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.
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Violent crime is on the decline in Washington state and nationwide
Preliminary data suggest that rates for violent and property crimes in Washington state fell in 2025, continuing the decline that began two years ago. That was the big takeaway in a briefing for state lawmakers Thursday.
Jeff Asher with AH Datalytics said the U.S. has seen unprecedented year-over-year drops in its murder rate, to the lowest levels ever recorded.
“We have murder down 19.8% so far this year nationally, which previously the FBI’s 14.9% last year was the largest one-year decrease ever reported,” Asher said. “Maybe in the first year or two of World War II is the only comparable period in terms of seeing such a strong drop in murder,” he said. “We’re sort of in uncharted territory, at least from a national perspective.”
Nationally, Asher said violent crime overall declined about 10% this year, and property crime saw a less significant decline, driven by “a pretty massive drop in motor vehicle thefts.”
He said his numbers indicate that Washington state crime rates are following similar trends.
Asher compiles the “Real Time Crime Index,” which currently includes data through September from 545 law enforcement agencies nationwide including Washington's seven largest cities and counties. He told the House Community Safety Committee that the Washington state agencies that report to his index seem on track to return to pre-pandemic levels of violent and property crime this year.
“Washington state is seeing substantial drops pretty much across all types of crime that largely mimics what we’re seeing nationally,” he said.
Rep. Roger Goodman (D-Kirkland) said those crime statistics “are all going in the right direction.”
Crime trends were not uniform nationally during the pandemic. According to the Council of State Governments Justice Center, violent crime fell in 39 states between 2019 and 2024.
RELATED: Crime Has Declined Overall During The Pandemic, But Shootings And Killings Are Up
But Washington was one of eleven states in which crime increased. The center’s director, Marshall Clement, said homicides nearly doubled in Washington from 2019 to 2022 before they began to decline.
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Holy shift! This Puget Sound typewriter calendar has the write stuff
Sure, you could walk into any mall, grocery, or bookstore and find an array of calendars. They'll feature national parks, old cars, maybe even giant cats destroying cities. But do any have typewriters? Typewriters from the Puget Sound region?
Over the past few years, Heidi Lewis has organized the production of a typewriter calendar featuring antique machines from Puget Sound area collectors. She does it for free, in her spare time.
The calendar photos are donated by members of a Facebook group she started in 2018 — Puget Sound Typewriter Enthusiasts. All proceeds go to Bremerton Typewriter Company, where the calendar is sold. The repair shop has become a hub for the region's niche, and fervent, typewriter community.
RELATED: What happened when Tom Hanks' typewriter showed up at this small Bremerton shop
“I wanted a calendar for my wall, so why not let other people be a part of it?" Lewis said. "It seemed silly to me just to take a bunch of pictures of my own machines and put it on my own wall. I thought, ‘Well, I'm enjoying my time with these people. I've made some real connections. Why not put that together?’”
Lewis has spent her life bouncing between Western Washington and Switzerland, where she currently lives. Inspired by the Swiss' penchant for starting clubs around niche interests, she formed a Facebook group to see if there were others like her in the Puget Sound region. The group quickly added a couple hundred like-minded members sharing photos of their collections, providing maintenance tips, and organizing local type-ins (in-person meet ups for typewriter fans).
I too am one of those nerds, er … enthusiasts. I will sometimes pull down a typewriter to write birthday cards, post cards, or just to brainstorm ideas. By hardcore collector standards, I’m not impressive and only have about seven typewriters at home (four of which actually work). While Lewis’ personal collection once held more than 100, she currently has it down to about 50.
Still, could one of my prized typewriters make the calendar cut? When Lewis asked for submissions for the 2026 calendar, I began wondering if I had any model-worthy machines on the shelf.
The sleek and dainty Skyriter? Perhaps, but it could use a good cleaning and isn't runway ready. My Olympia SM3 is too hipster to be interested in such attention. The Smith-Corona is a bit of a wallflower and likes to blend in with the crowd. But perhaps, the Royal. Yes, a 1921 Royal No. 10. At over 100 years old, it’s got the look: smooth lines, shiny black paint, and gold lettering. It teases you with ornate glass windows, offering a peek at what's under the hood. It has angles that would make Zoolander proud!
But is it good enough for the Puget Sound typewriter calendar?
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How to talk sports in Seattle, and beyond, when you don't know ball
It might happen during holiday gatherings. Perhaps it will happen amid office chit chat. Inevitably, sports conversations happen, even if you have no interest in, or a clue about, the world of sports.
But as my KUOW colleague Paige Browning told me, there is value in knowing how to navigate sports talk, especially around the holidays.
RELATED: This outdoor fight club in Gig Harbor delivers more than punches
"I find sports to be a safe topic to bring up," she said. "You're not talking about politics, you're not talking about who is in the White House, who won the mayoral race, you're not talking about religion, or arguing over fossil fuels ... maybe you can kind of get into it with ... the uncle of course, but in general you're talking about entertainment. It's just for fun. So, it's kind of safe."
This article comes from "Meet Me Here", KUOW's arts podcast. Host Dyer Oxley discusses how to talk sports in Seattle, and beyond, with newscaster Paige Browning and local sports fan Danny Ball. Listen below.
It's not that I am completely ignorant about sports. I essentially know how baseball is played, or the difference between 2- and 3-pointers in basketball, and I know how many homeruns it takes to win a football game. Yet, the most excited I've been during a sports event was when a friend said something about a "hat trick" and I mistakenly thought there was going to be a magic show.
One of my favorite episodes of the sitcom "The IT Crowd" (if you haven't watched this show, your life is incomplete) is when the two main geeks, Roy and Moss, find a guide for talking about sports. Using it, they navigate through simple interactions with ... normal people. I always wanted such a guide for myself.
RELATED: Why Ichiro 'was everything' to Seattle Mariners fans
That's what brought me to Paige Browning and Danny Ball for a conversation on "Meet Me Here." Paige is a newscaster at KUOW and I've noticed that when the office is talking sports, she's usually at the head of the conversation. Danny runs marketing for Simply Seattle, a merch shop with a lot of local sports fandom. He also hosts the Iconic Sonics podcast, which is dedicated to the much-loved NBA team that Seattle lost in 2008 (you're really a fan if you're podcasting about a team that hasn't been around for nearly two decades). Between these two sports aficionados, we came up with a guide for camouflaging yourself among sports conversations, including Danny's very own "BALL Method."
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Seattle’s incoming city attorney Erika Evans promises vigilance on federal interference
Erika Evans won the race for Seattle City Attorney by 35 points over her opponent, the current city attorney Ann Davison. The Seattle Times called her victory on election night. Since then, Evans said she’s been busy preparing for a smooth transition.
But to her disappointment, Evans said Davison has never contacted her to concede or offer congratulations — in contrast to Mayor Bruce Harrell, who on Nov. 13 publicly conceded and congratulated mayor-elect Katie Wilson on her victory in a close race.
Evans said she thinks elected leaders have a responsibility to create a smooth handoff during a transition, and to be receptive to the will of the voters.
“I think that’s a part of leadership,” she said. “It might not feel good, it might be uncomfortable, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Evans said a deputy in the office has assisted with the transition. Davison’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Evans' victory is notable for its margin — and because it represents a milestone for the city. Evans said she’s excited to be the first person of color and the first Black woman to serve as city attorney for Seattle.
“Having different lived experiences, navigating as a Black female lawyer, it’s different I think than some folks’ experiences,” she said. “And I think that matters when we are at the table talking about issues that affect our community.”
Evans previously worked in the city attorney’s office under its former elected leader Pete Holmes. She also worked as federal prosecutor pursuing violent crime and terrorism, as well as civil rights cases — “a dream job,” she said. But she resigned over changes imposed by the Trump administration.
“After Trump took office it was a very clear rollback in civil rights,” she said. “I was getting those executive orders that were inconsistent with the oath we took as assistant United States attorneys. Being told that our interpretation of the law is limited to the interpretation of Attorney General Pam Bondi. Being told to report on colleagues doing diversity work in the office. That’s not the oath I took.”
Evans said the top priorities she heard from voters were public safety and protecting the city from federal overreach. One of her most immediate goals, she said, will be the reestablishment of a community court in collaboration with the city’s municipal court and public defenders. Those courts offer services as an alternative to prosecution.
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Emergency declared as Northwest’s main oil pipeline shuts down again
The Northwest’s primary oil pipeline has shut down for the second time in a week, this time leading Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson to declare an emergency.
The governor said Seattle-Tacoma International Airport could run low on jet fuel by Saturday evening.
For the next 14 days, Ferguson’s emergency proclamation allows fuel-truck drivers serving the airport to work longer hours than safety requirements usually allow.
Energy giant BP closed off the Olympic Pipeline again on Monday after finding diesel leaking where workers were responding to a previous jet fuel spill.
An undisclosed amount of jet fuel spilled into a drainage ditch on a blueberry farm near Everett on Nov. 11, leading to a pipeline shutdown for several days.
RELATED: Jet fuel spill shuts down Northwest's main oil pipeline
BP restarted the pipeline on Sunday and delivered jet fuel to Sea-Tac Airport before shutting down again a day later.
In a statement, BP spokesperson Cesar Rodriguez said there is no timeline for re-starting the pipeline.
Rodriguez declined to answer questions.
“There are no impacts to flights at this time,” airport spokesperson Perry Cooper said in an email on Wednesday.
Cooper said the airport’s most recent delivery of jet fuel arrived on Monday and encouraged passengers to check with their airlines on the status of their flights.
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Jet fuel spill shuts down Northwest's main oil pipeline
Spill-response crews planned to start digging up a blueberry farm near Everett on Tuesday to find the cause of a jet-fuel spill that shut down the Pacific Northwest’s primary oil pipeline.
The farm sits on the route of the Olympic Pipeline, a mostly underground, 400-mile system of pipes owned by BP. It carries gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from four refineries on the shores of Puget Sound to Seattle, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Renton, Tacoma, Vancouver, and Portland.
A sheen of jet fuel was reported in a drainage ditch on the farm on Nov. 11, according to BP spokesperson Cesar Rodriguez.
Where the jet fuel spilled, the Olympic Pipeline is actually two parallel pipes, one 16 inches wide and the other 20 inches wide.
The larger underground pipe somehow sprang a leak, with the cause currently under investigation.
Responders have deployed oil-spill containment boom and a vacuum truck to capture spilled fuel. They have also installed a barrier to stop fuel from flowing from the drainage ditch into the Snohomish River.
The paired steel pipes were shut down until Nov. 16, when the smaller pipe resumed carrying fuels to customers in Washington and Oregon, including jet fuel to Sea-Tac Airport.
The larger pipe remains shut down.
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At Katie Wilson’s longtime nonprofit, Seattle mayor’s race brings cheers and changes
As Katie Wilson strengthens her lead in the race for Seattle mayor, people at the advocacy organization she founded are “over the moon” about her potential win — and they're anxious to see what her possible term in City Hall could mean for the issues she's championed with them.
Wilson said Wednesday she’s excited to “potentially partner from the mayor’s office on some big initiatives" with the Transit Riders Union. She said her possible transition from leading the nonprofit to occupying the mayor’s office is exciting for everyone involved.
“We have so many members who have done so much work over the years building the organization alongside me, and it’s been really inspiring seeing people step up to new leadership roles,” Wilson said.
If her progress continues against incumbent mayor Bruce Harrell, Wilson said she’s thinking about celebrating her surprise journey to the mayor’s office by taking a day off with her family, enjoying yet another type of transit: “I think a nice ferry trip to Bainbridge Island could be a fun way to spend a day.”
Wilson has held both a volunteer and a paid role at the Transit Riders Union since founding it in 2011. The group expects to announce her replacement in the paid role shortly. The organization elected Wes Mills to replace Wilson in the unpaid role of General Secretary in October.
Mills said he’s thrilled to see Wilson’s ascent as ballots are counted.
“I’m over the moon; I think it’s incredible,” Mills said. “As somebody who – we rent in Seattle, we live in Seattle without a car, my wife and I don’t drive. It’s very awesome to see someone who’s like you.”
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These Seattle parks will stay closed until late December because of 'negative activity'
Lake City Mini Park, Seven Hills Park, and the pavilion at Dr. Blanche Lavizzo Park will be closed until late December due to “negative activity.”
Seattle Parks and Recreation originally announced the closures on August 28, citing “bouts of negative park activity.” With this extension, the parks will be closed for a total of four months, though little has changed in that time, aside from the appearance of fencing.
The original announcement said the parks would re-open in 60 days while staff assessed possible additions like new lighting, fencing, garden beds, or planters.
RELATED: Police patrols, earlier closures included in Seattle's summer safety plan for some parks
Now that re-opening date has been pushed another sixty days to December 27.
A department spokesperson told KUOW in an email that closures have been extended to give the city “more time to engage with community about these parks.” The spokesperson would not specify what kind of negative activity has affected the parks.
Since closing more than two months ago, city workers have installed portions of a new gate, added new benches, put up public art, and made repairs to lighting at Lake City Mini Park.
But little has changed at the other two parks since fences first went up in late summer.
On a recent afternoon, two people were camped inside the Dr. Blanche Lavizzo Park pavilion and said they had not heard about any changes to the site. The chain link fence that surrounds the pavilion had been pried open.
Seven Hills Park on Capitol Hill remains visibly untouched, aside from the rented chain-link fences that wrap around the grassy field and picnic tables.
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Decision Desk HQ retracts call projecting Harrell’s victory in Seattle mayor’s race
The firm Decision Desk HQ has rescinded their projection that incumbent Bruce Harrell would prevail over his challenger Katie Wilson in the Seattle mayor’s race.
The firm, which contracts with KUOW on election results, made the projection Thursday, Nov. 6, based on what they now say was incorrect information on the number of ballots remaining to be counted.
A spokesperson for King County Elections says the office never gave incorrect or outdated numbers to the firm and consistently stated the number of ballots remaining to be counted on Nov. 6 as 100,000.
KUOW paid Decision Desk for embeds displaying results from the primary and general elections this year. Once Decision Desk appeared to project Harrell as winner on Thursday, KUOW made the decision to remove that information from the station's website.
"With about 100,000 ballots still to count and a historical late push that favors the more progressive candidate, we felt it was too soon to go with Decision Desk HQ's call," said KUOW News Director Jason Pagano.
Now, Decision Desk says they made that projection in error.
Scott Tranter is director of data science for Decision Desk HQ. He said they received inaccurate information from King County Elections on Thursday “that there were approximately 71,000 votes remaining in the Seattle mayor election.”
“Based on that many votes remaining, we were confident that Bruce Harrell was going to win that election,” Tranter said.
Tranter says today the firm received an update that there are 100,000 ballots remaining to be counted in Seattle — of which about half are expected to be tabulated today. Based on those numbers, Tranter said Decision Desk HQ is “just going to remove the projection from Bruce Harrell and we’re going to continue to await more official data from the county before a projection is made.”
Halei Watkins, communications manager for King County Elections, said by email Friday: “I don’t know where they got that number because all media questions come through me or Kendall [Hodson] and neither one of us provided a 70k figure for Seattle. We have consistently said about 100k for Seattle as of yesterday’s update.”
Watkins said she’s “honestly a little frustrated” over the incident, adding, “I understand there’s a rush to call races but results take time and are not final until the election is certified on November 25.”
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Former Seattle Fire Department leader alleges misconduct, sexual harassment went unaddressed
A former top civilian official in the Seattle Fire Department has filed a $2.5 million claim against the city, saying she faced wrongful termination for “refusing to ignore unsafe conduct,” as well as “unlawful harassment and discrimination” occurring at the agency.
Sarah Lee’s claim submitted Oct. 31 lays out dozens of allegations, including a fire engine driver who was found with open cans of White Claw in his locker last August and remained on the job. The claim also alleges a female firefighter who reported harassment by her supervisor later found her uniforms shredded and “destroyed” by a boxcutter. Lee claims that employees failed to cooperate with internal and criminal investigators in that case.
Lee is a lawyer who worked at the Seattle City Attorney’s office before she became director of human resources at the Seattle Fire Department in early 2022. In the lawsuit, Lee claims she was given stellar performance evaluations there for three years in a row, but was fired this fall in retaliation for pursuing appropriate discipline in misconduct cases.
“Number one, I think a change in leadership is needed,” she said. “There is no incentive for the current command staff – both uniformed and civilian – to change.”
Lee says SFD did not follow city policies on progressive discipline, repeatedly awarding minor discipline for “egregious acts of misconduct.”
She said the command staff failed to address a toxic atmosphere for female firefighters, which led them to band together in the workplace.
“They have cloistered together in different fire stations because of the ongoing escalation of the harassment and discrimination,” Lee said.
Lee alleges that an investigator recently substantiated another female firefighter’s complaint that a male firefighter “sexually harassed and assaulted her” at a fire station offsite event. Lee says the investigator found that the male firefighter “breached confidentiality during the investigation and was telling other firefighters that the sexual encounter with the female firefighter was consensual.”
Her claim describes a May 28, 2025 meeting between the SFD Women’s Alliance and Seattle Fire Department Chief Harold Scoggins, where Lee said in her claim, “the tension was palpable.”
The claim says the Alliance "adamantly expressed ongoing concerns that female firefighters were still being subjected to hostile work environment, being defamed by their male counterparts after making reports of discrimination and harassment, and that there was inequitable treatment in discipline” for male and female firefighters.
“What the [SFD] Women’s Alliance told Chief Scoggins was, ‘Look, you want us to go and promote the hiring of females when we don’t feel safe – why would we do that?’” Lee said. “I think Chief Scoggins really never had an answer for it.”
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In Seattle mayor’s race, history gives Katie Wilson supporters reason to hope
While Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell had a seven-point lead with 53.6% of the vote over his opponent Katie Wilson’s 46.4% in initial results on Election Day, the mayor’s race is far from over.
Two days later, on Thursday afternoon, the distance between them narrowed, albeit minimally, giving Katie Wilson 46.9% and Harrell 52.6%.
And pundits are turning to past races to gauge how much later ballot counts have favored the more progressive candidate in Seattle city races.
“There’s been a lot of number crunching,” political consultant Sandeep Kaushik told KUOW’s Soundside Wednesday. “There’s definitely a pronounced left shift in the late count in Seattle, that’s become a feature of our elections.”
The theory is that younger left-leaning voters cast their ballots later, right up to the deadline on Election Day. And the election night atmosphere in their sectors of the city makes it fun: Early evening Tuesday, a speaker with a megaphone welcomed voters to a “party at the ballot box” in front of Seattle Central College, where dozens of people were lined up to drop off their ballots, to live musical accompaniment.
In the last two races for Seattle mayor, that shift in later returns didn’t change the winner, but simply shrank the distance between frontrunner Jenny Durkan and her opponent Cary Moon in 2017, and between a victorious Harrell and his opponent Lorena Gonzalez in 2021.
But Raven Tyler, a political consultant with Northwest Passage Consulting (which represents Harrell among other local candidates as clients) predicted that the mayor’s race is “going to be a nailbiter, it’s going to be super, super close.”
Tyler said she thinks Harrell “will inch ahead” in later returns.
But Kaushik argued the night after election day that Katie Wilson is still favored to win.
“I would say the preponderance of evidence says the shift will be a little bit bigger than seven points but who knows," he said.
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Seattle's new women's hockey team finally has a name
After a long wait, Seattle's newest professional sports team has a name. The Seattle Torrent is the latest addition to the Professional Women's Hockey League.
The team's leaders revealed the name Thursday morning at MoPOP in Seattle, in front of a crowd of fans, media, and local leaders, including interim County Executive Shannon Braddock.
RELATED: Seattle scores a professional women's hockey expansion team
The Torrent's name has thematic ties to both of Seattle's existing pro women's teams, the Seattle Storm and Seattle Reign. The choice to stick with a weather motif has drawn early celebration for the name and brand, connecting the threads of the city's beloved teams.
"Torrent" has received a lukewarm welcome from online commenters, however. But fans at the announcement event still gave the name some early love.
"I think the Torrent is a great name," said hockey fan Natalie Weiss, who also plays hockey in local recreational leagues. "It really identifies us as coming from the Pacific Northwest — the rain, the weather. It's a great name."
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