King County Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Washington State team deploys to help in aftermath of deadly Hawaii fires

By Lauren Gallup August 11, 2023

The County of Maui shared photos on Facebook of the aftermath of fires on the island. // CREDIT: County of Maui on Facebook

A team of search and rescue personnel based out of the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management deployed to Hawaii Friday after President Joe Biden ordered federal aid to the state to help areas impacted by devastating wildfires. The 45-person FEMA team is made up of emergency responders and other professionals trained in search and rescue from Pierce and King Read More

Washington Department of Natural Resources pauses King County timber auction

By Lauren Gallup July 26, 2023

On Monday, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) decided to pause an auction of 102 acres of public, forested lands to harvest for timber in King County that had been scheduled for Tuesday. King County council members wrote a letter to Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz and the Board of Natural Resources last week, urging them to defer the auction. Read More

Not in my backyard: Process to choose new airport location might get a restart

By Lauren Gallup January 27, 2023

A crowd gathered on the north steps of the Capitol building on Wednesday, January 25, to protest three proposed greenfield sites for a new airport in Pierce or Thurston County. Photo by Lauren Gallup.

The battle against a new two-runway airport in Pierce or Thurston county ramped up on Wednesday, when a hundred or so rallied on the north steps of the Capitol Building in Olympia. Lawmakers were there to listen, and express their own objection to the proposed sites, or at least a need to restart the process for choosing a site for a new airfield. Behind closed doors, Read More

How Can We Learn To Shape A Better Tomorrow? – With Community Organizer Nikkita Oliver

By NWPB June 21, 2022

Nikkita Oliver wearing a pair of headphones, a black flannel shirt and vest smiles while sitting on a black couch in front of a bookshelf.

Have you ever been inspired to make a change in your community after witnessing an issue within it? Nikkita Oliver, gender fluid abolitionist, artist, educator, poet and attorney, grew up […]Read More

How Can We Learn to Shape A Better Tomorrow? ‘Traverse Talks’ Episode 28 – With Abolitionist Nikkita Oliver

By Mindy Malone June 21, 2022

Photo of Nikkita Oliver during the recording of Traverse Talks inside Washington Hall in Seattle on December 6, 2021. Nikkita Oliver is a Black, queer, Seattle-based creative, community organizer, abolitionist, […]Read More

Omicron Variant Detected In Three Cases In Washington State

By Kate Walters December 5, 2021

The omicron variant has been found in Washington state. State health officials announced Saturday that three cases of the new coronavirus variant have been found: one each in King, Pierce […]Read More

‘Cultural Changes Ahead’ For Police In Washington State, As Controversial Reform Takes Effect

By Northwest News Network July 30, 2021

Criminal Justice Training Commission director Monica Alexander uses a spreadsheet to track all of the state's new police reform legislation

New laws governing Washington State law enforcement took effect on Sunday, including their use of force (HB 1310) and tactics (HB 1054). Some police departments in King County say new laws means they will no longer respond to certain calls; City of Seattle chief Adrian Diaz calls that “absurd.”Read More

Even With No-Mask Guidance, Some Places Like Washington’s King County Aren’t Ready To Let Go

By NPR News May 20, 2021

Darren Ford (left) reacts to the new mask guideline while presenting his vaccine card at Liberty Theatre on May 14 in Camas, Wash. Gov. Jay Inslee announced last Thursday that the statewide mask mandate would no longer apply to fully vaccinated adults. Nathan Howard/Getty Images

As more states shed their universal mask mandates for those who are vaccinated, many Americans are weighing how much faith to put in the new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and in the integrity of their unvaccinated peers, who are supposed to follow the rules and keep wearing masks.Read More

Governor Says All Washington Counties Will Stay In Their Current Reopening Phase…For Now

By NWPB News May 4, 2021

Washington Governor Jay Inslee wearing a mask and speaking from his desk during a press conference

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday said all of the state’s counties will remain in their current phase of the state’s economic reopening plan and won’t face more restrictions because new COVID cases are levelling off after a recent spike.Read More

More Washington Counties – From Largest To Very Rural – At Risk Of Reverting Back To Phase 2

By Tom Banse April 28, 2021

A sign at the El Sarape restaurant advertises outdoor seating, Jan. 5, 2021, in Olympia, Wash., as indoor dining was prohibited statewide due the the governor's coronavirus safety measures. CREDIT: Ted S. Warren/AP

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is expected to soon roll back the economic reopening of more counties because of rising coronavirus cases. Reverting to Phase 2 would force businesses, museums and churches to reduce indoor capacity.Read More

‘Pretty Humbling And Enlightening’ Says King County Firefighter Recovering From COVID-19

By Tom Banse April 24, 2020

Fire Captain Shane Smith is recovering from a serious brush with COVID-19. He is mystified about where he contracted the virus. CREDIT: Brad Chaney/South King Fire & Rescue - 2019

More than 500 firefighters and EMTs in the Pacific Northwest have been temporarily quarantined after suspected exposure to the coronavirus over the past two months. The Washington State Council of Fire Fighters and the Oregon Fire Service Coronavirus Response Team have been monitoring the number of first responders taken out of service. Read More

Analysis Shows 1st Known U.S. COVID-19 Death Was Weeks Earlier Than Previously Thought

By NPR News April 22, 2020

Tim Killian, a spokesman for Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., prepares to give a daily briefing to reporters on Wednesday. CREDIT: Ted S. Warren/AP

The first U.S. death known to be from COVID-19 occurred on Feb. 6 — nearly three weeks before deaths in the Seattle area that had been believed to be the country's first from the coronavirus, according to officials in Santa Clara County, Calif.Read More

Health Officials Recommended Canceling Events. Then 33K Attended A Seattle Sounders Game

By NWPB News April 19, 2020

Thousands of fans cheer during the Sounders opening match on March 1, 2020. CREDIT: Lindsey Wasson/Sounders FC Communications

As COVID-19 fears grew, public officials and sports execs contemplated health risks — and debated a PR message — but let 33,000 fans into a Seattle Sounders soccer match, emails show.Read More

Isolated But Not Alone: Nurses Help COVID-19 Patient Say Goodbye, Offer Comfort To The End

By NWPB News April 6, 2020

Carolann Christine Gann and family in photos over the years. Courtesy of Michelle Bennett. Illustration by Parker Miles Blohm/KNKX

Michelle Bennett couldn’t hold her mother’s hand in those final moments, 10 days after Carolann Christine Gann tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Bennett couldn’t even go through her mother’s belongings as she prepared to bury her. So two people in protective gear did what she couldn't.Read More

Outside Coronavirus Epicenter, Northwest Health System Workers Brace For What’s Coming

By Austin Jenkins March 18, 2020

Jess White, a registered nurse at UW Northwest, demonstrates to another nurse how to properly remove a mask on Thursday, March 12, 2020, at UW Medicine's drive-through testing clinic in Seattle. CREDIT: Megan Farmer/KUOW

While the greater Seattle area has so far borne the brunt of the outbreak in Washington, health care workers outside the epicenter are bracing for what’s to come. Read More

UPDATE: At Least 6 People In Puget Sound Region Have Died From COVID-19 Coronavirus

By NWPB News March 1, 2020

EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland, Washington, where a person died of COVID-19. State health officials announced the death Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, marking the first such reported death in the U.S. CREDIT: Elaine Thompson/AP

A patient in King County who tested positive for coronavirus has died, according to state and local public health officials. It's believed to be the first coronavirus death in the U.S. The news prompted Gov. Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency. Read More

UPDATE: Seattle-Area Coronavirus Patient Dies, First In U.S.; CDC Looks At More Possible Cases In State

By NPR News February 29, 2020

A face mask adorns a statue of St. Francis of Assisi in the town of San Fiorano, one of the places in Italy on lockdown due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. The picture was taken by schoolteacher Marzio Toniolo. Marzio Toniolo/via Reuters

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced late Friday that it is "aware of four new presumptive cases of COVID-19" in Washington, Oregon and California.Read More

Federal Government Sues King County Over Ban Of Deportation Flights From Boeing Field

By NWPB News February 10, 2020

A man detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement waves back to activists from the Yakima Immigrant Response Network Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019 as they wave signs and call out "no estas solo, you are not alone." CREDIT: ENRIQUE PÉREZ DE LA ROSA/NWPB

The United States Department of Justice is suing King County over its ban on deportation flights from Boeing Field. A King County executive order banned deportation flights from Boeing Field in April 2019. Since then, ICE has diverted detainees to and from Yakima airport by bus.Read More

Washington’s $30 Car Tabs On Hold As Judge Puts Injunction On I-976 As Legal Challenge Unfolds

By NWPB News November 27, 2019

Professional initiative sponsor Tim Eyman, right, holds a photo from his first successful $30 car tabs initiative in 1999. Eyman says he has collected almost enough signatures to qualify a 2019 car tabs rollback initiative to the 2019 Legislature. CREDIT: AUSTIN JENKINS/N3

A King County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that opponents had adequately argued that the measure's ballot title was misleading, and he issued an injunction. The challenge could eventually make its way to the state Supreme Court.Read More

Yakima And King County Airports Risk Funding Loss If They Don’t Cooperate With ICE

By Esmy Jimenez May 20, 2019

In this still image from a vide, detainees are loaded onto a Swift Air charter flight at King County International Airport (Boeing Field) in Seattle. COURTESY OF UWCHR/ALEX MONTALVO AND WADII BOUGHDIR

Seattle’s Boeing Field and the Yakima Air Terminal have a choice: Let Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) flights land at the airport or risk future money from the government. It started in April when King County Executive Dow Constantine issued an order to rid Boeing Field of ICE flights.Read More

Microsoft Pledges $500 Million To Address Homelessness And Affordable Housing In Seattle Area

By NPR News January 17, 2019

Brad Smith, president of Microsoft Corp., speaks during a presentation on affordable housing in Bellevue, Wash., on Thursday. Microsoft Corp. said it will spend $500 million to develop affordable housing and help alleviate homelessness in the Seattle area. CREDIT: Bloomberg via Getty Images

Microsoft is investing $500 million to help develop affordable housing and address homelessness in the Seattle area as the growth of tech companies in the region continues to flood the real estate market with high-salaried workers, leaving many other people behind.Read More

Threatened By Rising Housing Prices, Some SeaTac Homeowners Fight Back

By Max Bartlett May 11, 2018

Next-door neighbors and Duvall Riverside Village homeowners Stephanie Rosevear (L) and Danelle Knapp (R) return home from a walk.

As housing prices increase in SeaTac, one group of mobile home owners has banded together to buy their land - and save their homes.Read More

Top Washington Prosecutors Call For New Strategy To Address Drug Addiction

By Austin Jenkins May 10, 2018

Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Roe, left, and King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg say Washington state is failing to adequately address an epidemic of drug addiction. CREDIT: TVW

Two of Washington top elected prosecutors say the state is failing to adequately address an epidemic of drug addiction. They say it’s a major contributor to crime, but also to homelessness.Read More

DOJ Threatens Oregon, King County, Others Over Immigration Policies

By Kate Walters January 24, 2018

An immigration rally in summer 2017 in Yakima, Washington.

Justice Department officials sent letters to nearly two dozen jurisdictions demanding documentation proving they're complying with federal immigration law and threatening the use of subpoenas.Read More

King County Prosecutor Calls For Repeal Of Death Penalty In Washington

By Austin Jenkins January 22, 2018

The prosecutor of Washington’s most populous county is calling for the repeal of the death penalty. Dan Satterberg plan testified before legislators January 22 in favor of a proposal to replace capital punishment with life without the possibility of parole.  Read More

Former Washington Governor John Spellman Dies At Age 91

By Kate Walters January 16, 2018

John Spellman, a former Washington governor and the first King County executive, has died. He was elected as governor in 1980 and served one term. He’s also the last Republican to hold the state's top office. Read More