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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'Very unusual': Lines at Sea-Tac Airport stretch into parking garage
Officials at Sea-Tac Airport say they’re looking into the cause of major security checkpoint delays that recently emerged.
Twitter erupted with videos and photos of seemingly endless lines stretching into the airport's parking garage over the weekend.
Lisa Jensen was one of those people. She came to Seattle from the San Francisco Bay area for a Husky game and was heading back home.
“I've traveled abroad," Jensen said. "I've never seen anything, anywhere like this. Even at JFK during Christmas time.”
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More Washington adults are registered to vote, but younger voters are lagging
Tuesday is National Voter Registration Day and the latest registration data shows that more people in Washington state are engaging in the election process.
About 80% of Washington adults are registered to vote, compared to about 75% a decade ago.
A big factor in the voter increase has been removing barriers to voting, according to Halie Watkins, spokesperson for King County Elections.
"We provide grant dollars to community based organizations to go out and do voter registration in non-English speaking communities, communities of color, young people, and traditionally disenfranchised communities," Watkins said.
Other takeaways from recent data: As older voters increase, the generations behind them have not made up the gap. Election data from the past decade shows that the oldest voting block — those 65 and older — has grown by 5%. Voters 45-64 experienced the largest decrease.
The percent of voters in the youngest bracket, 18-24, has slightly decreased since 2012, from 10% to 9.19%. And looking at Millennials, since just 2020, the percent of voters who are aged 25-34 has bumped up by a couple percentage points.
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Adrian Diaz officially picked as Seattle Police Chief
Adrian Diaz will drop the “interim” from his police chief title and is slated to become next leader of the Seattle Police Department. Mayor Bruce Harrell made the announcement Tuesday afternoon at City Hall.
The Seattle City Council still has to vote to approve the hiring decision.
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Seattle teachers approve new contract
The Seattle Education Association has approved a new contract with the school district, putting to rest the potential for another strike as the school year begins.
A total of 4,143 members of the teacher's union voted. According to the union:
- SAEOPS voted 82% in favor
- Paraprofessionals voted 66% in favor
- Certificated voted 71% in favor
The tentative agreement included some annual pay bumps, or accommodations for inflation (whichever is greater).
Seattle teachers went on strike this month, delaying the first day of classes by about a week. A tentative agreement between the union and Seattle Public Schools was struck last week. Union members voted on the contract Monday evening.
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Man sentenced to 140 months for trafficking minors on Aurora Avenue, across state lines
On Friday, Judge Josephine Wiggs sentenced Curtis Coleman to 140 months in prison, after he pled guilty to the felony charges of human trafficking in the second degree and promoting prostitution in the first degree in August.
The investigation into Coleman was led by Seattle Police Detective Maurice Washington, who got word from victim advocates and service providers in May 2019 that two teens reported being trafficked, Washington wrote in his case investigation report.
King County prosecution said Coleman trafficked five victims — including three minors — along Aurora Avenue North in Seattle, an area known for prostitution, in Yakima, Wenatchee, the Tri-Cities, and across state lines in Idaho and Montana.
Coleman used social media and dating apps to recruit vulnerable women and children into prostitution, according to court documents. Two of his victims were ages 14 and 16 when Coleman allegedly groomed them.
Coleman instructed the victims on which sex acts to perform and how much to charge, the prosecution wrote in court records, and the victims were expected to work constantly.
One woman said Coleman beat her violently during their five-year relationship. Another woman said Coleman hurt her when she told him she couldn’t work because she was ill. Coleman had a strict “no disrespect” policy, the victims said according to court records.
Three years after Detective Washington heard from advocates, Coleman was before Judge Wiggs for sentencing.
The courtroom gallery was packed with Coleman’s family members, some of whom asked that the judge give Coleman “mercy” and sentence him to 140 months, which Coleman’s defense asked for, instead of the 171-month sentence prosecutors argued he should be given.
Ben Gauen, senior deputy prosecuting attorney, said during the court hearing that he usually recommends sentences of no more than 36 months for a first offense committed by young people who traffic other young people, because he said they had the capacity to change.
But at age 50, Coleman isn’t young, and this wasn’t his first offense.
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What the heck was that sound that rumbled across Seattle on Saturday night? (Updated!)
A private fireworks show between Ballard and Bainbridge had residents across three counties wondering what the sound was.
UPDATED 9/21/2022 with some information about who threw this party.
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round 9:40 p.m. on Saturday, cell phones from Bainbridge Island to Ballard lit up: What the heck is that sound?!
To residents of Ballard and Greenwood, it sounded like thunder. On Bainbridge, it was even more ominous — an anxious child wondered if Russia was invading.
It was neither, it turns out, because it was a private fireworks show.
Western Display Fireworks, a professional pyrotechnics company from Oregon that also does the July 4 show at Gas Works Park, were hired for the event.
The crew loaded the shells onto a tug in Ballard; the tug then motored toward the north end of Bainbridge Island. It stopped 9,400 feet offshore, due north of Fay Bainbridge Park, outside the city's jurisdiction.
The Seattle Fire Department provided the permit to load and unload the firework shells onto a barge, according to Tina Turner, the assistant fire marshal for Kitsap County. (Seattle Fire later confirmed.)
According to Turner, the Coast Guard and Washington State Fire Marshal did not require additional fireworks permits.
A private fireworks show would not normally make news, but this half hour-ish of mystery rumbling unsettled many humans and pets. It also piqued the curiosity of local super sleuths, including Melissa Knapp of North Beach/Blue Ridge. She and her husband deduced what was happening by following a marine traffic app.
On the app, they saw three small yachts and a barge stop at Shilshole Bay Marina, cruise out to a spot near Bainbridge, and then return nearly two hours later.
While we know what caused the sound on Saturday night, still unsolved is WHO made up this private party and WHY they threw this party – we’re still looking into that. (If it's you, please invite me next time: iraftery@kuow.org.)
[UPDATE: The permit from Seattle Fire says that WYBO LLC hired Western for this show. WYBO is a mystery company from 1998 that has other LLCs listed as its governors. Those LLCs include the same list of LLCs as their governors.
WYBO has held surprise fireworks shows before, according to a 1998 story from the Kitsap Sun. WYBO threw another fireworks show in 2002, per the Sun. Another surprise fireworks show occurred in 1995, thrown by Kent engineering firm Barghausen.]
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The West returns to Seattle: Today So Far
- What music Today So Far readers suggest for newcomers.
- The West Seattle Bridge is back up and running.
- Narcan vending machines come to Pierce County.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for September 19, 2022.
“It’s been a huge pain in the butt!”
That's what West Seattle resident Deborah Wolf told KUOW's Natalie Newcomb while discussing how long the West Seattle Bridge has been out-of-commission.
With the bridge down, a 12-minute trip between West Seattle and SoDo or downtown turned into a 45-minute trip, at least. Wolf said the bridge's absence turned West Seattle into an "accidental island.” For example, Wolf had to switch all her doctors from Seattle-based offices to West Seattle offices. Otherwise, she'd be on the road for two hours for an appointment.
Well, now the West Seattle Bridge is open! Commuters probably know this from the eruption of cheers Sunday, or from the 100,000 drivers estimated to use the bridge each day. Those who haven't evolved to work from home, or who have the option, will be rolling onto the commute.
This also means that the rest of Seattle can return to the West, which in turn means that Bill Brown can finally tell his sons Noah and Liam they can go to Alki Beach. The family lives in Greenwood. They bought a kite to fly at Alki, but haven't been able to use it while the bridge was down. The usual 20-minute drive would have take far longer.
“They've been asking me for three years to go back," Brown said. "And I'm like, 'No, no, no, we'll wait.' So we're happy it's back.”
"It's an otter kite and we literally just bought it," Liam told KUOW.
Seattle Now notes that more than 600 people have died from overdoses in King County this year. In cities, naloxone (or the brand name Narcan) has become well-known. The drug, often carried by 911 responders, can reverse an overdose. But in more rural areas, it can be more difficult to get. That's why places like Orting in Pierce County are now using Narcan vending machines.
It's exactly what it sounds like — a machine that dispenses an overdose-reversing drug.
"Here in Orting, we're a rural community so there is not a lot of services or access to other services around us," said Recovery Cafe’s Rena Thompson. "... it's about 30 minutes to a hospital or a treatment center."
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Military providing water to Yakima Valley homes after tests show it contaminated area's wells
Military training exercises contaminated the drinking water of nearly 100 homes in the Yakima Valley.
New test results show that the drinking water wells near the Army’s Yakima Training Center are contaminated with chemicals that increase the risks of certain kinds of cancer and other health conditions. The military is now providing bottled water for drinking and cooking to those residences.
The contamination stems from a firefighting foam that the military used at the training center for decades, up until 2016. The foam contained dangerous chemicals that increase the risks of certain kinds of cancer, thyroid disease, and other health conditions. The chemicals can also harm people’s immune systems.
Over the years, the chemicals leached into drinking water near military bases around the United States, including on Whidbey Island and in the Yakima Valley.
While the military tested the wells it might have contaminated, it did not previously provide safe drinking water to affected households. Now that the test results are back for Yakima, the military has begun providing residents enough bottled water for drinking and cooking.
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New to Seattle? Our readers suggest you listen to this
I asked readers of KUOW's Today So Far newsletter what music they would recommend to the incoming director of the Seattle Department of Transportation, Greg Spotts.
But really, what music would you recommend any newcomer to Seattle? What are the region's sounds?
While Spotts' current career has been in city government, in a previous life (a 1990s life), he had a boutique talent management job working with music artists of the day. So when he came to Seattle, he filled his office with "Seattle vibes" by playing Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, etc. In an SDOT blog post, Spotts said he knew there was more to Seattle music.
So I asked readers to make some recommendations. The parameters were more "Northwest" than simply Seattle. From funk to punk, indie rock to folk, hip hop and Star Wars albums, there is a lot of Northwest music to cover.
I started things off by suggesting: Murder City Devils; Beverly Crusher; Sunny Day Real Estate; The Black Tones; and The Hoot Hoots (specifically the "Rainbow Squadron" album).
TSF readers had a few ideas of their own.
Diane suggests Sleater-Kinney from Olympia.
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Coast Guard postpones effort to remove sunken fishing boat after lifting it to surface
Salvage crews raised a sunken fishing boat from the bottom of the sea near San Juan Island Saturday, but they have been unable to remove enough fuel and seawater from the vessel to lift it onto a barge and transport it away from the critical orca habitat where it sank five weeks ago.
The Aleutian Isle, a 58-foot salmon fishing boat, released a 2-mile sheen of diesel onto the surface of Haro Strait when it sank. The unusual effort to lift it 240 feet from the sea floor was launched after officials decided pumping up to 2,600 gallons of diesel and oil still on board to the surface was not feasible at that depth in the swirling currents of Haro Strait.
After deepwater divers secured the boat with cables near its bow and stern, a floating crane lifted it toward daylight during a brief window of slower currents Saturday afternoon.
Even before it broke the surface around 2 p.m., onlookers from San Juan Island’s western bluffs said the air smelled intensely of diesel. Iridescent sheens of diesel could also be seen on the surface, but officials said the amounts were not more than they expected.
Boats towing absorbent booms mopped up what diesel they could, while 7,000 feet of boom protected key stretches of shoreline on San Juan Island’s west side.
“There are big dents on visible port side,” ocean-acoustics researcher Val Veirs, who lives nearby, reported shortly after the Aleutian Isle surfaced. Veirs said Saturday afternoon that crews were pumping “very dirty water” from the vessel lying on its starboard side, suspended in place by cables from above.
The salvage crews removed approximately 775 gallons of “oily-water mixture” from the Aleutian Isle, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Washington Department of Ecology spokesperson Ty Keltner said sea water and diesel remained on board late Sunday afternoon.
“The vessel is sitting on its side, and crews are unable to safely access the parts of the ship to remove the remaining water and fuel,” Keltner said by email.
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Sunken fishing boat ready to resurface after 5 weeks on sea floor
Coast Guard officials say a salvage team is ready to lift the Aleutian Isle off the sea floor near San Juan Island on Saturday.
The commercial fishing boat sank nearly five weeks ago while participating in a tribal fishery for sockeye salmon.
It left a sheen of diesel fuel two miles long in prime habitat for the region’s endangered orcas.
Emergency officials say divers have plugged up the boat’s fuel tanks, but they expect some pockets of diesel will escape as a floating crane hauls the boat more than 200 feet to the surface.
“We do expect some sheening, and we are prepared for a lot of release, but we don’t anticipate that,” said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Valerie Higdon.
More than a mile of oil-absorbent floating boom is in place along San Juan Island’s west shore, and more is being installed around the crane barge.
Specialists are on standby to start banging pipes underwater and scare away any endangered whales that come close to the potentially oily operation.
Divers have been limited to working 30 minutes at a time by the extreme depth and dangerous currents, according to the San Juan County Emergency Management. Now they await safe conditions (weak currents) for lifting.
Safe windows for the work are expected around 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, according to the Coast Guard.
Why the Aleutian Isle sank is still under investigation. KUOW learned that the boat built in 1974 had apparently run aground in Anacortes on Aug. 12, about 24 hours before it sank.
A marine surveyor found the boat, valued at $710,000, to be in average to above average condition and "well maintained" in December 2020, according to inspection records obtained from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife under a public records request.
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Sky-high career goals: Today So Far
- My days in journalism may be coming to a close, eventually, now that my dream job is becoming more and more likely. And we can thank Sen. Maria Cantwell for that.
- Our Northwest harvest is not looking so cherry these days ... literally.
- Apparently, male hummingbirds are kind of jerks. Some female hummingbirds are adapting. Science!
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for September 16, 2022.
My days in journalism may be coming to a close, eventually, now that my dream job is becoming more and more likely. And we can thank Sen. Maria Cantwell for that.
Cantwell and a handful of other senators have introduced the ORBITS Act, which aims to develop technologies and methods to address space junk. There's a growing number expired satellites, leftover launch equipment, and old pieces of machinery floating around the Earth right now — about 900,000 pieces, according to Cantwell. They pose a risk to spacecraft making trips up there, or to satellites monitoring weather, communications, etc. Or, they pose a threat to folks on the ground, should they eventually fall and fail to completely burn up. That's why senators want to develop ways to clean up our sky-high mess.
By now, I am sure you can see exactly where I am going with this. Clearly, these senators are making my dream job possible — cleaning up space junk as represented in the Korean sci-fi cinematic sensation "Space Sweepers." You knew that's where I was going, right? This proposed bill aims to develop technologies to address space junk, which obviously means future me could jet around the planet, collecting debris like a space-age Fred Sanford! I can see it now ... blasting off while singing "whomp whomp wanna" alongside my cunning crew and android best friend.
And yes, I know I'm mixing my pop culture metaphors. It's called a mashup and I stand by it.
Of course, that future may be a ways off. The ORBITS Act has to make its way through DC, for starters. Then, technology has to be developed ... I guess I shouldn't be planning my space career just yet. Looks like you're all stuck with me. Read more about Cantwell's bill here.
Our Northwest harvest is not looking so cherry these days ... literally. Folks may still be complaining about our hot summer temps (an annual Northwest tradition), but you might forget that we had an unusually long and cold spring. There was snow falling on cherry crops in April, a time when we expect them to be blooming in order to start cherry making. This means that a lot of cherries didn't show up this year, and Washington's 2022 harvest is about 80,000 tons short. The Northwest is a major producer of cherries and it's unclear right now how this will affect prices. Read more here.
When Nina and I moved this summer, we were stoked that the new place came with a small backyard, something we haven't really ever had. We were further pleased that this small yard came with a hummingbird feeder, ready to go. Nina got into making nectar — no dyes in our feeder. And it worked!
What we witnessed next was a flying, zipping ballet of savage horror! Turns out, hummingbirds are kind of violent jerks who beat up on each other a lot. All those TikTok videos lied to us!
Why do I bring this up? Get ready for some fascinating, curious, science out of our own University of Washington. This is apparently pretty normal behavior for these birds, at least it is for the males with their brightly colored plumage. Female colors aren't as bright and showy. They generally want to go unnoticed. But as KUOW's Natalie Newcomb reports, some female hummingbirds have started to evolve to take on male colors. Jay Falk is a UW postdoctoral researcher and was involved with a study that monitored this recent color change.
“That coloration is a signal to say to other hummingbirds, 'You better watch out. I'm a bully. If you attack me, I'm going to fight back,'" Falk said.
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