Seattle Now

Washington lawmakers get back to work on Monday to kick off the 2025 legislative session. For 105 days, they’ll tackle issues like housing, education, and gun safety. But looming over it all is a projected budget deficit as big as $12 billion over the next several years. We talk with Olympia correspondent Jeanie Lindsay about what to expect.

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If you feel like you sat in more traffic in 2024, new data shows you may be right. A Seahawks coaching staff member was let go, and two notable Seattle entertainers received awards this weekend. It’s our daily roundup of top stories from the KUOW newsroom, with host Patricia Murphy.

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Seattle needs more housing, that’s a widely accepted reality.

How and where we build that housing is a lot thornier.

Enter: the One Seattle Plan, the city’s proposal to address our housing shortage. 

The details are still getting worked out, and some people don’t want these changes in their neighborhood, while others argue it doesn’t go far enough.

We hear from Ryan Packer, the Contributing editor of The Urbanist and Queen Anne resident Michael Lapin.

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Orca mom still carrying her dead calf around Puget Sound, 2024 broke records for evictions in WA, and Whitman College grapples with the legacy of its namesake. It’s our daily roundup of top stories from the KUOW newsroom, with host Paige Browning.

We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed.

Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected], leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.

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This week…

Southern Resident killer whale J-35 is in mourning after losing a days-old calf.

And Amazon’s Return To Office mandate began Thursday, and it’s going to change a whole lot in Seattle.

Author and blogger Geraldine DeRuiter and Your Last Meal host Rachel Belle are here to ring in the new year.

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Amazon workers return to the office, flu cases are spiking in WA, and parking tickets in Seattle just got more expensive. It’s our daily roundup of top stories from the KUOW newsroom, with host Paige Browning.

We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed.

Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected], leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.

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It's 2025... 

And a new year means a new job for one of the longest-tenured members of the Seattle Mariners.

Not on the field, but in the broadcast booth.

After 18 years, Mariners TV broadcaster Dave Sims is heading home to call games in the Bronx, for the New York Yankees.

He’s here today to reflect on his time in Seattle, and some of his most iconic moments behind the mic.

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We have one more lookback on our 2024 reporting, as we transition into the new year.

Severe mental illness is a very visible problem in Seattle. In 2023, police responded to almost 10 thousand scenes of people experiencing mental health crises.

Investigative reporters spent the past year asking big questions on the show Lost Patients about why so many people with severe mental illness end up untreated, and on the streets.

And as they did, Seattle continued to pass legislation against one of the connected elements, public drug use.

The newest laws are stay out of drug areas, also called SODAs, in hot spots for drug use and sales.

Those went into effect in October.

And the problems are still visible.

Today we re-visit an episode from earlier in the year because this question, of how the problem got so severe, is as relevant as ever.

We talked to Lost Patients host Will James back in March.

Listen to Lost Patients: KUOW - Lost Patients

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Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected], leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.

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We’re nearing the finish line of 2024, and wow what a year. 

Boeing’s year started with a bang, but not in a good way. In January, a door-sized panel blew off of a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet mid-flight. 

They also got a new CEO and endured a 53 day machinist strike. 

The Seattle Public Library, SeaTac Airport, and the Highline school district all got cyber attacked.

Seattle Public Schools went from planning to close 20 schools to planning to close zero, University of Washington joined the big 10, and some zebras broke loose near North Bend.

There’s a lot to reflect on, and thankfully our friends over at Week in Review took time to look back on the year for their Year in Review event. 

Here’s a portion of their conversation, hosted by KUOW’s Bill Radke.

We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed.

Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected], leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.

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We’re rounding out a week of re-airing our favorite episodes of the year, and somehow just couldn’t go without putting in some pickleball.

Pickleball continues to be both popular and controversial in Seattle.

This episode we're returning to the Green Lake pickleball courts which were officially declared a pickleball hub by Seattle in June.

And the upwards of 100 diehard fans would agree, as they meet regularly to dink pickleballs back and forth.

Yes, that’s the technical term.

But, not everyone is a fan of the pickleball takeover.

Producer Matt Martin checked it out last summer.

It may no longer be ideal pickleball weather, but you can reminisce about summer sun as Matt takes us back to August at Green Lake.

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