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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Auburn-area Proud Boy, convicted seditious conspirator asks for light sentence
Ethan Nordean's attorneys want him to serve less than two years behind bars for his actions during the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
They're asking for a sentence of 15 to 21 months; the government, according to Nordeans' attorneys, is asking for 324 to 405 months.
Nordean has been convicted of seditious conspiracy, among other federal charges, along with four other members of the Proud Boys. Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio was among them, though Tarrio was arrested two days before the insurrection. That left Nordean to lead rioters on the day of the attack.
That's not how Nordean's sentencing memorandum, filed on Wednesday, describes it.
Rather, his attorneys argue "the government cannot distinguish his conduct from that of hundreds of parading and demonstrating protesters — on a factual plane."
In fact, Nordean's attorneys wrote, "in many instances, the conduct of misdemeanants was more disruptive than Nordean’s."
The memo notes a number of people charged with misdemeanor offenses for their actions at the Capitol, claiming "the government could have pulled the defendants’ pre-January 6 text messages and characterized plans to protest in D.C. as a 'conspiracy,' as it did with Nordean."
"When the government does distinguish Nordean’s actions from any other January 6 defendant’s, it relies on characterization, not facts, and it relies on abstract words, not words that point to concrete things," according to the memo. "It does rely on one concrete fact: Nordean belongs to a political organization targeted by the government."
The political organization referred to is the Proud Boys, a far-right militant group. The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated it a hate group. In addition to their part in the Capitol insurrection, members of the Proud Boys have appeared alongside other hate groups at extremist gatherings such as the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., which included Neo-Nazis and militias.
The group is also known for its use of violence. In his book "The Age of Insurrection: The Radical Right's Assault on American Democracy," David Neiwert described Nordean himself as a "street brawler" who was "among the first through" police barricades on Jan. 6; Neiwert is an author and journalist who has covered far-right extremism in the region for more than 40 years and who has encountered Nordean at other demonstrations.
Despite his activities with the Proud Boys, his attorneys noted in the sentencing memo that Nordean has no criminal history, and therefore, he deserves a lesser sentence than the government has proposed.
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Has summer school helped in the fight against pandemic learning loss?
The pandemic has been devastating for student learning, and summer school has been one of the most widely used approaches to overcome it. But has it paid off?
Answer: Somewhat.
That’s according to a new report published by CALDER. It’s a collaboration between the Virginia-based American Institutes for Research and scholars at 11 universities, including the University of Washington.
The study, which is based on academic data across eight U.S. school districts, found that students who attended summer school last year didn’t do any better in reading, and saw only slight improvements in math.
Dan Goldhaber, a University of Washington researcher and co-author of the study, called the findings a “glass is half full; glass is half empty kind of story.”
“What our results suggest is that you can’t expect summer school to be enough to get kids back on track,” he said. “It has to be a multifaceted set of strategies.”
Other approaches include tutoring, longer school days, or year-round school.
That’s why he thinks schools should consider expanding summer school, which is usually an optional program. The study found that, on average, the overall participation rate at the districts included in the study was about 15%.
“So maybe you want to do more to encourage more kids to participate,” he said.
The findings are another sign that the scale and intensity of Covid recovery efforts at schools remain far below what is needed, the study authors write. And, they say, the situation is especially dire as federal pandemic relief provided to schools expires next fall.
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Three-alarm fire at Fort Steilacoom Park prompts neighborhood evacuation
The Lakewood Police Department has urged residents near Fort Steilacoom Park to evacuate their homes Wednesday afternoon as crews battled a nearby fire in the park, not far from Pierce College's Fort Steilacoom branch.
The evacuation order was voluntary and was lifted at 5 p.m., but firefighters continued to put out the flames located near Waughop Lake, a popular destination for joggers and walkers. Crews remained at the site over night to watch for hot spots.
RELATED: West Pierce Fire has already put out as many brush fires as it did in all of 2022
Around 1:40 p.m., the incident was classified as a two-alarm fire. It was upgraded to a three-alarm fire around 2 p.m. At 3:24 p.m., two helicopters with state Department of Natural Resources arrived and began dropping water on the fire from the air.
City officials are asked residents around 98th Street Southwest to 100th Street Southwest to evacuate. The Red Cross opened an evacuation center at Lakewood's Dr. Claudia Thomas Middle School.
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How hot temps, wildfire affect NW power grid
The rapidly growing Sourdough wildfire in Washington's North Cascades has forced Seattle City Light to shut down power coming from two dams on the Skagit River.
This is the second time in two weeks that the utility has had to shut down hydroelectric dams, due to wildfire conditions. Seattle City Light shut down three dams along the river just a week ago. They were up and running again within a few days, but the utility did warn that it might have to turn off some power production facilities again, if conditions changed.
RELATED: Seattle heat wave got you down? You’re not alone
Now, the Ross and Diablo dams have been disconnected from the grid that serves Seattle-area customers. The shutdowns don't entirely have to do with the dams — transmission lines near fires are also a consideration.
“Human life is always our number one priority, both for ourselves and for the Sourdough fire team," said Jenn Strang with Seattle City Light. "We want to make sure that crews who are working in and around those transmission lines are as safe as possible.”
A third dam, just down-river, continues to send power to the Seattle area. City Light is purchasing power from other sources in the meantime to fill in the gap. Customers shouldn't notice any interruptions in service.
Elsewhere, Puget Sound Energy has asked its customers to conserve energy during this week's heat wave. Temperatures around the Puget Sound shoreline (such as in Seattle and Tacoma) have been reaching into the 90s, with temperatures going even higher farther inland.
In message sent to customers Tuesday, Puget Sound Energy activated its Demand Response program, which aims to decrease the load on the electrical grid during times of high demand, such as heat waves, when air conditioners are cranked up, or during extreme cold. Puget Sound Energy asked customers to conserve power from 4 to 6 p.m. that day.
"Put off running the dishwasher or doing laundry until after the Peak Time Event. Instead of watching TV or using electronics that need to be plugged in, read a book, play a board game, or spend quality time with your household," Puget Sound Energy's message to customers stated.
According to an additional statement from Puget Sound Energy:
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Perseid meteor shower casualties: Mount Rainier wildflowers
Shooting stars led people all over the world to head outside and look up Saturday night. It was the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Mount Rainier National Park officials say the park’s wildflower meadows took a beating as a result.
The sky was full of stars and the mountain was full of people, and their cars, and their trash, as visitors swarmed Mount Rainier's Paradise and Sunrise areas.
Park officials shared photos Tuesday of overflowing trash cans and parking lots, trampled wildflower meadows, and illegally parked vehicles and tents.
Mountain wildflowers survive long winters under many feet of snow, but they can’t survive many feet of off-trail pedestrians. The park says most sky-watchers enjoy the park responsibly, by staying on trails and not putting their boots, bodies, blankets, tents, or cars on fragile meadows.
Mount Rainier officials encourage everyone to enjoy the wonders of outer space without trashing planet Earth.
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Two VIPs in Washington state: Today So Far
Two high-profile made stops in Western Washington this week, and had a lot to say.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for Aug. 16, 2023.
Quick hits
- Washington state serves up solidarity, relief for Maui wildfire victims
- As Seattle area heat wave continues, outdoor workers feel the burn
- Homebuyers got a deal they couldn’t refuse — and pests they can’t get rid of
A couple points stuck out to me when Vice President Kamala Harris was speaking in Seattle Tuesday. One: Clean energy, and the jobs around it, are a big focus of this administration. Two: The Biden administration is in campaign mode. Sure, politicians always act like they're campaigning, but as KUOW's Liz Brazile put it, the event offered clues around how the Biden campaign will move toward the next presidential election. Harris' speech leaned heavily into points about the economy, jobs, and American jobs at that; all balanced with how the clean energy frontier supports all of it. The term "Bidenonomics" came up, so clearly that is going to become more than just a meme. And Harris threw out some numbers to support all this: 175,000 new clean energy jobs; 13 million jobs created during the Biden administration; and 400,000 new jobs in Washington state.
Our region had another visitor Tuesday. Country and pop culture icon Dolly Parton visited Tacoma for a special celebration. Before she sang a couple tunes, she was welcomed by a drum line and a youth symphony. Parton was introduced by Lieutenant Gov. Denny Heck, and had a fireside chat with State Superintendent Chris Reykdal. The main purpose of her visit was to highlight her charity, the Imagination Library, going statewide. It provides free books to children, with the aim of improving reading skills. I'm not sure if every story on Parton's visit will include this little bit, but it stuck out to me. Parton took time to make a point about how our country is treating itself these days. In short, she encouraged more common decency and kindness; we shouldn't be thinking about what we can do to each other, and instead think about what we can do for each other.
"No matter if you're a Democrat or Republican, we're still human beings. We don't have to be so mean to each other ... we're not all supposed to be alike. Remember what they say about 'variety being the spice of life'? That doesn't mean we can't be good neighbors, that we can't be good people. I think that everybody should treat other people the way they want to be treated, and the way your want your family to be treated."
"People all over the world are exactly alike. Everybody has their families. They have their problems. Everybody has the same heartaches. Everybody cries. Everybody laughs. Everybody bleeds. Everybody is the same in that way. To me, I just think you should listen more, care more."
AS SEEN ON KUOW
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Why Dolly Parton is bringing children's books to Washington state
D
olly Parton's "9 to 5" Tuesday was a stop at Tacoma's Pantages Theater, where she celebrated the statewide expansion of her Imagination Library program.
Imagination Library provides free, age appropriate books every month to children age 5 and under across the United States. Washington's program started just last year, and is now available to families in all counties.
Watch: Dolly Parton visits Tacoma
The country music legend founded the program in 1995, inspired by her family's experiences growing up in poverty in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. Back in the day, Parton said many children had to work the fields instead of going to school — including her father.
"So, my dad couldn't read and write," she said. "And that troubled him and he was embarrassed by that."
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Seattle heat wave got you down? You’re not alone
A heat waves, like the one gripping the Seattle area this week, can take a toll on one's mental health.
They can disrupt sleep — especially for those who, like many in the Seattle area, don’t have air conditioning — which can make folks irritable, unhappy, and more at risk for depression.
That’s according to Dr. Josh Wortzel, a psychiatrist at Brown University and the chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Committee on Climate Change and Mental Health.
He said the mental health effects of heat waves can be severe: When temperatures rise, suicide, violence, and ER visits for mental health conditions also increase.
People with mental illness are also more likely to die during a heat wave — in part because they might lack shelter or a place to cool down, Wortzel said, but also because “patients with mental illness are less able to regulate their temperatures, so they're more likely to overheat. Some of our medicines also can make this worse.”
Beyond the direct impacts of heat itself on mental health, heat waves are a reminder of the earth’s rising temperatures — and thinking about climate change can lead to anxiety for many people.
“Those emotions related to climate change can become so severe that it impacts people clinically,” Wortzel said. “If someone's feeling suicidal or so depressed that they feel like they're not able to live their daily life, then they should be seeking treatment.”
Wortzel said that to manage emotions during a heat wave, people should practice good sleep hygiene; keep their homes as cool as possible; and, if they’re anxious about climate change, discuss and process those emotions with like-minded people.
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Watch: Dolly Parton visits Washington state
Country star and pop culture legend Dolly Parton stopped at Tacoma's Pantages Theater Tuesday to celebrate her children's book program, Imagination Library, going statewide in Washington.
"Just think of all the books we're going to put in the hands of so many children," Parton said from the stage.
Watch the video of Dolly Parton in Tacoma below.
Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck introduced Parton, and presented her with flowers from Seattle's Pike Place Market, in a vase from Tacoma's Museum of Glass. She presented Heck with a signed copy of her children's book, "Coat of Many Colors."
She then had a fireside chat with State Superintendent Chris Reykdal. She explained that she wanted to help children learn to read because her family didn't have much when she was a child. Her father never learned to read. That experience, growing up, inspired her to find a way to help children learn to read, no matter where they are from.
The Imagination Library program provides free books for children up to age 5, and aims to encourage literacy. Parton started the program in 1995 in her home state of Tennessee. It has since gone international and has provided millions of free books to children.
Washington's branch of the Imagination Library began in 2022. United Ways of the Pacific Northwest manages the program. It is sponsored by the state's Dept. of Children, Youth, and Families and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
While speaking with Reykdal, the topic of her upcoming rock album, "Rockstar," came up, and she mentioned that she worked with Washington's Brandi Carlile and Ann Wilson.
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Vice President Kamala Harris visits Seattle, promotes 'Bidenomics'
Updated on Aug. 15 at 2:07 p.m.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Seattle on Tuesday, delivering a public address surrounding the Biden administration’s efforts to combat climate change and commemorating the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022.
Harris underscored the urgency of the climate crisis.
“Every day around the world, the impact of the climate crisis is stark and it is vivid – we are seeing it in real time,” Harris said. “Of course in Washington state you have endured deadly heat waves and devastating wildfires. And across our nation, we see communities choked by drought washed out by flood and decimated by hurricanes, and of course we are all praying for the people of Maui.”
“It is clear, the clock is not just ticking — it is banging,” she added.
Harris also emphasized the Biden administration’s investments in clean energy, pointing to the expansion of solar and wind energy production, as well as the rise of electric personal vehicles and school buses on the nation’s roads.
“It is with these investments that we are clear we are creating millions of good-paying, clean energy jobs,” Harris said. “We are rebuilding America's manufacturing and we are driving American innovation, something this state knows so well. In total, President Biden and I have committed nearly $1 trillion to build a thriving clean energy economy for America.”
The vice president’s address also offered clues about Biden’s campaign platform for the 2024 election as he seeks a second term.
During the course of his presidency, Biden has faced tough criticism for the state of inflation, which has squeezed many to their financial limits as the pandemic tails off. Harris, as part of an ongoing effort by the administration to regain favor with voters troubled by the economy, attributed falling inflation and unemployment rates to her administration’s policy, pointing out the creation of more than 13 million jobs since Biden took office – 400,000 of those being in Washington state, she said.
“Together we are building a clean-energy economy, and through all of our work, President Biden and I are building an economy that works for working people, and that, my friends, is called 'Bidenomics,'" Harris said. "And Bidenomoics is working."
Vice President Harris is also expected to speak at a local campaign event, and then fly out after 3 p.m.
If you're traveling into or out of Seattle today, it's probably a good idea to take a bus or the light rail — anything other than getting on I-5 or other major roadways. When high-profile leaders have visited Seattle in the past, they land at King County International Airport (Boeing Field) and entire sections of the freeway have been shut down to allow for them to travel.
Harris previously stopped in Seattle while campaigning in 2019, and has visited the city once since being elected. In October 2022, she was in town to hype new electric school buses that were rolling out.
This story has been updated to include Harris' comments during her Seattle address on Aug. 15.
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Stay cool Seattle: Today So Far
- August heat wave could set records.
- Seattle City Light turned the power back on.
- Washington's GOP has a new leader.
This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for Aug. 15, 2023.
Quick hits
- Just how hot was July? Hotter than anything on record
- Why lasers could help make the electric grid greener
- If you never got a Covid booster, get one now: experts say
You may have noticed that it's quite hot outside. As a longtime Northwesterner, anything above a scorching 70 is hot to me, but with thermometers reaching into the 90s, we're talking about temperatures that could be cause for alarm. Records could be set. This heat wave will continue until at least Wednesday at 11 p.m. That's when the local heat advisory ends. But as the National Weather Service told KUOW, keep in mind that a lot of these forecasted temperatures are for around Puget Sound waters. It will be a bit warmer more inland. Don't forget to check on pets and your more vulnerable neighbors. Maybe find a fountain, and eat some watermelon.
On top of the heat, it's possible that wildfire smoke from the Sourdough Fire, up in the North Cascades, could drift our way this week. Thankfully, however, that fire is no longer threatening hydroelectric dams and transmission lines. Seattle City Light has resumed power production at three such dams. Protective barriers have been established around transmission lines and the dams, but Seattle City Light says it could shut them down again if the fire moves back into the area. This wildfire has burned more than 2,500 acres so far. The timing is great, given the heat wave, so Seattle can power all the ACs and cooling centers needed over the next couple of days.
Washington state has a new GOP leader. State Republicans just elected Jim Walsh of Aberdeen to replace Caleb Heimlich, who just stepped down. You're likely to hear Walsh's name around GOP news moving forward. It's unknown yet if he will juggle his duties as a state representative and as the leader of the state GOP, or if he'll step down as a legislator. So far, Walsh has indicated that, under his leadership, the state party will focus on getting more Republicans to vote in elections, while trying to win over independents who might not firmly stand with the Democrat Party.
AS SEEN ON KUOW
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Seattle City Council discusses new iteration of proposed drug possession law
As the Seattle City Council discussed the second version of a proposed drug possession law Monday, frontline workers asked for more funding to help people with addiction, downtown property managers spoke in support of the ordinance, and mayoral staff said they hope to fund overdose stabilization center.
The council expects to vote on the new drug possession ordinance in September. It would put the City Attorney’s Office in charge of prosecuting drug possession and public drug use, which are classified as gross misdemeanors under the state’s new drug law.
The council voted down a previous version of the measure in June. The latest version, proposed by Mayor Bruce Harrell and crafted by a Fentanyl Systems Work Group he appointed, instructs police to make arrests only if the person possessing or publicly using illicit drugs poses a risk of harm to others. It also contains some additional funding to help people who overdose.
On Monday, the mayor’s special projects director Andrew Myerberg told city council members that they already have a priority in mind for the proposal’s $7 million in capital funding.
“There are certain types of programs that we want to fund with that capital money," Myerberg said. "So for example, a post-overdose stabilization center, so somewhere for people to go after they’ve overdosed to be stabilized and put on medication."
The proposal also contains $20 million from opioid settlement funds, but that is spread over 18 years, for an average of $1.15 million per year. Myerberg said those funds could be used to operate the new overdose facilities, and to fund the overdose response by the Seattle Fire Department’s Health One unit, among other uses.
Council members said they are seeking more information on how the Seattle Police Department will train officers to enforce the new law, and how officers will evaluate whether a person poses harm to others.
Council members also said they want to know how the mayor’s next budget will fund existing programs, such as LEAD, that divert people with substance use disorder from jail.
Councilmember Lisa Herbold chairs the Public Safety Committee, which convened a panel of frontline service providers Monday that included Johnny Bousquet. He is a program supervisor and a previous participant in the LEAD diversion program, which provides case management, legal assistance, and help obtaining medically assisted drug treatment and permanent housing.
“I’ve witnessed the havoc that the fentanyl and meth epidemic has wreaked on our community on a daily basis, and am myself in recovery from opiates, meth, and cocaine as of the last 5.5 years,” Bousquet said. He said he was arrested in 2014 for selling a small amount of crack and accepted into the LEAD program. “Instead of going to jail, I was given the opportunity to get my life back on track,” Bousquet said. Now he oversees that outreach to others.
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