Week in Review: fire, heat, and high-speed trains

Bill Radke discusses the week’s news with Seattle Times Patrick Malone, Wild West newsletter author Eli Sanders, and KUOW’s Mike Davis.

Since 2018, drowning deaths have nearly doubled. In King County, Black residents are two and a half times more likely to drown than white residents. Reasons for this include a lack of access to pools with certified lifeguards and swimming lessons. King County averaged 18 drowning-related deaths per year from 2014 to 2018. In 2020, there were 33. What’s being done about it?

The Pacific Northwest has seen a huge uptick in forest fires. The Forest Service reported 197 fires in 2022, compared to just 86 in 2020. And it is reported that roughly 90% of forest fires are caused by humans. Why haven’t we become more careful?

Washington state had the biggest increase in overdoses of any state, according to the CDC. There were just under 3,000 reported overdoses in March, a 25% jump compared to a year ago. The CDC says we probably report overdoses more than some other states, but that can't account for all of the increase. Meanwhile, the Seattle City Council did not pass a new drug possession law before leaving on their two-week August recess. What is the hold-up?

This week, WA's Democratic members of Congress asked the Biden admin for about $200 million to plan a 250-mph bullet train between Vancouver, Canada and Portland. This would make it a one-hour trip from Seattle to Vancouver and Seattle to Portland, depending on how many stops it makes along the way. It would be 15 minutes to Seattle from Tacoma. Initially it would cost $348 million for a study that would provide technical and advisory details. Not engineering designs. Not even an environmental-impact statement. How does that cost $348 million? Construction may cost $63 billion.

The Seattle Department of Transportation announced Monday that three new traffic cameras will be added to new locations in Seattle. The cameras will be looking for people driving in restricted bus lanes or blocking intersections. The three cameras will be installed in September. Tickets will be $75 after a one-time warning. Will this result in fewer blocked intersections?

The SE Network Safety Net community outreach team that suffered a shooting in Rainier Beach a few weeks ago is still at work at that Safeway parking lot, which is such a community gathering spot. What should we know about the safe passage program?