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The snowy quest for a damn good cup of coffee

caption: Twede's has been snowed in since storms rolled down from the north.
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Twede's has been snowed in since storms rolled down from the north.

Taxes, grocery store community, public land expansion, rehab monitoring, and a tale of two snow emergencies.

Listen to the full show by clicking the play button above, or check out one of the show’s segments below. You can also subscribe to The Record on your favorite podcast app.

North Bend snowfall

Seattle’s been measuring its snowfall in inches – unusual enough. But in North Bend, they’re measuring the snow in feet. You might recognize Twede’s Café from the TV show Twin Peaks. But, says owner Kyle Twede, that damn good cup of coffee has been harder to get lately.

Snowy streets, salty runoff

Part of city snowstorm lore is that Mayor Greg Nickels lost his bid for a second term by refusing to salt the streets. There was an environmental case to be made at the time, and according to KUOW’s John Ryan there might still be.

School levies

Tuesday’s ballot featured two property tax levies for Seattle public schools. But one of them, an operations levy, would raise twice the amount of tax money that the district can legally collect. Will the legislature raise the levy cap? We asked State Senator Lisa Wellman.

National public lands expansion

Yesterday, the Senate passed a sweeping public lands expansion that’s been in the works for a decade. David Lamfrom, director of the National Parks Conservation Association’s California Desert and National Wildlife Programs, joined us to explain what the bill contains and what it means for our country’s wildest places.

Self checkout: convenience, or community killer?

A tale of two grocers. PCC Community Markets are removing their self checkouts to foster community. Amazon Go, on the other hand, wants you to be able to waltz through your grocery list without speaking to a soul. Who’s right? KUOW features reporter Ruby de Luna and Joshua McNichols, host of KUOW’s Prime(d) podcast, have been following the story.

Tom Banse, rehab programs

After completing an intensive drug or alcohol rehab program, the next months are fraught with the risk of relapse. A treatment counselor or supporter can't monitor you around the clock. But now your smartphone can watch you, coach you – even alert your mom. KUOW’s Tom Banse has the story.

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