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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How many people voted in Washington's 2022 primary?
Voter turnout was different from county-to-county in Western Washington for the August primary. But one thing that King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties all had in common — they couldn't make it to 40% voter turnout.
For the most part, voter turnout in 2022 was on par with the last primary election.
King County elections officials have certified the results for the Aug. 2 primary election. A total of 39% of registered voters cast ballots on, or before, primary day. In 2018, King County had 43% voter turnout for the primary.
In Pierce County, 36.4% of voters turned out for the primary. That's a little more than the 34.38% of voters who participated in the 2018 midterm primary.
A total of 37.5% of voters participated in the primary in Snohomish County. The Everett Herald reports that figure is roughly the same as the 2018 midterms in Snohomish County. The Herald further reports that 3,008 ballots were rejected this primary — they arrived late, they weren't signed, or they were for the wrong election.
Statewide, 40.79% of voters turned out for the 2018 primary election. This year, 40.43% of Washington voters participated in the primary.
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Seattle banks on hiring bonuses to draw new police recruits
The Seattle City Council has approved an incentives package to entice new police officers to work for the city. It will pay up to $30,000 for lateral transfers, and $7,500 for new recruits.
In the past two years, the Seattle Police Department saw a net loss of 304 police hires.
Councilmember Debra Juarez says it may not be the perfect policy to solve the department’s staffing issue, but it’s headed in the right direction.
“Today we are moving forward, walking in our purpose, hopefully, I believe, to a safe, healthy and sensible policy,” Juarez said.
Money for the bonuses will come from more than $1.5 million in unspent salaries.
Councilmember Tammy Morales was among the three dissenting votes, along with Teresa Mosqueda and Kshama Sawant. Morales says the city should be focusing its scarce resources on pressing challenges.
“And they are things that won’t be solved by the police — our homelessness crisis, our need for more affordable housing, our limited access to behavioral healthcare.”
Morales added that SPD’s budget is the one of the largest in the city’s 42 other departments — it’s four times bigger than the Office of Housing, and 36 times bigger than the Office of Economic Development.
In a statement following the bill’s passage, Mayor Bruce Harrell says the hiring incentives are just one piece of the city’s recruitment plan.
“We’re prioritizing a diverse candidate pool, simplifying the application process, hiring recruiters, and pursuing education and career advancement opportunities for future officers," Harrell said.
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Lessons from the Northwest Passage: Today So Far
- Washington man cuts Northwest Passage paddleboard trip short. But this is not the end.
- If you drive a Kia, you may want to splurge on some extra security.
- As we further emerge from pandemic precautions, you may notice a lot more birds around.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for August 16, 2022.
Karl Kruger started this summer with a plan — take a paddleboard through the Northwest Passage, over the north end of Canada, while the icy waters opened up enough for him to make the journey.
After 420 miles and 15 days, just a quarter of the journey, he paddled to the shores of Paulatuk in the Northwest Territories and decided he needed a new plan. He started the journey weighing 190 pounds. When he came ashore, he weighed 173 pounds. Kruger was greeted by an Inuit hunter named Joe who was kind enough to take him, via a 4-wheeler, to a small hotel in the nearby town.
Kruger, 50, of Orcas Island, is known as an experienced extreme paddleboarder, which is a title you want to have if you plan on traveling over Arctic waters. He set off last month with the intention of making the entire 1,900 mile journey this summer. But now he has even more experience, and that is informing a new plan — the Northwest Passage journey will now take place over two or three summers, with better food, lighter gear, and more time. The caloric intake was an issue. It takes a lot of energy to paddle in such extreme conditions. But also, Kruger noticed he wasn't present for much of the trip. He wants to slow down, and talk to people.
“Just have boots on the ground and meet people and learn as much as I possibly can about the changing Inuit relationship with their land, and also climate change in the Arctic .... the closer I got to Paulatuk, the more hunters and fisherman I saw out on the water. And that is the talk in town — who got what duck, who got a beluga, who is going out for caribou this weekend."
Read the full story here.
If you drive a Kia, you may want to splurge on some extra security. A trend that started on TikTok has resulted in a considerable spike in thefts of Kias (and some Hyundais) across the country. It's a trend that has been felt locally. The TikTok videos essentially showed viewers a very easy trick to steal a Kia using just a screw driver and a USB charging cable. That has led to what some call a "Kia Challenge," which isn't so much a "challenge" as it is a massive spree of Kia thefts. Now, police throughout King and Pierce counties are warning Kia drivers to keep a close eye on their cars. Read more here.
As we further emerge from pandemic precautions, you may notice a lot more birds around. A new study out of the University of Washington looked at Northwest bird behavior as Covid lockdowns took place, and after. It made a few surprising observations. First, with people and cars reduced in public, birds spread out. They used our parks and back yards more. But when life began getting back to normal — more cars and more people — the birds didn't go away. It should be noted that from hummingbirds to crows and chickadees, different species reacted differently to the times. Soundside has the full story here.
AS SEEN ON KUOW
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Washington community college system ranks 4th in USA: Did you know?
When it comes to community colleges, Washington state ranks among the top of the list. But you'll probably find a few better colleges in Oregon.
That is, according to WalletHub's latest assessment, which says Washington state has the fourth best community college system in the United States. We don't have any community colleges on the list of best schools, however. Oregon has four colleges listed among the nation's top 20. That's the thing about numbers — you can play around with them so much that they sometimes don't make sense.
WalletHub considered a range of factors, such as the cost of the schools, as well as educational and career outcomes. That produced a few "best of" lists.
When focusing just on Washington, the best community colleges in the state are: Shoreline Community College; Everett Community College; South Puget Sound Community College (go Clippers!); and Bates Technical College.
Considering Washington's community college system as a whole, the state ranks fourth. Oregon ranks 10th.
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Seattle becomes sanctuary city for abortion care
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has signed off on four new laws aimed at protecting people's access to abortion and reproductive healthcare.
One bill calls for giving a quarter of a million dollars for the Northwest Abortion Access Fund.
According to Amanda Saxton with the Access Fund, nearly half of its donations this past year have gone to people in neighboring states like Idaho.
"Abortion bans in other states will continue to create a heavy impact on local clinics and resources, due to the influx of people receiving or in need of care," Saxton said.
Another new law establishes Seattle as a sanctuary city for people seeking abortion care and prevents Seattle police from pursuing out-of-state warrants related to abortions.
"Idahoans and the many others that will be forced to travel for abortion care should not have to worry about being arrested or harassed while doing so," Saxton said.
Another bill makes it a misdemeanor for someone to interfere, intimidate, or threaten someone seeking an abortion. A fourth law provides protected class status to people who have had or are seeking an abortion.
Seattle's new laws will go into effect over the next month. The city will officially become an abortion sanctuary on Aug. 31 and on Sept. 5, $250,000 in funding for the Northwest Abortion Access Fund will be released. The laws protecting the civil rights of abortion patients and making it illegal to intimidate people seeking abortions take effect on Sept. 14.
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Fishing boat cleanup continues off San Juan Island, but gets more difficult
Cleanup efforts tied to a sunken fishing boat off the coast of San Juan Island are proving a little tricky.
The U.S. Coast Guard says that the Aleutian Isle, which sank last Saturday, has shifted position on the ocean floor and is now in deeper waters. That has created some logistical challenges for dive teams that have been working to remove the remaining diesel fuel from the boat.
One of the nets attached to the boat has also broken loose, so this morning's crews are going to try to get it out of the water. They'll also continue to work with wildlife officials to monitor nearby marine life.
Coast Guard officials say they are using wildlife deterrent methods to keep endangered orcas and other species away.
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Free breakfast and lunch for Auburn students through 2026
All students in the Auburn School District will receive free breakfast and lunch, starting this fall.
ASD is providing the free meals through the 2026 school year.
Officials say the district qualified to participate in the federal Community Eligibility Provision that provides meals for all students. Families will not need to fill out any forms or sign up for the meals. The food is simply free.
According to the district's website:
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Northwest Passage paddleboarder halts trip; has new plan
A Western Washington man who was trying to become the first person to paddleboard across the Northwest Passage has suspended his trip after 15 days on the water. Now he's making a new plan, with lessons learned.
Karl Kruger, 50, of Orcas Island, set off last month to take this Arctic journey via paddleboard through the fabled, but normally frozen, sea route between the Atlantic and the Pacific, which passes over the far north of Canada.
Kruger’s planned route covered 1,900 miles, but he stopped less than a quarter of the way. He said he realized that a single-season passage would be near-impossible.
“I always hesitate to say something is impossible, but it puts it into the realm, very near that,” Kruger said. “It would take a very specific set of conditions for that to be possible. And I think it would need to be a fully supported effort. And it would really take a lot of caloric intake to paddle that many miles, that quickly.”
“It’s pushing too hard to think that you can muscle through the weather — no matter what it is — and keep your caloric intake up, and handle all the other risks too, namely, ice and bears and wildlife and just overall safety and finding fresh water to drink.”
RELATED: Washington adventurer aims to be 1st through Northwest Passage on paddleboard
Kruger paddled nearly 420 miles in 15 days, from Tuktoyaktuk to Paulatuk in the Northwest Territories. Temperatures ranged from the mid-70s to the mid-30s. His longest day was an all-nighter — 16 hours of paddling that took him 72 miles.
“My welcoming committee there was an Inuit hunter named Joe who welcomed me on the beach, to welcome me to Paulatuk, with his 4-wheeler and took me and my board and all my gear on his 4-wheeler, which is a lot of stuff, and gave me a ride to the little hotel there."
Along the way, he learned a few lessons that will inform his next endeavors. Kruger started the journey weighing 190 pounds. When he paddled into Paulatuk, he weighed in at 173 pounds. Future journeys will require more calories. The water he carries with him weighs about 50 pounds. His food, shotgun, an other gear are about 150 pounds. So modifications will be made.
Kruger says he has a new plan. He will spread the Northwest Passage paddle over two or three more summers. Next year, he will start where he left off and paddle from Paulatuk to Kugluktuk. Then Kugluktuk to Cambridge Bay, and on to Gjoa Haven. The final year will be from Gjoa Haven to Pond Inlet.
The experienced extreme paddleboarder says his motivations include personal challenge, but also to draw attention to how Inuit lifeways and the Arctic environment are changing. That informs another lesson he learned this season — he needs to slow down, or he'll miss a lot.
“Just have boots on the ground and meet people and learn as much as I possibly can about the changing Inuit relationship with their land, and also climate change in the Arctic.”
“The closer I got to Paulatuk, the more hunters and fisherman I saw out on the water. And that is the talk in town — who got what duck, who got a beluga, who is going out for caribou this weekend."
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Why ACT Theatre's board just resigned: Today So Far
- Orcas dodge oil spill in Puget Sound.
- ACT Theatre's board of trustees voluntarily stepped down.
- The Seattle area had another series of shootings over the weekend.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for August 15, 2022.
A fishing vessel went down off the shores of San Juan Island this weekend. Luckily, the crew made it to safety as their boat sank. Not so lucky, however, is the surrounding environment.
The boat now rests on the ocean floor, about 100 feet down. It's filled with about 2,600 gallons of diesel fuel, not to mention all the other oils that are trickling up to the surface. That became a concern when folks on the water noticed a pod of orcas swimming nearby. They were at risk of swimming directly into the oily sheen. Experts tell KUOW that diesel fuel generally evaporates out of the water and goes away, however, swimming through it while it's still in the water can wreak havoc on skin and lungs. An island resident reported that fumes stung their eyes.
*With the orcas coming closer, crews were prepared to drop “oikomi pipes" into the water. These are 8-foot long metal pipes that go into the water. A person then bangs on the pipes with hammer. The noise is supposed to be extremely annoying to whales. The hope is that it annoys them away. Sort of like that one guy blaring music so loudly out of a sedan it's rattling the metal paneling of the car. No one is impressed. If anything, it's sad and folks just think it's a cry for help years after mommy never got him that pony for his birthday ... or maybe I'm just projecting a little bit here.
In this case, they did not need to use them. The orcas swam away from the oil on their own. But the boat is still down there and there's more to this story. Check it out here.
The Seattle area had another series of shootings over the weekend. And just like the weekend of shootings that happened last month, the incidents don't initially appear to be related — a lot of guns going off. Many were wounded and sent to local hospitals. One man died at Seattle's Cal Anderson Park. As KUOW reported last month, shootings around King County have been trending upward for some time now. Read more here.
The board of trustees at Seattle's ACT Theatre have voluntarily stepped down en masse. Only the chair, treasurer, and secretary remain (which are the the positions required by law). The theatre says it has wanted to reconfigure its organization, and the best way to get the ball rolling was to nix the board and build it from scratch.
This comes after the board read an article in American Theatre Magazine titled "Boards are broken, so let's break and remake them." It inspired them to make over the organization. KUOW's Mike Davis has the full story here.
*The above information about orca whales avoiding an oil spill originally stated crews used oikomi pipes to annoy the whales away, and that a crew member's eyes stung from the diesel fumes. It has been corrected to reflect that crews did not use the pipes and an island resident's eyes stung.
AS SEEN ON KUOW
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NW has dodged wildfire smoke this summer (so far), but fires still being fought across Washington
Wildfire smoke around the Seattle area hasn't caused too many problems this year, compared to years past.
Except in Southern Oregon, it's been a quiet summer for smoke monitors, with about a month left in the regular fire season.
The Pacific Northwest is still reaping the benefits of the cooler-than-normal spring and delayed mountain snowmelt. Wildfire smoke drifting north from California only affected Oregon a few days. British Columbia has also been a source of heavy smoke in the past, but it received more rain than usual this summer.
Washington State Climatologist Nick Bond says while there have been some wildfires locally, the lungs of most of us in the Northwest have dodged a bullet, so far.
“There still is plenty of time left in the fire season. We’re not out of the woods yet, pun intended," Bond said.
Bond says the fire season shifted this year — it started later, but could also end a little later. According to the Washington Department of Ecology, that means you still have time to research how to improve the air filtration on your home air conditioner, if you have one.
Despite the light season, so far, there are still some blazes being monitored in Washington state. Check out current wildfire conditions across the state here.
Lightning strikes are being blamed for a couple of fires that have forced evacuations in central Washington.
Both the White River and Irving Peak Fires were sparked last Friday, about 15 miles northwest of Plain, Wash., which is north of Leavenworth. The White River Fire has burned approximately 340 acres and the Irving Peak Fire has charred 143 acres.
Over the weekend, Chelan County officials issued a level 3 evacuation order (which basically means "leave now") for people along Sears Creek Road.
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Washington State Ferries looks to the next generation to staff — and bring diversity to — future crews
Young students of color from around Seattle are checking out what life is like working onboard a Washington state ferry.
The ferries need more employees, plain and simple.
"We’re hiring!” said Bryn Hunter from Washington State Ferries.
The service has been short on crew since the Covid pandemic began in 2020.
And a lot of the crew, Hunter says, looks the same.
“Traditionally we've only had a lot of white and men as a part of it and we need more women, we need more diversity, and that's a really key thing that we're trying to reach out to," Hunter said.
Recently, Hunter gave a tour of a ferry to high school students who were mostly Black or brown — students who may have an interest in a future on a boat.
The students were members of the Youth Maritime Collaborative, a local group that connects underrepresented youth with maritime-related careers. The ferry was just one vessel these kids will see this summer.
Omari Brown, 18, said he enjoyed seeing the inner workings of the engine room.
“I like the technical side — how it makes you have to have a lot of knowledge and you have to know what you're doing, because one wrong move and everything can go bad," Brown said.
Brown and others said they’re interested in attending the Seattle Maritime Academy when they’re old enough.
UPDATE: This story has been updated to include the name of the youth program involved.
This story was updated on Friday, Aug. 19 at 3:20 p.m.
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Seattle police warn Kia drivers after TikTok trend prompts spike in thefts
The Seattle Police Department is sending a message to Kia owners: watch your cars closely and get extra anti-theft protection. A TikTok trend is being blamed for a recent rise in Kia thefts.
The TikTok videos provide instructions for how to break into a Kia and start it using a unique hack — a USB charging cable. SPD says a recent rise in Kia thefts across the city may be inspired by online tutorials which are being called the "Kia challenge," and have gone viral on TikTok.
"In July, police investigated 36 reports of stolen Kias (compared to five in July 2021) and believe suspects may be using a method learned from TikTok, using a USB drive or cable and other tools, in place of a key, to start a vehicle. The vehicles stolen in July—Kia models Optima, Soul, Sorrento, Forte, and Sportage—were all manufactured between 2014 and 2021."
Seattle police point to an incident in August as an example. A group in a stolen Kia were caught attempting to steal another Kia on Capitol Hill. Two of the suspects were caught, a 17-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy. Police allege that the 16-year-old is linked to another Kia theft in July. He reportedly learned how to start the cars from videos on TikTok. The two teens were booked on charges of possession of a stolen car and unlawful possession of a firearm (a ghost gun).
The Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force (a partnership between King and Pierce Counties), has issued its own warning, noting that 2011 or newer Kias, or a 2015 or newer Hyundais are "at risk."
What the Seattle Police Department reports appears to be part of a national trend. ABC News reports a dramatic spike in thefts of Kias nationally. ABC focused on Cook County, Illinois — covering Chicago, it's the most populated county in the state. In Cook County, there were 74 thefts of Kias in July and part of August in 2021. During that same time in 2022, there have been 642 Kia thefts. The local sheriff is also blaming instructions on TikTok for the rise in thefts.
Portland's KGW8 reports that a multistate lawsuit has been filed against Kia and Hyundai, alleging that the companies produced cars that are easy to steal.
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