Soundside

This November, Washington voters will be asked to weigh in on complicated policies like a capital gains tax and a long-term care fund. Maybe the most complex one is the future of the Climate Commitment Act, an initiative on the November ballot seeks to repeal the key part of this 2021 law: the “cap-and-invest” system.  It’s essentially an auction for major polluters where companies can purchase ca...

This November, Washington voters will be asked to weigh in on complicated policies like a capital gains tax and a long-term care fund. Maybe the most complex one is the future of the Climate Commitment Act, an initiative on the November ballot seeks to repeal the key part of this 2021 law: the “cap-and-invest” system.  It’s essentially an auction for major polluters where companies can purchase ca...

This week (September 8th to 14th) is National Suicide Prevention Week. Deaths by suicide in young people have risen by more than 60% in recent decades. And in 2022, it was the second leading cause of death for people aged 10-14 .  Behind that tragic statistic is a lot of nuance, though.  For example: Alaska Natives, American Indians, and White youth are more likely to take their own lives than the...

At the turn of the 20th century, Asahel Curtis was a prolific photographer who traveled throughout Washington. His work captured the state as it underwent big changes, owing to rapid industrialization. For decades, a massive collection of Asahel’s glass plate negatives has been held at the Washington State Historical Society in Tacoma. The plates, however, are aging. In the 1980s, historians and s...

If someone asked you to name three Rock musicians that are Black, could you? Some people might be able to, but in general there aren’t a lot of them. This is despite the fact that the genre traces its roots back to Black blues, gospel, and rhythm and blues artists in the United States. The rock music industry and academic scholarship of the genre instead tend to focus on white voices. That’s accor...

There’s a new wrinkle in the debate over homelessness policy in the city of Burien.  Last September, Burien passed a controversial ordinance banning camping in much of the city, Meanwhile, a local church decided to step in and offer its property as a temporary encampment for the homeless. Burien requested that the church, the Oasis Home Church, get a “temporary use permit” for the encampment.   Th...

Spokane County Commissioner Al French is facing a recall effort over his handling of disclosures of contaminated groundwater in the West Plains.    The “Clean Water Accountability Coalition” is sounding the alarm about PFAS—sometimes called 'forever chemicals’—in well water.    And let's not forget to mention that French is also running for re-election this year, adding another layer to the alread...

One of the best coffee spots in Bellingham isn’t a cafe, at least according to some of the folks in the city’s unhoused population. Instead, it’s a casual coffee cart that pops-up twice a week, at a free lunch program, known as the Maple Alley Inn. While the coffee is decent, the main attraction is the person running the cart. 85 year-old Ursula DeWit is known for her easy smile and exceptional li...

Riders packed trains on Friday to see four new stations on the One Line, which now stops in Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, and Lynnwood. At the 148th Street Station, Shoreline celebrated the occasions with a marching band, speeches, and bubble machines. The suburb has been planning for this moment for years, that’s apparent when you step off the train.  Across I-5 from the light rail station, new a...

Being a sports fan in Washington State is akin to riding the Extreme Scream at the fair: big highs, and REAL SUDDEN LOWS.  Yes, I’m looking at you, Seattle Mariners… With the Seahawks kicking off their regular season at home this weekend against the Denver Broncos, hope springs eternal! And it felt like a good time to check in on what’s been cooking at VMAC all summer. The team has a new head coac...

Members of the King County Council have moved to officially say the county’s youth jail should remain open. The council voted last week eight-to-zero in favor of a non-binding resolution to declare its support for keeping the Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center in operation – with some improvements.   The move comes just over four years after King County Executive Dow Constantine...

The Democratic party is riding the Good Vibes Express after its Chicago convention.  And a look at polling averages gives them reason to celebrate: Since becoming the nominee, Vice President Harris has shaken up a relatively static presidential race: She’s now running slightly ahead of former President Trump nationwide.  In swing states, she has pulled even in key areas of the sun belt like Georgi...

Washington State University's MT James Entomological Collection is the largest insect museum in the state, it holds around three million specimens.  In 2022, state legislators allocated $50,000 for the collection to digitize pollinators,  like bees, moths, flies, butterflies and other insects that carry pollen. Adding the 30,000 pollinators in WSU’s collection to a digital database will open up co...

Last year, the Yakima City Council made a landmark decision by passing a proclamation to designate the month of June as LGBTQ+ Pride month.  Less than a year later, the council voted to reverse that decision.  The move was celebrated by far right religious leaders like Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk and Sean Feucht, who took to X to applaud the decision.  And while pride celebrations defiantly w...

For many Washington students, and parents, the school year is just about to start - if it hasn’t already. And they're not the only ones gearing up for the new year. Teachers and school staff are about to step into a new year with all sorts of new questions about how their respective school systems will be run. So, we wanted to check in with a panel of education experts, to hear about how they’re p...

Earlier this month, City of Seattle workers were told most of them will have to return to the office at least 3 days a week starting this fall. Meanwhile… a certain large tech and online retail company (named after a river in South America) has reportedly started a mulling the minimum number of hours employees must stay on site to count towards its three day in-office mandate. These changes had us...

In the early 90s, Seattle was at the center of a sonic revolution. Grunge, a homegrown sludgy rock sound, became a global commodity. At the same time, another sound was making its mark on Seattle. The Gits were a band on the precipice of national stardom, standing out with their punk sensibility and charismatic female vocalist, with music labels circling. But the promise of a big break came to a v...

Addressing homelessness is looking a little different in Thurston County these days. The county, which includes Olympia, just became the fifth community in the nation to collect data on every single adult experiencing homelessness. The county’s partner organization says that data includes the names and circumstances of each person counted. And the county vows to update the information monthly. It’...

We know a few things about the woman known as Lou Graham, for sure:  She was a brothel madam in Seattle at the turn of the century. And she’s immortalized in one of the city’s popular ghost tours.  Maybe you’ve even felt her spiritual presence while passing through tunnels underneath Pioneer Square. Beyond that, facts are sparse. But plenty of legends about Graham’s life and impact on Seattle are...

Last winter, federal officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a program to save the perpetually threatened northern spotted owl. The problem? Invasive barred owls are crowding out our local forest -- they're bigger, and more aggressive. The solution? Culling half a million of those owls over the next 30 years. On its face, the issue seems pretty straightforward: barred owls are...

At this point, most of Washington’s primary election results have been called. Bob Ferguson will face Dave Reichert in the race for governor. Tanya Woo and Alexis Mercedes Rinck are vying for a spot on the Seattle City Council. Goodspaceguy once again failed to get onto the November ballot. But – in one race, the drama has remained at a fever pitch as votes trickle in. Nearly 2 million people cast...

When some people picture political conventions, they might imagine a grand stage lit up with dazzling lights, a seemingly never ending stream of speeches - and a sea of enthusiastic supporters cheering their hearts out, waving lots and lots of American flags. Since Monday, the Democratic National Convention has been underway in Chicago.  There have been speeches and high-profile moments. like a vi...

Chances are high that you’ve never been to McNeal Island before. Few have - the island, located in the Puget Sound, southwest of Tacoma, isn’t accessible to the general public. The only people that are allowed are staff and pre-screened visitors at the Washington State Special Commitment Center - the first post-prison institution for people designated as sexually violent predators. Around 515 peop...

Picture a historic church in Tacoma’s Proctor neighborhood, bathed in afternoon sunlight, poised for a dramatic transformation. Julie Cain, who purchased the church in 2021, envisions turning it into affordable housing for young adults. The project aims to address local housing needs and foster a supportive community, with plans for shared rooms and communal spaces. However, the ambitious plan has...

When Fitz Cahall started his “Dirtbag Diaries” podcast in 2007, he was an avid outdoorsman struggling to make ends meet as a travel writer. At the time, this whole ‘on demand audio storytelling’ thing was kind of new, and Fitz saw it as a way of bringing new life to his joy of the outdoors.  Today, he’s replaced his wild life bouncing around in a van with the concrete landscape of Seattle, where h...