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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Molbak's announces it is closing in Woodinville
Molbak's CEO Julie Kouhia stands in front of the garden store's poinsettia tree, a hallmark of the store's holiday decorations. After a rift with a developer, the garden and home store opted to close up shop in January 2024.KUOW Photo / Joshua McNicholsAfter growing its Woodinville roots for 67 years, Molbak's Garden + Home is shutting down its business.
"After considering many different possibilities and a great deal of discussion with the Molbak family, we’ve determined that we no longer have a path forward," Molbak's CEO Julie Kouhia wrote in an online statement.
"Over the next few weeks, we will be putting together a plan to shut down operations and permanently close Molbak’s. Our main goal is to close down with integrity and in a way that respects our employees, vendors and customers. We also want to find a way to celebrate the history, impact and joy of Molbak’s. We are working on a transition plan and will share more details with you in early January."
As KUOW has reported in late November, and Soundside has covered, Molbak's was founded by immigrants from Denmark, Egon and Laina Molbak, in 1956 — a time when the area was far more rural. The garden center grew over the decades as Woodinville took shape around it.
In 2008, the business sold 19 acres of its property to a developer, The Seattle Times reports, with an understanding that Molbak's would be the center of a new development. That project was slated to include apartments and stores.
Instead, Molbak's became the center of a recent drama unfolding in Woodinville.
Molbak's accused the developer — Green Partners, which is operated by Bill Gates' Cascade Asset Management Company — of pushing the legacy business out of the project plans. Green Partners has denied this allegation, and has argued that it never planned to remove Molbak's from its current location. A November statement from the developer further said:
"While Cascade is no longer planning to develop the Gardens District, we had been negotiating with Mr. Molbak toward the inclusion of his family’s business as a key feature of a possible future Gardens District. However, Mr. Molbak upended the discussions even in the face of Cascade’s offer of concessions, including free rent. We expect that the Gardens District will serve the needs of Woodinville, regardless of what Molbak’s decides is in its interest."
Since November, Molbak's and Green Partners entered into mediation, according to Kouhia, Molbak's CEO. She said in her statement that the mediation effort was not successful, and that "Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to come to an agreement with Green Partners that would allow us to stay in our current location in Woodinville."
Kouhia maintained that Green Partners "kicked" Molbak's out of the Green Gardens development project.
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Seattle Public Schools wins nearly $2 million in vaping lawsuit
Education
Four years ago, Seattle Public Schools joined districts across the state and country to sue JUUL Labs and other vaping companies.
They alleged the companies deliberately advertised and designed their products to target kids, leading to a dramatic increase in youth vaping and nicotine addiction.
Now, the suit is paying off: Last week, the school board accepted a $1.75 million settlement. It’ll be paid in installments over the next four years.
As part of the settlement agreement, which states proceeds must be used for “compensatory restitution or remediation,” the district says the funds will be used as part of a “multi-pronged approach” to fight youth vaping. That includes prevention, early intervention, and cessation.
The district says the money also may be used to address mental health issues that might lead a student to vape.
Seattle is set to get its first payment of $750,000 from JUUL this month.
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Supporters of Manuel Ellis dismayed as Tacoma police case goes to jury
Law & Courts
A mural honoring 33-year-old Manuel Ellis at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and South 11th street in Tacoma.KUOW Photo/Charlotte DuranJury deliberations are scheduled to continue Monday in the trial of three Tacoma police officers. Two are accused of murder and all three face manslaughter charges in the death of Manuel Ellis, who died in an encounter with police after being punched and restrained with a spit hood put over his face.
Some supporters of Ellis’ family say observing the criminal trial has left them with doubts.
“Do I feel good about it? I don’t. I’m hopeful. But you know, if I wasn’t a man of faith I would have turned this movie off a long time ago. Because trust is just not there," said Anthony Steele, senior pastor of the Allen AME church, the oldest Black church in Tacoma, and a member of the Tacoma Ministerial Alliance.
Steele told KUOW he’s made a point of attending the trial of police officers Matthew Collins, Christopher Burbank, and Timothy Rankine.
Steele said, for him, it was plain Ellis didn’t have to die in that 2020 encounter. But he said he’s been disappointed with decisions by the judge throughout the trial that Steele perceived as favoring the police and strengthening the case of their defense attorneys.
Prosecutors said the officers disregarded Ellis’ statements that he couldn’t breathe. Attorneys for the police argue that Ellis’ death was caused by methamphetamine and an enlarged heart. They also said none of the three officers charged were responsible for placing the spit hood on Ellis.
Steele said observing in the courtroom is an important next step after the racial justice protests of 2020. He said he’s also saddened by the lack of national attention on this case so far.
“My only last regret is that the Ben Crumps and the Al Sharptons of the world did not show up for this trial. This trial is important, not just for Tacoma but for America. This is some of the first times in our history where you actually have police officers on trial for their actions," Steele said.
“We must be present. Not just Blacks. Everyone must be present, just like we were during the pandemic,” he added. “People marched, all races together.”
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Demonstrators block University Bridge traffic as they call for a ceasefire in Gaza
Demonstrators led by Jewish Voice for Peace-Seattle blocked four lanes of traffic on the University Bridge for several hours on Thursday evening while calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
"The whole world is watching" and "Let Gaza Live" read a large banner hanging from the bridge.
Marking the eighth day of Hanukkah, demonstrators led by Jewish Voice for Peace shut down bridges and highways in eight cities across the country: Seattle, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Portland, Washington DC, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Atlanta.
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The price of pollution in Washington state hits $2 billion
Environment
Steam and invisible, heat-trapping carbon dioxide billow from the Marathon Petroleum Corporation refinery in Anacortes, Washington, in June 2023.KUOW Photo/John RyanWashington state’s latest carbon auction has raised nearly a half-billion dollars from businesses that pollute the climate.
Preliminary results from the Washington Department of Ecology show the Dec. 6 auction raised $480 million.
In total this year, big polluters in Washington have now paid more than $2 billion for the right to keep polluting. That money is destined for various projects aimed at fighting climate change and helping communities adapt to a hotter world.
Republicans and some business groups say the state’s system for capping carbon pollution has driven up the price of gasoline. They aim to weaken or overturn the carbon cap in the legislature or with a ballot initiative next year.
The Inslee administration aims to link the state's fledgling carbon market to the decade-old markets in California and Quebec. The aim is to help bring down the price of carbon, which has come in higher than predicted as businesses put a high value on the ability to keep polluting.
Climate scientists say carbon dioxide, methane, and other heat-trapping pollutants will almost certainly make 2023 the hottest year in recorded history.
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Pierce County power-grid attacker sentenced to federal prison
Crime
A mobile substation rig sits behind a Tacoma Public Utilities substation, sabotaged on Christmas Day, on Jan. 16, in Spanaway, Washington.KUOW Photo/Megan FarmerA Puyallup man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for sabotaging four electrical substations in Pierce County on Christmas Day 2022.
Jeremy Crahan, 40, pleaded guilty in September and was sentenced on Friday.
Crahan and co-conspirator Matthew Greenwood, 32, of Puyallup have been ordered to pay $235,699 for the damage they did to the power grid.
Greenwood is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 19.
They attacked three electrical substations before sunrise Christmas morning and a fourth that night, knocking out power to about 15,000 customers.
Crahan’s defense attorney, Lance Hester of Tacoma-based Hester Law Group, blamed “methamphetamine-impacted decision-making” for the pair’s “most unfortunate of plans”: a plot to knock out power over wide areas before robbing local businesses and banking machines.
The pair managed to steal about $100 from the cash register of a Thai restaurant, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.
A spokesperson for Tacoma Power told The News Tribune it would take “multiple years” to fully repair its Graham and Elk Plain substations, both attacked on Christmas Day 2022.
Federal prosecutors say the men were plotting more attacks, involving sawing trees to fall on top of power lines, when they were arrested.
FBI officials say the two men are not suspected in a separate string of attacks on the Northwest power grid last year.
As KUOW and OPB reported in January, at least some of those attacks appeared to follow instruction manuals put out by neo-Nazis and other far-right extremists.
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Washington state phases out super-polluting gases used in refrigerators, air conditioners
Environment
CM Heating technician Hunter Morgan installs a heat pump in a house in Shoreline, Washington, in July 2023.KUOW Photo/John RyanYou’ve probably never seen or smelled a hydrofluorocarbon, but these synthetic gases are inside the air conditioners, refrigerators, and heat pumps in most Washington homes and businesses.
Washington state is phasing out these super-pollutants, known as HFCs.
HFCs can be hundreds or thousands of times worse for the climate than carbon dioxide, the main pollutant overheating the planet. Pound for pound, the most common refrigerant in home-cooling appliances, known as R-410a, traps 2,000 times more heat than carbon dioxide does.
HFCs are a small part of the human threat to the climate at the moment now—about 3% of the United States’ annual greenhouse gas emissions in 2021, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and 4% of Washington state’s emissions, according to the Washington Department of Ecology.
But they are the fastest-growing source of climate damage.
Starting Jan. 1, it will be illegal to sell or install air conditioners, heat pumps, and dehumidifiers for residential use in Washington if they contain the worst of these super-pollutants — those at least 750 times more potent than carbon dioxide. In 2025, HFCs more than 150 times more potent than carbon dioxide will be banned from many commercial uses.
Existing equipment and retail inventory aren’t covered, but big users like supermarkets, hospitals, and seafood plants have to register their HFC use and take action to prevent leaks.
“The goal here really is to allow those systems to continue operating through their natural lifespan, because they are obviously significant investments for a business, but doing so in a way that is minimizing the amount of refrigerant that's leaking out of them,” said Leonard Machut with the Washington Department of Ecology.
Newer HFC coolants already on the market — and widely adopted in motor-vehicle air conditioners — do about two-thirds less climate damage than the ones being banned.
The vast majority of climate impact from cooling devices comes from the electricity they use.
“You should not be sacrificing efficiency for these refrigerants,” said engineer Curtis Harrington with the Western Cooling Efficiency Center at the University of California, Davis.
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Photos: Candles lit in Seattle as calls for a ceasefire in Gaza continue
A large crowd gathered Friday evening for a Jewish led rally at Pike Place Market in Seattle to light candles on the second night of Hanukkah, or Chanukah, and demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
"On the second night of Chanukah, we in Jewish Voice for Peace-Seattle rekindle our own commitment to struggling for a lasting ceasefire and full Palestinian freedom," read a press release for the event.
"As Jews, we say not in our name. As Americans, we say not on our dime. We demand that Senator Patty Murray call for an immediate, lasting ceasefire and vote no on any more weapons to Israel."
In front of Pike Place Market, 'No Aid for Genocide' was spelled with electric candles.
“Chanukah means dedication, and until the ceasefire ends we are rededicating ourselves to fight for justice,” said Wendy Elisheva Somerson, speaking to the crowd.
“The Israeli government is counting on us to be too tired and too weary to go on. But the people of Gaza refuse to give up and so do we."
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Bloodworks NW removes barriers for gay, bisexual donors
Health
The U.S. is moving to ease restrictions on blood donations from gay and bisexual men and other groups that traditionally face higher risks of HIV.APStarting Wednesday, gay and bisexual men in the Pacific Northwest have more freedom to donate blood than they have had since 1985.
This year the FDA changed its donor restrictions that had come out of the HIV/AIDS crisis, and Bloodworks Northwest implemented the modernized rules Wednesday.
The old rules made it challenging for gay and bisexual men to donate blood, requiring lengthy wait periods.
Now all donors, no matter their sexual orientation, will follow the same donation policies.
Until 2015, men who had sex with men were not eligible to donate due to an indefinite deferral. After 2015, they could not donate unless they waited 12 months from their last sexual interaction.
There is still a waiting period to donate, however. Any person who has had anal sex and a new sexual partner or more than one partner will need to wait three months from that time.
Bloodworks Northwest says that the new FDA rule "further ensures safety of the blood supply, treats all potential donors equally and enables more people the opportunity to donate blood."
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Atmospheric river hits Western Washington with high winds, heavy rain, and possible flooding
December is off to a busy start in terms of the weather.
Another atmospheric river is moving into Western Washington today. It's expected to bring the heaviest rain Monday evening and into Tuesday. Some of the lowland areas are looking at getting anywhere from 1.5 to 3 inches by Wednesday morning. Coastal areas could get as much as 6 inches by then.
Plus, National Weather Service meteorologist Reid Wolcott said conditions could get "disgusting" in the mountains, with both the Olympics and the Cascades looking at nine to ten inches of rain. That's means a lot of snow at higher elevations will start melting and could cause some rivers to swell.
"We're really concerned about anything from about King County up through about Skagit County. That's where the most significant river flood is going to be," Wolcott said. "But, really, anywhere in Western Washington has rivers that are susceptible to precipitation amounts that we're looking at over the next couple of days."
Most of the region will be under a flood watch until at least Wednesday night.
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Okanagan River salmon eyed for endangered-species protection
Environment
The Rock Island Dam, on the Columbia River near Wenatchee, is one of 10 Washington dams that Okanagan Chinook salmon must swim past to reach their Canadian spawning grounds. July 2022 photo.KUOW Photo/John RyanA fisheries agency is asking for public input on whether to list a salmon from the Columbia River Basin as an endangered species.
The agency isn’t from Washington state or even the United States: It’s Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the fish are Okanagan Chinooks.
They are the only remaining Chinook salmon in Canada's portion of the Columbia River Basin.
To reach their Canadian spawning grounds, these fish have to swim past 10 dams on the Columbia and Okanogan rivers in Washington state. (The international river is spelled “Okanagan” north of the border and “Okanogan” to the south.)
Another dam about 17 miles north of the international border blocks off habitats farther upriver altogether.
Canadian officials say dams and fishing in Washington are key factors in the salmon’s steep decline, as well as damage to their Canadian spawning habitat.
Only 10 wild Okanagan Chinooks spawned in 2018, down from an average of 50 from 2013 to 2017 and up from an average of nine individual fish from 2008 to 2012, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Department officials did not respond to a request for more recent numbers.
The Canadian government rejected an independent expert committee’s recommendation to declare Okanagan Chinook endangered in 2010.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is taking public comment on the proposed listing under Canada’s Species at Risk Act until Dec. 5.
About 85% of the Columbia River Basin lies within seven western states. The remaining 15% is in the province of British Columbia.
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The North Cascades Highway goes wild for the winter
Environment
U.S. Highway 20 ascends into the North Cascades on Nov. 29, 2023.Washington state Department of TransportationA rare, yet annual, event took place Thursday night in Washington’s North Cascades.
A roadless area roughly doubled in size.
The Washington state Department of Transportation shut down State Route 20, the North Cascades Highway, at 6 p.m. Thursday for the winter.
The closure inconveniences drivers traveling between eastern and western Washington but reconnects the wildlands north and south of Highway 20.
Avalanche danger beneath the jagged peaks of the North Cascades forces the snowy highway to close each winter.
The effective disappearance of 37 miles of highway beneath a blanket of snow gives wide-ranging carnivores like wolverines and lynx more room to roam for several months.
Those species thrive in roadless landscapes, where disturbance from humans and their motor vehicles is minimal.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the wolverine as a threatened species outside of Alaska on Wednesday, 29 years after environmental groups petitioned the agency to do so.
The agency listed lynx outside of Alaska as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2000.
Biologists estimate that fewer than 50 Canada lynx remain in Washington, according to the nonprofit Conservation Northwest.
The wolverine population in the Washington Cascades is probably fewer than 25 individuals, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
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