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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Washington preschoolers are falling behind after Covid
Fewer children in Washington state are where they should be, developmentally, now compared to 2019.
That's according to new data showing just how much of an impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on preschoolers.
In 2019, 79% of children who completed developmental screenings were where they should have been for their age, according to the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families.
In 2022, though, that number dropped to 62% of children.
"And that makes a real significant difference in the classroom when you have that many kids who are so far behind," said Katy Warren, deputy director of the state's Head Start and Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP). "How do we do curriculum and organizing the classroom when we've got some kids at 2-year-old-level and some kids at 5-year-old-level in the same classroom?"
The answer won't come easily.
ECEAP notes several developmental challenges beyond curriculum:
- Fewer children in the classroom may be potty trained.
- Children may not be able to play cooperatively and share, or they may not be able to communicate with other children.
- Children may lack social-emotional skills, leading to behavioral issues.
And the challenges may be more pronounced among low-income children and families, particularly people of color, who were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
Getting kids back on track will likely take years. In the meantime, though, Warren and ECEAP is turning to the state budget — which lawmakers are negotiating in Olympia — to get more teachers and state dollars into classrooms.
"We have a lot of experience in doing more with less, but people don't always accept less," Warren said. "We all pay in the end if we don't make sure that kiddos are really set up to succeed."
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Over $30M worth of Funkos are being dumped
Chewbacca and his friends are in the dumps – or may soon be.
The maker of the Funko Pop! collectibles plans to toss millions of dollars' worth of its inventory, after realizing it has more of its pop culture figurines than it can afford to hold on to.
Waning demand for the pop culture vinyl toys, combined with a glut of inventory, is driving the loss as the company hits a financial rough patch.
The inventory has filled the company's warehouses to the brim, forcing Funko to rent storage containers to hold the excess product. And now, the product is worth less than it costs to keep on hand.
Funko said that by the end of last year, its inventory totaled $246 million worth of product — soaring 48% percent from a year earlier.
"This includes inventory that the Company intends to eliminate in the first half of 2023 to reduce fulfillment costs by managing inventory levels to align with the operating capacity of our distribution center," Funko said in a press release on Wednesday. "This is expected to result in a write down in the first half of 2023 of approximately $30 to $36 million."
The company reported a Q4 loss of nearly $47 million, falling from a $17 million profit for the same period during the previous year. Apart from dumping inventory, cost-saving measures will include a 10% cut of its workforce, company executives said on an earnings call with investors on Wednesday.
The collectibles market is still hot
The news came as somewhat unexpected to Juli Lennett, vice president and industry advisor for NPD's U.S. toys practice.
"I was a bit surprised because the collectible market is one of the big stories for 2022. Collectibles were up 24%," she told NPR. "That'll include any other types of action figure collectibles as well. But Funko, of course, is the biggest player in that space."
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Amazon taps brakes on HQ2
Amazon is postponing construction on a key part of its big office complex in the DC area. HQ2 was originally designed to house 25,000 employees, but now it’s unclear when Amazon will meet its hiring goal.
Amazon’s search for a second headquarters made a big splash in 2017. Dozens of cities competed for the jobs and economic boost HQ2 promised.
A few years ago, Amazon's real estate chief, John Schoettler, described a meeting with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos about choosing an HQ2 location.
"When we were meeting with Jeff, talking about HQ2, he said to me then, 'John I really want to make it difficult. I really want it to be something that is so unique and has never been done before,'" Schoettler said.
Now, the difficult part might just be completing HQ2.
The first phase of the project will open in June with room for thousands of employees. But groundbreaking on Phase 2 is halted indefinitely. That second phase includes a building Amazon dubbed "The Helix," an eye-catching centerpiece akin to the Spheres in Seattle.
The pause comes as Amazon slows down hiring, lays off employees, and adjusts to a new hybrid work model.
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Final statewide masking mandate to end in WA
Come April 3, the state of Washington will no longer require masks in health care facilities and prisons.
The last mandate in Washington, an order requiring masks in health care and correctional facilities, is coming to an end.
It comes as the state — and the nation — pass another major pandemic milestone. It was three years ago this week that the first case of Covid-19 in the nation was detected and reported in King County.
A few months later, health officials started recommending masks. By June 2020, Gov. Jay Inslee announced a face mask mandate across the state.
Masks are now credited, by public health officials, with limiting the spread of Covid-19.
But Washington state health officials say Covid rates and hospital stays have continued to decline since the start of 2023. That's why they say they are lifting the final mandate.
The state will not require masks in health care facilities, long-term care, or correctional facilities starting April 3. Oregon is dropping all of its requirements, too.
Keep masks handy, though.
People could still see requirements in any facility or private business, because they can set their own mask requirements.
And while it will no longer be the law, indoor mask wearing, especially in crowded areas where social distancing is not an option, remains highly recommended by Washington's Department of Health and King County Health Officer Jeff Duchin.
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We now know who won the $755M Powerball jackpot in Washington state
Auburn just might just be the luckiest city in Washington state.
The lottery math was a little unique to Becky Bell. The longtime Boeing employee had seen the final 747 be produced locally, shortly before seeing a sign for the Powerball Lottery at her local grocery store. That sign stated "$747 million." And that added up to taking a chance.
Bell usually played $20 each week on a few lottery games. One more ticket wouldn't hurt, after all.
Bell purchased that lottery ticket at the Auburn Fred Meyer on Feb. 5. She didn't win the amount on the sign, however. The very next day, she ended up winning $754,550,826.
It's the fifth largest jackpot in Powerball history, the second time a Powerball jackpot has been won in Washington, and the second time in Auburn. In fact, an Auburn woman won $90 million in 2014. That woman's husband was a Boeing employee who worked in the same building as Bell.
The winning numbers were 05, 11, 22, 23, 69 and a Powerball of 07. On the same winning ticket, Bell had a second set of numbers — which won $8.
“I was working virtually the next day and getting ready for my 6:20 a.m. meeting, and I scrolled over the news widget, and it popped up and I saw a story about the winning ticket being sold in Auburn and thought, ‘That could be me,’” Bell recalled. “After my meeting, I scanned my first ticket and it wasn’t a winner. Then I scanned the second ticket and it said, ‘Winning ticket. Claim at Lottery Office.’ So, I knew I had won at least $600, which was pretty exciting.”
Bell says she has never won more than $20, so she woke up her son, then her daughter, and then called close family members to make sure the numbers were correct and she wasn't overreacting — five checks in all.
Bell has worked as a supply chain analyst at Boeing for 36 years. She was already planning to retire in June. The big win will speed up that timeline a little.
The Fred Meyer in Auburn received a $50,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket. The store announced in February that it was donating that money to the local food bank. That paid for roughly 66,000 meals. Parent company Kroger also gave a $10,000 bonus to store employees.
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Emerald City's big, small, national, local pop culture balancing act: Today So Far
Emerald City Comic Con has its reasons to move forward without the Homegrown section, featuring local creators. But perhaps, for local fans, it's about something more.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for March 3, 2023.
Has the Homegrown section outgrown Emerald City Comic Con?
Our region's premier pop culture event kicked off yesterday and runs through the weekend. Expect to see massive crowds in downtown Seattle, featuring everybody from Darth Vader to that anime character that you think you've seen before, yet you're not sure, but you're pretty sure it's anime ... maybe a video game character, but probably anime. Personally, I predict a lot of Wednesday Addams showing up.
It feels like every year ECCC rolls around, there are criticisms about how the show is run, the guests that were or were not there, and so forth. This year is no exception. There is much ado about the Homegrown section, which has provided a place to feature the region's local artists, creators, and vendors who never neatly fit in other sections. Where else are you going to find "Firefly" bath bombs, handmade glass chibi figures, or axolotl key chains? It was a veritable buy local corner within one of the nation's largest pop culture events. So when organizers opted to nix the local section this year, it was much to the chagrin of locals.
This story is interesting for a couple reasons. One, because I don't get to write "chagrin" too often. But also, events like Emerald City Comic Con help our area maintain its DIY, weirdo, Northwest vibe. This event is among the largest flag poles around, letting our geek flags fly. ECCC would not exist without the local mass of geeks, gamers, cosplayers, nerds, larpers, bookworms, cinephiles, and more. So many that tens of thousands of people attend this convention annually, having so much fun that it draws in more from beyond the Northwest.
Ever since ReedPop purchased and took over ECCC around 2015, there has been a lingering concern that the company would favor large corporate vendors, and the local community spirit would be diminished. This concern has perhaps been heightened by the evolution Seattle has experienced in recent years.
When word got out that ECCC's Homegrown section would not be included in this year's event, I reached out to an ECCC spokesperson, who told me:
"For 20 years, Emerald City Comic Con has been a celebration of the incredible Pacific Northwest comics and pop culture community and we are confident that will be evident throughout this year’s show. At our upcoming 2023 event, nearly 50% of our exhibitors and Artist Alley creators are local to the Pacific Northwest and we are so excited to welcome and support so many small businesses and creators from our local community. However, this means we are at the point where we have outgrown the number of exhibitors we can accommodate in a Homegrown section and so we made the decision to sunset the dedicated section. Fans will now find these local businesses throughout our Show Floor and Artist Alley."
Emerald City Comic Con is in a tough spot. ReedPop is a massive company that produces fan events on a ginormous scale — and fans are passionate. To accomplish this, any company would need the support of high-paying vendors and sponsors. It's a delicate line to walk — bringing in enough to pay the bills, while maintaining that small, distinctive, local community feel. It can be an uncomfortable dynamic. After all, when you come into downtown Seattle, would you rather go to the Pink Door or the Cheesecake Factory? Would you rather hang out at Raygun Lounge or GameWorks? I know what I'd say, yet every year around ECCC, there's a waitlist at the Cheesecake Factory, and for reasons beyond my understanding, people still buy prepaid cards to play arcade games.
ECCC is also still recovering from pandemic blows, which included layoffs and scaling back or retiring some of its events. It still maintained its Seattle presence, however, by shuffling ECCC through an off-season schedule. In fact, 2023 is the first time since 2019 that the convention has taken place during its usual March/April timeslot.
On the other side of this delicate line are readers and ECCC fans like Serena, who wrote me after I initially covered this story on KUOW.org.
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Washington ferries still floating back to pre-pandemic service levels
Washington state's ferry system now has four of its eight routes back to pre-pandemic service levels.
But not the Anacortes to Sidney, B.C., run. The state's only international route won't be back until 2030 at the earliest. Only one ferry boat is certified to make that trip, and that vessel is needed in Puget Sound in the meantime.
"To sail internationally, and that's our only international route, you need specialized equipment on the boat," said Ian Sterling, spokesperson for Washington State Ferries. "We only have one boat now, the Chelan, that is allowed to make that run, and we need that boat for domestic service.
"It's a great route, it's our longest route. It's arguably our prettiest route, but it's not a route that gets a lot of ridership compared to the core Puget Sound routes. If you talk to people in Anacortes and the San Juan Islands, they want to see that service operating normally rather than going up to Canada, which is nice to have, but it's not a 'have-to-have' at this time."
Washington State Ferries has been slowing rebuilding service after pandemic slowdowns diminished ridership, along with the number of boats serving each run. Before the pandemic, the system was handling around 24 million to 25 million riders each year. In 2022, 17 million people stepped aboard the ferries.
Still, riders are slowly returning, Sterling said. Vehicle passengers are nearly at pre-pandemic levels for some routes. Foot traffic remains low, however.
"Like downtown Seattle, those big commuter boats out of Bainbridge Island and Bremerton, we had a couple of thousand people every morning, on each sailing, we are just not seeing that anymore. Although it is recovering, it is not what it was."
RELATED: Puget Sound is the classroom for students at Maritime High School
The ferries also continue to deal with a shortage of maritime workers, and the state is competing with private companies for those potential hires.
"We're making progress, we're still not where we need to be," Sterling said about hiring new ferry workers. "So if you're looking for a job, state ferries are a great place to be, if you don't want to ride a desk all day; you get the best view in Puget Sound."
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21,000 overpaid WA unemployment recipients won't have to repay the state
About 21,000 people in Washington state have learned that they won't have to pay back unemployment benefits they received during the pandemic. But that is not the case for thousands more.
Washington's Employment Security Department, in the frenzy of the early pandemic, granted unemployment payments that were sometimes too high, or went to people not properly qualified. This added up to a total of 136,000 people, according to the department.
This week the department said it is giving a blanket waiver to about 21,000 of the overpaid recipients, because they were not at fault for the overpayment. It is reviewing the rest of the cases and may dismiss more. People can be proactive by applying for a waiver later this month by going to the department's website (esd.wa.gov).
The department has been asking recipients to pay back the money, which sometimes amounts to thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.
Unemployment appeals are currently taking an average 233 days, partially because of low staffing levels.
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Body of infant found in Ballard remains mystery
The Seattle Police Department and the King County Medical Examiner are investigating the death of a baby whose body was discovered on a roadside in Ballard last week. But they say it will take time to know more about the case.
The King County Medical Examiner's Office is tasked with determining the identity, cause and manner of death for the baby, whose remains were found in bushes along Shilshole Avenue in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood. A spokesperson for Public Health Seattle-King County said that analysis could take months.
“This is a tragic situation,” said Dan Strauss, the Seattle City council member who represents the Ballard neighborhood where the body was found.
Strauss said he’s been in touch with Police Chief Adrian Diaz to check on the status of the incident.
“Making sure that it is being investigated, which it is," Strauss said. "Making sure that the medical examiner is doing their analysis, which they are. And then really wanting to make sure that the mother is healthy, and safe."
Strauss said the mother’s identity is unknown at this point. He added that the medical examiner’s analysis will guide the police response.
“The police department began their investigation as if it is a homicide, and the medical examiner’s analysis will determine if it is a suspicious death or if it is indeed a homicide,” he said.
Strauss said if the baby is determined to have been stillborn, it would be classified as a suspicious death rather than a homicide.
“From what the police department has told me, there’s a high likelihood that this baby was a stillborn baby,” he said.
A Seattle resident told KUOW he found the body on Sunday, Feb. 19. But the message left on a nonemergency voicemail was not immediately forwarded to Seattle police, which announced the investigation on Feb. 22.
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Amazon pauses construction in Virginia on its second headquarters
NEW YORK — Amazon is pausing construction of its second headquarters in Virginia following the biggest round of layoffs in the company's history and shifting landscape of remote work.
The Seattle-based company is delaying the beginning of construction of PenPlace, the second phase of its headquarters development in Northern Virginia, said John Schoettler, Amazon's real estate chief, in a statement. He said the company has already hired more than 8,000 employees and will welcome them to the Met Park campus, the first phase of development, when it opens this June.
"We're always evaluating space plans to make sure they fit our business needs and to create a great experience for employees, and since Met Park will have space to accommodate more than 14,000 employees, we've decided to shift the groundbreaking of PenPlace (the second phase of HQ2) out a bit," Schoettler said.
He also emphasized the company remains "committed to Arlington" and the local region, which Amazon picked - along with New York City - to be the site of its new headquarters several years ago. More than 230 municipalities had initially competed to house the projects. New York won the competition by promising nearly $3 billion in tax breaks and grants, among other benefits, but opposition from local politicians, labor leaders and progressive activists led Amazon to scrap its plans there.
In February 2021, Amazon said it would build an eye-catching, 350-foot Helix tower to anchor the second phase of its redevelopment plans in Arlington. The new office towers were expected to welcome more than 25,000 workers when complete. Amazon spokesperson Zach Goldsztejn said those plans haven't changed and the construction pause is not a result - or indicative of - the company's latest job cuts, which affected 18,000 corporate employees.
Tech companies have been cutting jobs
The job cuts were part of a broader cost-cutting move to trim down its growing workforce amid more sluggish sales and fears of a potential recession. Meta, Salesforce and other tech companies — many of which had gone on hiring binges in the past few years — have also been trimming their workforce.
Amid the job cuts, Amazon has urged its employees to come back to the office. Last month, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company would require corporate employees to return to the office at least three days a week, a shift from from the prior policy that allowed leaders to make the call on how their teams worked. The change, which will be effectively on May 1, has ignited some pushback from employees who say they prefer to work remotely.
Goldsztejn said the company is expecting to move forward with what he called pre-construction work on the construction in Virginia later this year, including applying for permits. He said final timing for the second phase of the project is still being determined. The company had previously said it planned to complete the project by 2025. [Copyright 2023 NPR]
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Why Seattle Public Schools is considering layoffs: Today So Far
- This Northwest politician says culture wars are like junk food.
- Seattle Public Schools now faces a $131 million budget deficit. Layoffs are likely.
- Kelp! We need some seaweed. Kelp! Not just any seaweed. Kelp! Ya know we need some fronds. Kelllp!
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for March 2, 2023.
When Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez won the election for Washington's 3rd Congressional District last November, it came as a surprise to some people.
The campaign was risky. She went up against a MAGA Republican who knocked the previous GOP incumbent out of the running during the primary. The main issue that helped push the Republican contender to the front was his support of Trump and his embracing of conspiracy theories. Still, Gluesenkamp Pérez turned the district from red to blue. It remains to be seen how well she handles the job, or if she can hold onto it — she only won the district by less than a percentage point. It initially appears that Gluesenkamp Pérez continues to take risks — she is shunning culture war politics.
"I should be thinking about the things that are keeping (my constituents) up at night, or the things that they're afraid to tell their friends about — their credit card debt, or that they're afraid that their kids are going to relapse. Those are the things that should be what we're talking about," Gluesenkamp Pérez told KUOW's David Hyde. She adds that, "It's not fun to think about how we're going to balance the budget — it's complex. Thinking hurts; it's painful to sit down and hash out those issues and understand them."
As I've said before, the real issues that affect most people are not the ones that get sensational headlines. They are more often the boring, local matters that come down to dollars and cents at city hall. But voters, and readers, more often want red meat, instead of political vegetables. And they want it now.
"It's fun to make fun of Marjorie Taylor Greene or Matt Gaetz. That's like a sport for people. But it's like junk food. It's leaving us malnourished intellectually, and in being able to be informed and have policy discussions."
That brand of rhetoric will certainly help this politician stand out in the crowd. That, and the fact she's the kind of person who says, "buying a Tesla is kind of a shitty form of environmentalism." Check out Gluesenkamp Pérez's full discussion with KUOW here.
Seattle Public Schools now faces a $131 million budget deficit. Layoffs are likely.
“We’re in a difficult stage right now,” Superintendent Brent Jones said at a school board meeting this week. “It’s moving from theory to actual action being taken. This is actually impacting employees.”
Some SPS employees have already been notified that their positions may be terminated. The tough situation is the result of rising labor costs and declining enrollment, and lingering effects from the pandemic. The district is also considering consolidating some campuses, which essentially means closing down schools.
Seattle is not the only local school district facing similar challenges. Check out the full story here.
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Why Emerald City Comic Con nixed its Homegrown section for 2023
For years, Seattle's Emerald City Comic Con has featured a space for local creators, artists, vendors and more — the Homegrown section. But for its 2023 event, organizers opted not to include the section, which came as a surprise to vendors who relied on it.
“Even though the section was tucked at the back of the hall with limited signage, the people who came by Homegrown were excited to be there," said Brittany Otto, and artist and vendor at ECCC. "People liked coming to a big convention and still having a chance to check out local artists."
RELATED: Emerald City's big, small, national, local pop culture balancing act
Otto had attended ECCC as a fan for many years before she brought her distinctive, independent art to the event as a vendor, Badger Burrow Studios. Otto is a paper artist who crafts shadow box sculptures.
"My work is influenced by my struggles with mental health and my love of fantasy, mythology, and biology to create transformative, dream-like portals that draw the viewer into expressive worlds that shine brightest when surrounded by darkness," Otto said.
RELATED: What I learned at my first Comic Con
Homegrown was a popular buy-local feature after ReedPop, a large convention company, bought the event in 2015. The big purchase prompted local concern that the new owners would favor large, corporate vendors who could push out the local community vibe. Otto recalls that many vendors pushed for the Homegrown section. ReedPop then established a corner at one of the country's largest pop culture events exclusively for locals. It offered more affordable prices for table space, which was a big plus for artists.
Otto says that ECCC's communication that the Homegrown section would be nixed this year came late, around January. The region's vendor community began talking, trading experiences and their disappointment in the decision. Otto notes that ECCC organizers attempted to help mitigate the decision by offering Homegrown prices for the main show floor, which she said made it possible for her to attend this year.
Bigger show, more locals
The main show floor is where fans will find local vendors, crafters, creators, artists, and more at Emerald City Comic Con this year. According to a spokesperson for the convention, organizers shifted to this approach because the share of local vendors at ECCC is now so large, just one space for them isn't possible. Homegrown has outgrown its corner of the con.
According to a spokesperson for ECCC:
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