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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Seattle's police horse program to trot into the sunset
A Seattle Police Department horse in downtown. SPD announced it will decommission its mounted patrol in September 2024.The Seattle Police Department announced Monday that it plans to nix its mounted patrol unit. The department says the move is part of an effort to conserve "scarce resources" as it prioritizes responding to emergency calls and investigating serious crimes.
RELATED: How city leaders want to patch Seattle's $250 million budget deficit
"We recognize the deep and abiding relationships that so many inside and outside of SPD have developed over the years. We will be working to find a compassionate and meaningful transition for each of the animals," SPD said in a statement. "We hope that some of them might be used to serve the community in other ways, such as therapy horses. Former owners of the donated horses will be given the opportunity to take back ownership."
RELATED: Giving neglected horses a SAFE home
In its announcement, SPD noted the mounted patrol's "storied, 150-year legacy" in the city. The unit began in a time before the car came to city roads. In more recent years it has been deployed to patrol city parks or help with crowd control.
The department acknowledged that as it's downsized over the past decade, the horses have mostly been seen at memorial services or community events. With city budgets cutting funds for the mounted patrol unit in recent years, community efforts have emerged to help fund it. The Seattle Police Foundation has organized a program to sponsor a police horse and has held fundraisers to help keep the unit going.
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Gonzaga joins Pac-12, bringing powerhouse basketball but no football
Sports
Gonzaga guard Kaylynne Truong (14) tries to move around Texas forward Aaliyah Moore (23) during the second half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game against Texas in the women's NCAA Tournament, Friday, March 29, 2024, in Portland, Ore. Texas won 69-47.AP Photo/Jenny KaneThe Gonzaga University Bulldogs will be joining the Pac-12 conference in 2026.
“We are delighted to welcome Gonzaga into the Pac-12 as they embark with us on this incredible path ahead," Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould said in a statement Tuesday. “President McCulloh and Athletics Director Chris Standiford not only bring strategic expertise and forward thinking to the conference, but they are two incredible leaders who care deeply about student success and fortifying student-athlete academic and athletic experiences. Today represents an exciting milestone for the Pac-12 as we welcome another outstanding institution with a rich history of success into our league.”
RELATED: UW quits Pac-12 Conference alliance it co-founded in 1915
The Gonzaga Bulldogs will officially become part of the Pac-12 on July 1, 2026. Games will start in the 2026-27 academic year. Gonzaga does not have a football team. Its basketball teams will be joining the ranks of the Pac-12. For 25 years in a row, Gonzaga has made it to the NCAA's men's basketball tournament, while reaching the finals twice.
In addition to basketball, Gonzaga also has programs for baseball, cross country, golf, rowing, soccer, tennis, and track and field.
There have been major shakeups among college sports in the Pacific Northwest over the past year. In August 2023, the University of Washington announced its exit from the Pac-12, and entrance into the Big Ten conference. UW officially became part of the Big Ten in August 2024. The University of Oregon made the same move. Disagreements over broadcast rights partially led to the departures. Since then, the Pac-12 has endeavored to rebuild, adding Boise State University, Colorado State University, California State University, Fresno, San Diego State University, and Utah State University. With the addition of Gonzaga, the Pac-12 still needs to get one more full-time member with a football team to meet the eight-team minimum required of the conference.
According to the Pac-12's announcement, with Gonzaga joining up, "the conference is poised to compete at the highest levels of women’s and men’s basketball." The conference noted that the university has a "286-44 (86.7 winning percentage) combined record in women’s and men’s basketball. Their women’s program has amassed a record of 138-23 (85.7 winning percentage) since the start of the 2019-20 season, and the men’s program is a national-best 148-21 (87.6 winning percentage)."
RELATED: What can the past tell us about the future of the PAC-12?
“Following discussions with Pac-12 member presidents, I believe membership will represent an opportunity to participate in building a conference that imagines new, forward-thinking ways to support student-athletes in a rapidly changing collegiate sports landscape,” Gonzaga University President Thayne McCulloh said.
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The grim reason fentanyl deaths are falling in King County
A photo from the U.S. Attorneys Office for Utah shows fentanyl-laced fake oxycodone pills collected during an investigation. The drugs are generally foreign-made with a very close chemical makeup to the dangerous opioid.U.S. Attorneys Office for Utah via APFatal fentanyl overdoses may have reached a peak in Washington state, according to preliminary data. But that's not all good news.
At the end of 2023, the quarterly death toll statewide was down 9% after rising nearly every quarter since 2019. While synthetic opioid fatalities are still rising in some parts of the state, the rate in King County has fallen since July 2023, when nearly four people died each day, on average, from overdoses involving fentanyl.
Caleb Banta-Green, a research professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said the change seems primarily due to so many Seattle-area fentanyl users having already died.
"There are only so many people who are using a drug, and when it has that high of a lethality rate, it will eventually — in a really horrific way — start to self-extinguish itself like a forest fire," Banta-Green said. "So, it's literally burning out the fuel. The horrible thing in this instance is the fuel is people."
Banta-Green said that grim curve has also been observed on the East Coast where fentanyl took hold earlier.
"I hope we continue to have a decline, but I hope that the future decline isn't because people are dying, but because they're accessing the really wonderful life-saving interventions that we're really making great strides to make more widely available," he said.
That includes replacement drugs like buprenorphine and methadone, which help reduce opioid intake levels, and lower users' risk of fatal overdose.
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Serenade me, Seattle: Help KUOW web editor Katie Campbell rebuild her music library
Music
A gray turntable sits on a wooden table with a collection of records beneath it.If you've ever uttered the phrase "I was into [insert band/artists name here] before they were cool," today is your lucky day.
I recently lost my Spotify library (it's a boring story), so I'm rebuilding my musical existence. Honestly, it's been a lot of nostalgic fun. I've spent the last few nights renewing my love of everything from Lady Gaga to Green Day. My first concert was a Green Day show after they released the "American Idiot" album in 2004, and I'm happy to report it still makes me feel like an angsty teen 20 years later; actually, I was in sixth grade at the time and not even a little angsty, but that's neither here nor there.
Some of my colleagues have already recommended some great new additions to my playlists. Kevin Diers, who wears a lot of hats at KUOW and is deep in the Seattle music scene, suggested Hank Dogs, an acoustic folk band from South London. I'm listening to their album "Bareback" as I write — it's a chill, earthy vibe that fits in well with stuff like the ethereal Evelyn Frances album "Seed." (And in looking her up, I just learned Evelyn lives in Seattle now. So, like, hi Evelyn! Your music gives me peace!)
I know what I know, though, you know? I have the rare opportunity to reimagine my musical tastes. My more musically cultured partner Drew made me a "country and country-adjacent" playlist to open my mind to, well, country. I do not do pop country, but apparently, I very much do do folks like Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson (yes, it took me this long to realize that), and a band inexplicably but delightfully called Trampled by Turtles.
So, I need your help, Seattle. I want you to help me rebuild my music library. Give me your favorite local and regional picks plus one wildcard.
Use this form to share your recs:
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Why the Salish Sea's new baby orca surprised researchers
Animals
The female southern resident orca known as L90 swims with her new calf, L128, in the Salish Sea off Washington's San Juan Islands.Courtesy of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, SeaDoc Society, and NOAA FisheriesSpotting a new orca calf in the Salish Sea is always exciting to whale watchers and researchers, but the most recent baby whale bouncing in the waters is particularly notable.
The female orca known as L90, who swims with the L-pod, is about 29 years old. Her parents and siblings have all passed away. She's had plenty of experience as an aunt, but she's never had a baby of her own before.
These orcas don't typically spend the summer in local waters, so it's not unusual for researchers to be unaware of pregnancies within the pods. But still, news of L90 becoming a mother is a bit of an "outlier," according to NOAA wildlife biologist Brad Hanson.
RELATED: Why are these killer whales increasingly showing up in the Salish Sea?
“We think that she had probably attempted to have a calf in the past, about 15 years ago," Hanson said. "She seemed to be in a distressed condition. She [had] never been seen with a live calf or even a dead neonate."
Hanson added that at her age, it's likely that L90 has been pregnant several times before but lost those calves.
"She's also a relatively small female. So to be honest, we had sort of written her off, if you will,” he said.
That was a mistake. The new mom was spotted with the new calf, adorably named L128, off the south end of Vancouver Island on Sept. 15. According to the Orca Behavior Institute, the pair was spotted again between Victoria, B.C., then in the San Juan Islands a day later.
A celebration erupted among orca watchers, who had mourned the loss of a southern resident orca calf born last year. That baby, a member of the J-pod, was presumed dead within the first months of its life. Orca calves face high mortality rates within their first six months.
"It does bring us hope, but you know, we're cautiously optimistic," Hanson said.
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King County Sheriff’s lawsuit over Burien camping ban thrown out by federal judge
Law & Courts
King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall, left, and then-Burien Police Chief Ted Boe speak at a meeting organized by KCSO to discuss Burien's camping ban on May 6, 2023. Cole-Tindall said that night, “I have issues with that ordinance, I’m not sure it’s constitutional."KUOW/Amy RadilA federal judge in Seattle has dismissed the King County Sheriff’s lawsuit over a homeless camping ban in the city of Burien, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision supporting the rights of cities to enact those restrictions. It’s the latest step in a standoff between the sheriff and leaders of the city southwest of Seattle, over their attempts to restrict homeless encampments.
Burien officials are calling the decision a significant legal victory.
“Burien looks forward to working with King County to learn when and how it will begin enforcement of Burien’s ordinance," the city said in a statement.
RELATED: 'It's hard not to give up.' Homeless diaspora emerges as Washington cities lock down public spaces
Last March, Burien passed its "unlawful public camping" ordinance, which prohibits homeless camping across much of the city, including anywhere within 500 feet of schools, parks, and libraries. The King County Sheriff’s office, which is contracted to provide the city’s policing services, declined to enforce it.
King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall sued shortly after in federal court, seeking to have the law declared unconstitutional. King County’s lawsuit cited the Ninth Circuit’s 2019 decision in Martin v. City of Boise, which held that cities cannot enforce anti-camping ordinances if they do not have any shelter beds available.
In an order filed Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Jones rejected Sheriff Cole-Tindall’s challenge, noting that the case she cited has since been overturned by a U.S. Supreme Court decision issued in June. The Grants Pass decision found that local laws enforcing camping in public don't violate the constitutional rights of people who are homeless.
Judge Jones also said King County lacked standing to sue because the sheriff has not suffered any injury as a result of the ordinance, and “the legal rights that King County Plaintiffs assert against the City of Burien are nebulous.”
RELATED: Why Burien is suing King County over the city's own camping ban
So far King County has responded that it is not changing course on enforcement in Burien.
“Unfortunately, the court determined it lacked jurisdiction to hear either lawsuits brought forward by King County or Burien. Still, that decision leaves unresolved important constitutional concerns that motivated the Sheriff to pause enforcement of Burien's ordinance," the sheriff's office said in a statement Wednesday.
The Sheriff’s Office also released a letter suggesting that Burien Mayor Kevin Schilling was open to returning to the city's previous ordinance which allowed some overnight camping if no shelter was available.
In an email to KUOW, Schilling said that King County's letter was “not based in a factual conversation and mischaracterizes a conversation I had with the city police chief.”
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Machinist union says it won't vote on Boeing's 'best and final' contract offer
Business
Boeing workers wave picket signs to passing drivers as they strike after union members voted to reject a contract offer Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, near the company's factory in Everett, Wash.(AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)Update: Machinist union rejects Boeing's "best and final" contract offer
Calling Boeing's "best and final" contract offer disrespectful and not enough, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 say its union members won't be voting on it.
"This proposal does not go far enough to address your concerns, and Boeing has missed the mark with this proposal," IAM 751 said in a statement. "They are trying to drive a wedge between our members and weaken our solidarity with this divisive strategy."
RELATED: Why Boeing workers are (still) striking
In a statement made hours after Boeing sent a new offer to its striking machinist union, IAM 751 said that the new offer did not go through the union's negotiating committee. It also argued that Boeing's deadline to accept the offer (Friday, Sept. 27) is unreasonable and does not give them enough time to organize voting.
The union further objected to Boeing sending the contract information to local media.
In response to IAM 751's concerns, Boeing pushed out its deadline and said it would offer more time for the union to organize a vote.
“This strike is affecting our team and our communities, and we believe our employees should have the opportunity to vote on our offer that makes significant improvements in wages and benefits. We’ve reached out to the union to give them more time and offer logistical support once they decide to vote," the company said via a statement.
Original report: Boeing presents 'best and final' contract offer to machinist union
Boeing machinists have until Friday to decide whether to accept the company's latest union contract offer. As employees continued to strike Monday, Boeing said this is its "best and final" offer.
"If approved, the average annual machinist pay at the end of this 4-year contract would increase from $75,608 a year to $111,155," Boeing said in a statement.
RELATED: Boeing workers having trouble making ends meet amid strike
Shortly after the company made its new offer to union workers Monday, Boeing began sharing the details with the public.
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Reporter's Notebook: The Jaipur Literature Festival debuts in Seattle in spectacular fashion
Books
Sanjoy K. Roy, the managing director of Teamwork Arts, welcomes an audience to the first Jaipur Literature Festival in Seattle at the Seattle Asian Art Museum on Sept. 20, 2024.KUOW Photo/Katie CampbellWhen I recently previewed the Jaipur Literature Festival's debut in Seattle, local author Sonora Jha gave me an important piece of advice: "Wear colorful clothes."
More importantly, she said, "In India, we dress really nice for these events. Seattle, I hope you pick it up a notch."
I want to publicly thank Jha for the guidance. If she hadn't said that, I might've been wildly underdressed for the festival, which was vibrant in both the content and the dress.
RELATED: 'A match made in literary heaven.' The Jaipur Literature Festival is coming to Seattle
The original Jaipur Literature Festival, hosted in its titular city, is one of the world's largest literary festivals. About 550 authors and artists and more than 200,000 attendees joined this year's festival in February. As it's grown in India, the festival has also spread to other cities all over the world. Seattle is the latest edition.
JLF Seattle featured dozens of authors and creative speakers to Town Hall Seattle over the weekend. If you missed it, don't worry — the plan is for this literary event to join the city's summer festival pantheon. It opened on Friday night with an invitation-only gala-like event at the Seattle Asian Art Museum. I was lucky enough to be invited and brought along KUOW politics editor Catharine Smith as my guest.
Thanks to Jha, we donned colorful gowns, and thank goodness we did. I might have complimented every beautiful sari I saw in what was, hands down, the best dressed crowd I've seen in my time in Seattle.
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Boeing to begin furloughs, leadership takes a pay cut, as machinist strike continues
Business
The Boeing 777X airplane is shown during the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, France, June 19, 2023. Boeing said Wednesday, July 31, 2024, that aerospace industry veteran Robert "Kelly" Ortberg will take over as CEO next week, replacing David Calhoun.As Boeing's machinists continue to strike, furloughs and pay reductions are in store for the rest of the company.
"While this is a tough decision that impacts everybody, it is in an effort to preserve our long-term future and help us navigate through this very difficult time," Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg wrote in a letter to company employees Wednesday. He signed off with the phrase, "Restoring trust."
RELATED: Boeing workers having trouble making ends meet amid strike
Ortberg has not been in the CEO role long. He started with the company a little over a month ago. Since then, negotiations went sour with the company's machinist union, which voted to reject a contract offer from Boeing and to go on strike. That strike is ongoing and affects about 33,000 machinists, who work on the 737 Max, the 777, and the 767 cargo plane. Most of the workers are located in Washington state, at factories in Everett and Renton.
Ortberg acknowledged the strike in his letter and said the company is "committed to resetting our relationship" with the union. While the strike continues, Ortberg will take a pay cut, as will others on his leadership team.
RELATED: With its new CEO, is Boeing about to write the 'turnaround story of the century'?
Elsewhere in company, furloughs will be implemented to "preserve cash and ensure that Boeing is able to successfully recover."
"We are initiating temporary furloughs over the coming days that will impact a large number of US-based executives, managers and employees," Ortberg said. "All benefits will continue for affected employees, and to limit the impact to you, we are planning for selected employees to take one week of furlough every four weeks on a rolling basis for the duration of the strike."
RELATED: 4 moments the company fractured its bond with workers
Individual teams are being notified about how they will be affected. Ortbert said that Boeing will prioritize safety, customer support, quality, and key certification programs, which include operations related to producing the 787.
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New 'loitering' penalties targeting Seattle drug and prostitution zones approved by City Council
Crime
The Seattle City Council voted Sept. 17, 2024 to approve new criminal penalties for loitering in drug and prostitution zones.KUOW/Amy RadilAfter weeks of debate and controversy, the Seattle City Council voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to pass new criminal penalties intended to disrupt drug and prostitution-related crimes in city hotspots.
Council members said ongoing criminal activity in those zones compelled them to take action. Critics accused them of embracing an approach, unsupported by data, that could enable profiling and racial disparities in enforcement.
The Council voted 8-1 to create new gross misdemeanor penalties for loitering in specified drug or prostitution-related zones. If people are arrested for crimes like assault or theft “in which the court finds a nexus between the offense and illegal drug activity,” municipal court judges could issue orders banning them from six different “Stay Out of Drug Area” (SODA) zones in places like the Chinatown International District, the downtown core, and other areas with “high levels of significant drug activity,” according to the legislation.
RELATED: Why is Aurora Avenue crime concentrated in Seattle, not Shoreline?
Councilmember Bob Kettle sponsored the SODA legislation in partnership with City Attorney Ann Davison. Kettle called it an attempt to look at the “whole community” affected by open-air drug markets.
"Neighbors have been assaulted, placed under constant threat and unable to have community,” he said.
Councilmember Cathy Moore sponsored the second bill, which creates a “Stay Out of Area of Prostitution” zone on Aurora Avenue above North 85th Street. Moore said her bill is meant to crack down on pimps and buyers of commercial sex, “where women and other individuals are being trafficked and prostituted for the very, very profitable gain of pimps and the sole personal gratification of buyers.”
According to the Seattle City Attorney’s office, the city has seen just a handful of cases each year in which pimps were prosecuted for the existing felony of “promotion of prostitution,” which requires victims to cooperate with an investigation.
Moore said her solution is to create a new gross misdemeanor that doesn’t pose the same risks to the victims of trafficking because it’s based on the “observable behavior of the exploiters — of them monitoring, surveilling, shouting at, directing, transporting individuals to the Aurora corridor.”
RELATED: Seattle City Council considers 'prostitution loitering' law amid intense debate
Sellers or survivors of commercial sexual exploitation cannot be banned or targeted by the SOAP orders, but they could be arrested for loitering under the new law. Moore promised more help in the upcoming budget to fund an emergency receiving center where survivors of commercial sexual exploitation on Aurora could be diverted upon arrest.
“We will move money around in our budget to make that happen, and for me this is the beginning of the work, it is not the end of the work,” Moore said.
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Boeing workers having trouble making ends meet amid strike
Business
Jake and Juniper Meyer and their two kids, Tim and Lyra, on the picket lines in Renton on Tuesday, September 17, 2024.KUOW Photo/ Casey MartinUnionized Boeing employees say they’re facing serious economic hardship as they wait on a new contract with the aerospace giant.
Tuesday marked the third workday that 33,000 workers didn’t show up to any of Boeing’s plants.
Dozens of striking workers stand outside the Renton factory around the clock, feeding off the blaring horns of passing cars and trucks showing their support. The honking seems to never end on Logan Avenue.
Jon Holden, president of IAM District 751, the union that represents the workers, said at the beginning of the strike that things would be “a little bit chaotic at first, but we'll get our feet under us as we picket the sites.”
RELATED: Unified and determined, Boeing workers take to the picket line in Washington state
And the picket lines certainly did get organized.
Most spots now feature amenities for strikers, like snacks, bottled water, some sort of covered canopy, a porta-potty, loud music, and a burn barrel, of course, to keep warm.
But despite the music and cheers, workers say this strike is not a celebration.
“It sucks and hurts for everybody to think that we're worth so little,” said Jake Meyer, a mechanic who’s been at Boeing for two years. “We're supposed to be the top aerospace mechanics in the world, and we're getting paid $4 more than McDonald's down the street. Doesn't make any sense.”
RELATED: The Boeing Strike: 4 moments the company fractured its bond with workers
He was picketing in Renton on Tuesday with his wife, Juniper, and their two young kids, ages 5 and 1. Meyer said he took the job at Boeing thinking it would come with a stable paycheck and good benefits to take care of his children.
But the job — and pay — have been too frustrating, he said.
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Seattle's free and subsidized preschool program still has room for 600 kids
Education
Seattle has expanded its program offering free and subsidized preschool to hundreds of families each school year, and there are currently about 600 open seats.
"We are still in the midst of doing a lot of outreach, informing the community that we have new classrooms," said Leilani Dela Cruz, Seattle's Early Learning Director. "We are trying to get into parts of the city that may not have had publicly funded preschool before."
The program is for 3- and 4-year-olds and aims to bring high-quality preschool to kids who might not otherwise have access. Most of the program’s classrooms are in Seattle’s south end and the Lake City area, which have historically had lower test scores and fewer high-quality preschools.
“We wanted to serve the highest-needs children first, even though our program is open to anyone,” Dela Cruz said. “We know where there is a higher concentration of [Black, Indigenous, and people of color] communities and low-income communities, so that’s one of the reasons we started in the south end.
RELATED: Is Seattle headed toward preschool for all? Another expansion announced for 2024-25
“It was a little bit of a mix of creating new preschool[s], but also bringing into the fold preschools that already existed but just may not have had as [many resources] to produce kindergarten readiness,” Dela Cruz added.
Tuition is on a sliding scale based on a family’s income, and about two-thirds of students attend for free.
Families can enroll children anytime as long as there’s still space.
Dela Cruz said initial data suggest that the program is particularly successful at helping Black kids and English-language learners gain the academic and social-emotional skills they’ll need for kindergarten, but less successful at preparing Latino students and students with individualized education programs.
“We’re trying to unpack how we can do better” for those kids, Dela Cruz said.
Dela Cruz said the plan is to add more classrooms downtown, in the Magnolia area, and in the University District next year.
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