrawal and suicide risk.
The county has hired a new jail superintendent and will perform an independent audit of the jail within a year of the new supervisor’s start date.
Sebren said getting the county to commit to these changes is “a really powerful mechanism, it’s a tool we have started using more and more in our settlements.”
RELATED: Secret payments, damning audit. King County’s youth violence prevention effort, mired in scandal
Lori Zoller chairs the Klickitat County board of commissioners. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the settlement.
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'Kraven The Hunter' will not have audiences cravin' more
Arts & Life
Aaron Taylor Johnson stars as Kraven in "Kraven the Hunter," which is part of Sony's brand of Marvel movies.SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT INC.From actors to writers and directors, "Kraven the Hunter" had all the talent it needed to make a decent superhero (or supervillain) movie. Yet, "Kraven" merely delivers another round of clichés and plot holes — the main character is awesome, the bad guy is also awesome, and they're gonna have a big fight. And that fight is akin to a 5-year-old bashing their action figures together while making "bam-bam" noises.
RELATED: 'Y2K' does for Millennials what 'Dazed and Confused' did for '70s kids
"Kraven the Hunter" tells the story of Sergei Kravinoff, who was attacked by a lion as a young man on a hunt in Ghana, but he was revived by a mysterious potion that gives him special, animalistic powers. Kravinoff endeavors to chart his own course through life, running from family drama (his dad is a gangster constantly overcompensating for a severe inferiority complex), while learning to use his powers. He takes on the name Kraven and hunts down people he deems as bad. His methods are rated-R level brutal and bloody. Along the way, he connects with a high-powered attorney named Calypso (another Marvel villain, not that they let that show in this movie), makes time for his little brother's birthday, kills a lot of people, and ultimately cannot escape his family drama.
For a taste, check out this violent and bloody trailer (some clips here are not actually included in the final cut of the movie).
Between the characters, the backstory, the side stories, and action, this movie has little energy left for depth or originality. Will this rise above Sony Picture's poor comic book movie record? No. Is this a decent addition to the overall Marvel movie universe. Maybe. Aside from "Venom," "Kraven" is perhaps the best of Sony's collection of lackluster Marvel movies. It can certainly be a fun watch for fans, but won't often be revisited in the future.
Years ago, as Marvel began building its cinematic universe, it also licensed out some of its Spider-Man characters / villains to Sony Pictures to make movies of its own. While Marvel Studios went on to dominate, and change, Hollywood, Sony's films became known for, well, simply being bad ("Madame Web," "Morbius"). Except for the "Venom" series, which was generally well-received by fans. With "Kraven the Hunter," it's clear that "Venom" was an anomaly.
"Venom" was able to overcome any faults with a little humor. It appears that "Kraven" attempted to overcome its faults by cranking the movie up to an R rating. However, any potential for laughs has been replaced with gruesome violence.
Perhaps the main reason that "Kraven" doesn't work is its story. You can see little details and themes that writers placed along the way (character quirks, family drama, humans vs nature, and vigilante justice). But you never get to linger on any of this as the movie is interrupted by one flaw or another.
Kraven is renowned for being the world's greatest hunter, yet he seeks help from Calypso, because she's a lawyer and can therefore find people he cannot. After that, Kraven reminds us that he is the world's greatest hunter and there is nobody on the planet he cannot find.
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Sea-Tac Airport says major expansion will do little harm. Neighbors don’t buy it
Environment
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, shown on July 22, 2024, plans a major expansion.KUOW Photo/John RyanSea-Tac Airport is planning a major expansion, and some neighbors are crying foul.
Airport officials intend to build a new terminal and 19 new gates in the coming decade to handle more flights and relieve crowding. Planning documents maintain that the project would have “no significant impact” on health or the environment.
The cluster of expansion projects, dubbed the “sustainable airport master plan,” would result in just a 2% increase in passenger volumes above what would occur if the projects aren’t built, according to airport officials.
RELATED: Washington state hits the reset button on its search for a new airport site
“The passengers are coming, whether or not we're able to manage it into a passenger experience that folks are going to be happy with,” said airport spokesperson Perry Cooper.
“Those folks are still going to come here over the years because the region continues to grow, and we don't have another major airport that all those passengers can be going to,” Cooper said.
Airport planners predict Sea-Tac would handle 58 million passengers in 2032, versus 57 million without the expansion, up from 46 million passengers in 2022.
A coalition of neighborhood and environmental groups called the Sea-Tac Airport Community Coalition for Justice has been rallying opposition to the plan.
“For the communities in Beacon Hill, Chinatown, and Duwamish, there has not been an accounting for the added harm that's going to be coming their way,” said Maria Batayola, chair of the Beacon Hill Council and the Sea-Tac Airport Community Coalition for Justice.
Nearly two-thirds of the 420,000 residents near the airport (in Burien, Des Moines, Federal Way, Normandy Park, Renton, SeaTac, and Tukwila) or under its main flight paths (in Beacon Hill, Chinatown-International District, and the Duwamish Valley) are people of color, according to Batayola. More than 1 in 4 are immigrants or refugees.
Communities within 10 miles of Sea-Tac Airport are home to a majority of King County’s Black and Latino people, but only a third of the county’s white people.
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Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell is running for re-election in 2025
Elections
Bruce Harrell speaks to a crowd of supporters during an election night party on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, at Block 41 on Bell Street in Seattle.KUOW Photo/Megan FarmerBruce Harrell wants to be the first Seattle mayor to be elected to a second term in nearly 15 years. His re-election campaign has officially been launched.
“During my first term, we’ve made real progress and put our One Seattle approach into action — advancing our shared priorities by uniting the people of our city together around common values," Harrell said in a statement, shortly after his re-election campaign filed paperwork with the city's Ethics and Elections Commission.
Harrell's statement goes on to say his administration has "delivered public safety solutions, kept parks and sidewalks open and accessible while moving people into shelter and housing with services, made historic investments in affordable housing, prioritized a transportation system focused on safety, and passed nation-leading climate legislation."
But Harrell says there is "more work to do." His campaign announcement, however, is light on what that work includes, other than to say that Seattle needs to keep "moving forward as a city that is welcoming, affordable, and safe."
Harrell's campaign aims to break Seattle's somewhat shaky mayoral record in recent years. Greg Nickels was the last mayor to serve more than one term in office (2002-2010). Mike McGinn served one term. In 2017, Mayor Ed Murray resigned amid allegations of past sexual abuse. After that, Harrell stepped in to act as mayor for a week, then Councilmember Tim Burgess looked over the office for a few weeks until Jenny Durkan was elected. Durkan served one term.
RELATED: Harrell is 'still learning' how to address public safety
Harrell ran for mayor against his council colleague Lorena González in 2021 and was elected with nearly 59% of the vote.
His re-election campaign touts increased shelter referrals, a roughly 80% reduction in tent encampments, and a 60% decrease in RVs. However, it doesn't cite how many of those people have made it off the street and into stable housing. Harrell's campaign also notes that wages for human service providers went up under his administration, and the city established "a dual public health and public safety approach to the crisis of fentanyl" that contributed to "an 18% reduction in fatal overdoses."
Harrell's office formed the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) department which combined 911 responses with behavioral health providers. And as the city grapples with a shortage of law enforcement officers, the mayor's campaign says that job applications for the Seattle Police Department are up the highest they've been in 10 years.
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First bills drop ahead of Washington's 2025 legislative session
Politics
The Washington State Capitol building is seen on the first day of the legislative session, Jan. 8, 2024, in Olympia, Wash.Lindsey Wasson / Associated PressWashington lawmakers have begun teeing up legislation ahead of the 2025 session. Permanent standard time, immigration policies, and fentanyl penalties were among the proposals pre-filed on Monday, Dec. 2.
Monday marked the first day lawmakers could pre-file bills. Legislators will have 105 days to push their ideas through the process after the session kicks off on Jan. 13.
There’s no guarantee a pre-filed bill will receive a hearing, the first step on the journey to getting signed into law. Committee chairs make those critical decisions about which bills get an airing and which do not. By pre-filing, lawmakers hope to get their ideas on the radar of those setting agendas for committee meetings.
Here’s a look at a few bills now in the hopper.
Another push to ‘ditch the switch’
If there’s one thing that brings Democrats and Republicans in Olympia together, it’s their dislike of the twice-yearly clock switch to and from daylight saving time.
For years, lawmakers have tried and failed to “ditch the switch” with either permanent daylight saving time or permanent Pacific Standard Time. It seems this year is no different. With Senate Bill 5001, Sens. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, and Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, are joining forces to get Washington to implement permanent standard time.
Their proposal is modeled on a similar bill that did not make it through this year. The Legislature approved a law in 2019 to put the state on permanent daylight saving time, but Congress needs to approve a federal policy before that law can take effect. Switching to permanent standard time, however, does not require federal approval.
“Let’s end this nuisance once and for all,” Wilson said in a statement. “No more springing forward and falling back. Let’s set our clocks one more time and make that the end of it.”
The proposal may still be a long shot. Washington lawmakers will need to work with those in neighboring states to ensure they keep clocks across the region in sync. A similar bill in Oregon also failed earlier this year.
And, though most people agree the switch should go, experts disagree over which option is healthier and safer for humans. Permanent Pacific Standard Time means the sun rises and sets an hour earlier in the summer. In Western Washington during June, that would mean the sun sets at around 8 p.m. and rises around 4 a.m.
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Voodoo Doughnut's Seattle sweet spot is about to open in Capitol Hill
Food
Voodoo Doughnut was founded in Portland, Ore. The shop is opening a Seattle location on Capitol Hill on Dec. 10, 2024.Courtesy of Voodoo DoughnutAfter a year of planning, Voodoo Doughnut is ready to open in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood.
The doughnut shop known for bizarre flavors will open at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 1201 Pine Street.
"Capitol Hill is the perfect home for our first Seattle shop," Voodoo Doughnut CEO Chris Schultz said in a statement. "We're not just opening a store; we're joining a community."
RELATED: Is Portland infiltrating Seattle? Which city wins?
The first 50 customers will get exclusive swag.
Voodoo's arrival in Seattle has been long in the making. News first broke of the doughnut shop's Capitol Hill plans more than a year ago. At that time, the company told KUOW that it estimated it would hire about 75 people to cover a 24/7 operation. It also planned to spend $500,000 to remodel the space on Pine Street.
Voodoo is doughnating 20% of its first-day sales to Seattle's FareStart. The nonprofit provides food industry training for people transitioning out of homelessness, as well as life skills.
"We are thrilled to partner with Voodoo Doughnut, a company that shares our commitment for empowering individuals and building stronger communities," FareStart CEO Patrick D’Amelio said in a statement. "This collaboration allows us to blend their innovative spirit with our transformational mission, making a sweet difference together right here in Seattle."
RELATED: Voodoo Doughnut's plans for Seattle
Capitol Hill is Voodoo Doughnut's 22nd location in the U.S. While CEO Schultz previously told KUOW that Voodoo fans had long been asking for a Seattle shop, it is entering a crowded doughnut market in town. Top Pot and Mighty-O are well known in the city. Just up the street is Half and Half Doughnut Co. and General Porpoise. That adds up to a decent doughnut crawl across Capitol Hill, which is probably a good idea if you're going to eat all that sugar.
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FOB Sushi Bar reopens after TikTok dustup, maintains 'excellent' rating
Arts & Life
Workers at FOB Sushi Bar in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood prepare the bar for its reopening on Dec. 3, 2024.KUOW Photo/Juan Pablo ChiquizaFOB Sushi Bar in Bellevue and in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood reopened Tuesday following a recent spate of social media attention that raised questions about raw fish safety.
"We are really excited to be reopened," said Vincent Chen, who co-owns FOB Sushi Bar with his three brothers. Lunch customers trickle in at the Belltown eatery on Fourth Avenue and Blanchard Street. "We made sure that our serving standard is safe."
Public health officials conducted an investigation of the Belltown location on Nov. 27 in response to a TikTok video circulating about the restaurant.
RELATED: Is that piece of salmon on your plate actually wild or is it farmed?
According to Public Health — Seattle and King County, inspectors found no food code violations and awarded the restaurant an “excellent“ rating, the highest possible, as it did in January after a previous inspection.
As part of the inspection, the restaurant provided paperwork detailing where the fish was sourced and how it was handled before arriving at the restaurant.
“This is probably more important for fish and seafood than anything else,“ said Eyob Mazengia, who runs the Food Safety program at Public Health Seattle-King County.
The documentation also included information about parasite destruction, a process that involves freezing the fish.
“What the freezing does is it actually kills the parasite but does not mean it kills bacteria,” Mazengia said.
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Seattle offers places to shelter during cold nights ahead
Tents are blanketed in snow on S. Washington Street in the Pioneer Square neighborhood of Seattle on Monday, February 11, 2019.KUOW Photo/Megan FarmerWith low temperatures hovering near freezing in the Seattle area for the first half of this week, King County is extending operations of its emergency overnight shelters until Wednesday morning.
The King County Regional Homelessness Authority coordinates with cities to open emergency shelters and warming centers.
The agency’s Tier 2 Severe Weather Protocols include the opening of day centers for women, families, children, and young adults. There are also daytime warming centers across the region and overnight severe weather shelters at a variety of locations.
To find a warming shelter near you, call 211.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service in Seattle is warning drivers and commuters about areas of dense fog across Western Washington. Forecasters are urging drivers to slow down and use low-beam lights and fog lights.
Lows in Seattle are expected to dip to 34 degrees Tuesday and Wednesday nights before inching back up into the high 30s and low 40s later in the week, and into the weekend. The highs for the next week will be in the mid-40s through Wednesday before increasing to around 50 degrees over the weekend. With those higher temps, will come an increase in the change for rain starting Friday and running through the weekend.
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