Soundside

When you ride a Metro bus that Nathan Vass is driving, you might notice a few things. It starts with when you get on the bus: he makes a point of saying hello to every passenger who climbs aboard.  Once you grab a seat, you’ll see he’s also on the intercom, announcing every single stop. When he isn’t orienting riders, he’s chatty and talks with people sitting at the fr...

The United States spends 30 billion dollars on foster care each year. Yet, according to author Claudia Rowe, the results have too often been damaging for the children in that system.   The award-winning journalist claims our child welfare system is dangerously dysfunctional: by disconnecting kids from their biological families and extended networks, she says, foster care severs atta...

Recent ICE enforcement activity has made headlines across the region.  This week, federal immigration agents  arrested 17 people at a manufacturer in Kent. And The Seattle Times reports ICE officers appeared to arrest at least 3 people at a Seattle immigration court.  But if you're stopped by ICE, everyone is entitled to certain rights and protections by law, no matter what your leg...

Governor Ferguson was kind of a wild card as legislators worked on shoring up a $16 billion budget gap this year.  The Democratic governor had been unusually friendly to Republicans and signaled he was open to their ideas for how to fill the deficit.  Meanwhile, Democrats in the state house and senate have publicly insisted that they have a good relationship with the governor , even as h...

Several law enforcement agencies across the country have decided to replace a popular model of pistol due to concerns about misfires – the guns have been reported to fire accidentally, even when in their holsters. Washington’s police academy earlier this year banned the firearm at all its training facilities. It’s a move that’s drawn protest from several local police depart...

In one of the most deadly local climbing accidents in recent memory, four men fell roughly 400 feet while climbing in the Northern Cascades on May 10th.  One man survived, Anton Tselykh.  The tragedy has caused grief – and prompted questions – in the local climbing community. And while some of the accident’s details are still unclear, it made us wonder about the impact...

Signs of the frosty relationship between the United States and Canada are everywhere: from additional checkpoints at border crossings, to fewer Blue Jays fans showing up to T-Mobile Park to see their team play here recently.  Rhetoric from the President about making Canada the 51st state and tariffs have put a wedge between the two countries.  And the effects of this split are spiraling...

If you’ve logged into TikTok or Instagram in recent weeks,  you may have heard that the port is empty. Social media videos have been popping up claiming that Seattle’s port has no cargo ships docked. And Seattlites are pointing the finger at the continuous threat of new tariffs. But is that actually the case? KUOW labor and economy reporter Monica Nickelsburg headed to the port to...

The Trump administration's federal cuts have put billions of dollars for scientific research and thousands of research jobs at risk.   They could also be imperiling laboratory animals.  Scientists around the country are concerned that funding cuts could mean prematurely ending research involving mice, dogs, nonhuman primates, and more.  Like many others, the University of Washington...

If you're looking for exciting things to do this weekend, Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows is here with MOST of the stuff you can get up to. Okay, SOME of the stuff you can get up to. Also, one quick correction: Jason erroneously said University AVE instead of University WAY when talking about the U-District Street Fair - it's here in the U-District, NOT in Downtown Seattle. LINKS: POW! S...

It’s a story we can all relate to… Three generations in a car, headed to a family event. The parents are excited; their kid is not . And Grandma? She’s asleep in her wheelchair. In the short animated film “POW!”, this particular family is Native American, and they’re headed to a powwow, where Jake desperately searches for an outlet to charge his gaming device&h...

Over the last 10 years Washington has passed a bevy of climate laws aimed at reducing the state’s carbon emissions.  That includes a carbon auction, a ban on coal in the state’s energy mix, and a requirement that the state reach net zero emissions by 2045. But during that same period, energy production from renewable sources has actually declined slightly. Oregon has set its sight...

New research has brought us a little closer to answering a key question about consciousness: How does the brain create the experience of self-awareness?  The problem was first posed by Aristotle, over 2000 years ago.  KUOW editor and longtime science journalist Gabriel Spitzer tells us more about that research and the Seattle scientist at the center of it.  Thank you to the supporte...

Founded in 1890 in the Central District, Bartell Drugs may be entering its final days.   Its parent company, the national pharmacy chain Rite Aid, exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy late last year, but continues to struggle financially. Now, the fewer than 30 Bartell Drugs and around 100 Rite Aids will be sold or closed forever. This continued hemorrhaging of retail pharmacy stores will likely...

Washington’s youth prisons are facing a crisis of overcrowding. The state’s two medium and maximum security youth prisons – Green Hill School in Chehalis, and Echo Glenn Children’s Center in Snoqualmie – have both consistently met or surpassed their maximum capacity for residents in recent years. When the 2025 Washington legislative session began, lawmakers had lots o...

On May 2nd, Governor Bob Ferguson signed into law a new requirement that clergy of all faiths become mandatory reporters of child abuse. It’s a move that’s especially controversial for the Catholic Church because of the sacrament of confession. Up until now, admitting to crimes during confession, in a private conversation with a priest, retained similar legal protections as attorney-cl...

Are men okay?  It’s a question sometimes asked in jest, but recent data has caused some experts to worry about American men and boys. Men are going to and graduating from four year colleges at lower rates than women. Men age 25-54 are participating in the workforce at a lower rate than ever before. And, data from 2023 suggests young men are spending significantly more time alone than th...

Kevin Diers was an announcer and engineer here at KUOW. You could hear his work all over the station, behind shows like Morning Edition and All Things Considered. He had a big footprint in the radio and music scene here in Seattle, for many years: Kevin was a long time host of Metal Shop and Loud and Local at KISW. On KISW’s Instagram page, the band The Home Team wrote: "Kevin was the bigges...

Should Seattle city council members have to recuse themselves if a policy proposal would directly help or harm their self interests? That’s been the guidance here in Seattle for the last 40 years. But a new proposal from City Council member Cathy Moore could change that. The idea to change ethics rules for the council comes ahead of contentious debates related to tenant protections and evict...

Thanks for checking out the Weekend Warmup - We have a LOT going on this weekend. First of all, Sunday is Mother's Day. Second of all, the Mariners are starting a home stand against the Blue Jays on Friday. Let's go! LINKS: Seattle Mariners Schedule USAF Band of the Golden West - Bellingham USAF Band of the Golden West - Mercer Island Seattle Beer Week 43rd Annual Beat the Bridge World Migratory B...

More than three decades ago, tiny blobs of gelatinous goo of unknown origin rained down on the small Grays Harbor community and captured national headlines. The cause of the strange phenomenon, and even what the blobs were made of -- remains an enigma. It was even the subject of an episode of the TV show Unsolved Mysteries. (Watch the episode here .) No one knows what they were. But last month the...

Yesterday, Seattle-based author Tessa Hulls won a Pulitzer Prize for her graphic novel "Feeding Ghosts." Hulls' first published book starts with her Chinese grandmother, Sun Yi, a journalist and author who fled Shanghai after the Communist Revolution. Then, the narrative shifts -- to her mother Rose, the daughter of a Swiss diplomat, essentially raised in a Hong Kong boarding school after her moth...

King County has its first new Executive in 15 years.  Dow Constantine, who held the position since 2009, was chosen as the CEO of Sound Transit earlier this year. He stepped away from the Executive job at the end of March. In his place, Shannon Braddock is leading the county until a new executive is elected this November. Before this she worked mostly behind the scenes in various roles for th...

In the face of staff cuts, funding freezes, and threats to zero out its budget – Head Start has survived… for now.  This program serves almost 800,000 kids throughout the country –15,000 in Washington State alone. Many of these children are low-income, disabled or in foster care. A Trump Administration budget proposal leaked in April put all Head Start funding on the choppi...

In the new Netflix documentary “Bad Influence”, 11 teenagers recount their experiences working with Piper Rockelle, who was herself a child influencer. All of the teens were former “squad members” of the Youtuber. They described performing scripted scenes in front of the camera - like fake “dating” scenarios, or pranks.  They also described feeling violated...