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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Stories
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Seattle Children’s relaxing mask rules
Seattle Children's Hospital has relaxed their masking rules for patients and families.
It's the latest in a string of local hospitals to move away from universal masking requirements after a recent downward trend in Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths.
Unlike some other institutions, Children's will still require staff to mask up when providing patient care, with a few exceptions.
But, as of Thursday, face coverings have largely become optional for patients, families, and visitors.
A hospital spokesperson said in a statement that masks will continue to be recommended for everyone, despite the fact that they’re no longer mandated.
“Our top priority is the health and safety of our patients, their families and our workforce. Following a review of COVID-19 transmission indicators and conversations with healthcare partners across the region, Seattle Children’s is making changes to its masking policy,” the statement said.
“Going forward, our workforce will continue to wear masks when providing patient care, with a few exceptions. Masks will be recommended for everyone to help prevent the spread of infection. Anyone who is symptomatic will be required to wear a mask.”
Not everyone will feel the same way about the newly relaxed rules. For some, it may be a welcome change.
But for Thekla Richter, an immune-compromised parent of a Children’s patient, it's disappointing.
"I'm a little scared for my own health,” Richter said.
“I'm going to continue to take my child to the appointments that I have scheduled for them. But I don't love that that means I'm taking additional risks for my own health."
Richter said a minor infection for some, may be dangerous for someone like her.
She also worries for the patients at Children's who are at higher risk of infection or severe outcomes from viral respiratory illnesses like Covid-19.
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Prosecutors will seek death penalty for University of Idaho murder case
Prosecutors in Idaho have announced that they will seek the death penalty for Bryan Kohberger, the man suspected of killing four University of Idaho students last fall.
New documents filed by the Latah County Prosecutor’s office in Moscow state that the circumstances of the stabbings meet multiple state codes for pursuing the death penalty.
Kohberger will be in court this week as his defense team argues for more time to review the evidence amassed by the prosecution. More than 10,000 photographs and 51 terabytes of digital materials have been submitted in the case. Kohberger’s trial is scheduled for October 2.
Northwest Public Broadcasting's Lauren Patterson has the full story here.
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Why isn't wildfire smoke lingering over Washington state?
Wildfires are raging in British Columbia, Oregon, and Idaho, but Washingtonians are still breathing easy, with fresh, clean air.
Why?
That’s because of wind: Fresh ocean air from the Pacific is blowing over Washington state.
“We're getting a lot of onshore flow, westerly flow,” said Beth Friedman, an atmospheric scientist and the lead air quality modeler and forecaster with the state’s ecology department. “It’s pushing any smoke that's present to the east.”
“We're not seeing it above us,” she added. “It's not hanging out aloft in the atmosphere and contributing to nice sunsets or anything like that. It's just moving away.”
That pattern should last through the week.
But we’re not out of the woods yet. The hot, dry conditions statewide could set the groundwork for bad wildfires in August and September.
RELATED: Drought conditions lead to several new, large fires in WA, OR
“I’d just continue to urge people to be careful of anything that could start a fire,” Friedman said. “We want to keep the air quality as good as it can be. And so, yeah, continue to practice vigilance and be really careful out there when you're recreating.”
If fires start in eastern Washington, and the wind shifts, the region's summer of clear skies could come to an end.
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WA Supreme Court preserves transit fare checks but cites privacy concerns
In the decision “State v. Meredith” Thursday, the Washington Supreme Court found that a man was "unlawfully seized" by Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies while riding Community Transit, when they detained him for fare evasion in 2018.
Zachery Meredith filed a motion saying he was “unlawfully seized when he was contacted by the Deputy and ordered off the bus, as the deputy lacked reasonable suspicion that a crime had been committed.” Meredith was taken off the bus when he could not show deputies a ticket or ORCA card. He was subsequently arrested and convicted of a gross misdemeanor for providing a false name to police.
Justices said they rejected the method of fare enforcement used in Meredith’s case, citing constitutional privacy rights and the “known, racially disproportionate impact of such fare enforcement practices.” However, in writing the lead decision Justice Mary Yu said it does not “strike down any statute permitting designated persons to request proof of fare payment on barrier-free transit systems.”
Tobin Klusty, Meredith’s attorney, said the court’s recognition that law enforcement can’t seize people without suspicion of criminal activity is good news for Washington residents.
“This is not a decision that leads to the end of public transportation in any way, shape, or form,” Klusty said. “Really what it’s focusing on is the use of law enforcement to interact with the public in this particular way.”
The court’s ruling was fractured, and lacked a majority opinion.
Nathan Sugg, with the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office, said the various opinions contain “suggestions” about fair transit enforcement, but stop short of prohibiting law enforcement from being involved in transit fare enforcement.
“The transit authorities will set those rules, they’ll decide what fare enforcement looks like in the future,” said Sugg, who defended the state against Meredith's appeal. “This case says that the current practices are within the bounds of the Washington State Constitution.”
The court’s lead opinion highlighted examples of regional agencies use of civilian “ambassadors” rather than law enforcement, saying that process does not present the same privacy concerns when performed by civilians.
Justice Yu wrote, “People must pay for transit or can be ejected. However, in this case, Meredith was asked for proof of payment by law enforcement officers, who then identified and arrested him using resources that no civilian conducting fare enforcement could have accessed.”
Community Transit maintains a contract with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, but in a statement the agency’s CEO Ric Ilgenfritz said it also relies on civilian ambassadors:
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Seattle and King County need a new leader for region's Homelessness Authority
King County and the city of Seattle are joining forces to find the next leader of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority.
The previous and original CEO, Marc Dones, stepped down in June after leading the agency for a couple of years. Now, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and King County Executive Dow Constantine have announced plans to create a new CEO search committee this week.
"The Regional Homelessness Authority is in a moment of transition, which affords an opportunity for us to look at where it has been and, more importantly, what it needs to succeed," Executive Constantine said in a statement.
The goal is to conduct interviews in December and select a new CEO by early 2024.
RELATED: With CEO's resignation, what's next for the King County Regional Homelessness Authority?
There are also plans to create a second committee that will make recommendations to improve the agency's oversight and accountability by September.
Some service providers have accused the organization of being slow to fund their efforts. The KCRHA has also postponed its plan to redistribute tens of millions of dollars for homeless services.
The proposal to start both efforts will be voted on by KCRHA's governing committee on July 20.
“Effective solutions to our region’s homelessness crisis require strong leadership and sustainable countywide collaboration — now is the appropriate time to reassess how the governing committee and implementation board can best support the authority in fulfilling its task of developing a coordinated regional homelessness response system,” Mayor Harrell said in a statement. “The recommendations these leaders provide will help strengthen the efforts of the authority and, most importantly, help more people suffering from homelessness come indoors with the services needed to get well.”
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Seattle gained a lot of tech workers during the pandemic
During the pandemic, news that tech workers might be migrating away from large metro areas — with high costs of living — concerned some Seattleites.
Had Seattle been losing its highly-paid tech talent? Apparently, to the contrary, according to a new report. Recent layoffs aside, Seattle gained a substantial portion of tech workers over the last three years, the report states.
"For tech talent across all experience levels, Seattle was the No. 2 market," said Chris Volney, managing director with CBRE Consulting, which wrote the report.
Austin took the No. 1 spot for inbound tech migration.
"That didn't particularly surprise me because we're also tracking, during this time, who's hiring and where they're hiring," Volney said. "And a lot of the bigger and smaller tech companies in Seattle, especially in the 2021 into 2022 timeframe, were hiring at a really rapid pace. Just given those job opportunities in the market and the diversity of job opportunities, I think that was probably really attractive to a lot of the younger talent who is just starting out their careers."
RELATED: What can Seattle's 1970s 'Boeing Bust' teach us about recent tech layoffs?
CBRE Consulting defines a "tech worker" as anyone with a tech-related job, no matter where they work. An employee doesn't have to work at a tech company —they could work at a financial services company, for example. Tech workers could include software engineers, product managers, data scientists, etc.
CBRE started polling this data at the beginning of the pandemic, and kept monitoring trends each year. Overall, Seattle gained 11.5% tech workers during this time.
Seattle's pool of young tech workers, like college graduates, increased by more than 15% over 2022, which is higher than any other major city, including California's tech empire. By comparison, Austin and San Francisco saw gains of about 9% among younger workers.
Seattle wasn’t alone in its concerns. Other northern cities fretted about losing tech workers to smaller cities and Sun Belt metros. But overall, that didn’t pan out, Volney said.
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Seattle becomes a literary hotspot this week with the AWP Conference
Our arts and culture picks this week turn to our collective love of books and creative writing. The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) is hosting a huge conference and book fair at the Seattle Convention Center in Seattle. It starts Wednesday and continues into the weekend. And even if you're not a writer, there will be plenty of free offsite events to check out. To learn more about it, KUOW’s Kim Malcolm talked to Shin Yu Pai, Seattle's Civic Poet and the host of the KUOW podcast, "The Blue Suit."
About the AWP Conference
This giant creative writing conference moves from city to city every year. It’s a place where writers working primarily in universities gather. It's an opportunity to hear a lot of blockbuster authors read their work, as well as to attend panels on the craft of writing. And all the disciplines of writing are represented, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and this year, some graphic novel and comics in the mix as well.
The AWP Bookfair
Hundreds of presses and literary organizations set up tables. If you're an author, somebody who's really interested in literature, or a creative writing student, going to the AWP Bookfair is an opportunity to become more acquainted and aware of literary journals, small presses, and just the landscape and ecosystem of publishing.
It’s pricey to attend this academic conference, but on Saturday they're offering all-day passes for $25, which will get you into any of the conference presentations or sessions, and the book fair itself. And Saturday is the last day of the fair when a lot of people are packing up. There are giveaways, free journals, and deep discounts on books, so it's a very good day to pick up free swag.
Mutant, Monster, Misfit, Myself: Writing the Disabled / Chronically Ill Body
This is a session with several authors who either have disability or chronic illness. There's a range of disciplines represented, including poetry and memoir. I'm really interested in the way that the body is discussed and represented in the writing of these individuals who have particular perspectives when it comes to how they navigate space in the world. And it’s going to be live streamed and there will be ASL interpretation as well as live captioning provided for it.
Opacity of Performance, at Northwest Film Forum
I'm very excited to see Takahiro Yamamoto tonight. Taka is a sculptor, photographer, writer, and choreographer who will be visiting from Portland. He'll be doing an event around a book called "Opacity of Performance," which is a collection he organized a couple of years ago connected to a performance he did at the Portland Art Museum that was about exploring one's visibility and the ability to make oneself disappear.
Links to other AWP Offsite Events
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Cars will soon roll again onto the Bainbridge-Seattle ferry
Ferry commuters on the Bainbridge Island-Seattle route will soon get full access to their cherished ferry terminal — that means cars, bikes, motorcycles and more will be welcomed back onto the boats.
Cars and other wheels have been barred from using the ferry terminal on Bainbridge Island since last Thursday. It will reopen to traffic at 3 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13.
RELATED: Bainbridge ferry passengers battle route restrictions
The disruption was caused by construction of a new walk-on passenger bridge that crosses over the road vehicles use to drive onto the ferry. Now, two new bridge spans have been installed on top of concrete pillars.
The new overhead walkway is part of a $33 million effort to upgrade the ferry terminal at Bainbridge Island. Washington State Ferries says this is the most-heavily used walk-on ferry route in its system.
The new overhead walkway is designed to be more seismically stable. It is slated to open sometime in the fall. The old walkway will be demolished sometime in winter.
RELATED: Bremerton ferry that ran aground on Bainbridge Island ready for a comeback
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