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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Stories
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Bring on the dancing zorses: North Bend continues search for 'wayward zebra'
There is a non-zero chance that zebra could mate with a mare to produce a zorse.
As songwriter Bob Antone sings, "elk and zebras can't have babies." But zebras and horses can. They're called "zorses," and there are a few horse stables out in North Bend where a zebra stallion now roams free. So ... who knows?
RELATED: 'That’s not nice!' Brown bear eats entire family of ducks in front of kids at Seattle zoo
The zebra has now become embedded in North Bend pop culture. Antone wrote a song about the four zebras escaping from their trailer along I-90 through North Bend less than a day after it happened on Sunday, April 28.
The zebras started their journey from around Winlock, Wash., and broke free during a stop along the freeway. Three were quickly captured and sent to their original destination in Montana. But the stallion remains on the loose in the North Bend area. It's been sighted by locals, but it has continued to evade animal officers.
"We are still on the lookout for that wayward zebra," said Cameron Satterfield with Regional Animal Services of King County.
When the initial escape happened, Antone said he was close by. He even went over to the area where it happened near I-90 and looked around for the zebra. No luck. He did end up writing the song, "There's a herd of wild zebras running loose in my fragile mind."
"It is a really silly, fun song. I put it online and everybody just ate it up. I did not expect the reaction that we got," Antone said, adding that his song posted on YouTube has gone far and attracted media attention.
"There's something mystical about zebras, and there is also this connection that I am seeing with the 'Twin Peaks' community," he said.
The 1990s sensational TV hit "Twin Peaks" was filmed around North Bend. The city has been known for it ever since, and fans have continued to flock there year after year. In the show, black and white stripes are often featured (particularly on the floor of the White Lodge). There is even a passing line mentioned in a season three episode: "You know that zebra's out again?"
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KUOW lays off 8 staffers, ends RadioActive youth program
KUOW letters are shown before "That's Debatable: The Homelessness Crisis is Killing Seattle" on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019, as the sun sets at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute in Seattle.KUOW Photo/Megan FarmerSeattle public radio station KUOW announced Tuesday that it would lay off eight members of its staff and cancel its award-winning RadioActive youth radio program.
The eight positions reflect 6% of the staff and include three full-time staffers for RadioActive, and five people on the business side of the station. Three open positions, including one in the newsroom, will not be filled this year.
This is the first time KUOW has laid off staff because of financial concerns, said Caryn Mathes, general manager and CEO of KUOW.
Mathes said leadership cut $1 million in operational spending. That left another $1 million to cull, which ultimately came from staffing positions.
“We did everything possible that we could before we got to people, because our people are a precious, precious resource,” Mathes said.
Revenue was flat, she said, but costs were going up, especially as KUOW has shifted to producing more podcasts and content for an “on-demand” audience.
“I feel like we’ve gone from a two-ring circus, with the live stream program and a website, to a 12-ring circus because of digital consumers,” Mathes said.
Adding to this, the primary broadcast audience gets older every year.
“The baby boomer audience was our bread and butter, and still are, money-wise in a lot of ways,” Mathes said. “They just wanted to turn on the firehose of content and have it wash over them.”
With costs rising, financial issues became apparent last year, so KUOW pivoted to a digital strategy, while asking its board to draw down $2.9 million from its $11 million reserves. The board agreed, but KUOW was not able to bridge the gap, Mathes said.
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Washington officials apprehend prison escapee in Seattle
Patrick Lester Clay escaped from Monroe Corrections Center early Friday, April 26, 2024.Washington officials said Tuesday morning that a man who escaped a minimum security prison north of Seattle last week is now back in custody.
Patrick Lester Clay, 59, escaped the Monroe Correctional Complex around 7:40 a.m. on April 26 by breaking into a staff office and stealing car keys.
Officials said in a statement that Clay had been captured in Seattle's Beacon Hill neighborhood "without incident" on Monday night. Officials found the white truck he had been driving abandoned in the Central District earlier that day.
The department says Clay will be placed in restrictive housing, and that his case will be referred to local prosecutors to pursue escape and auto theft charges.
Clay was already serving time for burglary, harassment and theft charges in King County, and was scheduled to be released at the end of 2025.
The last time a prisoner escaped from a Department of Corrections facility was in 2022 after a prisoner climbed over a fence at Coyote Ridge Correction Center in Southeastern Washington.
Last year, several children at the Echo Glen juvenile detention facility near Snoqualmie escaped or attempted to. But that facility is overseen by the state’s Department of Youth and Families and not the Department of Corrections. [Copyright 2024 Northwest News Network]
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Federal disaster declared for 16 Washington counties
The Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a disaster declaration for 16 counties in Washington state on Monday.Federal Emergency Management AgencyThe Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued a disaster declaration for 16 counties in Washington state, following weeks of extreme winter weather in January.
The disaster declaration makes federal aid available for local governments and nonprofit agencies, not individuals.
It covers Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Ferry, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Klickitat, Lewis, Mason, Okanogan, Pacific, Skagit, Skamania and Wahkiakum counties. The declaration also covers the Colville Indian Reservation.
It is the fourth major disaster declaration the Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued for Washington state since January 2022.
January 2024's “near-nonstop” extreme weather events, encompassing extreme cold, windstorms, flooding, and landslides, did an estimated $32 million in damage statewide between Jan. 5 and Jan. 29, according to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s office.
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‘That’s not nice!’ Brown bear eats entire family of ducks in front of kids at Seattle zoo
Chick-eating grin: Juniper, a brown bear at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle who snarfed down a mama duck and her ducklings.Woodland Park ZooJuniper is a 2-year-old brown bear at the Woodland Park Zoo, a large blonde girl described as sassy and mischievous by her keepers.
Last week, Juniper became TikTok famous for being, well, a bear. Here’s what happened.
It was a sunny day in Seattle, and Juniper had spotted a mama duck and her five fuzzy ducklings tootling along in her bear pond.
Juniper nimbly vaulted herself into the pond and swam straight for the ducks. She grabbed a duckling with her long claws, lifted it to her mouth and delicately bit its head off. Unsated, she went for another duckling, and then another, and finally, the mama.
The video was posted to TikTok four days ago by user Rachelle, who said she was at the zoo for her daughter’s birthday party. Children are heard screaming during the video – although not in horror.
“That’s not nice,” cried one, as Juniper slurped down a duckling like a raw oyster.
“That’s a good strategy,” said another enthusiastically, after Juniper separated the mama from her babies.
Others smacked the glass with their palms, presumably hoping to distract Juniper enough to save the ducks. But this brown bear did not care.
Midway through the slaughter, Rachelle, the parent recording the event, sounded resigned. “Hey buddy, can we not?" she said, in a tone typically reserved for children who have long ago broken their parents' spirits.
Juniper came to the Woodland Park Zoo in the summer of 2022 after being discovered alone on an airport runway in Anchorage, Alaska. Juniper, then 89 pounds, was a fluffy singleton who’d been separated from her mother. No one knows what happened to her mother, although it’s possible she was hit by a car or killed illegally.
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Look, up in the sky! It's a drone ... painting over graffiti in Washington state
A drone equipped with spray paint covers over graffiti at a hard-to-reach spot along Tacoma's East 21st Street Bridge. WSDOT is experimenting with drones in limited areas in Tacoma and Olympia that can paint over graffiti.Washington State Department of TransportationThe Washington State Department of Transportation has begun experimenting with drones to take on graffiti along state roads. It's just one part of a larger experiment using cameras to tackle graffiti between Tacoma and Seattle.
"This is a pilot program to determine the benefits and challenges of using drone technology for graffiti removal, including whether it requires fewer staff to be working near active traffic and at high elevations requiring fall equipment," said WSDOT spokesperson Tina Werner.
RELATED: Pizza delivery via drone could soon be coming to Seattle and Tacoma
It's the first time a public agency has deployed drones to paint over graffiti, as far as WSDOT knows. The department is currently conducting a pilot that sends drones, equipped with a spray paint nozzle, to cover up graffiti in difficult spots, like bridges or very high up on walls. The drones have a hose that feeds paint to it from the ground. An operator (pilot) takes care of the rest.
The paint — called "DOT gray"— is water-based latex.
The drone-painting pilot is part of a larger effort approved by the state Legislature earlier this year. Lawmakers passed a bill aimed at mitigating graffiti, with two areas of focus. One is the drone pilot. The second is to "investigate and test improvements to systems capable of identifying persons who damage property with graffiti." According to WSDOT, $1 million was budgeted for this bill, a "small portion" of which is going toward the drone program. The remaining funds are being used to look into traffic camera tech that could monitor for graffiti removal.
RELATED: Seattle will start enforcing its anti-graffiti law again
"A large portion of the pilot program focuses on potential solutions for upgrading the state’s existing traffic camera infrastructure ... to determine if higher-resolution cameras, tracking software, and additional camera placements would enhance our ability to detect graffiti activity," Werner said, noting that WSDOT is in the "very early stages" of this program.
"WSDOT’s current cameras are designed and located to monitor traffic," she added. "If cameras were to be used for graffiti surveillance, the camera resolution and locations (additional focus on retaining walls, bridges, etc.) would need to be upgraded. Also, additional tracking software upgrades would be required as well as staff training."
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Seattle Kraken fire head coach Dave Hakstol
Seattle Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol looks on from the bench against the Colorado Avalanche during the third period of Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Monday, April 24, 2023, in Seattle. The Seattle Kraken fired coach Dave Hakstol on Monday, April 29, 2024, after the third-year franchise took a significant step back following a playoff appearance in their second season.Lindsey Wasson / Associated PressOfficials with Seattle's Kraken hockey team announced Monday that they have let head coach Dave Hakstol go. A search for his replacement has already begun.
In a statement announcing that the team had "relieved" Hakstol, Kraken General Manager Ron Francis thanked the coach "for his hard work and dedication."
RELATED: NHL on the Eastside? New hockey arena discussed by Seattle Kraken and Kirkland
“Following our end-of-the-season review, we have decided to make a change at our head coach position," Francis said. "These decisions are never easy, but we feel this is a necessary step to help ensure our team continues to improve and evolve. Dave is a good coach and a terrific person. We wish him and his family all the best. We will begin our search for the Kraken’s next head coach immediately.”
Francis also wished assistant coach Paul McFarland and his family well, further announcing that McFarland is also out the door and will not return next season.
The NHL reported Francis expanded on why the organization fired its head coach at a press event Monday, saying that there had been "too many losing streaks" last season, so they want to try something new.
When Seattle got its NHL team in 2021, Hakstol came aboard as the first head coach of the hockey team. As the team parts ways with him, the Kraken noted the team had a 107-112-27 record under Hakstol's leadership. The team also went to the Stanley Cup playoffs in the 2022-23 season.
The NHL also reported the Kraken are keeping coaches Dave Lowry and Jay Leach, along with goaltending coach Steve Briere.
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Washington’s border waters are on the cusp of a major rise in oil tanker traffic
A map showing the Trans Mountain Pipeline that will fee crude oil to Vancouver, Canada, as well as to refineries across the border in Washington state.U.S. Energy Information AgencyA significant increase in oil tanker traffic is in store for the Salish Sea with the completion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion in British Columbia.
This story was first reported by the Washington State Standard. It is reprinted here under the community commons license.
In the link above, KUOW's Kim Malcolm talks to Tom Banse about his reporting.
The project triples the volume of Alberta crude the pipeline can carry to an export terminal in Burnaby near Vancouver, British Columbia. The facility now sends out an average of five loaded tankers per month. The expansion aims to raise the pace to one vessel per day. The oil-filled ships pass by the San Juan Islands and Olympic Peninsula as they head out to sea.
RELATED: Republicans, Democrats, carbon, and you. Debating Washington's cap and trade
Increased oil spill risks in shared waters, disturbances to endangered orcas and other whales and climate change impacts are among the worries the pipeline expansion has stoked across the border in Washington. The Canadian project inspired repeated protests from Puget Sound tribes, Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson. But they were all powerless to stop it.
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University of Washington students join pro-Palestinian campus protest movement
University of Washington students have organized a pro-Palestine protest camp on the northeast side of the Seattle campus' Quad.
As of Monday morning, a couple dozen people were at the camp, speaking out against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The camp is part of a growing movement at university campuses across the United States.
UW's Quad, normally quiet in the morning, was punctuated with student chants.
"Stop the war machine!" the protestors shouted. "Don't cry, we won’t let you die."
UW students protesting the war in Gaza are calling on the university to divest from Boeing, which organizers said has aided and profited from Israel's occupation in Gaza.
RELATED: Pro-Palestinian encampments and protests spread on college campuses across the U.S.
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This carless Seattleite has a vision for the city's 'holistic' transportation future
Anna Zivarts at the University of Washington light rail station. Her new book is "When Driving Is Not An Option."KUOW/Amy RadilWithout a car, people can find themselves walking on the shoulder of a road, steering their wheelchair out into traffic, and commuting longer and farther via transit.
Anna Zivarts wanted to highlight those experiences when it comes to transportation planning in a new book, titled "When Driving is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency."
Across Seattle, Zivarts can point to features that make travel easier and safer for people without a car – and places where they are sorely lacking.
RELATED: Seattle has a long road ahead to eliminate all traffic deaths by 2030
One of the better examples is the University of Washington light rail station, a hub for walking, biking ,and transit.
"In talking to folks who don't drive, living near light rail, that is sort of the dream, right?" Zivarts said. "Having this kind of access."
It does have its problems, though. Pedestrians must cross several lanes of traffic to reach their buses. And the cost of housing in some of these vibrant neighborhoods puts them out of reach for the people who most need that connectivity.
RELATED: How will your life change when Bellevue's light rail opens?
Meanwhile, other neighborhoods are more affordable but lack infrastructure for non-drivers. Zivarts said hundreds of housing units are about to come online farther south, at the intersection of Rainier Avenue South and I-90, where planning is underway for a new Judkins Park light rail station. But she said the area needs major safety upgrades for transit riders and pedestrians.
"Crossing Rainier and crossing the on-ramps, not very pleasant, super unsafe," she said. "Rather than this freeway-car funnel right there, how can this be a neighborhood?"
Through her work at Disability Rights Washington, Zivarts has tried to advocate for the estimated quarter of the population that doesn’t drive cars, due to age, income, disability, or other reasons.
RELATED: Is King County’s Flex commuter van a flop? We tested it out
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Bellevue's light rail is rolling. Will a Seattle connection arrive in time for the World Cup?
A Link light rail train arrives at South Bellevue Station on Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Bellevue. The new East Link Extension opens to the public on Saturday.KUOW Photo/Megan FarmerAs Bellevue celebrates its first light rail line this weekend, regional leaders are celebrating, too, but perhaps for different reasons. Sure, opening up new transportation options on the Eastside is a big deal, but also, the new light rail line comes along ahead of a major deadline for the Seattle area — the World Cup in 2026.
“We have got to be ready for 2026," King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci told KUOW's Kim Malcom while standing in the newly opened South Bellevue station.
RELATED: How will your life change when Bellevue's light rail opens?
"Our goal is to open this entire line in 2025. But at the latest, we have to be ready for 2026. There are so many hotels in east King County that will be full of people coming from all over the world to see the World Cup. We need them to be able to use this amazing, fast, reliable transportation to get there and back. It'll just make that experience so much better."
Light rail opening in Bellevue is a milestone for the region. It's the first time this form of transportation has opened outside of the Seattle line that has been running for years. It will provide a major east-west connection between the region's most populous areas — communities that currently send considerable numbers of car commuters across two Lake Washington bridges. It also marks the first in a handful of new connections for the light rail system in a relatively short period of time.
There is a range of new light rail access coming online in the next couple of years. Trains will start running up to Lynnwood in August 2024, extending rail beyond Seattle's Northgate station. Light rail down to Federal Way is expected in 2026.
RELATED: After 16 years and $3 billion, Lynnwood light rail set to open this summer
"After this opening, the next one will be to Lynwood, and then to Federal Way," Balducci said. "And I would be excited if I were them because it will be here before you know it."
The extension to Federal Way will add 7.8 miles of rail south of Seattle, and will also activate stations in Kent and Des Moines. The three new stations will have parking to accommodate 3,200 vehicles.
Bellevue's light rail line was originally intended to connect to Seattle, across the floating I-90 bridge. That would connect Bellevue to Mercer Island, and Judkins Park in Seattle. But that portion of the line has been plagued by construction mishaps and delays. Balducci, who sits on the Sound Transit Board's expansion committee, said that they have decided to stay with the current construction contractor to get the job done sooner than later. After that, "we are going to have to work through who's responsible for the workmanship problems, and who pays for which aspects. That will all have to be worked out in a negotiation or ultimately in court."
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Everett reports 3 fentanyl overdoses in young children in 1 week
The Drug Enforcement Administration issued a warning in August 2022 that "rainbow fentanyl" had been seized in 26 states. The DEA said it appeared to be a deliberate attempt by traffickers to make the drugs attractive to youth.The Everett Fire Department said in a statement Thursday that this week the city’s firefighters have responded to three suspected fentanyl overdoses in very young children, one of them fatal.
“The City of Everett is deeply concerned about the increasing fentanyl overdoses that involve young children," the statement reads. "Even a small amount of fentanyl residue can be lethal to children, as the drug can be more potent to a baby or toddler's smaller body and lack of opioid tolerance. Pills can look like candy to children, especially when they're brightly colored.”
Firefighters were able to revive two children, aged 6 and 11 months, with the overdose reversal medication Narcan, but a third child, aged 13 months, died.
“The Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office will conduct a positive identification of the child, as well as determine the official cause and manner of death,” the statement said.
RELATED: Report: China continues to subsidize deadly fentanyl exports
Dr. James Lewis, the health officer for Snohomish County, called the three incidents “a complete tragedy” and said he’s scrutinizing the available data “trying to think of ways we can work to prevent this from happening in the future.” Snohomish County reports opioid overdose deaths on a dashboard.
Lewis said deaths among children aged 15 and under remain extremely rare.
The county had no such deaths in 2020 or 2021. But in 2022 there were four, and two more so far this year before the Everett Fire Department’s announcement.
Lewis said nonfatal overdoses in young children are also a growing concern.
“We do hear from partners that there is increasing nonfatal overdoses as well, which can obviously be very traumatic and scary both for the infant and for the family,” he said.
RELATED: Curriculum about fentanyl, other opioids could come to WA junior high classrooms
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