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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Craft nonalcoholic scene is brewing in Seattle, just don't call it a 'mocktail'
Arts & Life
Are you sober curious? Perhaps you're more health oriented, or just want to lay off the sauce for dry January. It is currently quite easy to go nonalcoholic in Seattle amid a modern age of mocktails throughout the city's bars.
But if you're up to explore the world of craft cocktails, minus the booze, you should know one thing first: Don't call them "mocktails."
"'Mocktail' is like a four-letter word now," said Seattle Times food writer Tan Vinh. "You would really offend a lot of people who don't drink. Because 10 years ago, you just said mocktail, whatever, and you wanted a virgin cocktail. It has become so popular, it is now considered an art and a craft. So they say, 'We're not a mocktail, which means we're trying to be a copycat of craft cocktails. No, we're a whole new category, a new drink category, with a whole new flavor profile.' So they like to call it 'NA,' nonalcoholic."
While chatting with KUOW's Seattle Now, Vinh expanded on his recent coverage of Seattle's growing NA scene.
"Take Canlis, for example, I would say they spend more time on their NA, or mocktails, than they do on their craft cocktails," he said. "They take purple corn and reduce it down to a syrup, and they add this NA amaro, which is rooty, and they hack it with vanilla beans, and then they top it off with this nonalcoholic sparkling [water]. It tastes a lot like champagne, so you get this really complicated negroni-like drink."
"The problem with these drinks, and bartenders are figuring this out, is what mocktails lack is what I call the 'ump'; it usually tastes too thin or diluted. So now bartenders have a lot more products to play with where they could take a shortcut and open this magic bottle of NA spirit, or they make in-house stuff."
Vinh argues that the craft side of the nonalcoholic scene is the main attraction. There are nonalcoholic spirits, like substitutes for tequila or whiskey, but so far, many don't live up to their name.
These craft NA drinks are a new generation of nonalcoholic beverages, straying far from the virgin drinks of yore, or your parents' mocktails. NA drinks are likely to have bold, uncommon ingredients (that could get pricey). They are crafted as artistically and painstakingly as a high-end cocktail. Over the past few years, such options have emerged onto the menus of bars, breweries, and other watering holes around Seattle and across the USA. Vinh reports that it has added up to a multi-million dollar industry.
"We have a lot of factors working here, one is the pandemic when we drank a lot, so this is an overcorrection," he said. "The reality is, even before the pandemic, there was a movement in terms of, for lack of a better word, mocktails or NA drinks, because a lot of people really don't drink ... before, if you did not drink, you just didn't go to bars, whereas now, it's just more friendly, it's more acceptable, you can go to bars and there are (nonalcoholic) drinks."
"This is no lie, 10 years ago ... a bar on Capitol Hill, true story, someone ordered a mocktail, and the bartender goes, 'Are you pregnant?' That's unacceptable. You wouldn't dare say that now, but that's how weird it was to order a mocktail at a bar. They assumed health reasons or you are pregnant."
Times have changed. As The Seattle Times' food reporter, Vinh goes out up to five times a week, and he notes that these days, he rarely sees a menu without a nonalcoholic drink offered. Such options have long been on menus, he says. Word has gotten out and popularity has grown over time.
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What to do with all the batteries that Seattle has banned from your garbage?
Environment
The moment 2024 began, a new battery ban kicked in for Seattle residents. Batteries, and certain electronics, are no longer allowed in Seattle's garbage bins or dumpsters.
"We are seeing an increased number of batteries in everyday products; that means we are seeing more of them in the garbage," said McKenna Morrigan, a policy advisor with Seattle Public Utilities' solid waste division.
RELATED: Seattle to get garbage hauler to take down misleading green ads
"We're seeing an increase in incidents of batteries causing fires, both in collection vehicles and at our transfer stations, and that poses a risk to our staff and facilities."
Morrigan notes that all batteries contain materials that are harmful to the environment when they are damaged or discarded, but she singles out lithium-ion batteries as the most dangerous when it comes to fire potential. Lithium-ion batteries are common in rechargeable devices. If you plug a device into a wall to recharge, it likely has a lithium-ion battery. She says cities across the USA are now developing programs to deal with them.
Lithium-ion batteries have prompted concern over their fire-starting potential in recent years. You may have noticed airlines asking you if you have any such batteries in your luggage. In 2018, lithium-ion batteries were blamed for igniting a massive fire at a Tacoma scrapyard. The batteries were under 50 feet of scrap and spontaneously combusted.
Seattle's ban goes beyond batteries, and also includes certain electronics, such as TVs, computers, and monitors.
Throwing away batteries in Seattle
If a garbage hauler notices batteries in a trash bin or a dumpster, they will now place a tag on the bin, asking the customer to remove the offending batteries. The bin will not be taken that day. The same goes for forbidden electronics, such as TVs or computer monitors.
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Seattle steps in to foot bill for migrants living in hotel
Government
Adriana Figueira (standing in white to the right) is one of the community leaders for the group of asylum-seekers, primarily Venezuelans who have Temporary Protected Status. That means they have special rights as immigrants to get work authorization. She spoke at Seattle City Hall on Jan. 30, 2024.KUOW Photo/Gustavo SagreroA group of about 200 migrants seeking asylum will be allowed to remain at a hotel — at least for now.
The City of Seattle stepped up at the last minute to pay for them to stay at the hotel for one more week. That's after a group of asylum-seekers and their children stayed at City Hall for hours after sharing their need for safe housing with the City Council.
Advocates said the city and its county and state partners came up with this solution within a matter of hours, and they expect to see more results now that they've bought more time.
The families who demonstrated are part of a bigger group of asylum seekers that have been staying at Quality Inn in Kent since Jan. 10 with the help of the national nonprofit Save the Kids. However, the hotel manager said the card on file was repeatedly declined; Save the Kids told KUOW the credit card was provided by a private startup company to help pay for some housing.
That left the asylum-seekers with a hefty bill of about $3,600 per night, and few options before a Tuesday deadline to leave the hotel.
RELATED: Venezuelan migrants booted from Seattle-area hotel after nonprofit credit card maxes out
The group took the matter to Seattle City Hall on Tuesday. Now, Seattle officials have promised to pay their hotel bills for about a week.
Hamdi Mohamed, director of Seattle's Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, made the announcement to demonstrators at City Hall, prompting audible gasps of relief as a translator shared the news in Spanish.
The news came after demonstrators had waited hours for information. Advocates brought them water and food, yet another necessity that has been hard to come by.
"One of the things that the city is committed to — and we've been doing for quite some time — is working with our nonprofit organizations to help provide legal clinics to connect you guys with legal services; to provide some sort of consultation; to help with employment authorization cards, because I know that's important to a lot of you guys," Mohamed said. "So, any services that are out there in the next week or so, we will also communicate that to you all."
This just a temporary solution, though.
Mohamed said the city does not have the resources to support the asylum-seekers' needs long term.
"Migrant issues is a federal issue, and the city doesn't have resources, specifically, to respond to that," she said Tuesday. "But we are today."
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King County Homelessness Authority gets new leader, for now
Politics
Tents line South Weller Street near the intersection of 12th Avenue South on Tuesday, May 19, 2020, in Seattle.KUOW Photo/Megan FarmerChanges are in the works at the troubled agency in charge of homelessness in King County.
L. Darrell Powell will become the second interim head of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, pending approval by the governing committee.
If approved, Powell will start work on Feb. 14. The interim position is temporary. The search for a permanent CEO continues.
RELATED: How a regional homelessness board became so dysfunctional
Powell is a former CEO of the United Way of King County, and was once CFO for the YMCA of Greater Seattle.
"The work of the King County Regional Homeless Authority to reduce homelessness and ensure our neighbors who are homeless and unstably housed are supported in the ways they need is one of our region’s highest priorities and deepest challenges,” United Way president and CEO Gordon McHenry, Jr said in a statement. “We have great confidence that Darrell will be an effective leader as Interim CEO of the KCRHA.”
McHenry is also part of the Homelessness Authority's implementation board.
King County's Homelessness Authority has been struggling. In May 2023, its former CEO, Marc Dones, suddenly stepped down. Dones gave two recommendations for whoever takes over the job: revisit the structure of the Homelessness Authority board; focus more on underlying policies that led to the national homelessness crisis and less on blame.
Moving forward
Alison Eisinger heads the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, an advocacy group. She says leaders need to spend a lot more money on homelessness. Otherwise, any new agency head is being set up to fail.
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Why Washington cars could get a little Smokey in 2024
Environment
Smokey the Bear on a sign noting the fire danger at a federal park.Washington drivers could soon see Smokey the Bear on the road — not behind the wheel, but on a new specialty license plate that lawmakers are currently considering.
“Since 1944, Smokey Bear has reminded with his signature catchphrase that, ‘Only you can prevent wildfires,’” State Sen. T'wina Nobles (D-Fircrest) said in a statement. “Putting his image on vehicles across Washington would increase awareness by reminding us of our shared responsibility to safeguard our state’s natural legacy. As 90% of wildfires are human-caused every year, his message has never been more important.”
RELATED: Put a (Sue) Bird on it — Specialty license plates in the Pacific Northwest are growing
Nobles introduced SB 5910 last week. The bill, which aims to raise money through the sale of the specialty Smokey plates to fund prevention efforts aimed at human-caused fires, has so far been heard by Washington state's Senate Transportation Committee.
The plates would initially cost $40, and then $30 to renew. The bill states that the funds are "only for the department of natural resources to use for wildfire prevention programs." If approved, the plates could become available in October 2024.
A companion bill, HB 2108, has also been introduced.
Smokey the Bear became a household name in the 1940s when the federal government kicked off campaigns for wildfire prevention. Since then, Smokey has been woven into forest fire prevention ads starting with posters, then radio, and TV.
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UPS is cutting 12,000 jobs just months after reaching union deal
Business
A UPS e truck is parked on a street in New York on May 11, 2023. On Tuesday, the company said it will cut 12,000 jobs.APUPS will cut 12,000 jobs and released a revenue outlook for this year that sent its shares down sharply at the opening bell.
The company also hinted that its Coyote truck load brokerage business may be put up for sale.
The Teamsters in September voted to approve a tentative contract agreement with UPS, putting a final seal on contentious labor negotiations that threatened to disrupt package deliveries for millions of businesses and households nationwide.
On a conference call Tuesday morning, CEO Carol Tome said that by reducing the company's headcount UPS will realize $1 billion in cost savings.
UPS also said Tuesday that its board approved an increase of 1 cent in its quarterly dividend to shareholders of record Feb. 20.
"We are going to fit our organization to our strategy and align our resources against what's wildly important," Tome said.
Tome said that UPS is ordering employees to return to the office five days a week this year.
United Parcel Service Inc. anticipates 2024 revenue in a range of approximately $92 billion to $94.5 billion, short of Wall Street's expectations for a figure above $95.5 billion.
Shares of UPS dropped nearly 9% Tuesday.
Revenue also came up short in the fourth quarter, sliding 7.8% to $24.92 billion. That's just shy of Wall Street projections for $25.31 billion, according to a poll of analysts by FactSet.
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Skate Like a Girl picks up the pieces after Seattle bus smashes into skate park
Arts & Life
Everything was "normal" at Seattle's Skate Like a Girl. Loud music was playing. People were chatting. Others were skating and filming as they rolled through the indoor skate park.
"All of a sudden the whole building shakes, the lights kind of sway above us and there's dust everywhere and it smells like dirt. We're all looking at the same spot at the wall, and the bus just kind of appeared out of nowhere," said Spirit Miska, Skate Like a Girl's Seattle program manager.
RELATED: This 13-year-old skateboarder just made history in front of Tony Hawk
On Wednesday, Jan. 24, a King County Metro bus smashed through the wall of the skate park, shortly after a car turned in front of it and cut the bus off. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
It’s hard enough to make a safe space for female and non-binary athletes in sports that are typically dominated by men. That’s what Skate Like a Girl tries to do. It’s a non-profit that teaches skateboarding to whoever wants to learn. Making that safe space means finding the funding, the location, the instructors, and the equipment. At the moment, the bus accident has hampered this mission.
The pictures and video from the accident are stunning; a King County Metro bus jutting through the side of the building, leaving swaying metal and exposed insulation. The bus's right tire hangs over a skate ramp.
RELATED: Washington skate — history on 8 wheels
The bus remains in the same spot, sticking partially inside the building. It’s unclear yet if removing it would be structurally safe. This leaves Skate Like a Girl in a bind.
"As of right now, nothing has been solidified," Chapter Director Finn Bradberry said. "We've moved one of our programs, a two week long high school program up to All Together Skatepark in Fremont. But other than that, the programs are just on pause until we're able to find a space that we can host them."
Hear the full segment on Skate Like a Girl by clicking the audio above.
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Endangered baby orca J60 missing, presumed dead
Environment
Newborn orca J60 surfaces next to orca J40 in central Puget Sound on Dec. 26, 2023.Maya Sears, under NMFS Permit 27052The baby orca known as J60 is missing and presumed dead, according to the Center for Whale Research.
The month-old male was the youngest member of the Northwest’s endangered population of salmon-eating killer whales, which often die before their first birthday due to toxic pollution and a lack of food.
On Saturday, a three-person team from the Center for Whale Research spotted most of J Pod in Washington’s San Juan Channel between San Juan Island and Shaw Island. J Pod is one of three extended-family groups that often travel together -- the other two are K and L Pods.
They documented the orcas from their research boat, with telephoto lenses and a federally permitted drone, for nearly two hours and observed every member of J Pod -- except J60.
“Given his young age, it is extremely unlikely that J60 was off on his own for the entire duration of the encounter,” the research team writes. “While our protocols require at least three full censuses of the group to confirm mortality, we now believe that J60 is likely deceased.”
READ: Newborn orca spotted near Seattle off Bainbridge Island
While the birth or death of a single wild animal is rarely newsworthy, the population of southern resident killer whales is so low – now estimated at 74 – that the fate of an individual can be important to the survival of their kind.
Tom Wooten, chairman of the Samish Indian Nation, told KUOW earlier in January that the tribe would give the young male whale a traditional Samish name but would hold off until the whale’s first birthday, given the high death rate among newborn orcas.
A scarcity of Chinook salmon to eat remains a dire problem for these top predators.
“Our research really is indicating that it's the lack of prey. That is the driving factor,” biologist Deborah Giles with the nonprofit Wild Orca told KUOW in 2023.
Orcas accumulate toxic PCBs and other persistent pollutants in their fat and can inadvertently deliver a pulse of poison when nursing their offspring, especially if a lack of salmon leaves them undernourished enough to have to metabolize their fat reserves.
Biologists and whale lovers hope that efforts to improve salmon habitat and reduce pollution and boat noise will give the beleaguered orcas better odds of survival.
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Former Washington First Lady Nancy Bell Evans has passed away
Politics
Outgoing Washington Gov. Dan Evans and his wife Nancy eye one of 24 scrapbooks put together during Evans' 12 years in office, in Olympia, Wash., Dec. 15, 1976. The fascinating collection of memorabilia includes invitations from the queen of England, warm notes from Richard Nixon, some previously undisclosed political information and irate letters, like one calling for his impeachment.Barry Sweet / Associated PressFormer first lady of Washington state Nancy Bell Evans has died.
The wife of three-term Republican Governor Dan Evans, who held office between 1965 and 1977, passed away Friday night after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 90 years old.
At 31, when her husband took office, she was the youngest First Lady of Washington (and at 39, Dan Evans was the youngest Washington governor).
"I think she took on more interests in more things than was typically the case for first ladies at that time," Dan Evans told KUOW's Will James last summer. "But she was a lot younger than any first lady — she was just barely 30."
RELATED: After being shunned in California, Washington Gov. Evans welcomed thousands of Vietnamese refugees
A Spokane native, Nancy certainly championed a range of issues as First Lady. She founded the Governor's Mansion Foundation; was the national chair of the First Ladies' Mental Health Month; was founder and chair of the Friends of Cancer Lifeline; and was a founding trustee of Planned Parenthood of Olympia.
The Seattle Times reports that she learned last week her breast cancer had returned for the fourth time, and had metastasized to her bones.
Evans is survived by her three sons, nine grandchildren, and her 98-year-old husband.
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T-shirt weather in January? Seattle area warmed by record-breaking temps
Environment
A cyclist rides along Harbor Avenue Southwest as the sun sets on Tuesday, March 19, 2019, in Seattle.KUOW Photo/Megan FarmerWestern Washington's in the middle of a bout of what some might call T-shirt weather.
Update, Jan. 30: Monday marked the fourth time in 80 years that Seattle has had back-to-back January days with temperatures at 60 degrees or higher.
It was the second day in a row that areas like SeaTac and Olympia broke records.
Bellingham, too, set a stunning new record, hitting 68 degrees Monday night. That's the normal high temperature there in June.
Highs in the region were expected to reach 60 degrees again Tuesday.
Come Wednesday, though, a cold front will return Western Washington to temperatures more typical for this time of year; highs are expected to drop to the 40s by the weekend.
Original story posted Jan. 29: Record-breaking highs were recorded at SeaTac and Olympia Sunday, reaching 61 and 63 degrees respectively, according to the National Weather Service.
That might not sound like balmy weather exactly, but it is unusual for this time of year.
The previous record in SeaTac was just 57 degrees, set on Jan. 28, 2018. And Olympia's previous record of 60 degrees held on since 1976.
This warm spell comes after Seattle experienced its warmest December on record, a pattern that is likely to continue through the rest of winter.
That hasn't been consistent so far this month, though. Subfreezing temperatures and some snow hit the region just about two weeks ago. The King County Medical Examiner has reported at least seven weather-related deaths, and local shelters were at capacity as people sought refuge from the cold.
The severe cold appears to be behind us for now.
The warm trend is expected to continue Monday. Highs should reach the low 60s once again.
Don't get too excited, though.
While cloudy skies made for a stellar sunrise Monday morning, those clouds may yield rain later in the day.
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Seattle has a new City Council. What will change in a year?
Politics
Seattle Councilmember Sara Nelson speaks at a press event April 27, 2023, at City Hall.David Hyde / KUOWSeattle City Hall has a different vibe these days. The appointment of Tanya Woo to the City Council adds another hand on the wheel, pulling the city into the center lane and away from the previous Council's path.
With new leadership and a new direction, what will change around Seattle over the next year?
For starters, the Council will start working together, Council President Sara Nelson told KUOW's Week in Review on Friday. But beyond that, Nelson says the Council is primed to address what she sees as an interconnected web of challenges — police staffing, revitalizing downtown, public safety, transit, budgeting, and more.
RELATED: New-look Seattle City Council backs new president in unanimous vote
"I think in a year, you will see more officers at SPD, and people circulating more on buses and light rail — that is a prediction I will put forward," she said.
The question about what will change in Seattle was the first of many that Nelson tackled from the Week in Review panel, hosted by Bill Radke. The panel included Seattle Channel’s Brian Callanan, political analyst Joni Balter, and KUOW’s David Hyde.
Nelson said that she's hearing from Seattle's employers and workers that they would go downtown more often if they felt safe at bus stops and on transit.
"I chair the economic development (committee) still, so we need to bring more business downtown, more people on the street, and everything rests on the foundation of improved public safety," Nelson said.
To tax or to cut? That is the question
If there is one theme among Nelson's answers for all these issues, it's that the new council is likely to start asking questions about how the city does business. That means potential cuts to programs, and shifting how money is spent. For example, Nelson argues that Seattle is short on police officers, but hires new recruits slowly.
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PHOTOS: You can't look away from this bold, modern Palestinian art at Mercer Island gallery
Arts & Life
"Watermelon flag" by Palestinain artist Khaled Hourani.Khaled HouraniIn the face of ongoing violence, two Palestinian artists say they have turned to their craft as a creative outlet, as well as a social responsibility.
At the Mercer Island "SZ Gallery," curator Suzanne Zahr has brought together the works of 12 artists for a show she calls "We are human. We are hopeful. We are hurting. We are Palestine."
Zahr, who's also an architect, says she brought together this exhibit to amplify Palestinian voices and experiences.
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