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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1 student killed in shooting at North Seattle high school
Update 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell confirmed that, “The student who was tragically shot has passed away ... the student is deceased," following a Tuesday morning shooting at Ingraham High School.
Harrell made the announcement at a 2 p.m. press conference that also included statements from Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz, Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Brent Jones, and Congressmember Pramila Jayapal.
“A tragedy has struck our community today," Jones said.
“An Ingraham High School student was shot and killed this morning on campus in what was is believed to be a targeted attack," he said. "We have no reason to believe this was part of a bigger plan other than a targeted attack."
The shooting took place inside a hallway at the high school, about 100 feet from any entrance, according to Chief Diaz.
A suspect is in custody. Diaz reports that 911 calls came in around 9:55 a.m. and police officers arrived at the high school within four minutes.
“Within four minutes we had a contact team already going into the school and trying to provide CPR to the victim. Another minute later, the Fire Department was called in as well,“ Diaz said. "An hour later we were able to take the suspect into custody … our harbor officers actually located the suspect and took him into custody with the King County Sheriff’s Department. We actually recovered a firearm, we don’t’ know if that firearm was used in the school, but we did recover a fire arm."
Diaz said the arrest was made at a bus stop off 145th Street and Aurora Avenue North, about a mile away from campus. A firearm was found in the suspect's backpack.
Meanwhile, at Ingraham High School, students were being reunited Tuesday afternoon with families following a campus-wide lockdown. All activities at the high school are suspended for Wednesday and Thursday.
Diaz said SPD has recorded more than 660 shots fired so far in 2022, and has recovered even more guns.
“This year we’ve recovered 1,000 firearms — 1,000 firearms," Diaz said. "That is unheard of. Even though we’ve been short-staffed, we’ve been recovering more firearms this year than when we had full staffing. We have a gun problem.”
Chief Diaz also said guns have been recovered across various incidents, from domestic violence to road rage, drive-bys, and robberies.
Original report
Seattle Police reported a shooting at Ingraham High School Tuesday at approximately 10 a.m. Officials say the shooting took place inside the school.
So far, police report a single victim who has life-threatening injuries, and say they have a suspect in custody. Police haven't said whether the victim was a student or staff member, and haven't provided details about the suspect.
The school has been placed on lockdown as police and school officials work to set up a family reunification site at Meridian Avenue North and North 135th Street. They say they're also putting together a transportation plan for students who are unable to be picked up at the reunification site.
Lakeside Middle School, a few blocks away from Ingraham, has also been placed on lockdown, according to a teacher at the school.
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They're not 'soccer mom' voters anymore: Today So Far
Election Day is tomorrow and some polls state that white suburban women are among the most influential blocks of voters. But this group is no longer the "soccer mom" voters of past elections.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for November 7, 2022.
Election Day is tomorrow. You have until 8 p.m. to turn your ballot into a drop box on Tuesday. KUOW reported this morning that about 32% of registered voters in Washington have turned in their ballots so far, which is down a few percentage points from the same time for the 2018 midterm election. The secretary of state, however, feels confident that there will be about 72% turnout in the end, which is on par with the last midterm.
Like it or not, pollsters, campaigns, and political parties like to carve up voters into chunks. They divide us up by education levels, income, gender, ethnicity and so forth. I've talked about how formerly incarcerated people are able to vote this year. Political parties are also targeting Asian and Latino voters to give them an edge.
Seattle Now reports that white suburban women voters are said to be among one of the more influential groups for this election. While this voting block isn't unheard of, let's be honest, you can't pin down a strict set of issues or way of thinking when it comes to any group that pollsters love to add up.
"Things have changed a lot," Cathy Allen told Seattle Now. "When they were 'soccer moms,' which was another code word, they were very apolitical in their partisanship, but they were definitely good voters."
Allen is a political consultant and an assistant teaching professor at the University of Washington and says we're talking about "a very unique group of people."
"It's not just about women anymore, it's about white women who are working, white women who are home raising kids, it's about white women who are very engaged in what's going on in their local community, and it's white women who watch a lot of TV and get a lot of information online. They've changed dramatically, in terms of what is influencing the largest block of people who vote, which are women."
Perhaps campaigns spend so much time targeting them because they are such a large voting group. If you go by the most recent poll from the Wall Street Journal, some of the messaging seems to be working — there appears to be a shift among white suburban women toward GOP congressional candidates.
I'm going to point out that the Journal only surveyed 297 women, and it doesn't exactly say which suburbs they're from. The burbs outside LA are different than the burbs outside of Boise or Boston. Heck, Issaquah is different than Renton, or Lakewood, or Snoqualmie, or Camas, and so on.
Democrats have been heavily pushing the abortion rights issue leading up to the election (they were asking my email inbox for money within minutes of the Supreme Court decision back in June). This may have been a miscalculation, however, if you're going by this poll, which states that the economy is top of mind for this voting block. Gas prices, grocery prices, and other costs are more immediate in the minds of these voters, and Republicans have always had good branding when it comes to economics (I'm not saying they are actually good at it, they just have good branding). According to Allen, however, that doesn't mean that the overturning of Roe v Wade hasn't had an impact this election season.
"This year, we've seen a huge number of women register to vote," Allen said. "In some cases, in our five most Conservative, Republican states, what we've seen is 15% more women than men registering (to vote) ... and Roe v Wade is the reason they give as to why they are motivated to get more involved."
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Frigid temps to chill Western Washington this week
Cold weather shelters are extending hours, and more are popping up, as frigid weather moves into the Northwest this week.
The Seattle area can expect high temps in the 40s, and low temps dipping into the low 30s, according to the latest forecast from the National Weather Service. It will be even colder in areas like Olympia or Puyallup.
Snow levels will hover between 1,500–3,000 feet between Monday and Thursday. That will be well below many of the pass levels in the Cascade Mountains, however, there is not a lot of precipitation in the forecast, as of Monday. No major lowland snow accumulation is expected.
Cold weather shelters
- The Compass Housing Alliance says it will have extra beds ready to go by the middle of the week when temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing.
- The Center at 210 Alaskan Way South (across from the Seattle ferry terminal) will be open between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily, and will offer overnight services between Tuesday and Thursday. Breakfast and dinner will be served.
- The Salvation Army has a couple of day centers for adults: one at 4th Avenue and Jefferson; the other at the White Center Community Center (9050 16th Avenue SW).
- The Elizabeth Gregory Home (1604 NE 50th Street) will be open for women, families and younger people.
- Mary's Place Day Center (1830 9th Avenue) will be open for women, families and younger people.
- Bellingham's downtown library will be open as a warming shelter.
- Whatcom County will open an overnight warming shelter at Bellingham's Civic Field Athletic Complex (1355 Civic Field Way, Bellingham)
- Snohomish County has a few warming shelters opening in Everett, Marysville, Monroe, and Snohomish.
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In-person visits start up again at the King County Jail
In-person visits are scheduled to begin again Monday for people being held at the King County Jail in downtown Seattle.
It will be the first time the face-to-face visits have been allowed since the pandemic started, but critics and jail officials say that staffing shortages are still creating issues.
“People are feeling very pleased with the fact that they can now see their loved ones in person," said Allen Nance, the new director of King County’s Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention. "And while we’ve maintained video visitation, it just isn’t the same.”
With more than a fifth of corrections positions vacant, critics are skeptical that the jail can serve the needs of people held there.
Molly Gilbert heads the union representing King County’s public defenders. She says the jail hasn’t had enough staffing to facilitate visits with defense lawyers. Now staff will struggle to accommodate family members as well.
“When there isn’t staffing to bring people out, I just don’t know what that’s going to look like. So what I would be curious to know is how many visits are able to happen in a given week," Gilbert said.
Michelle Helpenstell is the secretary for the King County Corrections Guild. In September she said she was working mandatory overtime five days a week, not able to go home between shifts, with a vending machine for meals.
"It’s really nice vending machines, they have yogurts, boiled eggs, nicer food. But it does get old," Helpenstell said.
Hiring is picking up this year, and corrections officers are pleased with a 15% pay bump in their latest contract.
Read the full story about the King County Jail here.
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2022 Seattle cruise season exceeds pre-pandemic levels
The Port of Seattle says the first full cruise season since the pandemic shut things down in 2020 was much better than expected.
Seattle's cruise season kicked off in April and the last ship set sail in late October.
“Cruise means big bucks for downtown workers and businesses, and boosts our city’s health and vibrancy,” said Jon Scholes, Downtown Seattle Association president and CEO. “The cruise industry reinforces downtown’s strengths while filling our waterfront with life and distributing a host of benefits to our community.”
The Puget Sound Business Journal reports a total of 295 ships passed through Seattle between spring and fall of 2022. There were only 85 ships in 2021, and 211 in 2019.
The Port says that 640,000 individual travelers hopped on a ship for trips between Seattle and Alaska alone. That is a 6% increase over 2019 levels.
“More passengers means significantly more economic activity in our region,” said Maritime Managing Director Stephanie Jones Stebbins. “For local businesses that means more revenue for jobs and wages. The Port directs additional revenue right back into our community and maritime industries.”
The Port further reports that hotel occupancy in downtown Seattle went up 67% in May, and 63% in June over pandemic levels.
“This is due in no small part to the return of a full cruise season," said Tammy Blount-Canavan with Visit Seattle. "Passengers staying prior to and after Alaska cruises have been the key to survival for so many small businesses that make up the fabric of our culture and our community’s vibrancy.”
The Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority reports similar results. It covers the area around Tukwila, SeaTac, and Des Moines. Hotels in this area saw higher revenues this year than in 2019, according to the Port. Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority CEO Mark Everton credits the location — between Sea-Tac Airport and the ships on the Seattle waterfront — along with access to light rail for the the good numbers.
"The additional cruise guests in our region also boosted restaurant and retail spending," Everton said.
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Turnout remains low heading into Tuesday’s midterm election
With only a few days to go until Election Day, 68 percent of registered voters in Washington state have yet to return their ballots.
At this point in the last midterm election in 2018, turnout in the state was about 6 percent higher than it is now.
Campaign volunteers are busy knocking on doors, phone banking and sending out a final wave of ads over the weekend and into Monday.
During the 2018 midterms, about 40 percent of all votes in Washington came in on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of election week. To be counted, ballots must be postmarked or physically returned by Tuesday.
This year, the returns so far vary widely by age. While about 50 percent of retirement-age voters, those 65 or older, have turned in ballots, only 1 in 10 voters under the age of 35 had voted as of Friday.
But experts say younger voters are also more likely to return ballots closer to the deadline and to use drop boxes on Election Day.
Turnout also varies by county. For example, the typically red counties in the 8th Congressional District have higher turnout to this point than King County.
King County favored Democrat Kim Schrier in 2020 and helped carry her to victory. Schrier won the 8th by more than 14,000 votes in 2020, reliant primarily on voters in King and Pierce counties.
This year, Schrier is facing a new Republican challenger, Matt Larkin of Tacoma.
With only a few days to go, election officials recommend that voters use drop boxes to make sure their ballots are accepted in time and counted.
Drop boxes close at 8 p.m. Tuesday. People waiting to drop off their ballots will be allowed to complete the process if they’re in line by that deadline.
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Rain, wind, and ... more rain: Today So Far
- Heavy rain and wind are about to surge through Western Washington. Be prepared.
- Election Day is less than a week away and political parties are pressing their messages harder than ever.
- Seattle is facing a tough financial outlook and city leaders are trying to think of ways to make up for shortfalls.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for November 4, 2022.
Get out your flashlights, candles, glow sticks, emergency foil blankets and whatever else you need to get through a power outage. Heavy wind and rain is slated to pummel Western Washington Friday and Saturday. The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for our region.
The usual atmospheric river is dumping rain in the mountains. That means rivers are going to swell, and flooding is likely downstream. That also means there is a potential for flash floods around all the recently burned stretches in the Cascades, like the Bolt Creek fire area. With the heavy wind on top of that, I'm expecting quite a few power outages across Western Washington. I hope I'm wrong, but it's not a bad idea to download some reruns of "The Office" on your phone to watch in case electricity goes out, or organize whatever people do when they're not streaming "The Office." Like ... books?
Election Day is less than a week away and political parties are pressing their messages harder than ever. For Republicans, crime is the ultimate wedge issue they're betting on.
The GOP has its sights set on the 8th Congressional District. Republicans steadily represented the district until Democrat Kim Schrier flipped it blue in the 2018 election. If Republican Matt Larkin can flip it back to red via Tuesday's election, it could help the GOP gain control of the House in Washington D.C.
As KUOW's David Hyde reports, Republicans are using crime as a wedge issue in the 8th District, particularly to attract Asian American and Pacific Islander voters. According to one political expert Hyde spoke with, the GOP has seen the recent rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans as an opportunity to reframe concerns as “a broader law and order based authoritarian appeal to create more order, in this perceived era of disorder." Read more here.
In other election news, King County election officials say they haven't seen any signs of voter intimidation so far, as rumored nationally, but they're keeping an eye out for it.
"We haven't seen any reports from concerned voters about intimidation in this election, but we are asking voters to contact us if they do see anything out there at the drop boxes," King County Elections Director Julie Wise told KUOW.
Seattle is facing a tough financial outlook and city leaders are trying to think of ways to make up for shortfalls. According to a recent assessment that city staff gave to council members, Seattle is looking at a drop of about $80 million in revenue over the next two years. This breaks down to a loss of $64 million from real estate taxes, $9.4 million from the general fund, and $4.5 million from the sweetened beverage tax.
I suppose the silver lining here is that a lot fewer folks are drinking sodas these days if Seattle is slated to lose as much as $4.5 million from this tax.
Councilmember Mosqueda immediately released a statement calling for new "long-term, sustainable, progressive revenue for future budgets." Translation: new taxes. Mosqueda points to the JumpStart tax as an example. That tax is on the city's large companies paying hefty salaries. Read more here.
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Seattle honors Sir Mix-a-Lot for pandemic efforts
Before Sir Mix-a-Lot kicked off the Cloudbreak music festival at Seattle's El Corazón Thursday night, Mayor Bruce Harrell took the stage to officially declare Nov. 3 as "Sir Mix-a-Lot Day" and honor one of the city's most iconic hip-hop artists.
“A Central District kid through and through, Sir Mix-A-Lot fused descriptive storytelling, tongue-in-cheek humor, and old-school beats to create music that put our region on the map for hip-hop,” Mayor Bruce Harrell said in a statement following the concert.
“He has been an influential part of our city’s music scene for decades with a mission to give back to our community, even supporting music venues during Covid-19 closures so the next generation of Seattle’s creatives had spaces to perform. He has embraced a One Seattle approach of uplifting and inspiring the best in each other and is deserving of this recognition.”
The mayor declared Nov. 3 "Sir Mix-a-Lot Day" in Seattle and King County (a representative from King County Executive Dow Constantine's Office was present).
Sir Mix-a-Lot, aka Anthony L. Ray, found commercial success with 1992's "Baby Got Back." More locally, he made a mark with songs like "Posse' On Broadway."
Seeing the threat that the Covid-19 pandemic posed to live music venues, Sir Mix-a-Lot led an effort to support venues while audiences were at home. Band Together Washington was one such project in March 2021 that raised $1 million in support of local music venues. It brought together artists such as Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, and Macklemore.
A partnership between Visit Seattle and King County, Cloudbreak is yet another music festival aimed at supporting the local music scene. Taking place from Nov. 3-23, it features more than 150 artists, 68 concerts, across 28 venues. Sir Mix-a-Lot's performance at El Corazón opened the festival.
“Music venues and artists big and small were affected by the pandemic, and to see the effects of the loss of business was devastating,” Sir Mix-a-Lot said in a statement. “Cloudbreak is about the return of live music to Seattle, where artists like The Presidents of the United States of America, Jimi Hendrix — and me — got our start. Music venues bring visitors to Seattle — and it’s time to celebrate them.”
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Ballot drop box observers seen monitoring voters in the Tri-Cities
More eyes are on ballots in the Tri-Cities area this election, according to reports from the Benton County auditor.
Voters in the Tri-Cities area have noticed vehicles sitting in parking lots near ballot drop boxes. People watch as voters drop their ballots. It’s an effort to monitor drop boxes after false claims circulated that people are illegally depositing multiple ballots into drop boxes.
Watching drop boxes is perfectly legal, as long as the observers stay at least 25 feet away and don’t intimate voters, including telling people who to vote for, which is considered electioneering, or talking to voters, said Brenda Chilton, Benton County auditor.
“They shouldn't be interacting with the people dropping their ballots at all. A voter may consider that to be a form of intimidation,” Chilton said.
Otherwise, Chilton said, election officials don’t mind people observing the drop boxes.
Election staff who now pick up ballots from the drop boxes daily also have noticed ballot observers, Chilton said.
According to the Washington secretary of state, vote-by-mail systems increase voting access. Moreover, recent studies have shown vote-by-mail systems do not increase voter fraud overall.
In fact, one study from 2021 estimated 73 more cases of voter fraud would have happened from 2011-19 in Washington with traditional voting systems instead of vote-by-mail systems.
During the Benton County ballot counting, trained observers from the county Republican and Democratic parties and the League of Women Voters can observe the official ballot processing, Chilton said.
At the same time, others can watch ballot processing and scanning livestreams at the county voting center, which election officials said they designed to maximize transparency.
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Albertsons $4B shareholder payout on hold – for now
A King County Superior Court has temporarily blocked Albertsons from making cash dividend payments to shareholders. The payout is part of a potential merger between two supermarket giants, Albertsons and Kroger.
Earlier this week, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued Albertsons to block a $4 billion payout that was planned for Nov. 7.
The lawsuit followed a bipartisan letter by Ferguson and five attorneys general urging Albertsons to delay the payment until the merger is approved. Albertsons declined.
Since then, California, Illinois, and the District of Columbia have filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C.
The attorneys general expressed concern it could weaken the company’s ability to operate stores and compete while the merger is still under review.
Albertsons dismissed those claims as meritless, saying it is confident it will remain financially strong as it works toward finalizing the merger.
In Washington, a King County Superior Court granted the temporary restraining order until next week, when the Attorney General’s Office will ask the court to put the payment on hold until the merger is resolved.
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WA AG orders DIY rape kit company to stop sales in the state
The Washington State Attorney General's Office has issued a cease-and-desist letter to the company Leda Health regarding its marketing and distribution of so-called "early evidence" rape kits and its suite of services.
Earlier this year, Leda Health partnered with the Kappa Delta sorority at the University of Washington to hand out the self-administered DNA Kits to its members and other students.
Leda health has marked their DIY rape kits as a alternative option to sexual assault kits conducted in a hospital setting.
RELATED: DIY rape kits are gaining popularity on college campuses. But are they reliable?
Laura Clinton is the division chief for the Consumer Protection Division of the Washington State Attorney General's Office. She says “it's really the message that they're sending to the survivor community. It’s deeply problematic and just wrong.”
Clinton says Leda's claims that its kits collect "evidence" could lead people to think they're equal to or the same as the sexual assault evidence kits that are administered in a medical setting.
Officials also noted that health professionals are trained to make sure the kits are not cross-contaminated, and are also taught how to collect evidence — both physical and oral — that will stand up in court. Additionally, self-administered commercially sold kits have rarely, if ever, been introduced in a Washington state court, according to the letter.
Clinton also alleges that Leda Health violated the state's Consumer Protection Act, in part because it reportedly charges consumers for its early evidence kits.
“Their marketing, includes statements about the cost of medical care, following a sexual assault, and how that can those costs can really add up and be prohibitive,” said Clinton. “But in our state, under law, you have the right to free medical care from a licensed and well trained provider.”
In a statement, Leda Health said the company is reviewing the letter with its legal team and is hoping to find a way to continue the partnership with the Kappa Delts Sorority.
“Within our current partnership, we provide a suite of important services in addition to EEKs, including emergency contraception, a 24/7 virtual care team, and educational programming to students, such as programming specifically on date rape drugs,” the statement reads. The company also stated that taking such resources from the sorority during the so-called “red zone,” the window between the start of fall semester and Thanksgiving when most campus sexual assaults occur, “would be more than disappointing and limit access to these important offerings.”
In a previous interview with KUOW, Leda health called professionally administered rape kits as “the golden standard”. On its website, the company says, “Leda Health always encourages assault survivors to seek in-person emergency care.” The company describes itself as being “here to support survivors where the traditional systems don’t.”
This story was updated on Friday, Nov. 4 at 4:13 to include comment from Leda Health.”
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Rain, wind, and floods heading for Western Washington this weekend
Get out your candles and flashlights, heavy rain and wind is slated to surge through Western Washington Friday through Saturday. Flooding, power outages, and other disruptions are possible.
The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for pretty much all of Western Washington that will last through Saturday afternoon, thanks to the atmospheric river dumping heavy rain in the mountains. This could lead to river flooding downstream.
Wind speeds are expected to pick up throughout Friday, with things starting off gusty in the south end of Puget Sound before the north end gets tossed around. Gusts around Oak Harbor and the San Juans could approach 60 miles per hour. There is potential for power outages throughout the region.
A wind advisory for the Puget Sound region will be in effect until 11 p.m. Friday. It will also be blustery along the coast, which could also get between 4–5 inches of rain.
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