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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Seattle needs $117 million to cover its 2023 budget
The city of Seattle is facing a projected $117 million budget shortfall in 2023. That's the gap between what the city expects to spend and how much money it will take in.
Potential solutions include making significant cuts, or finding new money to cover the bills. Perhaps a combination of the two. The Seattle Times reports that the city's number crunchers do not see any "obvious way out" of the financial predicament.
One cause of the situation was the pandemic. Seattle knew of the budget shortfall back in 2019. Officials were warned of what was coming in 2023. But then the pandemic hit. The city started triaging concerns and 2023 was put on the back burner.
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Reminder: King County has banned fireworks
A warning about fireworks as we approach the 4th of July.
A 14 year old lost their hand Monday while playing with fireworks behind Federal Way's Saghalie Middle School. A 10 or 11 year old was also injured in the incident. Stories like this are why King County has banned fireworks in all unincorporated areas.
This year, King County is joining other jurisdictions around the region with its own fireworks ban. The ban was approved in 2021. It nixes the use and sale of all types of fireworks, even sparklers and smoke bombs (sorry Batman).
“While there are plenty of good reasons to support a full ban on consumer fireworks, I am driven by the tragic loss of life and property in White Center in 2019,” King County Councilmember Joe McDermott said when the ban was approved in 2021. “It is past time for King County to do what most cities and parks have already done. People in unincorporated King County deserve the same protections as those living in cities.”
This means that this year, 2022, is the first year that the county is not allowing the sale or use of fireworks. However, officials won't be issuing citations this year. Instead, they will issue warnings. A list will be kept of those who violate the new rules. Moving forward, violating the ban will count as a misdemeanor.
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60K green crabs captured in Washington waters so far in 2022 ... that's a lot
State wildlife officials say more than 60,000 European green crabs have been captured in Washington state waters so far in 2022.
That is far more than what they captured and killed by this time last year.
The green crab is a small, but voracious predator that can quickly damage native shellfish populations and salmon habitat.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee declared an emergency over the crab invasion in January and authorized $8 million to kill the crabs.
The green crab population has reached its highest levels in an aquaculture pond on the Lummi Reservation near Bellingham. The Lummi Nation has used state funds to expand its team of dedicated crab trappers.
Read more of KUOW's coverage of Puget Sound's green crab issue:
- Thousands of these small green crabs are invading Puget Sound shores
- Think 85,000 invasive crabs is a lot? Wait 'til you see Vancouver Island
- Can’t we just eat those invasive crabs until they’re gone? (Probably not)
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School officers return to Bellevue School District
The Bellevue School district has announced it's going to launch a new Community Engagement Officer Program next fall in partnership with the city and the Bellevue Police Department.
District officials say this will be a reformed iteration of it's School Resource Officer Program, with officers providing safety, support, and other resources for students, their families, and staff.
“We [the school district] rely on us working together to ensure our families are connected to community resources so our youth can have more positive interactions with law enforcement that only come with understanding, collaboration, and mutual respect," said Interim Superintendent Art Jarvis.
SROs with the district returned to their regular patrol duties after the pandemic hit in 2020. The state Legislature also passed laws shortly after that which required districts to change their SRO programs in K-12 schools in response to the death of individuals in police custody.
The move in Bellevue also comes after the district made some changes to its school officer programs. In October 2020, it formed an advisory committee around how school resource officers operate in the district. Reforms were adopted, which a task force then developed into a new program. This fall will be the debut of the reformed school officer program.
“Safety is built on trust and positive relationships, including those between faculty, school administrators, students, parents, and law enforcement," said Director of BSD Security Doug James. "The Community Engagement Officer Program will develop collaborative problem-solving strategies to resolve issues affecting our youth and help every child reach their full potential.”
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30 traffic deaths in Seattle last year
The Seattle Department of Transportation has just released its latest report on traffic fatalities in the city. The data shows there were a total of 30 traffic deaths in Seattle last year — most involving pedestrians.
A total of 40% of such crashes have occurred at intersections with signals since 2015. More than 80% of fatal incidents involving cyclists happened in stretched with no bike lanes.
The report also found that Black people were disproportionately affected by fatal crashes. And more than a quarter of traffic fatalities involved people experiencing homelessness.
The report is part of the city's Vision Zero initiative which has a goal of eliminating serious injuries and fatal crashes by the year 2030.
Since Seattle started its Vision Zero effort in 2015, more than 175 people have died, and 1,200 people were injured in traffic crashes.
Researchers found most of the fatal crashes between 2019 and last year happened in District 2, which includes Beacon Hill, the Central District, downtown Seattle, the Rainier Valley, and Columbia City. But the city says adding things like signals that give pedestrians and bicyclists a 3-7 second head start have reduced the number of serious and fatal collisions.
SDOT also notes that it is prioritizing safety efforts in places like the Aurora Avenue corridor, SODO, and Georgetown.
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Low tides not as low as forecast but do not disappoint Puget Sound beachgoers
The promise of the lowest tides in more than a decade drew throngs to the edge of Puget Sound last week to see parts of our region only scuba divers usually see.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had forecast Wednesday’s low tide to be the lowest since 2009 and Thursday’s just 3 inches higher. Those tidal predictions are based on complex analyses of 38 different movements of the Earth, moon, and sun, including a 19-year wobble in the moon’s orbit that is nearing its peak in 2025.
But wind and weather often push tides higher or lower than those gravity-based predictions, and the week’s lowest tides came in (or went out, really) 6 to 8 inches higher than forecast, according to preliminary tide gauge readings in Seattle and Friday Harbor.
According to those preliminary readings, Wednesday’s tide (at -3.6 feet in downtown Seattle and -3 feet in Friday Harbor) wasn’t the lowest in a decade, but it was the lowest since a midnight tide in early December.
Children’s squeals of delight and crowds of beach explorers at water’s edge in Edmonds, Mukilteo, and Seattle suggested the tidal world did not disappoint. Even with the sea several inches higher than promised, tide pool-viewing conditions were undoubtedly much better on a warm afternoon in June than a dark December night.
“Oh wow, that’s crazy,” Destiny Benjamin of Marysville said after spotting a sea star clinging to the underside of a rock at Mukilteo's Lighthouse Park.
“The creatures, the smell of the ocean. It's nice,” she said.
Washington State University beach naturalist Susan Tarpley was on hand at Lighthouse Park to help visitors figure out what they were seeing and how to avoid damaging it.
“I think the overall experience is just amazement and complete joy,” Tarpley said. “This is a place that is absolutely chockablock full with living critters and plants.”
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A Fathers’ Day event for grieving families
As Father’s Day approaches, families are making plans to get together. But tonight in Renton, there’s an event for people who may find Fathers’ Day to be a difficult time.
The group Resilient in Sustaining Empowerment or “RISE” is holding its second annual Fathers’ Day event for children who have lost their fathers to gun violence, as well as fathers who have lost children.
The group’s founder Lynniah Grayson said the purpose is to give people harmed by violence a sense of belonging.
“They feel like they don’t belong when they’re around their siblings, who maybe have a father, or classmates, or cousins, or families. So to have them together so they know that they’re not alone,” Grayson said. “The same thing with the fathers who have lost children.”
Grayson said she was already noticing the impact of these shootings on other families, especially on mothers of young children who felt overwhelmed, when the father of her 5-year-old daughter was shot and killed last year.
“I got a call saying that my daughter’s father was murdered in a bar, and shot alongside three other people,” she said.
Grayson said that while King County has established supports for at-risk youth, there’s much less available for the partners and young children left behind.
“The thought of having nowhere to turn to? That’s a problem,” she said.
At tonight’s event in Renton those family members will make commemorative t-shirts, and release doves and balloons in memory of their loved ones. About 100 people have registered to attend.
They’ll also hear from Seattle’s gun violence liaison DeVitta Briscoe, Community Passageways founder Dominique Davis, and Donnitta Sinclair, whose son was fatally shot during the Capitol Hill Organized Protest in 2020.
Beyond these events, Grayson has also created an eight-week program for impacted mothers and their children. The children receive free childcare, thanks to volunteer organizations. During that time, the parents hear from grief counselors, therapists and domestic violence specialists, and participate in yoga and other activities as a cohort. She said the program works to de-stigmatize therapy.
“It has been so helpful to work with young Black therapists who are thriving, who are trauma-informed, who understand the disease of gun violence and that gun violence is a public health crisis,” Grayson said.
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Covid vaccines will soon be available to babies and toddlers
For parents with babies and toddlers, the wait is almost over for a Covid-19 vaccine.
Officials predict doses for kids under age five could be authorized and available in Washington state as early as next week.
Dr. Shaquita Bell is a pediatrician at Seattle Children's. She said due diligence is being done to ensure the vaccines are safe and effective — and it's important to get young children vaccinated.
"King County's rates of infections are still pretty high — 10% of the people who have covid right now are under the age of 9... and we know that the vaccine both protects against Covid, but especially protects against the really severe side effects of covid," Bell said.
County health officials say they're working to ensure all families will be able to access vaccines for their youngest kids.
Parents can call their family provider or pediatrician to find out what the process will look like. There will also be more information about how to get appointments on the King County website later this week.
Click here to learn more
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Reports of elder abuse on the rise in Washington state
June is Elder Abuse Awareness Month.
Last year, Washington’s Adult Protective Services division received more than 66,000 reports of abuse, neglect, abandonment, or exploitation.
Jilma Meneses, secretary of Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services, said she worries the reports don't capture the whole of the problem. Adult abuse, she said, may in fact be underreported due to factors like isolation during the pandemic.
The rising reports of abuse come as Washington population ages. For comparison, in 2010 about 12% of Washington residents were 65 and older. By 2020, that percentage had jumped to nearly 17%.
Adult Protective Services relies on the public to report signs of abuse and neglect, including suspicious injuries and unexplained financial charges. To combat elder abuse, the public is encouraged to check in on vulnerable adults and offer caregivers respite breaks.
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Race and ethnicity must now be considered for police seizures in Washington
The Washington State Supreme Court has ruled race and ethnicity matter when a court decides if a police seizure was legal.
Police in Washington must follow state law when seizing a person or their belongings. Courts can later determine whether that police action was legal.
Under the new state Supreme Court ruling, courts must factor race and ethnicity into their decision. The justices were unanimous on this.
The ruling came in a case in which a Pierce County deputy asked a man who was asleep in his car for his identification. The deputy did not have a warrant or reasonable suspicion to seize the man, who's identified as being Asian/Pacific Islander in court documents.
The man later gave a false name, but because he was unlawfully seized, the court is not allowing that to be evidence against him.
The justices wrote: “'In interactions with law enforcement, race and ethnicity matter."
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The West Seattle Bridge is coming back ... after summer
The West Seattle Bridge will reopen on September 12.
"We expect the West Seattle Bridge to be open to traffic during the week of September 12," SDOT Program Manager Heather Marx said in a statement. "Sharing that today is a relief since our focus has always been on safely getting everyone back on the bridge ASAP. It’s been hard having to wait for this update, but we did need to get through the concrete work to understand exactly where we were schedule-wise. Thank you for being so patient, Seattle.”
The Seattle Department of Transportation hopes to reopen the bridge in September, after its initial goal of opening before summer was snarled by the concrete strike.
The West Seattle Bridge was closed more than two years ago so crews could fix expanding cracks that threatened its stability. The $175 million repair work is expected to last for 30 years.
Crews still have to inject epoxy into the cracks and finish applying carbon-fiber wrapping that will increase the bridge's strength.
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Seattle pays father $500K settlement after fatal CHOP shooting
The Seattle Times is reporting the city of Seattle has paid a father a $500,000 to settle a wrongful death lawsuit, two years after his son was shot to death in an area called the CHOP.
Lorenzo Anderson was 19 years old when he died. He was shot near near Cal Anderson Park amid the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone.
Bystanders took him to the hospital after medics refused to go into the CHOP, because of confusion among emergency responders.
Lorenzo's father Horace says it was that confusion, and the lack of a search for the shooter, that led to his son's death.
The lawsuit was filed against then Mayor Jenny Durkan, Councilmember Kshama Sawant, and the city. It argued that Seattle leaders engaged in political theater as they encouraged people in the CHOP to break the law and threaten the safety of others.
Lorenzo had graduated from an alternative youth-education program a day before he was shot in the CHOP.
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