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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Sleetless in Seattle: City gets little rain and no snow this dry January
Whether you’ve been drinking alcohol or abstaining, it’s been an exceptionally dry January in the Seattle area.
Only one inch of rain has fallen on Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in January, according to the National Weather Service, less than one-fifth the normal amount so far this month.
As of noon Thursday, the airport had gone two full weeks with no measurable precipitation.
RELATED: Western Washington is having a dry (weather) January, and a cold one
So far in 2025, Olympia has 1.6 inches, or one-fifth of its typical rain, while Bellingham has had 1.4 inches, or less than one-third its usual rainfall.
It has been a dry January in the mountains as well.
Snowpack in the west side of the central Cascades was 44% below normal on Jan. 29, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, while snowpack in the mountains of North Puget Sound was 32% below normal. Statewide, snowpack was 19% below normal (defined as the typical amount for the years 1991-2020).
Rain and snow were forecast to hit Western Washington Thursday evening and Friday, though not enough to bring the region anywhere near its normal January wetness.
RELATED: U.S. hydropower drops to 20-year low as Northwest snowpack shrinks
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More officers hired, fewer shots fired: Seattle interim Police Chief Rahr optimistic as she exits
Sue Rahr’s interim role as Seattle Police Chief finishes this week as the city prepares to welcome Mayor Bruce Harrell’s nominee Shon Barnes, chief of police in Madison, Wis., as the new head of the agency. Speaking with KUOW’s Soundside, Rahr said she believes SPD is turning the corner on some of its biggest challenges after a “rough” several years.
Interim Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr said, from her nearly eight months at SPD, she believes the department is ready to emerge from the consent decree it has been under since 2012. The Department of Justice placed the consent decree on SPD for unconstitutional use of excessive force. Today, the changes have been “deeply institutionalized,” she said.
Rahr stepped in to lead the Seattle Police Department in May 2024, when Harrell demoted — and later fired — then-chief Adrian Diaz. An investigation concluded that Diaz had lied about his affair with a subordinate. She is now ready to exit the role as Seattle's new police chief Shon Barnes prepares to take over soon.
RELATED: "Defund is dead". Seattle leaders say it's time to hire more police
As an example of these changes around the agency's use of force, Rahr told KUOW that not a single shot was fired by a police officer during her time there.
“I know that I’m tempting the gods, but I have to say this, the public needs to know,” Rahr said. “We have not had a single police officer at SPD fire a single round in eight months.”
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Could Amazon’s return-to-office policy be driving up rent?
In the weeks since Amazon has called employees back to the office five days a week, businesses surrounding the company’s Seattle headquarters have been celebrating the return of thousands of customers downtown.
RELATED: This is the day Amazon's 'return to office' policy takes effect
The cost to rent an apartment downtown grew 2.5% last month, the first year-over-year increase in more than 12 months, according to a new report from Redfin.
The median monthly rent for an apartment downtown was $2,000 in December. The uptick came as Amazon’s corporate workforce prepared to return to the office five days a week, under a policy that took effect the first week of January.
Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari said the findings came as a bit of a surprise because so many new apartment buildings are opening up in the area.
“There's a lot of supply coming on, so we were expecting rents to just continue falling,” he said. “But, obviously, this is a very dynamic market where there's a lot of job opportunity."
RELATED: Culture-building or cost-cutting? Amazon's return-to-office order raises questions, fears
Still, he said it was too soon to tell whether the uptick in rent is the start of a trend – and how much Amazon’s policy is driving it.
Although Bokhari can’t predict how return-to-office mandates will affect demand, he is confident the supply of new apartments will decrease in the coming years.
The abundance of new buildings coming online now is a product of low interest rates that were available when developers broke ground. Redfin is seeing a slowdown in new construction now that interest rates have climbed.
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Will February bring snow to Seattle?
With a wimpy winter and weak La Niña, Western Washington didn't see any snow at the end of 2024, and the flakes haven't fallen so far in 2025. But that could change on the first day of February.
Will it snow at the start of February? Forecasts are unclear, but at this point it is safe to plan for a rain-snow mix.
RELATED: 'Ctrl + Salt + Delete' and other names Redmond just gave its snowplows
"We will get cold enough," Steve Reedy with the National Weather Service told KUOW. "It's just a question of whether or not we can line up that those cold temperatures with the moisture in the atmosphere to get a little bit of snowfall. So, we can't rule it out just yet."
What is known is that the week leading up to Feb. 1 will continue to be cold but dry. Fog will likely start developing overnight in Western Washington. That means morning frost on car windshields.
The cold weather is slated to persist. The region will be about two degrees colder than what is typical for this time of year, Reedy said. This dry weather pattern breaks on Thursday leading into Friday. While Reedy notes that the forecast models can't seem to agree on what to expect over the weekend, the National Weather Service is currently predicting rain/snow on Friday night and through Saturday.
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Washington legislators look to crack down on environmental crime
A bill before the Washington state Senate would make intentional water pollution, air pollution, and spilling of hazardous waste felonies.
Under Washington state law, most environmental crimes are misdemeanors.
“I believe that criminal polluters who violate our environmental laws must pay the price for doing dirty business in Washington,” said bill sponsor state Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, a Democrat from Tacoma, at a Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology hearing Friday.
RELATED: Trump is withdrawing from the Paris Agreement (again), reversing U.S. climate policy
“Too often, the corporations responsible pay an insignificant fine and then go on as business as usual,” Trudeau said.
Among other new penalties, the bill would make it a Class B felony to knowingly pollute in a way that places another person in imminent danger. Class B felonies are punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000.
“This will provide a bigger deterrence to polluters from disproportionately affecting my community,” said Tacoma Community College student Connar Mon, who testified in favor of the bill.
Mon said environmental crimes hit people of color and low-income communities, including his, harder than others.
“We have higher rates of asthma and also respiratory illnesses and lower life expectancies in South Tacoma, and a lot of my family members, too, are at risk, meaning that they have asthma already,” Mon said.
RELATED: 3 things to watch as WA's 2025 legislative session kicks off
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Costco shareholders reject proposal to investigate the company's DEI policies
Costco shareholders have rejected a proposal that questioned the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.
The proposal, which was submitted by the National Center for Public Policy Research, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., called on Costco’s board to conduct an evaluation of the company’s current DEI roles, policies, and goals.
Preliminary polling indicated 98% of shareholders were against the proposition.
RELATED: Costco defends its diversity policies as other US companies scale theirs back
Tony James, the chairman of Costco’s Board of Directors, urged shareholders to vote against the proposal, emphasizing the company’s commitment to inclusion.
“We owe our success to the more than 300,000 employees who serve our members every day. It is important they all feel included and appreciated, and that they transmit these values to our customers,” James said.
The shareholder who presented the resolution at Thursday's meeting called DEI “illegal, immoral and detrimental to shareholder value."
The shareholder's proposal statement cited roll backs on DEI commitments from companies like Alphabet, Meta, and John Deere, writing, "it's clear that DEI holds litigation, reputational and financial risks" to Costco, and "financial risks to shareholders."
RELATED: Live, love, Costco. Couple searches the globe for warehouse treasures
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Woof! Hundreds more dogs from LA area need Seattle homes
Seattle Humane is once again taking in dogs from the Los Angeles area, where devastating fires continue to burn.
Paws for Life K9 Rescue and Wings of Rescue announced Thursday they are flying hundreds more "highly adoptable dogs" out of California to make room in LA shelters. The dogs will be bound for Seattle, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and Missoula, Montana, on Sunday morning. Potential adopters not in Seattle will be able to find the refugee pets at Companion Animal Center and the Humane Society of Western Montana respectively.
RELATED: L.A. pets land in Seattle to make room at animal shelters during fires
"By transferring available dogs to locations with greater adoption opportunities, we can help these animals find loving homes while addressing the immediate needs of those canines affected by this natural disaster," Paws for Life said in a statement.
Since the wildfires began in Southern California, Paws for Life has taken in more than 250 dogs and has transported dozens to partner organizations in the region.
Nearly 40 dogs and 18 cats were flown to Seattle earlier this month to escape the fires and free up space for animals separated from their families. Shelters in the LA area have seen an influx of pets they're now trying to reunite with their humans.
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Olympia got Jesse: Gov. Ferguson appoints former journalist to lead Results Washington
Invoking the catchphrase that defined Jesse Jones' career, Gov. Bob Ferguson announced that he has hired the former consumer journalist to lead Results Washington.
“Washingtonians know that when there is a problem to be solved, you get Jesse,” Ferguson said in a statement Wednesday. “Government must work better. Jesse’s track record makes him an ideal candidate for this role.”
RELATED: How Jesse Jones made a career of busting scammers
Results Washington was formed in 2013 through an executive order by then Gov. Jay Inslee. Its mission is to improve state government, with a focus on "measurable goals, collecting performance data and conducting regular public performance reviews," according to the announcement.
“Few things frustrate me more than bureaucracy that creates delays, confusion, or extra hurdles when people and businesses need questions answered and results delivered," Jones said in a statement. "Our mission must be to speed up government, improve customer service and center the people in every decision we make.”
The way Ferguson describes Jones' appointment, the goal is to make government more efficient. Jones will not only lead Results Washington, he will also "refocus" the agency with a customer service lens.
The sentiment behind Ferguson's appointment echoes his first speech as governor, when he told lawmakers, “Our state government is bogged down by too much bureaucracy." Ferguson also signed three executive orders on his first day, two of which were targeted at government efficiencies around the construction of affordable housing and also the process of doing business in the state. The orders involve cutting down on time for permits, licenses, and other paperwork.
“I’m not here to defend government,” Ferguson said in his speech. “I’m here to reform it.”
This is not the first time Gov. Ferguson and Jones have crossed paths. After Jones reported on an undisclosed 3% transaction fee at Climate Pledge Arena in 2023, Ferguson was spurred to start a class action case as the state's attorney general. The lawsuit was based on the original news story and led to a $477,900 settlement.
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This time, it's gubernatorial: Gov. Ferguson on how Washington will face another Trump administration
Bob Ferguson became Washington's governor five days before Donald Trump began his second term as president of the United States this week. But Ferguson says that Washington has been prepared for Trump far longer than that.
"At some point early in his first term, I just reached a point of understanding that with him, you have to expect the unexpected," Ferguson said. "That's just the only way to operate with him, and to prepare as aggressively as you can for the unexpected and to put together a team that can challenge him in court and beat him. So, that's been my approach in the past, and that will certainly be my approach going forward."
RELATED: WA Gov. Ferguson takes office, promises big changes:, says "I’m not here to defend government"
In his first interview with KUOW as Washington's governor, Ferguson said he didn't vote for Trump, though he wasn't shocked when he won, and that nothing Trump did on his first day as president surprised him. He said he has become "pretty accustomed to the way he operates" and that Washington has been preparing for the Trump administration for more than a year. That's partially why the state was so quickly able to file a lawsuit challenging one of Trump's executive orders a day after he signed it.
"We are as prepared as we can be. There is no state better prepared. There is no state with a better AG's office," Ferguson said. "There just is not, and I realize that doesn't change the fact that for a lot of people, having Donald Trump in the White House is a change they did not want."
As Washington state's attorney general from 2013 up through less than a week ago, Ferguson was known for suing presidential administrations, from Obama to Biden. He sued the Trump administration 99 times during Trump's first term. Now, as governor, Ferguson said he's already been talking with the new Attorney General's Office (now led by Nick Brown), particularly with the office's civil rights division.
Conflicts between Washington and the Trump administration are expected in the years ahead.
As governor, Ferguson's approach to Trump echoes his approach as an attorney general: If Trump's actions exceed his authority as president, and those actions harm Washingtonians, he'll push back. That means backing up the AG's office, such as helping coordinate with state agencies to help build cases.
RELATED: Key moments from Trump's inaugural address
Ferguson also said his office can work with the state Legislature to adopt laws to better insulate Washington from the Trump administration. For example, he noted other states have passed laws barring out-of-state National Guards from coming in and enforcing a president's agenda. He'd like to see Washington do the same.
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Credit card convenience comes at a price. This Olympia bill aims to change that
Paying by credit card is more common these days. But for each swipe, or tap, the credit card company charges businesses what’s called an interchange fee.
And those fees add up.
Washington state Senate Bill 5070, sponsored by Sen. Rebecca Saldana (D-Seattle), would bar fees on sales taxes and gratuities.
RELATED: Why Trump's tariff promises will be hard to keep
At a recent hearing by the Senate Committee on Labor and Commerce, many small businesses applauded the proposal. Owners said these fees are the second highest operating expense for businesses, after labor.
“This is the only business relationship where the service provider takes a non-negotiable cut of their profit,” said Julia Gorton with the Washington Hospitality Association.
Some business owners deduct a portion of those fees from workers’ tips. Saldana's bill would prohibit that practice.
“As we’re seeing, employers are now beginning to even move fully to cashless business models,” said Evan Gallo, who’s worked in the restaurant industry for the past three years. “Which means that I’m going to see a 3% tax on my income, even in spite of the higher minimum wage here.”
RELATED: WA Gov. Ferguson takes office, promises big changes: ‘I’m not here to defend government’
But Glen Simecek of the Washington Bankers Association told the Senate Committee the fees help pay for credit card-related conveniences that consumers expect.
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Pacific Northwest’s busiest volcano predicted to erupt by end of 2025
Don’t be too hard on yourself if you’ve never heard of the Northwest’s most active volcano.
It has no national park or ski area named after it. Its heights grace no city’s skyline.
The Axial Seamount is a mile underwater and nearly 300 miles out to sea.
It has erupted three times since 1998, and researchers predict this remote but closely monitored deep-sea mountain will do so again in 2025.
Researchers from Oregon State University, the University of Washington, and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington presented their volcano forecast at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in December in Washington, D.C.
Thanks to a dense array of sensors on the volcano’s summit and flanks, scientists know that Axial Seamount has been swelling with magma and getting taller, a sign that it’s ready to go off.
Pressure sensors on the seamount show that the summit has bulged about 10 feet closer to sea level than its depth after the last eruption in 2015.
“It's at a point where it could erupt now, based on that prediction,” said University of Washington geophysicist William Wilcock.
Any Axial eruption would not pose any risk to humans — or the global atmosphere.
“It does this a lot,” geophysicist Michael Poland said of Axial’s eruptions. “People don't notice.”
Poland is with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington.
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Disaster aid for Los Angeles could soon be on the way from King County
King County officials have approved a plan to send disaster relief to communities impacted by fires in the Los Angeles area.
On Tuesday, the King County Council passed a proposal from Councilmember Reagan Dunn, requesting a county response to the fires that have been raging through L.A. County for the past week.
"It's the middle of January here in Seattle. We don't have a high fire threat, and we do have access to resources that can help," Dunn said.
RELATED: Redmond firefighters felt tug on heartstrings to help fight L.A. fires.
Someday, Dunn warned, Washington state could face a disaster of similar proportions and will need help. And many agencies outside Washington have lent a hand to help the state get through disasters in the past.
"When Mount St. Helens erupted back in the 1980s, governments across the country lended a hand to help us survive," Dunn said.
His legislation calls for sending support like medical supplies and emergency kits to California, plus collaborating with local nonprofits that have ties to Los Angeles.
With the County Council's approval, the proposal will now go to the King County Executive's Office, where a county response will be drafted.
RELATED: L.A. pets land in Seattle to make room at animal shelters during fires
During the Council hearing, Councilmember Rod Dembowski suggested sending semi-permanent housing structures the county used during the Covid-19 pandemic. They are currently sitting in storage.
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