Soundside

Happy Lunar New Year! Today marks the beginning of the Year of the Snake. And it’s an extra special Lunar New Year in Washington, because this year, for the first time, it’s a state holiday. Festivities have already been happening in many places, but the festival officially goes for the next 15 days, with celebrations all over the state. For Chinese and other Asian cultures, a critical...

Journalists are struggling to keep up with the breakneck pace of major policy decisions coming out of the White House.   At Soundside, we have to prioritize how our team approaches the firehose of news. And for the past week we’ve been asking you, the audience, to give us feedback about how you want the show to handle covering the Trump Administration 2.0. And boy, did you deliver....

Most of President Trump’s closest allies appear to be cheering on his major changes to immigration policy – which have been numerous. These include executive orders suspending America’s refugee resettlement program, ramping up and expediting deportations, halting asylum claims and canceling existing appointments, and more.  But one program has exposed a major rift in MAGA wo...

In 2023, Seattle City Council waded into controversy by passing a long overdue tree protection ordinance. The law regulates whether homeowners can remove trees on their property and designates certain trees as “protected.”  This is all amidst a city goal to increase tree canopy. But that “protected” label is often misleading, according to a new story out in Invest...

Former Auburn police officer Jeffrey Nelson has been sentenced to 16 years and 8 months in prison. The decision was handed down Thursday, after Nelson was convicted of second-degree murder and first-degree assault for the killing of 26 year old Jesse Sarey. And this represents a milestone: Nelson is the first Washington police officer to be charged and convicted for the use of deadly force while o...

What does it take to run a thriving business in Washington? Lately, for a number of business owners around the Sound , the answer seems to be “too much.” January has seen the closure of a number of long time Black owned businesses in the Seattle area – including Jackson’s Catfish Corner and Flowers Just-4-U in Seattle’s Central District, Plum Bistro in Capitol Hill, L...

Washington lawmakers are once again considering legislation to cap rent increases across the state. This year’s iteration would limit rent hikes to 7 percent over a 12 month period – with exemptions like new construction.  A similar bill was introduced last year, it died in committee in the senate. Since then, a couple of those “no” votes have left office. And sup...

The week isn’t over, but I know a lot of us are wishing it were. Well, if we’re so focused on the weekend, why not get an early start making plans?  Fortunately, Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows is here to give us an early look at what’s happening around town.  LINKS:  For Your Consideration - SIFF Cinema Downtown Napoleon Dynamite Live - Spokane Bellingha...

According to recent government reporting, Native Americans have medical debt that is double the national average. That’s despite the fact that the federal government is under a legal and moral obligation to provide healthcare to registered members of federally recognized tribes. In many cases, the debt stems from medical care the Indian Health Service was unable to provide but was supposed t...

The new documentary, Resident Orca , brings viewers inside the very personal work of Tribal elder Squil-le-he-le Raynell Morris and her allies as they fight for Sk'aliCh'ehl-tenaut's, also known as Tokitae, release.  In recent years, people of the Lummi Nation tried to secure the return of the orca to her home waters, the Salish Sea. They consider her a family member. Sk'aliCh'ehl-tenaut's st...

At this hour, TikTok is once again available to its millions of U.S. users – brought back to life, for at least 75 days, by the President who once tried to kill it .  It’s been a long and confusing road to get here. Congress passed a law last April to force TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the social media app or face a ban in the U.S.. On Friday, the U.S. Su...

The state supreme court is right now weighing the future of high-capacity gun magazine sales in Washington. Last week, the court heard arguments in Washington v. Gator’s Custom Guns. At issue is whether a 2022 law banning magazines with more than 10 rounds is constitutional. Complicating the matter is a recent U.S. Supreme Court cases that sets out a new originalist rule for restri...

Twenty-four hours after returning to office, the Trump administration is already facing its first lawsuit from Washington state. State Attorney General Nick Brown says he has filed a challenge to President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of unauthorized immigrants.  It was one of dozens of orders President Trump signed during his first day bac...

The University of Washington's Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team, or COASST, is a network of nearly a thousand volunteers who walk beaches in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California. Those citizen scientists are counting dead birds and their work has been critical to understanding the effects of warming ocean waters on the marine ecosystem. Guests: Julia Parrish, Associate Dean at the...

This month marks 10 years since the Kalakala was removed from the shores of Tacoma and demolished. The ferry, which looked a little like if the Titanic was mixed with a spaceship, was once the symbol of Seattle - a shiny, chrome vision of the future. While the Kalakala is gone, it’s far from forgotten. There’s even a song that follows the journey of the Kalakala: from its creation to i...

As we prepare for the holiday weekend, some folks are heading out of town, while others are looking locally for ways to celebrate the life & legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr…  Producers Jason Megatron Burrows & Brooklyn Jamerson-Flowers are here with an early look at what's happening this weekend! LINKS:  Monster Jam - Tacoma Dome - Tacoma, Fri-Sun Seattle Sister Cities...

The game “Pacific Drive” came out last year from Seattle-based Ironwood Studios, and it made a BIG splash for the company. So much so that Hollywood is taking notice: “Saw” creator James Wan’s production company announced last month it has optioned Pacific Drive to develop it into a television series. The Pacific Northwest is home to some major power players in the vi...

For over a week now, Los Angeles has been devastated by aggressive wildfire that are expected to be the most costly in California’s history. While many have already seen their communities burned, we won’t know the full extent of the damage for weeks. Already, thousands of families are wondering how they are going to recover and rebuild.  Central to that question is how much o...

It’s as American as Apple Pie: You come home from the hospital - maybe it was an accidental slice with your kitchen knife, or maybe something more serious. And as you recover… you wait. For thousands of dollars in medical bills.  It’s a problem that radio reporter Dan Weissman had long been familiar with, due to a pre-existing condition.  Learning how to navigate the a...

This past election, voters in Everett approved an initiative (24-03) that granted the Snohomish River watershed legally enforceable "rights." 24-03 is part of a broader legal trend called the “rights of nature" movement, an environmental legal theory gaining traction around the world in places like Ecuador, India, and Australia. Here in the United States, communities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, a...

The Seattle City Council is starting its year by taking on one of  any city’s most controversial policy debates: growth.  The Comprehensive Plan is now in front of the council. It dictates where and how Seattle can grow over the next two decades.  Past comprehensive plans have concentrated growth in areas dubbed “Urban Villages” – places along major arterials...

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell is running for re-election in 2025.  He’s hoping to break the long running streak of single term mayors in Seattle like Mike McGinn, Ed Murray, and Jenny Durkin. The election is still nearly a year away, and in the meantime, the mayor will  finish the last year of his term addressing a long list of issues: public safety, the future of downtown, and the i...

Marijuana has been recreationally legal here in Washington since 2012, and it's become big business for the state.  Last year sales topped $1 billion, and the state earned hundreds of millions in taxes on marijuana. As the drug’s popularity in the state has increased, so has its potency. As this episode's guest would say, it’s not your dad’s weed. Now, doctors are seeing mor...

Our first week back after the holiday break has been jam-packed with all the news that’s fit to print… or read out loud into a microphone, whatever. Now that the weekend is nearly here, it’s time to sail away & relax a little…  In that spirit, here’s our resident “Cruise Director,” Producer Jason Megatron Burrows live from the Lido Deck with eve...

Five people have died and thousands of homes have burned in wildfires sweeping across the Los Angeles area.  Five separate fires are burning in the county - the Palisades fire, Eaton fire, Hurst fire, Lidia and Sunset fires. The Palisades and Eaton Fires are some of the most destructive in the region’s history.  Local resources are stretched thin – but some help is on the way...