Seattle Now

Summer cherry season is right around the corner. Literally… the fruit is making its way to your grocery store and farmers market right now.

One Washington grower is pulling out all the stops to whip up an extra special batch of cherries.

It means harvesting the fruit in the middle of the night in a greenhouse.

Northwest News Network correspondent Anna King is here to tell us about the luxury cherry industry cropping up in the state.

City Council member Alex Pedersen is proposing a capital gains tax in the city. It’s part of an effort to rethink regressive taxes, and it if it's successful, it'll shave some money off your water bill.

Seattle Times reporter Sarah Grace Taylor explains the proposal, and why the city is looking for new tax ideas.

This week… Things got heated as the Seattle City Council debated Legislation aimed at drug possession. The east coast is learning what it’s like to live through smoke season. And WSU researchers are tinkering on a crisp new apple. We’ll break it all down with KUOW’s Bill Radke, and Seattle Times columnist Naomi Ishisaka.

The city council narrowly rejected a proposal that would give the city attorney the power to prosecute public drug use and possession.

The slim margin suggests there’s a lot of division in the city about how to approach the crisis.

Publicola journalist and editor Erica C. Barnett will tell us how the vote went down and what happens next.

Seattle residents are paying a lot for groceries.

It adds up to about $75 more a month than the national average according to cost of living database Numbeo.com.

And that’s putting increased demand on food banks.

We’ll talk to Rainier Valley Food Bank Executive Director Gloria Hatcher-Mays about how the organization is working to manage the growing need.

The sun is out and the tide is low — the lowest it’s been all year. That means the crabs, sea anemones and urchins that normally live just under the surface are hanging out on the beach for the day.

We visited Alki with John Meyer, co-author of the book Between the Tides in Washington and Oregon, to spot some critters and learn his tips for tidepooling successfully and responsibly.

Last week the US Supreme Court got into the mix of a local labor dispute over striking teamsters and lost concrete.

The high court's ruling in favor of Glacier Northwest, was a victory for business.

But was it a huge blow for labor?

This week… Amazon employees walked off the job in protest of several company practices. Experts in the AI industry warned that things might be advancing a bit too fast. And we learn that none of us are very good spellers. We’ll break it all down with KUOW Arts and Culture Reporter Mike Davis and Rachel Terlep, the senior social media manager for Washington's Department of Natural Resources.

About 2 dozen people have been forced to pack up and leave a homeless encampment in downtown Burien. But they weren’t swept by the city or the county. Instead, Burien leased the land to a private group who forced the residents off.

They were not offered shelter.

The controversial decision followed weeks of escalating tension over the camp.

KUOW’s Casey Martin has been following the story and is here to tell us what went down… and what it means for the regional approach to the homelessness crisis.

It’s been six months since parts of South Park were flooded and some people are still waiting to go home.

Washington Senator Patty Murray is working to secure three million federal dollars for wastewater and drainage improvements in the neighborhood.

We’ll hear how the recovery is going for South Park community members.