Why ACT Theatre's board just resigned: Today So Far

• Orcas dodge oil spill in Puget Sound.
• ACT Theatre's board of trustees voluntarily stepped down.
• The Seattle area had another series of shootings over the weekend.

This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for August 15, 2022.

A fishing vessel went down off the shores of San Juan Island this weekend. Luckily, the crew made it to safety as their boat sank. Not so lucky, however, is the surrounding environment.

The boat now rests on the ocean floor, about 100 feet down. It's filled with about 2,600 gallons of diesel fuel, not to mention all the other oils that are trickling up to the surface. That became a concern when folks on the water noticed a pod of orcas swimming nearby. They were at risk of swimming directly into the oily sheen. Experts tell KUOW that diesel fuel generally evaporates out of the water and goes away, however, swimming through it while it's still in the water can wreak havoc on skin and lungs. An island resident reported that fumes stung their eyes.

*With the orcas coming closer, crews were prepared to drop “oikomi pipes" into the water. These are 8-foot long metal pipes that go into the water. A person then bangs on the pipes with hammer. The noise is supposed to be extremely annoying to whales. The hope is that it annoys them away. Sort of like that one guy blaring music so loudly out of a sedan it's rattling the metal paneling of the car. No one is impressed. If anything, it's sad and folks just think it's a cry for help years after mommy never got him that pony for his birthday ... or maybe I'm just projecting a little bit here.

In this case, they did not need to use them. The orcas swam away from the oil on their own. But the boat is still down there and there's more to this story. Check it out here.

The Seattle area had another series of shootings over the weekend. And just like the weekend of shootings that happened last month, the incidents don't initially appear to be related — a lot of guns going off. Many were wounded and sent to local hospitals. One man died at Seattle's Cal Anderson Park. As KUOW reported last month, shootings around King County have been trending upward for some time now. Read more here.

The board of trustees at Seattle's ACT Theatre have voluntarily stepped down en masse. Only the chair, treasurer, and secretary remain (which are the the positions required by law). The theatre says it has wanted to reconfigure its organization, and the best way to get the ball rolling was to nix the board and build it from scratch.

This comes after the board read an article in American Theatre Magazine titled "Boards are broken, so let's break and remake them." It inspired them to make over the organization. KUOW's Mike Davis has the full story here.

*The above information about orca whales avoiding an oil spill originally stated crews used oikomi pipes to annoy the whales away, and that a crew member's eyes stung from the diesel fumes. It has been corrected to reflect that crews did not use the pipes and an island resident's eyes stung.

AS SEEN ON KUOW

After his father's death, Byron Au Yong turned to paper folding. Chinese paper folding revolves around making objects for the dead. Byron folded some of his father’s personal belongings like vintage textbook pages, magazines, and even retired receipts. The process was meditative and comforting and helped Byron mourn his father. It also helped him connect to his own Chinese American heritage. KUOW's "The Blue Suit" explores his story this week. (Shin Yu Pai)

DID YOU KNOW?

Emerald City Comic Con returns to Seattle this week! The event takes place at the Seattle Convention Center from Thursday to Sunday. Get ready for some prime people watching as cosplayers descend on downtown.

ECCC began in 2003 when comic shop owner Jim Demonakos aimed to develop a more upscale comic convention than what was locally present at the time. Roughly 2,500-3,000 people attended that first event, held at what was Qwest Field at the time (Lumen Field today). The event has only grown since then. Before the pandemic hit, ECCC was nearing 100,000 in attendance, making it one of the most attended pop culture events in the nation.

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