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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Tech industry is shedding employees in the NW: Today So Far
Northwest tech companies are laying off workers, or putting a freeze on hiring. It's an industry trend that has some folks concerned, especially as the word "recession" creeps further into speculation over the next year.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for November 14, 2022.
If you can think of a tech company in the Northwest, chances are they are looking at laying off employees or implementing a hiring freeze. It's an industry trend that has some folks concerned in the region, especially as the word "recession" creeps further into speculation over the next year.
State labor economist Paul Turek tells Northwest News Network's Tom Banse that the market still favors job seekers, especially in the tech sector, though he does admit that the job market is "exceptionally tight."
"Job openings have crested, beginning to come down a bit, no longer at the highs, but they're still at a historically high level," Turek said.
Redfin is cutting 13% of its staff. Thanks to some Elon Musk switch ups, Twitter is cutting about 200 jobs locally. Meta, Facebook's parent company, is also cutting 13% of staff companywide, which is about 11,000 employees.
Amazon previously said it would simply hold off on hiring, but the New York Times reported this morning that the company plans to layoff 10,000 employees across its corporate and technology divisions. It's the largest such job cut Amazon has ever made.
Microsoft has also said it is in a holding pattern. As New York Times Technology Reporter Karen Weise tells Seattle Now, the company is in "stasis."
"Microsoft said that they expect to have a flat headcount in this current quarter, Amazon has this hiring freeze ... but they're still really big, substantial parts of the U.S. economy, the global economy, and certainly of our region's economy," Weise said.
Weise adds that, "These companies are much bigger than when they started the pandemic. Amazon basically doubled in size in two years, for example, Microsoft has grown substantially."
Now it seems these large companies are being more careful and are watching where they spend their money. They're even pulling back on recruiters, the people tasked with finding employees to fill jobs. Microsoft, for example, has started cutting back on products that aren't as profitable. It also stopped hiring for certain departments, starting with retail, but Weise says that hiring freeze has expanded.
"What's notable about that is that it includes some of the key growth engines for the company," Weise said. "For example, cloud computing, which is much more lucrative than the retail industry. Advertising is another highly profitable part of their business that would also fall under this broad umbrella."
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Still a chance to restore grizzly bears in Washington state
There’s still a chance to restore grizzly bears in Washington’s North Cascades.
The National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced the reopening considerations for how to help grizzly bears in the region.
“This is a first step toward bringing balance back to the ecosystem and restoring a piece of the Pacific Northwest’s natural and cultural heritage,” said Superintendent Don Striker of North Cascades National Park in a statement. “With the public’s help we will evaluate a list of options to determine the best path forward.”
This is a second look at bringing more grizzly bears into Washington state. It comes after federal officials abruptly ended a similar review in 2020. That review had been in the works for five years, deeply dividing many ranchers and wildlife advocates.
Biologists say Washington’s grizzly bear population won’t survive without some help. Grizzly bears are endangered in Washington state.
Biologists say there may only be a handful of grizzly bears left in Washington’s North Cascades ecosystem, which is cut off from other grizzly bear habitat. The last sighting of a grizzly in the region was in 1996.
According to the National Parks Service, grizzly bears are an essential part of the North Cascades ecosystem. The bears help keep other wildlife populations in check. Grizzlies also spread nutrients throughout their habitat.
This new review process of potential environmental impacts to bringing grizzlies to the region will include an option that would give local land managers more control over managing the bears.
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Job market 'exceptionally tight' as NW tech workers face layoffs, hiring freezes
Some of the biggest names in the Northwest's tech industry are either laying off employers, or implementing hiring freezes, for thousands of workers.
"Anything that goes on with the tech industry certainly catches our eye," given its size and economic importance to the state, said labor economist Paul Turek at the Washington Employment Security Department in Olympia. "We're starting to see them tighten up the hatches a little bit."
RELATED: Tech industry is shedding employees in the NW
Turek said he is not too worried for the affected workers right now, however, because the labor market still favors jobseekers.
"Job openings have crested, beginning to come down a bit, no longer at the highs, but they're still at a historically high level," Turek said.
Turek notes that the labor market remains "exceptionally tight." He expects that to change, but only slowly, as businesses show increasing caution about a possible recession next year.
The list of tech companies warning of impending layoffs, or actually issuing pink slips, includes some of the biggest Northwest employers in that sector, such as Facebook, Redfin, Twitter, Intel, and Microsoft. Amazon plans to layoff 10,000 workers soon, according to the New York Times. It's the largest employee cut back in the company's history.
The last two monthly jobs reports issued by the state employment department showed employers in Washington continued to add jobs overall, but at a slowing pace. On a seasonally adjusted basis, employment rose by 1,500 jobs in September, coming on the heels of a robust gain of 21,700 jobs in August.
The agency pegged the statewide unemployment rate at a steady 3.7% for September. The jobless rate for the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett metro area was even lower at 2.7%. The October update on joblessness in Washington will come out on Wednesday Nov. 16.
"It looks really good there relative to some other indicators about where the economy may be heading," Turek said.
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Dolly Parton gets $100 million from Jeff Bezos to spend on charity
Dolly Parton has famously used her success to help others, especially in areas of literacy and education. She just got a huge boost in those efforts: a $100 million gift from billionaire Jeff Bezos.
"Did you say a hundred million?!" Parton said after Bezos announced the gift over the weekend.
Parton can use the money to support any charitable cause she chooses, similar to the deal Bezos made last year when he gave $100 million each to humanitarian chef José Andrés and activist/pundit Van Jones.
"I try to put my money where my heart is," Parton said of receiving the Courage and Civility award. "I will do my best to do good things with this money."
Parton's ongoing charitable projects include the Imagination Library, a popular literacy effort that is now closing in on sending its 200 millionth free book to young children in five countries.
After receiving last year's award, Andrés committed half of the money to seed the Climate Disaster Fund, amplifying its existing efforts to help communities cope with life-threatening conditions. His group also rushed to provide hot meals for Ukrainians after Russia's wide-scale invasion.
Unlike Andrés, Jones was not operating a global-scale charity when he was chosen for the Bezos award. In an update on his plans for the money earlier this year, Jones said that while he knows many nonprofits could sorely use part of the $100 million, he has assembled a team to look for strategies that could have long-lasting benefits for people in struggling Black, brown and poor communities.
"Fortunately, I can take time to be strategic and deliberate about this process," Jones said. "Bezos has given award recipients 10 years to disburse the funds."
Unlike last year's award, Bezos did not announce his largesse just after returning from space — a juxtaposition that immediately raised questions about his commitment to helping others. [Copyright 2022 NPR]
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‘Yes’ vote for Seattle election reform now leading
The latest King County ballot count shows the "yes" vote prevailing on a measure that would change the way the city of Seattle elects its leaders. Among the options, ranked choice voting has inched into in the lead.
On Saturday, for the first time since election night, the "yes" vote narrowly overtook the "no" vote 50.35 % to 49.65 %. That's about .7% difference among more than a quarter million votes that have been counted so far.
The measure asked Seattle voters if they approve of making changes to the city's primary elections. They were also asked if they preferred Proposition 1A, which would enact a system called "approval voting," or Proposition 1B, which would enact "ranked choice voting."
Proposition 1B (ranked choice voting) is currently winning with 75.42% of the vote to 24.58% for Proposition 1A.
Ranked choice voting is currently used in local elections in more than 20 cities and in two states, Maine and Alaska. It allows voters to rank their top candidates from most to least favorite. After the first count, the lowest performing candidate is eliminated. Voters who chose that candidate would have their second choice counted. Counting would continue through multiple cycles.
RELATED: The promises and pitfalls of ranked choice voting
Proposition 1B’s main financial backer is FairVote Action, a Maryland-based group that contributed $390,000 to the campaign. This year the group also advocated for ranked choice voting reform in Clark and San Juan counties in Washington, but both of those efforts are failing. According to FairVote Action, ranked choice voting measures have succeeded in seven other jurisdictions, including neighboring Portland and Multnomah County, Oregon, and in Nevada, which will become the largest state to use the voting system.
Proposition 1B was put on the ballot by vote of the Seattle City Council. The competing measure, Proposition 1A, would also have allowed voters to choose more than one candidate during primary elections for Seattle mayor, city council, and city attorney. But in the so-called approval voting system, each vote is weighed equally, and the top two vote-getters move on to the general election.
Supporters argued that approval voting is a simpler system than ranked choice voting. It is only used in two municipalities, currently — St. Louis, Missouri, and Fargo, North Dakota.
Proposition 1A was put on the ballot by an initiative petition signed by voters. Its main funder was the Center for Election Science, a national group which donated $313,012 to the campaign.
Supporters of both measures claim they would improve how elections are conducted. They would give voters more choices and would encourage candidates to compete more widely for votes.
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Kim Schrier wins third term in WA-08
The Associated Press called the race Thursday evening.
Democratic Congresswoman Kim Schrier secured re-election in Washington's 8th District, according to a race call Thursday by the Associated Press.
Schrier currently has nearly 11,000 votes over her opponent, Republican Matt Larkin.
"I'm just delighted," Schrier told KUOW by phone, shortly after learning of her win.
She said one of her top priorities for her third term in D.C. is safeguarding women's health care.
But first, she plans to take a victory tour of her district.
"I just had ice cream with my family...I cannot wait to get back out on the road in the district with all my favorite eating and celebrating spots along the way," Schrier said.
The sprawling 8th District, which includes part of King County, straddles the Cascade Mountains. Back in 2018, Schrier flipped the district from Republican to Democrat for the first time in its history.
Analysts had predicted this election season could see a massive wave of Republican wins across the country, and Schrier's race was forecast as one of the tightest. But that so-called "red wave" did not materialize. And Schrier maintained a lead of at least 4 percentage points over her opponent as ballot counting progressed in Washington state this week.
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MAGA Republican Joe Kent spreads election conspiracy theories during ballot count
In Southwest Washington's 3rd Congressional District, MAGA Republican Joe Kent is locked in a tight race against Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.
Earlier, Kent said he would accept the results, even though he falsely claims without evidence that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.
But now he's spreading election conspiracy theories about his own race.
Kent went on the "War Room" podcast Thursday with former Trump advisor and conspiracy theorist Steve Bannon, who asked why the ballot count is taking so long in the race.
Kent claimed without evidence that it's because election officials are up to no good.
“Best case, they're just trying to demoralize us. Worst case, there's some sleight of hand going on behind the scenes,” Kent said.
But, as Washington voters have known for years, it's perfectly normal for ballot counting here to take a while. Our state's mail-in system allows ballots to be postmarked on Election Day, and they can take days to trickle in.
This story also has some irony to it. Kent himself may have helped gum up the works. He told his supporters to only vote in person on the last day to avoid supposed election fraud, which again, he had no evidence for.
Carolyn Fundingsland, an auditor in the 3rd District’s heavily Republican Cowlitz County, said her office was swamped this year by in-person voting, even though overall voter turnout is down compared to the last midterm in 2018.
“We had to pull all of those staff to the front line to help all of those people who were waiting in line for a replacement ballot, when they were issued a mail ballot,” she said.
According to Fundingsland, her office couldn't process any ballots while skilled staff were helping voters.
“That's why we're seeing a backlog of ballots right now,” she said.
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What would you rather spend election dollars on?: Today So Far
A lot of money was just spent on campaigns in Washington. What would you spend money on instead of those campaign ads we all just had to suffer through?
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for November 10, 2022.
Smiley's campaign, roughly, falls in the middle of the pack of Murray contenders. Smiley's 43% of the vote (as of this morning) is in the territory of George Nethercutt's results in 2004 and Linda Smith's results in 1998. With 48% of the vote in 2010, Dino Rossi carved away the most votes of any candidate going up against Murray. Despite all that, Smiley certainly gave Murray a run for her money this time around.
The Murray/Smiley election is going down in history as the most expensive race in Washington state history. Murray spent about $20 million on her campaign, and Smiley spent more than $14 million. Together, that money could have purchased nearly enough Dick's Deluxe burgers to feed all of Washington state (yep, I did the math). And I'm not talking about the basic cheeseburgers or even the specials — these are the top-of-the-menu Deluxe burgers. If you minus all the vegans and, say, Sammamish, I think there'd be enough to go around the state. It certainly would be better for our region than all those campaign ads we just suffered through.
That money could also pay for 68 million games of Safe Cracker at Shorty's. It's more than enough to buy out the Tacoma Dome to see Snoop Dogg in December, or all three days of Monster Jam in January. I didn't calculate this, but I'm assuming that $34 million could also cover rent for a few months at an apartment in Seattle ... for like a studio ... if you have a roommate.
Election news is going to continue to trickle in, so keep up with KUOW's election coverage here.
Other elections remain up in the air around Washington.
Over in the 3rd Congressional District, Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez has 52% of the vote, leading Republican Joe Kent with 47%. OPB reports that there are about 80,000 more ballots left to be counted, and the two candidates are only about 11,000 votes apart at this point.
Roughly 11,000 votes are also separating Democrat Kim Schrier and Republican Matt Larkin in Washington's 8th Congressional District. Schrier has 52% and Larkin has 47%.
Things remain tight in the race for the 42nd Legislative District which borders Canada. Republican Simon Sefzik was appointed to take over for state Sen. Doug Erickson after Erickson lost his battle with Covid. Sefzik is running to keep the job, but is trailing Democrat Sharon Shewmake by less than 1,000 votes.
Remember that candidate who misrepresented his military record (and we all found out because his father pointed this information out to his opposition)? It seems that family drama and that military mix up hasn't hurt Democrat Clyde Shavers too much in the race for Legislative District 10. Shavers has 53% of the vote. His rival, Republican Greg Gilday, has 47%. They are separated by about 2,500 votes.
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King County officials will get shorter terms next election cycle
Voters have determined that those elected to 12 King County positions will serve shorter terms in the next election cycle.
It's a trade-off required by Charter Amendment 1, which moves all King County races from odd years to even years.
Proponents of Amendment 1 say it's a move that's better for democracy and argue that voter turnout is always much higher in even years. Presidential elections are also on even years. With more people voting, the aim is to have more people deciding who the county executive and council members are.
"We want the most people to vote and the voters just made one really big step to take us further in that direction by agreeing that these positions should be voted on by a much larger electorate," said King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci, a supporter of Amendment 1.
As of Nov. 9, Charter Amendment 1 was passing with 70% of the vote.
The race for King County executive, assessor, elections director and county council will move to even years in 2026. They are four-year terms, but in the next cycle will be shortened to three to allow for the date change.
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Stark federal report: climate chaos is here, with worse to come
A stark new federal report says our changing climate threatens the things Americans value most. In the Northwest, that includes everything from our homes, forests, and snowpack, to our physical and mental health.
The fifth National Climate Assessment, released for public comment on Monday, states that people in the Northwest and nationwide are feeling the effects of climate change in their everyday lives.
These changes are already hurting the region’s most vulnerable people. They’re expected to accelerate and bump into each other as our climate keeps heating up.
A record-smashing 2021 heatwave killed an estimated 1,200 people in British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington, while a less-extreme 2022 heatwave killed at least 20 people in Oregon and Washington, according to preliminary coroner’s reports.
Heatwaves kill more Americans annually than any other type of weather disaster.
“Climate impacts are happening now,” said University of Washington Climate Impacts Group scientist Crystal Raymond, one of the coauthors of the assessment’s Northwest chapter. “More wildfire, combined with more extreme precipitation means there's a greater potential for erosions, landslides, mudslides.”
The report is the latest in a long line of scientific efforts to warn the public of the impending climate disaster. It’s a tough read if you have kids or care about the future.
“More intense extreme events and long-term climate changes make it harder to maintain safe homes and healthy families, reliable public services, a sustainable economy, thriving ecosystems, and strong communities,” it states.
The Northwest can expect increasing drought, heatwaves, and smoke in the summer and more intense rainfall and flooding the rest of the year.
But efforts to end fossil-fuel pollution as soon as possible can limit how much hotter our future gets.
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Tiffany Smiley concedes to Patty Murray in race for Senate
Republican Tiffany Smiley has conceded to Democrat Patty Murray in Washington's race for the U.S. Senate.
Smiley made the announcement via Twitter, Wednesday evening, Nov. 9, a day after initial election results came in.
"This race was never about me – it was about the amazing people of this state and I will never stop fighting and advocating for them," Smiley said.
RELATED: Washington Democrat Patty Murray wins in Senate race after first ballot count
As of the morning of Thursday, Nov. 10, Sen. Murray had 57% of the vote to Smiley's 43%. The race between Murray and Smiley is being noted as the most expensive Senate race in state history, with Murray spending $20 million and Smiley spending $14 million.
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Teenager accused of Ingraham High School shooting could face murder charge
The teenager who allegedly shot and killed a person at Ingraham had their first court hearing on Wednesday. Another suspect, also a teen, is accused of assisting in the crime.
Judge Averil Rothrock of the King County Juvenile Court ruled prosecutors had probable cause to charge the 14-year-old shooting suspect with three offenses: unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree, unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon at a school facility, and murder in the first degree.
Seattle Police say the teenager shot and killed a person at Ingraham High School on Tuesday morning. The suspected shooter and another teenager were arrested together an hour after the attack at a nearby bus stop.
Casey McNerthney from the King County Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday’s shooting was a targeted attack.
"Based on what we have so far from Seattle Police investigators, and this case is still ongoing, we believe that there was probable cause for first-degree murder, which is premeditated,” McNerthney said after the hearing.
The second teenager, a 15-year-old, could face two charges: unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree and rendering criminal assistance in the first degree.
Prosecutors said police found a semi-automatic gun in the 15-year-old’s backpack. Shell casings recovered in the school match the caliber of the gun in the backpack, according to police. An empty ammunition magazine was also found with the gun, police say.
The teenager accused of the shooting waived their right to appear in the first court hearing.
The other suspect, however, did appear in court-issued sweats and slippers. His parents were also present and addressed the judge when given the opportunity.
“He’s never been in trouble, he’s just a kid,” the mother said.
“This is not like him at all,” the father added.
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