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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The Troyer trial has begun: Today So Far
The trial for Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer began this week and we got a first glance at how things are going to play out in court.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for December 2, 2022.
The Troyer trial is on. So far, it's been filled with testimony about hostile newspaper throwing and "freaking douchebag" text messages.
After a brief delay (Troyer was sick), the court has selected its jury and opening statements were made this week. If you haven't tuned into this story so far, here's the basics. I'll try to be as brief as possible.
Ed Troyer was elected to be Pierce County Sheriff in 2020. In 2021, Troyer was following a newspaper carrier, Sedrick Altheimer, as he was driving his early morning route through Troyer's neighborhood. This led to a confrontation. Troyer alleged that Altheimer was a porch pirate. Altheimer argued that he was being racially profiled. Troyer was not on duty at the time. Generally, an elected sheriff doesn't go patrolling.
As the two had a confrontation, Troyer called dispatchers to report that Altheimer made threats against his life. It prompted dozens of officers to respond to the scene. Officers then reported that Troyer's statements didn't exactly match what he said on the phone; now he was saying that Altheimer didn't threaten his life. An investigation was launched by the county which found Troyer violated policies. Another investigation by the state Attorney General's Office resulted in two charges: false reporting and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant. Troyer is now on the Brady list. If you don't know what that is, follow the link for more info.
In the weeks that followed the incident, Troyer also faced calls for his resignation. In a statement to KUOW, he said that would not happen, arguing, “I’m being called a racist, not true. Resigning would add credibility to that claim.”
That brings us to the current trial that started this week. In just a couple days, we've gotten a first glance at how things are going to play out in court. The AG's Office opened by leaning into the gap between what Troyer said on the phone and what officers reported he stated to them. The AG's Office aims to prove Troyer lied.
Troyer's attorney, Anne Bremner, essentially opened by saying that the true account of what happened is not fully known, and she intends to reveal that full story. Bremner has noted that Troyer called a non-emergency phoneline, and said that some officers' credibility will be questioned, as well as Altheimer's.
Some of those officers spoke yesterday in court, revealing that they responded a second time to Troyer's house that morning. Sometime after the initial incident, an officer was dispatched to Troyer's home after someone "maliciously" threw a newspaper at it (Troyer doesn't subscribe to any newspapers). The newspaper was in the driveway, showing no signs of malice, so the officers drove away.
It's not exactly clear how this fits into the legal narrative, but for some reason, the defense really wanted it on the record that an officer called Troyer a "freaking douchebag." Defense attorneys got a text message thread that included the statement from Officer Aaron Baran. Baran said in court that it was a joke that wasn't meant to be public and that he was expressing “a level of frustration with how high profile this incident is.”
Read more here.
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Seattle is bringing back late fees for parking and traffic tickets
The city of Seattle is going to start charging late fees once again for those who have unpaid parking, camera, and traffic tickets.
The city cut drivers a break in March of 2020, because of the pandemic. Now, the Seattle Municipal Court wants to start charging those late fees again, starting Jan. 30, 2023.
Late parking tickets will cost an extra $25, and unpaid traffic tickets will get an extra $52. So you should try to settle your accounts before then.
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Rep. Marilyn Strickland elected as whip for Congressional Black Caucus
Washington Democrat Marilyn Strickland has been elected to serve as whip for the Congressional Black Caucus.
Strickland says the job involves making sure the caucus votes as a group on a variety of issues.
"And that includes everything from voting rights, health-care disparities, economic opportunity, housing, all the things that are so important to Americans at large, but really have a huge significance in the African-American community," Strickland said.
Rep. Strickland says the key to keeping the caucus together will be listening to members' concerns and bringing that back to the leadership.
"I remind folks that the Congressional Black Caucus is not a monolith," she said. "We represent a lot of different communities from around the country with different needs. And so we want to make sure we're in tune with each of our members, but as a caucus show unity and strong consistent messaging."
Strickland is the first Black representative, ever, from Washington state. She first won the 10th District seat in 2020 and was re-elected this November. She is also the first member from the Pacific Northwest to serve on the executive committee of the Congressional Black Caucus.
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Another La Niña winter arrives in Seattle and the Puget Sound region
After starting fall off on an unseasonably dry and warm note, the Seattle area is ushering in the coldest start to December in nearly four decades.
If the recent snow was any indication, that third consecutive La Niña forecasters have been promising is here. State climatologist Nick Bond spoke with KUOW's Angela King about what's in store for the region.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Angela King: You know, I started questioning last month if that La Niña was actually going to unfold. After setting a new dry spell record for November, though, it looks like we came pretty close to catching up with our rain totals for last month, correct?
Nick Bond: Yeah, that's correct. Fall lasted about a week, so we're catching up. And I think we're liable to do pretty well in terms of precipitation in the winter ahead.
Are La Niña patterns typically marked by steady precipitation, or are these big dumps of rain and snow more typical?
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When homeless people seek treatment or shelter, where do their pets go?
When people experiencing homelessness need to go into residential treatment for drug or alcohol addiction, finding a place for their pet to stay can be a big barrier.
“In April, over the course of two weeks, I got four calls from different organizations,” said Vickie Ramirez, who works at a clinic that serves homeless youth and their pets. “And they’re like, ‘My client’s ready to go into treatment today. I have a bed for them today — if I can find someone to foster their animal.”
Ramirez said she couldn’t find a foster for any of them, so none of them went into treatment.
As many as one in every four people experiencing homelessness has a pet. But in Seattle, as in most cities across the country, there are few options for short-term foster care for the pets of people in crisis.
“Seattle Humane has a program, but they’re slammed,” Ramirez said. “There’s this huge need for emergency fostering in Seattle that is not being met, especially since the eviction moratorium ended.”
Diaz Dixon works with animal shelters across the country to make more emergency foster programs available to people who need them.
“It is a huge issue,” he said. People view their pets as family members, so if they can’t find a safe home for them, “they won’t go into a substance abuse treatment facility, or into a domestic violence shelter or a homelessness shelter. They end up spiraling and oftentimes getting even worse.”
Dixon said if people don’t get treatment or other help, it can make it even harder for them to get out of homelessness. And, he said, people sometimes stay in abusive living situations to avoid being separated from their pets, or to protect their pet from a violent partner.
He said one key is for animal shelters to have a case manager on hand who can help people find a place for their pets and deal with all the paperwork.
Ramirez said it’s also important not just to have a bank of potential foster placements to call upon, but to also have a transitional space for pets.
“If I’m going to take in a big dog, I need to know the history of that big dog and whether my family is safe with that big dog,” she said. “Will Seattle Animal Shelter take that dog in for three days to do a dog assessment and then have a foster group be able to take over?”
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Chief Seattle Club's new café dishes up tradition: Today So Far
- The ʔálʔal café specialized in Native food from around the USA.
- 19,000 patients in Seattle could soon be finding a new doctor, or be forced to pay out-of-network prices.
- Syphilis cases in King County have considerably spiked.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for December 1, 2022.
ʔálʔal is a Lushootseed word. Pronounced "ahl-ahl," it means "home." It's a fitting title for Chief Seattle Club's new café that features Indigenous foods.
The Chief Seattle Club is a social service organization that provides services to the city's Native population. With its ʔálʔal café, it aims to bring in food from across the country, drawn from Native cultures, such as bison tacos, blue corn mush, and wild rice and wojapi parfait. Ingredients are largely sourced from Native producers.
“We’re trying to serve as many types of traditional foods from various regions of the country as we can,” said café manager and chef Anthony Johnson.
Read more here.
Insurance companies and health care providers bicker all the time. It's a tense relationship. But when 19,000 patients are at risk, that's a pretty big deal. That's what's involved as Regence and Polyclinic fail to see eye-to-eye — 19,000 Regence BlueShield customers who currently rely on Polyclinic for health care. If the two parties break, then two things will happen: thousands of patients will flood other doctors in the area; or thousands of patients will discover just how expensive health care is when they're suddenly out-of-network.
Read the full story here.
An uptick in syphilis cases across King County has been noted in recent years, but looking at a graph of 2021 and 2022, it's safe to say that cases have exploded in our region.
Since 2015, syphilis cases have shot up five-fold, specifically in cisgender women.
“The increase in syphilis in cisgender women and pregnant people suggest that syphilis may be spreading in the general population and among women in particular,” said Dr. Matthew Golden, director of the Public Health – Seattle & King County HIV/STD Program. “Rising rates of syphilis in cisgender women and pregnant people is alarming, which is why we are recommending that most sexually active women 45 and under get tested if they haven’t had a test since 2021, and why we are asking providers to increase syphilis testing in pregnant persons.”
The issue is increasing the risks of congenital syphilis. Read more here.
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Access to Mt. Rainier’s Paradise Road only open on weekends
Throughout this winter, a 12-mile stretch of road between Longmire and Paradise at Mount Rainier National Park will be closed to vehicles Monday through Friday.
"Our biggest concern is that we don’t have the staff to respond effectively for any emergencies that might be happening," said Park Ranger Terry Wildy.
The staffing issues are compounded by challenging weather conditions.
Wildy says the Monday through Friday road closure was a hard decision to make, but the park remains open and season pass holders are able to visit.
The roadway between Longmire and Paradise will be reopened to vehicles on weekends.
The National Park Service anticipates this closure will last through the entire winter season, usually until March, unless staff vacancies are filled before then.
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Kirkland police begin using body cams
Officers with the Kirkland Police Department will start wearing body cameras this month.
The Kirkland City Council approved the use of the cameras back in July.
“Body-worn cameras are meant to enhance the safety of both our community members and our officers,” said City Councilmember Jon Pascal in a statement. “The Council heard from many in our community about body-worn cameras as we considered various issues of policy and funding. Providing our officers with body-worn cameras will support their efforts in keeping our community safe, while providing greater transparency and accountability into interactions between police and the public.”
RELATED: Kirkland paid $18K for turned-in guns this summer
The body cameras will be implemented in three phases. The city's traffic unit will receive them first. The patrol unit will get cameras between Dec. 15-29. Specialty units will get theirs in January 2023.
In an informational video, Kirkland Officer Tiffany Trombley explains that the cameras are worn on the front of a uniform. They are activated manually. The cameras are also activated whenever an officer draws their firearm or taser, or when their patrol car's emergency lights are turned on.
The cameras will have a flashing red light when they are recording and will document audio and video. Kirkland residents can expect that officers will be recording in most situations, such as traffic stops and 911 calls.
"An officer may use discretion to turn off their camera during certain sensitive interactions, like speaking with a confidential informant, or cases involving sexual abuse," Trombley said.
After a shift, the cameras are returned to a docking station that automatically downloads the video files to a server. Officers will not have access to the videos to edit them.
According to the city, Kirkland will spend about $2.2 million on the body cam program over five years. The Department of Justice has provided $220,000 in grant funds for the effort.
The addition of police body cams is among a handful of new approaches KPD is trying out that involve new tech. In October, the city moved ahead with a pilot program to deter street racing using noise identification cameras at two locations. Those sound sensitive cameras are designed to pick up excessively loud cars that potentially have been illegally modified. The cameras document video and audio at the locations, similar to red light cameras.
The noise identification cameras are being operated under a six-month pilot that will extend into 2023. After that, the city will decide if it wants to adopt the tech for regular traffic enforcement.
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Suicide prevention awareness sticker now on sale for WA license plates
It’s not a personalized license plate exactly, but there is now a new way for Washington drivers to add an extra message to their vehicle tags, and it’s for an important cause.
Washington state's Department of Licensing will now sell you a special add-on for your vehicle license plate. It’s an emblem to raise awareness and funds for suicide prevention. The narrow sticker displays the 988 crisis lifeline number with the tagline, "There is hope!"
Iraq War veteran Jason Jarman, who has previously dealt with PTSD and suicidal thoughts, said he owes his life to the crisis hotline. Jarman delivered an emotional speech that ended with a standing ovation from the audience at an unveiling ceremony in Olympia for the new license plate emblem.
"This is genius having it on the plate," Jarman said. "I mean, everybody sees it on the plates. I will have it on both of my vehicles. That is for sure.”
The new emblem costs $18. Money from the sale of the stickers will pay for suicide prevention programs geared toward veterans and military members. The emblem can be added to any vehicle license plate type.
According to Washington state's Department of Veteran Affairs, veterans account for 18% of suicides while only adding up to 7% of the state's population.
WDVA Director Alfie Alvarado-Ramos notes that "220 veterans die by suicide every year in this state. What we are unable to account for is how many lives were saved as a result of our collective efforts."
The new license plate emblem was authorized by the state Legislature as part of a larger package of measures to prevent suicide among veterans and military members. Democratic state Rep. Tina Orwall of Des Moines, a social worker by training, was the prime sponsor of the legislation, which passed last March.
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Trial gets underway for Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer on false reporting charges
A jury has been selected and attorneys on Wednesday delivered their opening statements in the trial of Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer.
Troyer is charged with two misdemeanors for false reporting and making false statements, stemming from his off-duty encounter with a Black newspaper carrier, Sedrick Altheimer, in January 2021.
Prosecutors say Troyer followed Altheimer and accused him of being a thief, before calling a 911 dispatcher and saying, according to the recording, “I'm about two blocks from my house and I caught someone in my driveway who's threatened to kill me and I blocked him in and he's here right now.”
The call triggered an emergency response, but according to the complaint, Troyer then reversed himself, and told Tacoma police that Altheimer never threatened him.
“In effect, Sheriff Troyer backpedaled from his statements to the 911 dispatcher about Mr. Altheimer threatening to kill him — statements that prompted more than 40 officers to rush to him, and caused Mr. Altheimer to be questioned as a possible suspect," said Barbara Serrano with the Washington State Attorney General’s Office in her opening statement.
Serrano said the state will endeavor to show that Troyer knowingly lied about facing a threat.
“This case is quite simple. Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer got into a confrontation with a newspaper carrier and then lied to a 911 dispatcher reporting that the newspaper carrier threatened to kill him.”
Defense attorney Anne Bremner said she will emphasize that Troyer called a non-emergency phoneline to reach the dispatcher, and that the emergency response was quickly curtailed so that most police officers never arrived on the scene. In her opening statement, she maintained that Troyer was merely looking out for his neighbors when he followed Altheimer. She said that she will disprove the prosecution’s claims.
“They have to prove that he willingly lied,” Bremner said. “How could they ever prove that? Because that claim is false.”
Bremner said the case by Troyer’s defense will be focused on questioning the credibility of two people. One of them is Tacoma police officer Chad Lawless, now a detective, who interviewed Troyer at the scene and said Troyer backtracked on his claim of being threatened. Bremner said Lawless “didn’t memorialize his conversation in any way, saying something different than what the Sheriff says.”
The other person that Troyer’s defense team will try to discredit is Sedrick Altheimer, the newspaper carrier. Bremner told the jury Altheimer has a financial motivation in this case because he’s filed a civil lawsuit seeking $5 million in damages. Bremner said the accounts of the police who responded to the scene are at odds with one another. Some of those officers are expected to testify on Thursday.
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Where can Seattle find more money?: Today So Far
Seattle just passed its budget, but officials still say the city needs to find new revenue to make up for funding gaps. Here are a few ideas.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for October 30, 2022.
While the region was dealing with snow, ice, and rain yesterday, the Seattle City Council passed its biennial budget. For those who hit snooze whenever news about numbers and budgets comes along, this basically lays out how the city is going to pay its bills over 2023-24.
This is a lot like when you're trying to figure out how to pay for your own bills in Seattle each month — add up your income, then consider your costs like rent, credit card bills, food, gas, and so forth. It's about setting priorities through what you pay for. And just like how many Seattleites these days figure they will pay rent first, and then maybe nix paying things like gas, food, credit cards (it's funny because it's terribly sad), the city is dealing with its own financial shortfalls.
"We knew that it was possible that there would be a downturn, but specifically there was a downturn of $64 million in the real estate excise tax," Council budget chair Teresa Mosqueda told KUOW's Soundside. "This is funding for projects that are core to our city's infrastructure, capital projects, and transportation."
Mosqueda says this means the Council had to "realign" the city's money to make sure projects already in progress could continue — stuff like sidewalks, bike lanes, and traffic mitigation, along with housing and food programs. She notes that the Council has also invested additional funds in public safety, small business support, and worker support.
"I think that has been a challenge, but across the board we will see preservation of programs," Mosqueda said. "...there are no austerity approaches in this, there are no layoffs. And we are trying to do so in an effort to weather this storm, worsened by Covid. Obviously, the economic situation is not stable across the nation, and in Seattle our investments are really to protect our most vulnerable, invest in small businesses as well as make those infrastructure investments that will help us rebound much faster."
Another main takeaway from this whole process: New taxes are coming. While talking with Soundside, Mosqueda restated something she has been up front about these past few weeks. New "progressive revenue" streams are being considered to make up for declining revenue in other places.
"That needs to be in the books in 2025, and there is commitment both with the Council and the mayor's office to making sure that comes together over the course of the next year."
The budget does have its critics. Councilmember Kshama Sawant is among them. Check out the full conversation with Soundside here.
If I were to put on my thinking cap for new forms of revenue in Seattle, there are a few options the city could consider:
- A street racing fee for cars on I-35 (aka NE 35th Avenue) between the hours of 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. Extra fee for cars that are louder than a metal show at El Corazón.
- Daily visual tax for new construction that features more than two siding textures, and bright colors that do not exist in nature. Note to developers: Wood, metal, brick, other wood, other metal paneling — just pick one siding and go with it.
- A selfie fee for the gum wall, the Fremont Troll, and sunset photos at Kerry Park.
- IPA tax. Hey, maybe this will encourage breweries to make something else, like anything else. Because there are other beers out there.
- A citation any time someone comes to town and says "Pike's Place Market." And then another fee based on the level of snobbery when locals correct them.
- A special transportation fee for all Seattle vehicles with canoes strapped to their roofs which exceed the length of the car by at least 3 feet, front and back.
- A field trip tax for all Eastside schools when they bring bus loads of students to SAM and Pike Place Market.
- A tax on any elected official who uses the term, "It's a win-win."
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Many states fail to adequately budget for wildfire costs, study says
Many states are failing to adequately budget for wildfire costs before, during and after fires, according to a new report from The Pew Charitable Trusts. This lack of proper budgeting can strain resources and pull funds away from efforts to prevent and prepare for wildfires, according to the report.
“As fires have grown, so have government spending on the costs associated with them,” said Colin Foard, manager of the Fiscal Federalism Initiative for The Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-profit organization that analyzes public policy.
For example, in Washington, the state averaged $24 million annually for wildfire suppression from 2010 to 2014. That spending more than tripled, averaging $83 million from 2015 to 2019.
The Pew study looked at how states budget for wildfire costs, the challenges with those budgets, and what can be done to help.
While it’s difficult to track most state wildfire spending, Foard said Washington state has made strides to better monitor and report its wildfire spending. States should make comprehensive wildfire spending information continually available to policymakers and the public, he said.
Washington has taken several steps to share that information, including a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee that has evaluated suppression and forest health spending, according to the report. In recent years, the Department of Natural Resources published suppression spending information. The department also publishes the sources and location of mitigation funding in an online forest health tracking tool.
According to the Pew report, which looked in-depth at six states including Washington, each state primarily used general fund appropriations to pay wildfire costs upfront. Revenue for the general fund comes from state taxes and fees and is used for general state operations.
“To the extent that more expensive and unpredictable wildfires are being pulled from that same pool of money, it’s a problem for state fiscal stability moving forward,” Foard said.
On private forest land, Washington state charges landowners a Forest Fire Protection Assessment, a fee that pays for fire preparedness activities, for example purchasing fire engines and training crews. The assessment includes a $17.50 flat fee and 27 cents for each acre over 50 acres, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
The department also charges a Landowner Contingency Assessment to those private landowners. The fee pays for emergency fire protection if the landowners negligently start a fire on their property. The assessment includes a $7.50 yearly flat fee for 50 acres or less. For more than 50 acres, the additional acre fee can’t be higher than 15 cents per acre, according to the department.
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