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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Seattle and Spokane are slated to get 25 electric school buses each
Federal funding is coming to 16 Washington state school districts to help pay for a total of 111 electric or propane-powered school buses.
Seattle is slated to get 25 zero- or low-emission school buses, and another 25 will be rolling into Spokane now that federal funding for cleaner buses has opened to school districts across the United States.
RELATED: This transit agency could be the first in the Northwest to use hydrogen-powered buses
A total of 16 school districts in Washington will get a share of $24 million in federal funding, dedicated to nixing diesel-powered buses and replacing them with cleaner versions. The money will ultimately pay for 111 clean buses across the state — most will be electric, and some will be powered by propane.
The money comes from the Clean School Bus program that was woven into 2021's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D–Wash) is credited with pushing the program through.
“Clean school buses are a huge improvement over diesel buses — they’re better for the environment, better for public health, they save school districts money on fuel, and we’re building them here in America — which is why I worked so hard to get my bill passed as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law," Sen. Murray said in a statement. "Soon, kids from Seattle to Spokane will be riding to school in clean buses and breathing in cleaner air as a result. This is a big win for our kids, our environment, and our economy — and I’m proud to have helped make it happen.”
The electric / propane bus funding was first announced in 2022, when Sen. Murray and Vice President Kamala Harris held an event in Seattle to showcase electric buses. Grants for electric buses were also given in 2022 and 2023.
RELATED: Fire trucks are going electric, too. Portland and Redmond, WA, getting there first
For 2024, it was recently announced that 16 schools districts in the state will benefit from the federal money in the form of "rebate funding."
Seattle and Spokane will be getting $7.8 million in rebate funding, and $9.1 million respectively, to purchase electric buses. Other districts, such as Snohomish and Mount Vernon, will put the money toward the purchase of propane buses.
RELATED: A lot more electric buses are coming to Western Washington roads
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Free Amtrak for kids in Washington state – funded by big polluters
Young passengers can travel free on Amtrak trains and buses between Bellingham and Vancouver, Washington, thanks to fees paid by major polluters in the state.
Amtrak Cascades service within Washington state is now free to anyone 18 years old or younger. Reservations must be made in advance, and passengers below the age of 16 must travel with an adult, who has to pay the regular adult fare.
With the addition of Amtrak Cascades discounts, youth can now travel free on trains, ferries, buses, and light rail. Of 31 local transit agencies in Washington, only Selah Transit in Yakima County is not providing free service for youths.
Youth fares remain unchanged on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight and Empire Builder routes.
Washington State Department of Transportation spokesperson Janet Matkin said the free Amtrak Cascades fares are expected to cost about $1 million a year.
“Train travel is significantly better for the environment than driving,” Matkin said by email.
State-run auction of permits to emit carbon dioxide and other climate-harming gases have raised more than $2 billion since February 2023. Most of the proceeds are going to projects aimed at reducing pollution or helping communities weather the impacts of fossil fuel burning.
Since 2023, climate-harming emissions from major polluters have been limited under Washington state’s cap-and-trade policy. Some industries get their pollution allowances for free, while other polluters have to compete for a limited number of permits to keep harming the climate.
Which businesses have actually paid to pollute is a state secret.
To prevent market manipulation, the cap-and-trade law, known as the Climate Commitment Act, prohibits auction participants from disclosing their bids or even whether they participated in the quarterly auctions. The Washington Department of Ecology only releases the names of businesses that are qualified to bid for the carbon allowances. In the latest auction in March, 39 businesses, including oil, gas, and utility companies, were qualified.
Opponents of the carbon cap argue that it has driven up gasoline prices and are seeking to repeal the policy through a ballot initiative in November.
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Skip the clam digging. Washington coastline off limits to shellfish harvest, for now
If you’re planning to head out to the beach this weekend for some clam digging, you’ll need to ditch the harvesting part. That’s because shellfish harvesting is off limits for now, as health officials have closed Washington coasts and bays due to high levels of biotoxins.
“This is very serious,” said Jerry Borchert, who manages the marine biotoxin program for the Department of Health. “Things are still changing quickly as we get more samples in our lab.”
Borchert and his team are working overtime to deal with samples coming in, including those from commercial growers. Right now, they’re most concerned about the coastal areas of Willapa Bay along with Grays Harbor.
Borchert says the high biotoxin levels are a result of warmer temperatures, creating the right conditions for this kind of toxic bloom, and for the type of plankton that produces paralytic shellfish poison.
“And the shellfish are really good at filtering them out of the water," Borchert said. "So if you have a lot of these cells, the shellfish then becomes toxic.”
Borchert notes this is one of the earliest closures in a long time. Longer, warmer days has helped expand toxic algae’s growing season, requiring earlier harvest closures than usual.
Borchert also recommends throwing away shellfish harvested during Memorial Day weekend. Cooking shellfish does not remove the toxins.
The Department of Health said two Washington residents are reportedly ill from shellfish harvested in Oregon. Currently there are no reports of any illness stemming from harvests here.
Oregon closed its entire coastline to mussel harvesting last Saturday. Twenty people there became ill with paralytic shellfish poisoning.
Correction notice, Monday, 6/3/2024: A previous version of this article mentioned Oregon's closure affecting shellfish harvesting. It has been corrected to reflect the closure affects mussel harvesting only.
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Demotion costs Seattle’s ex-police chief his title at national police org
Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz was demoted this week. Mayor Bruce Harrell made the change, citing a “distracting” amount of litigation by SPD officers and the need for an outside investigation to proceed unimpeded. Now, Diaz has lost another title as well.
He is no longer listed as the president of the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit think tank focused on improving law enforcement through research and policy development. Diaz was elected president of the group’s all-volunteer board by his fellow chiefs across the country. But now the group’s website contains a blank space where his name would have been.
PERF Executive Director Chuck Wexler told KUOW in an email, “You need to be a police chief to be a member of the Board of Directors of PERF. Since [Diaz] is no longer a chief he is automatically no longer eligible to be president. He wasn’t removed but rather does not meet the criteria any longer. So the position is vacant and there will need to be an election to fill his position.”
Wexler said Diaz was elected to replace Baltimore Police Commissioner Mike Harrison and served about a year. (The organization’s vice president also recently retired.) Wexler oversees PERF’s day-to-day operations and research.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said Diaz will continue with SPD but his rank, role, and salary aren’t clear. The Seattle Police Department and Diaz himself are the target of legal claims and lawsuits by seven different officers and members of his command staff. They have filed claims of race and gender discrimination, retaliation, and harassment. Last month SPD responded that the tort claim by four female officers reflected “perceptions of victimhood that are unsupported.”
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Did you pay your fare? Inspections start Monday at Sound Transit stations
Starting Monday, Sound Transit fare ambassadors will begin checking passengers for proof of payment on some Link station platforms.
This adds to the current fare checks that take place on Link and Sounder trains.
The new process will rollout at downtown Seattle stations, with inspections only occurring on the 1 line in the first phase.
Eventually, the approach will be expanded to other areas, according to Sound Transit spokesperson John Gallagher.
“The goal of this is really to educate our riders about our fare system,” Gallagher said. “Fares are an important part of our revenue and how we continue to operate the system,” he said.
Inspections will occur in designated fare-paid areas.
Gallagher said there will be yellow markings to indicate which areas are fare-paid zones at stations. The assumption is that people entering those areas have a ticket.
Gallagher said the new process is designed to help passengers avoid citations or possible fines, and instead buy a ticket or access services.
"If you don't have one, if you're on the platform, you can go right upstairs and, you know, buy a ticket and you're taken care of. If you say, 'I don't have the money for a fare,' you can get information about ORCA LIFT, which is for people with low income. It's a dollar a ride,” he said.
Sound Transit’s current enforcement system allows people to have multiple citations before facing fines for non-payment of fares.
The organization overhauled their approach several years ago after equity concerns. Data showed Black riders were facing fines and consequences like misdemeanors far more often, according to Seattle Times reporting.
The first phase of fare checks in stations will run through August. Sound Transit will collect passenger feedback about the process through an online survey.
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Atmospheric river to strike Western Washington with major rain ... in June?
Significant rain is forecast for Western Washington on the first day of June 2024, thanks to an atmospheric river that will drench the region for several days. But wait ... an atmospheric river? Don't those usually show up in the fall?
"Usually, we don't see these going into the end of May and the beginning of June," Meteorologist Trent Davis with the National Weather Service in Seattle told KUOW. "So that's kind of the drastic thing about this one."
"I don't know if there's a distinct season for these, but usually by the time we get into June, we're starting to dry out a little bit. So having this much rainfall of several inches into June ... it is a bit unusual to get this much rainfall."
RELATED: How warm will Washington state get during summer 2024?
The Northwest is familiar with the atmospheric river phenomenon that dumps inches of rain on the region. Tropical areas deep in the the Pacific Ocean send strong moisture into the atmosphere, which then travels to the Northwest.
"Everyone's gonna see a good dosing of rain across Western Washington," Davis said.
- Rain is expected to dump on Washington Sunday evening through Tuesday afternoon. Most of the rain will come Sunday night into Monday morning.
- Seattle-metro area could see up to 1.5 inches.
- King, Snohomish, and Skagit counties could get between 2-4 inches.
- Expect the highest rainfall in the Olympic and Cascade mountains. Higher peaks could see more rain, which will lead to heavy runoff in rivers.
- Major river flooding is not expected, though the Snohomish and Skykomish rivers will be flowing quite full. Davis adds that the Snoqualmie River at Carnation could reach a minor flood stage.
Davis said some precipitation may linger in areas through Wednesday or Thursday, but the sun will show up by Friday. Above normal temps could follow.
"We are looking at a drier pattern coming up," Davis said. "It looks like a little bit warmer and drier weather late next week into the weekend, with some of the long-range forecasts suggesting that a really strong high pressure is going to build in. So in a way, I think it looks like it's kind of balancing out."
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The Red Chador and 'the fabulousness of being a Muslim woman'
There's an exhibit at the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park called "Hybrid Skin, Mythical Presence." It's a retrospective of the work of Tacoma-based, Cambodian American performance artist Anida Yoeu Ali.
One of the stars of the show, in addition to “The Buddhist Bug,” is the internationally known “Red Chador,” a being completely covered from head to toe. We'll have a chance to see her as she walks the streets of Seattle this weekend. KUOW’s Kim Malcolm met with Ali at SAAM to discuss her work.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Kim Malcolm: Tell me about The Red Chador and how she came to be.
Anida Yoeu Ali: I was given a commission to be in Paris in 2015. A lot of that informed me conceiving The Red Chador. It's the rise of Islamophobia, the rise of misogyny, It's also being in Paris and knowing that the burqa was banned. I wanted to occupy that space and confront the French public with that image.
The other thing I was thinking about is really joy, the celebration of joy and the vibrancy of women, Muslim women in particular, that I knew, that I grew up with, and that I'm surrounded with, that are not oppressed, that are not treated with fearful stereotypes. I was thinking about the question of, if an orthodox Muslim woman wanted to go to her prom, could she wear a fabulous outfit like a red sequined chador?
It's fully sequined. I just want to say you are completely leaning into the fabulousness there, and clearly that was a choice you made.
That was definitely a choice because when you think about evening gowns, and when you think about prom outfits, you clearly think of sequined garments. That was why I selected the red sequins, for the representation of red being life, and love, and blood, and lust, all these things that red reminds us of. But also it's the sparklingness, it's the shininess. How could you not smile when you're coming across this beautiful garment as the sunlight hits it in a certain way? She is sparkling, she is shiny, she is not somebody to fear. Let her have her moment. Let her have her dance.
As a Muslim woman, I am most definitely claiming joy. But I'm also claiming complexities, like complexity of being, complexity of existing. There are many people who don't even think of me as an Asian person as being from a Muslim country, or being Muslim for generations and generations. That's also a problem that I come across, which is whether or not I'm “Muslim enough.” I think that's a dangerous way of looking at identity and not seeing and not allowing Muslim people and Muslim women to have a complexity, almost pigeonholing us in a certain way. I'm resisting that.
You go to any congregational prayer, especially during Ramadan, and for Eid, and you see the most fabulous fashion show unfold in front of your eyes. Women go into the women's section of prayer to see all of those dazzling, fabulous, highly embroidered, ostentatious gowns that other Muslim women wear, specifically during Ramadan. And so, I am reminding all of us that we have this in all of our specific cultures. Even with the layers of Islam, we are always celebrating the colors and the textiles of our cultural specificity, through the garments and through the act of covering, and it is by choice, and we should celebrate in that moment of rejoicing in all of the colors and the splendidness and what I like to call the fabulousness of being a Muslim woman.
Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.
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Styrofoam containers are about to disappear in Washington
The next phase for Washington state's ban on Styrofoam is about to kick in, putting an end to an era of squeaky to-go containers used by restaurants and other businesses.
Yep. No longer shall five to-go clamshell containers be stacked on top of each other, their weight inevitably cracking the bottom two causing them to leak teriyaki sauce all over the bag and the back seat of your car. Nobody likes cleaning that up.
RELATED: Washington's ban on high-capacity gun magazines will stay in place as court battle continues
It's not just those clamshell containers used for food. The statewide ban is also for the sale or distribution of Styrofoam coolers, plates, cups, bowls, and similar items. The ban officially begins Saturday, June 1.
Styrofoam offenders (styrofenders?) could face fines ranging from $250 to $1,000, after one or more violations.
Styrofoam is actually the brand name for "polystyrene foam," which Washington state lawmakers banned 2021. It's part of the same suite of laws that banned plastic bags, and made it so the customer has to specifically ask for single-use utensils when ordering food.
The polystyrene plan has been to do away with these materials in two phases. The first phase began in June 2023, when the state nixed packing peanuts and similar packing materials.
The state notes that most recycling programs do not accept polystyrene foam. The ban aims to prevent these materials from polluting the environment.
Note: Technically, the brand Styrofoam is not used to make common containers like cups, plates, or clamshells. It's also polystyrene, but it's a different type made by Dupont that is used for insulation. Sorry, Dupont. You did a little too well with your marketing. Honestly, when was the last time you were at a barbecue and said to someone: "Hey, put a hot dog on my white EPS foam disc ... no, not that closed cell extruded polystyrene plate! Get real! Plates are made from EPS!"
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Vice President Kamala Harris slated for June campaign visit to Seattle
Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Seattle Saturday, June 1, 2024.
The Northwest Progressive Institute reports that the visit is to raise money for the Biden Victory Fund.
RELATED: Vice President Kamala Harris visits Seattle, promotes 'Bidenomics'
Few details about the fundraising events are known, however, at least two events for Saturday have been publicized, both scheduled for Seattle. One event states it will be a "reception" with the vice president, and the other says it's an "evening" with Harris.
General admission to the evening event is going for $500 per ticket. Prices range up to $50,000 for premium seating and a photo.
President Biden was in Seattle about three weeks ago, also for a couple of fundraising events.
Just as with Biden's visit, be prepared for road closures and traffic delays while Vice President Harris is in town.
The last time Harris visited Seattle was in August 2023 to promote Bidenomics.
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Out-of-state abortions have risen in Washington since 2022
The number of out-of-state women coming to Washington for abortions went up after 2022, when national protections for abortion care ended, according to a new assessment from University of Washington Medicine.
“The increasing number of abortions, out-of-state patients and delays to care points to the need for increased investment in and resources for abortion care in Washington,” Taylor Riley said in a statement. Riley is a graduate student at UW's department of epidemiology.
“This could include expanding the number of abortion-providing facilities and strengthening existing primary care and telehealth accessibility, financial support and referral systems within the state.”
The UW study points out that certain statistics around this group of patients changed after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on Dobbs vs Jackson. After that, laws around abortions became a state-by-state issue, with some banning the medical care and others, like Washington, protecting it with local laws.
Since that decision, NPR reports that there has been "a slow and small steady increase in the number of abortions per month" at a national level (there were 82,000 abortions per month in the United States in 2022, and 86,000 per month in 2023). This is based on yet another study, which concluded that telehealth is playing a role in accessing abortions by medication.
UW Medicine study on out-of-state abortions in Washington
UW researchers looked at data from Cedar River Clinics, a network of clinics in Washington state. The clinics' data shows a 50% increase in out-of-state patients seeking abortions (its share of out-of-state patients went from 4% to 6% of all cases).
They also documented that this group of patients experienced, on average, a one-week delay in care.
“While a one-week delay does not sound significant, any delays in receiving abortion care are problematic because it adversely affects the health of the pregnant person,” said Dr. Emily Godfrey with UW Medicine.
Godfrey is the senior author of the paper now published in JAMA. Researchers compared data before and after the Dobbs decision — from January 1, 2017 through June 23, 2022, and then June 24, 2022 through July 31, 2023.
Before the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, 6% of women seeking an abortion at Cedar River Clinics in Washington were from Texas. After the decision, it went up to 27%. Texas is now the state sending Washington the highest number of out-of-state women seeking abortions.
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Seattle’s Wing Luke Museum closed after staff say exhibit 'frames Palestinian liberation' as antisemitism
Seattle’s Wing Luke Museum remains closed after more than half its staff walked out last week to protest an exhibit that addresses antisemitism in the region.
The “Confronting Hate Together” exhibit focuses on the history of discrimination experienced by Black, Asian-American, and Jewish communities in Seattle.
At a press event previewing the exhibit last week, Cassie Chinn, Wing Luke's deputy executive director, said, “We wanted to look towards the past to see how that might inform our present and our future.”
RELATED: Wing Luke exhibit shows how Black, Asian, and Jewish Seattleites confront hate together
But, in bringing the history of prejudice and discrimination to the current day, the museum's own staffers argue the exhibit suffered from a glaring omission — the ongoing plight of more than one million displaced Palestinians in Gaza.
Explanatory panels highlight a rising tide of antisemitism and hate crimes in Seattle. The exhibit says that graffiti sprayed in November on the Herzl-Ner Tamid Synagogue on Mercer Island that said “stop killing” was antisemitism “disguised as anti-Zionism ... as if the Jews of Mercer Island could control the actions of the Israeli government.”
The exhibit also says that the Palestinian protest cry, "from the river to the sea," is "a phrase defined by the erasure of Israel," which pro-Palestinians activists say is not true.
The exhibit did not mention of a similar rise seen in anti-Islamic, anti-Arab, or anti-Muslim hate. According to preliminary data from the Washington chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, almost 40% of Muslims in Washington have experienced heightened discrimination since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
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Seattle Kraken has a new head coach: Dan Bylsma
The Seattle Kraken announced Tuesday that the hockey team has hired Dan Bylsma to be its next head coach.
"I've witnessed the path the organization is on, the young players coming into the organization, the drafts that have happened, there are a lot of great players coming down the pipe," Bylsma said during a press event Tuesday.
RELATED: NHL on the Eastside? New hockey arena discussed by Seattle Kraken and Kirkland
"We have a great group of leaders, a great group of players, and they're a group that we can have a lot of success with down the road and build a championship organization."
The move comes a month after the organization fired head coach Dave Hakstol, and assistant coach Paul McFarland, marking a new direction for the Seattle team.
Bylsma still has some things to tie up with his current job coaching the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the American Hockey League. The Firebirds are the AHL affiliate of the Kraken, so Bylsma has already been working within the organization.
“Dan is a winner with a proven track record of developing both young and veteran talent, and his leadership will help our team as we move forward,” General Manager Ron Francis said in a statement.
“He has had success at every level, winning the Stanley Cup in 2009, earning a Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach in 2011, and he led the Firebirds to Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals last year in the team’s first season," Francis continued. "He knows our franchise and has worked with several of our NHL players. We are excited to have him behind the bench and guiding our team next season.”
The Kraken note that Francis interviewed "a number of other candidates with NHL experience" for the job.
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