Amanda Joe spent a lot of time on farms when she was a kid, and having seen a lot of dead animals, she thought she was used to death. But then she passed a fallen bird's nest on her way to school one day. The small pink bodies lying on the ground never left her memory. “They looked like they were sleeping,” Joe said. “The stillness of it is what scared me as a kid, silence, stillness and something is just gone now.” When something is gone, you do one of two things: bury it or let nature run its

When I set out to tell this story, I knew it would be important. As a young, fair complexioned Tlingit [KLING-khit] woman who struggles with claiming her own roots and cultural identity, I knew that I would be entering a sensitive arena touching close to home. But I had no idea that I would come out on the other side with a renewed sense of empowerment for my culture and a scheduled tattoo appointment.

Cokie Roberts died Tuesday, at the age of 75. Professionally, she was an inspiration to many journalists. Not many of us in the KNKX newsroom met her. But Erin Hennessey did, in 2005, when Cokie came to Seattle for an event at Virginia Mason.

This week’s theme for Sound Effect is “Wrong Place, Wrong Time,” stories of people stuck in circumstances they can’t control and what’s revealed by the choices they make.

Richard Hagar travels a lot for business. He also doesn't usually have a tough time falling asleep in the hotels he stays at when he is on the road. But a while back, he found himself on a business trip in Southern Oregon, teaching a series of classes on real estate and mortgage appraisal fraud for real estate professionals and law enforcement officers. And after checking into his upscale chain hotel, he could not get to sleep. "I'd get up, I'd watch TV for a few minutes...take a shower...that's

Being able to afford housing in the Seattle area is an ongoing problem for many people. A new group of individuals is starting to come onto the radar of social workers: senior citizens. Denise Malm at the Wallingford Senior Center in North Seattle, like many social workers, has noticed an increase in the number of seniors she is trying to help find stable housing. “The story is, 'My rent is going up so much money. I have an income of $900 and I need low-income housing tomorrow,'" Malm said. "It

One Thursday morning in September 2015, Eric Bishop was behind the wheel of a full duck boat. He was playing Sinatra for his 36 passengers as they headed north on the Aurora Bridge. Then, he heard "a clunk clunk." That was the sound of the duck's axle failing. Bishop remembers losing control of the vehicle, and then watching helplessly as a "black and white wall" appeared before him. It was a southbound motorcoach, carrying college students to new student orientation. The duck crashed into its

I found the record in a thrift shop not long ago. I think the 1970s-style cover art is what caught my eye: the painted likeness of an old man in a flannel shirt and a ballcap, staring into the distance while a cloud of smoke rises behind him. That man is folk hero, contrarian and human country song Harry R. Truman. This Truman, not to be confused with the U.S. president, was the owner of a lodge on Spirit Lake, near the foot of Mount St. Helens. The record is called “Your Spirit Lives On: The

Cats can do a lot of things that dogs can’t do. They usually are able to sleep on any household furniture they want. They are way more independent and they can climb trees! But, sometimes they can get stuck. Like, seriously stuck. Not just for hours, but for days and days. Enter Tom Otto and his brother-in-law, Shawn Sears. These two animal lovers operate Canopy Cat Rescue. They drive all over the Puget Sound region plucking cats from trees and bringing them back to the safety of solid ground.

Erin Hennessey, who has led the KNKX (previously KPLU) newsroom for 23 years, is transitioning into a new role focused on community engagement and education based out of the station’s downtown Tacoma studios. On her last day serving as news director, KNKX staff wished her well in a special on-air sendoff. Have a listen above.