Carolyn Adolph

September 24 marks a year since the Aurora Bridge crash. That’s when a Ride the Ducks tourist vehicle broke an axle, crossed the center line and slammed into a bus of international students from North Seattle Community College. Five people died and dozens were injured.

Seattle’s City Council has passed a measure that will ensure workers' schedules are predictable. It’s the latest in a series of low wage worker protections the council has passed. There’s been the $15 minimum wage, paid sick leave, and restrictions on criminal background checks.

Traffic deaths are up in Washington state, and by a lot. Last year, 567 people lost their lives in crashes. That’s a hundred more than the previous year.

Everywhere, people are deserting the public space.

They’re not standing in line at the bank: They’re banking online. They’re not shopping for clothes at the mall: They’re getting clothes mailed to them at home. The internet is enabling people to meet their needs without going out.

A judge in New Jersey has issued an order that is moving Hanjin cargo around the continent. 

The federal judge temporarily allowed Hanjin Shipping to have its South Korean bankruptcy protections recognized in the U.S.

Hanjin of South Korea filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this week. It's one of the biggest shippers in the world, with ships often seen on Puget Sound and containers piled near our ports.

Now retailers are worried about the holiday goods that are in those containers.

The National Retail Federation is pleading with shippers to keep the movement of goods going. But around the world, port terminals are turning their backs on Hanjin ships.

The food on Washington State Ferries is set to change.

Today a court injunction expires; that frees Washington State Ferries to sign a new contract with Centerplate of Connecticut.

Shoreline’s planning commission has approved the rezoning of a large area around the future 145th Street light rail station near the city’s border with Seattle.

It happened as its citizens learned that more residents would be displaced than previously thought.

Malls are facing trouble everywhere. But Totem Lake Mall in Kirkland is in a category of its own.  It’s a zombie: an undead mall with just a few remaining businesses. People have been trying to revitalize it for years.

And finally, there’s action. The mall has been bought by a California developer who is reenvisioning it as a place where people can shop, work, play and live. It's a big change from the mall's former identity as a hangout for young people.

Seattle’s mayor and police chief held a news conference this afternoon to appeal for calm and for dialogue following the shootings of police officers in Dallas and the shootings of African-American men by police. KUOW’s Carolyn Adolph sends this report.

The last recession is long gone, but jobs still haven’t recovered in two major sectors. Both are tied to that last big bust: construction and financial services. 

The financial services sector isn’t back because lending is a much tighter business than it was during the run-up to the economic collapse in 2008.