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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

  • Where does Amazon want Sound Transit to build a new Seattle light rail station?

    Amazon officials breathed a sigh of relief after the Sound Transit Board decided to keep its options open for the location of a new light-rail station near the company’s headquarters.

    The board voted on Thursday to move forward with Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s proposal to shift the station north, while also studying the possibility of moving it west. In a blog post Wednesday, Amazon urged Sound Transit board members to consider the “shifted west” option so that Westlake Avenue can remain open during construction.

    “We encourage the Board to not rush their decision and at least be willing to consider and study alternative options so we can ensure the expansion of public transit in the neighborhood without having to shut down economic activity in the area for several years,” the blog post says.

    In June, a coalition of transit advocates sent an open letter to Sound Transit urging the board to stick with its original location.

    That plan “efficiently balances the impacts of construction with the benefits of reducing emissions and economic insecurity through increased ridership,” the letter stated.

    At issue is the location of the station that will ultimately connect with planned light-rail service to Ballard.

    The original plan would require Westlake Avenue to close for at least four years while the light-rail station is under construction. That had Amazon and other businesses in the area up in arms during the Sound Transit Board hearing. They said those closures would hurt a downtown already struggling to recover from COVID.

    “We are doing our part to bring downtown back and we hope this board will do theirs,” said Amazon’s Tom Florino during public comment.

    Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell agreed with Amazon and sought alternatives to fully closing Westlake Avenue.

    “If we don’t do this right, this could be irreparable for the city and the state,” he said during the hearing.

    Continue reading »

  • Today So Far's summer 2023 mixtape

    Earlier this week, I asked TSF readers what their summer song would be. It could either be a general summer favorite, or something for 2023.

    Nathan wrote in with Eddie Chacón’s “The Morning Sun" (music nerds will recognize this artist from the early '90s duo Eddie and Charles and their hit "Would I Lie To You").

    Larry ran with the summer theme with a very '60s vibe: "Summer in the City" by the Loving Spoonful; "Hot Fun in the Summertime" by Sly and the Family Stone; "Lazy, Crazy, Hazy Days of Summer" by Nat King Cole; and "Stoned Soul Picnic" by the Fifth Dimension. His wife Joann brought us into the '70s with "Summer Breeze" by Seals and Croft.

    KUOW's staff also weighed in on this. There are too many songs to list here, but at a glance it includes Fitz and the Tantrums, Depeche Mode, Nicky Youre, and Little Simz.

    I'm adding "Bright Eyes" by Art Garfunkel, which is not a new song, but I have a feeling it's going to experience a little surge in popularity due to its inclusion in a 2023 episode of "Black Mirror" (which is pretty spectacular).

    Like I said, there are a lot of songs that came in, so I ended up making a "Summer Song 2023" playlist on Spotify, which you can tune into here.

    Thanks to KUOW staff who suggested songs for this playlist: Jason Burrows, Paige Browning, Diana Opong, Karen Kim, Alex Rochester, Lucy Soucek, Annette Promes, Whitney Henry-Lester, Doris Torres, Heather Dannenfelser, Amanda Winterhalter, Rose Gear, Zaki Hamid, Ahnya Smith, Teasha Crow, Hilary Lee, Michaela Boyle, Vicky VanHout, Alicia Villa.

    Continue reading »

  • WA school districts failed to document $31M in federal Covid grants, audit finds

    State audits of Washington school districts found that 25 districts failed to properly document more than $31 million in federal Covid funds meant to buy laptops, tablets, and internet hotspots for staff and students during remote learning.

    Seattle, Everett, Edmonds, and Mukilteo were among the districts that auditors found to have failed to show that the technology purchased through a Federal Communications Commission grant went only to students and staff with a demonstrated need.

    “We have uncovered no evidence that the funding was was misappropriated, nothing like that,” said Kathleen Cooper, State Auditor’s Office spokesperson. “It's just a lack of documentation to show that the program qualifications were met.”

    Because so many districts were out of compliance with the grant requirements, Cooper said, State Auditor Pat McCarthy suspected that part of the problem was with the instructions districts received about how to document the grant spending. McCarthy has met with the FCC about the issue, Cooper said.

    “It is now up to the school districts to work with the FCC on an audit resolution process, which will be an opportunity for both parties to take a look at whether or not those funds have to be repaid,” Cooper said.

    Seattle Public Schools had $4.9 million in questioned grant funds that it received to buy online learning devices.

    In a statement, a spokesperson for Seattle Schools said the district disagrees that it was out of compliance.

    Continue reading »

  • A real pickle for Seattle: Today So Far
    • Pickleball has taken off in recent years, but is Seattle ready?
    • Nearly a week after her Seattle concerts, Taylor Swift news keeps on shaking things up. Fan enthusiasm was recorded on local seismic sensors.

    This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for July 28, 2023.

    Quick hits

    Well this is a real pickle.

    Pickleball has really taken off in recent years. It's gone from its humble origins on Bainbridge Island to becoming the fastest growing sport in the USA. There's so much new interest, hardcore players are trying to figure out how to accommodate all these new players. That was a big topic at the recent pickleball Seattle Open tournament.

    "We have too many players, not enough courts,” local player Edward Roque told KUOW.

    It seems that Seattle's pickleball tournament — which is viewed as a big step toward the nationals in Dallas — hit a few snags. The floor on some of the courts that were slated for games ended up cracking shortly before the event. Tennis courts had to be converted to make up for the loss. That didn't make tennis players happy. Out-of-towners were actually surprised by Seattle's lack of pickleball courts. Didn't it come from here in the first place?

    KUOW's Joshua McNichols has the full story here, which partially includes coverage of pickleball's professional "bad guy" Ernesto Russo.

    Nearly a week after her Seattle concerts, Taylor Swift news keeps on shaking things up. It turns out, the energy between Swift and thousands of her fans at Lumen Field last weekend was so intense that local seismic sensors picked it all up. This is similar to when Marshawn Lynch scored that touchdown in 2010, and the celebrating crowd made such a ruckus that the vibrations triggered nearby earthquake monitors. Swift's concert, however, was more extraordinary than that.

    An interesting thing about Swift's seismic impression is that you can actually see the songs, and the crowd reaction over time, by looking at waves that were recorded. Saturday and Sunday's vibrations over a few hours made the same waves on a seismic chart — they nearly lined up perfectly, showing the same set list was played, and the crowds were equally into it. Read more here.

    Earlier this week, I asked TSF readers what their summer song would be. It could either be a general summer favorite, or something for 2023. Read the results here.

    Continue reading »

  • Amtrak wants to spend $200M to improve Seattle's rail yard

    Amtrak says it will improve its train yard in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood over the next couple of years. The company says the goal is to improve service for riders and safety for workers.

    Seattle’s rail yard in SoDo is about to get some updates and that could mean faster travel times along the West Coast.

    Amtrak is replacing its fleet of passenger cars with new, faster ones.

    Right now Amtrak passenger cars can travel along the Cascades route at about 79 miles per hour. In a couple of years, they’ll run trains that can go up to 125 miles per hour.

    The Amtrak Airo trains are set to debut on the Cascades line in a couple of years.

    But first: Tracks and other equipment need to be updated.

    In Seattle, Amtrak says it will spend $200 million to get the rail yard ready for the new trains.

    The changes include improvements like adding a maintenance and inspection facility wide enough for two trains.

    Amtrak also plans to update some utilities and build new tracks.

    Safety improvements like fall protection will be included for people working in the train yard, Amtrak said.

    The work is paid for by the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress in 2021.

    Continue reading »

  • 1 in 6 new Washington cars are electric. The state aims for more

    One in six new cars on the road in Washington state is an electric vehicle. That’s double the rate from two years ago, yet is still less than halfway toward the state’s mandate for electric vehicle sales. That deadline is two years from now.

    The numbers come from the state Department of Ecology, where Joel Creswell works.

    RELATED: Road trip! Kicking the tires on electric travel in the Northwest

    “Sales rate in Washington is already really, really high, even without a lot of policies to back it up," Creswell said. "And so there's clearly an appetite here in state, but the state government is investing a lot of energy and effort into figuring out what else we can do to transition away from fossil fuel powered transportation.”

    The state currently offers a sales tax break on electric vehicles. It is also deciding how to spend $50 million on rebates and other measures to get more people into electric vehicles, especially lower-income drivers. That funding should be available sometime next year.

    An unrelated national effort could help boost EV sales over coming years. That's what a coalition of seven major automakers — including BMW, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis — hopes will happen. They are joining forces to add 30,000 fast chargers to North America. As NPR reports, another automaker partnership in Europe has only been able to build 2,600 chargers since 2017. A similar effort in the United States has been able to add 3,600 over the past five years.

    Washington's Department of Ecology also has its EV sites set on local governments, ports, and tribes. The department is putting another $16.3 million in grants toward an effort to convert local governments, ports, and tribes' diesel-powered fleets to EVs. This could be vehicles such as forklifts, street sweepers, garbage trucks, and more. The grants can also be used for charging and fueling stations.

    RELATED: How fast can the auto industry go electric? Debate rages as the U.S. sets new rules

    The grant money is coming from a federal settlement in a case against Volkswagen. Ecology's Molly Spiller manages that settlement funding which totals $140 million. More grants are in the works, such as money for Level 2 EV charging stations and DC fast-charging stations for personal EVs. Those grants will become available in the fall.

    “We’re delighted to offer these grants and encourage applicants to take advantage of this opportunity,” Spiller said in a statement. “Cities, counties, public utilities, school districts, universities — really, any public or Tribal entity in Washington that owns eligible diesel equipment or vehicles — can use these funds to support their local communities and help accelerate the transition to a clean transportation future.”

    Continue reading »

  • Video: Crowd pushes back Seattle Police from Capitol Hill street racing

    One of four people who were shot during a Capitol Hill street racing incident early last Sunday has died, according to a spokesperson with the Seattle Police Department.

    “A woman who was in critical condition has succumbed to her injuries," they said.

    People flocked to the neighborhood that evening for the Capitol Hill Block Party, an annual outdoor music festival. Unsanctioned street racing and the shooting followed Saturday night performances.

    Seattle police said they arrived at East Pike Street and Broadway shortly before 1:30 a.m., after they received a report of reckless drivers and a large crowd.

    Shortly before 4 a.m. officers heard gunshots and located two people who had been shot, according to a police press release. Both victims were treated at the scene and at least one was taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. Two more gunshot victims later arrived at the hospital.

    Following the shooting and street racing incidents on July 23, the Seattle Police Department released video of an obstructive crowd that evening. Video shows crowd members throwing debris and drinks on a patrol car. This video was taken about three hours before the shooting that night.

    Continue reading »

  • Alien, and Prince, and Kurt Cobain, oh my! Today So Far
    • MoPOP just got a massive haul of pop culture treasures.
    • Can condos help solve Washington's housing woes?
    • Wildfire conditions are expected to worsen heading into August.

    This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for July 27, 2023.

    Quick hits

    MoPOP is one Seattle feature I find myself returning to every now and then. I've already seen the sci-fi museum, and the horror exhibit, the fantasy corner, the music section, and more. There are a lot of corners to MoPOP, and it now looks like they are going to get stuffed with even more pop culture history.

    The late Paul Allen is known for cofounding Microsoft and the Museum of Pop Culture. MoPOP has an impressive lineup of treasures. Turns out, Allen had a secret stash. That's how KUOW's Mike Davis puts it. Allen's estate appears to be doing a little house cleaning, and in turn, it is donating more than 4,000 items to MoPOP. The long list includes an alien suit from the movie "Alien," a script from a 1965 episode of "Star Trek," and the jacket Prince wore in the movie "Purple Rain." Then there is Jimi Hendrix's acoustic guitar, and a guitar that was smashed by Nirvana's Kurt Cobain.

    So I guess I'll be going back to MoPOP. Read more here.

    There's a new idea that Washington's lawmakers are playing around with that could help add more needed housing to the region, and hopefully bring costs down — condos.

    OK, that's not exactly a "new idea," but the approach to condos in Washington state is getting a little bit of a remodel. Condos can be great for developers to build, cost wise. They have different rules around how property can be used. But for a few decades, barely anybody has wanted to build condos in Washington, largely because of the massive insurance cost required to build them. In the 1980s and 1990s, there were a range of lawsuits after a string of poorly constructed condos were made. That drove the insurance up on this type of housing.

    That got Democrat State Senator Sharon Shewmak thinking. Her new bill gives developers a right to return to a project and fix issues before lawsuits come into play. It's an idea that got Republican State Senator Chris Gildon to sign on in support. The goal is to open up more of this type of housing in Washington, and hopefully create more first-time homebuyer opportunities. But not everybody is so keen on this approach. Read more here.

    There have been more fires in Western Washington this year, keeping firefighters busy. The State Dept. of Natural Resources is concerned that conditions will only get worse in August.

    Wildfires are spreading in Washington and Oregon right now. Northwest News Network notes that the Newell Road Fire in southern Washington has burned more acres than any single fire did in all of 2022 — 56,143 as of Tuesday. The fire started the way most do in our state — people.

    Continue reading »

  • Swifties shake up Seattle — literally

    The ground under Seattle shook to the beat of Taylor Swift last weekend, as thousands of fans crowded into Lumen Field, and bounced to every beat.

    Chatter erupted on a local Northwest earthquake Facebook group July 22 as the concert was underway. Local seismic experts were watching activity in the city, and some noticed that the massive waves seemed to follow a pattern, almost as if they were set to music.

    RELATED: King County declares Taylor Swift Week

    Western Washington University Professor Jackie Caplan-Auerbach looked further into the data on July 22 and July 23 and found seismic waves at Lumen Field followed a clear rhythm.

    In fact, she lined up the waves from Saturday and Sunday evening and found that they were nearly identical, and likely followed Swift's set, after the doors opened and the show began.

    "Again you can see that they are very similar (the ground moves up and down in the same way), but the timing isn't exactly the same — again, this would be pretty normal since the concert wouldn't be expected to progress identically, even with the same music," Caplan-Auerbach wrote in a post on Facebook.

    Continue reading »

  • Two teenagers arrested in Seattle sex trafficking case on Aurora Ave


    Seattle Police on Thursday arrested two teenagers, 19 and 17, after they found an 18-year-old woman allegedly being held against her will in the Mount Baker neighborhood.

    The victim's father called police at 9 p.m. and said his daughter was being held captive in the 2500 block of 19th Avenue South, according to police. When police arrived they found her, detained the two suspects, and recovered fentanyl pills and a gun.

    The two suspects face promoting prostitution and unlawful possession of a firearm charges. Additionally, the 17-year-old was charged with kidnapping.

    According to charging documents:

    The victim told police that she came to Seattle after another victim in her home state of Texas told her that “she could make a lot of money” if she danced in clubs around the time of the MLB All-Star baseball games. Once she arrived, her father told police her communication diminished.

    In Seattle, the victim was trafficked and “passed between several pimps,” including one who went by the nickname of Lexo. While working for Lexo, the victim became friends with another woman, labeled as CT in court records, who introduced her to the two suspects on July 6.

    On her first day working for the 17-year-old suspect, the victim said he asked to see how much money she made. When she showed him her $175 profit, he took it and left the room. From then on, the victim “felt that Tucker’s cut meant that he took it all.” When she had a date, she would text him a trophy emoji.

    On Aurora Avenue one night, while standing outside the Seattle Inn, Lexo pulled up and punched the victim in the face — giving her a busted lip and bloody nose, she said. She called the two suspects, and they emerged from the parking lot with guns in their hands, she said, searching for Lexo. Lexo had already fled. The victim said the two suspects refused to get her medical care.

    Every day the two suspects would transport the victim and CT up to Aurora Avenue for work.

    The victim expressed fear of being hurt by Lexo again, if he saw her on Aurora Avenue.

    Continue reading »

  • Paul Allen’s secret stash: 4K new pop culture treasures coming to MoPOP

    What do Darth Vader’s helmet, an annotated Star Trek script from 1965, and the alien creature suit from the film "Alien" have in common?

    Those are just three of the items pop-culture enthusiast, and Microsoft cofounder, Paul Allen collected over the years. Now, his estate is donating them to the Museum of Pop Culture, aka MoPOP.

    The late Paul G. Allen was also cofounder of MoPOP and an avid collector of art and pop culture memorabilia. This most recent donation of artifacts to the museum by Allen’s estate includes over 4,000 pieces.

    “There's the 1951 Epiphone FT 79 acoustic guitar owned by Jimi Hendrix,” said Michele Y. Smith, CEO of MoPOP. “And we have heard that this is where he would work out all of his tunes.”

    Smith gave a sneak peak into some of the rare items in this collection that have never been on public exhibit before.

    “We also have some things from Prince, from 'Purple Rain' from when he was riding the bike and some of his costumes,” Smith said, mentioning the jacket Prince wore in the 1984 film.

    Continue reading »

  • This goes beyond mere shoplifting: Today So Far
    • Retail theft in Seattle is highly organized and strikes some corners of the city more than others.
    • Have you looked into the other big election in Seattle?

    This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for July 26, 2023.

    Quick hits

    Seattle isn't facing a rising trend of mere shoplifting. The city's shops and stores are under constant attack from organized retail theft rings that operate in a massive underground supply chain.

    That basically sums up a report from Seattle's City Auditor's Office that looks into the recent rise of organized retail theft. In a nutshell, there are fences and boosters. Fences are like the managers. They look at the market to find what buyers want. Fences give a list to boosters. On that list are items for them to steal from stores. Once the goods are acquired, the fences pay the boosters, then turn around and sell the merch, most likely online.

    “One of the things that we learned is that a bottle of perfume may be stolen in North Seattle and within 24 hours, it is on a shipping container destined for sale overseas,” researcher Claudia Shader recently told the City Council's Public Safety and Human Services Committee.

    According to the report, Rainier Valley Square has been hit the hardest by this type of organized theft. That's where Seattle police have been called the most in recent years. Westwood Village Shopping Center in southwest Seattle comes in second, followed by the Northgate Target, the Northgate Shopping Center, and the Target at Westwood Village to round out the top five.

    The city's auditor says Seattle could be doing more to counter this type of crime, such as using video instead of calling police officers to every incident. Read the full story, and see other shopping areas that are hit hard by this, here.

    A lot of attention is on the Seattle City Council this election season, which is understandable since seven of the nine seats are up for grabs this time. But there's another election in town that has a decent share of seats up for a vote — the Seattle School Board.

    KUOW's Sami West has done a great job rounding up all the candidates in three school board races. There are 10 total candidates running across Districts 1, 3, and 6. Seattle Public Schools has a lot of challenges right now. The district recently handled a $131 million budget gap. Students are still recovering from pandemic-era schooling. And the shooting at Ingraham High School is also a topic that has emerged for this school board election.

    If you're voting (and why wouldn't you?), check out how these candidates approached the top issues facing Seattle schools.

    Continue reading »