The game “Pacific Drive” came out last year from Seattle-based Ironwood Studios, and it made a BIG splash for the company.

So much so that Hollywood is taking notice: “Saw” creator James Wan’s production company announced last month it has optioned Pacific Drive to develop it into a television series.

The Pacific Northwest is home to some major power players in the videogame industry. But this is a big win for an indie game studio.

The game pays homage to the our region, with a setting that feels familiar: the Olympic Peninsula, in 1998. Albeit an alternate timeline, extra creepy version of the peninsula.

We wanted to learn more about the role of the Pacific Northwest in the game’s creation, and what success means for this local independent company.

GUEST: Cassandra Dracott - CEO & Creative Director of Ironwood Studios, the team behind the game Pacific Drive.

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

RELATED LINKS: 

• Pacific Drive

• ‘Pacific Drive’ TV Series Based on Indie Survival Game in the Works From James Wan - Variety

• ‘Pacific Drive’ takes players on supernatural adventure in the Pacific Northwest - OPB

• The Pacific Northwest in video games: It’s always weird | Polygon

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For over a week now, Los Angeles has been devastated by aggressive wildfire that are expected to be the most costly in California’s history.

While many have already seen their communities burned, we won’t know the full extent of the damage for weeks.

Already, thousands of families are wondering how they are going to recover and rebuild. 

Central to that question is how much of the costs insurance will cover. 

And it comes as California is going through a home and renter’s insurance crisis.

Guest Levi Sumagaysay has been covering California’s economy and its insurance market for CalMatters breaks down the crisis and some potential solutions.

Guest:

Levi Sumagaysay, CalMatter Economy Reporter

Relevant Links:

LA fires could worsen California’s stressed insurance market

Can California fix its home insurance market? - CalMatters

California fire insurance: FAIR Plan going through growing pains - CalMatters

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s as American as Apple Pie:

You come home from the hospital - maybe it was an accidental slice with your kitchen knife, or maybe something more serious. And as you recover… you wait. For thousands of dollars in medical bills. 

It’s a problem that radio reporter Dan Weissman had long been familiar with, due to a pre-existing condition. 

Learning how to navigate the arcane system behind those bills has become a full time gig for Weissman. He’s the host of An Arm and a Leg, a podcast exploring why healthcare costs so damn much.  

The show has been running since 2018, and starting this Thursday we’re very excited to welcome it to the KUOW family of podcasts. 

Guest:

• Dan Weissman, host of An Arm and A Leg

Relevant Links:

• An Arm and a Leg website 

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This past election, voters in Everett approved an initiative (24-03) that granted the Snohomish River watershed legally enforceable "rights."

24-03 is part of a broader legal trend called the “rights of nature" movement, an environmental legal theory gaining traction around the world in places like Ecuador, India, and Australia.

Here in the United States, communities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida have tried giving some bodies of water these extended legal designations -- like the right to exist, right to flow, and right to regenerate and flourish -- which proponents say add a layer of protections not covered by regulations. 24-03 passed with 57 percent of the vote.

The success of these efforts, however, has been watered down and challenged by courts and legislatures over issues of jurisdiction and scope -- issues voiced by skeptics of the initiative this past election. 

Soundside visited Everett to talk with proponents and opponents about what these new rights could mean for the Snohomish River now that they've been approved by voters. Additionally, Soundside spoke with a global expert in river rights and policy about how this legal theory works, and where Everett's initiative fits within the broader global movement for environmental personhood. 

Guests:

• Holly James and Abi Ludwig, Standing for Washington, a political action committee advocating for the legal rights of nature in Washington. 
• David Toyer, Toyer Strategic Advisors, a land use and economic development consulting firm in Everett. 

• Dr. Erin O'Donnell, a world-renowned expert in water policy and law. She’s a Senior Lecturer and ARC Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne Law School in Australia. 

Related links:

• City in Washington Votes to Grant Local River Legally Enforceable Right to Exist
• Initiative Text - Snohomish River Watershed Now Has Legal Rights

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Seattle City Council is starting its year by taking on one of  any city’s most controversial policy debates: growth. 

The Comprehensive Plan is now in front of the council. It dictates where and how Seattle can grow over the next two decades. 

Past comprehensive plans have concentrated growth in areas dubbed “Urban Villages” – places along major arterials, like Columbia City, Othello, Lake City, and Ballard. They largely kept neighborhoods with single family homes unchanged.

The current plan continues that legacy, but allows for more density in around 30 newly designated “neighborhood centers.” This comes as Seattle continues efforts to comply with a state law that mandates denser single family zoning.

Guest:

Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth, who represents Seattle's 3rd District

Relevant Links:

KUOW: How will Seattle's next comprehensive plan shape the city?

KUOW: Seattle's growth plan inches toward more housing, draft by draft

Seattle Times: Fault lines emerge as Seattle council takes up housing plan

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell is running for re-election in 2025. 

He’s hoping to break the long running streak of single term mayors in Seattle like Mike McGinn, Ed Murray, and Jenny Durkin.

The election is still nearly a year away, and in the meantime, the mayor will  finish the last year of his term addressing a long list of issues: public safety, the future of downtown, and the implementation of a new comprehensive plan. 

The mayor sat down with Soundside host Libby Denkmann to discuss his plans for 2025.

Guest:

• Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell

Relevant links:

• Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell is running for re-election in 2025 - KUOW
• Seattle’s next police chief: Mayor appoints Shon Barnes of Madison, Wisconsin to lead - KUOW

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Marijuana has been recreationally legal here in Washington since 2012, and it's become big business for the state. 

Last year sales topped $1 billion, and the state earned hundreds of millions in taxes on marijuana.

As the drug’s popularity in the state has increased, so has its potency.

As this episode's guest would say, it’s not your dad’s weed.

Now, doctors are seeing more harmful, and sometimes fatal consequences from overuse of marijuana. 

KUOW online editor and producer Stephen Howie has reported a deep dive on the subject and he’s here to explain how a new generation of weed is impacting a new generation of users.

Guest:

Stephen Howie, KUOW online editor/producer

Relevant link:

KUOW - Weed sick: High-potency cannabis leads to ER visits, illnesses for some users

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our first week back after the holiday break has been jam-packed with all the news that’s fit to print… or read out loud into a microphone, whatever.

Now that the weekend is nearly here, it’s time to sail away & relax a little… 

In that spirit, here’s our resident “Cruise Director,” Producer Jason Megatron Burrows live from the Lido Deck with everything exciting happening this weekend!

EVENTS: 

• Bridge to Bridge Fake Race at 14th Avenue NW Boat Ramp

• Unicorns & Rainbows 5k at Green Lake Park

• Crystal Mountain Takeover | Seattle Kraken

• Tacoma Comedy Club | Pablo Francisco

• Tacoma Comedy Club | Trae Crowder

• Neptune Theater - Nate Jackson

• PBR Spokane | Spokane Arena

• Radiant Reflections: Celebrating the Beauty of the African Diaspora - Bainbridge Island Museum of Art 

• National Geographic LIVE: Diving the Great Barrier Reef | Benaroya Hall

As always, if you'd like to suggest an event for future installments of the Weekend Warmup, shoot us an email - [email protected]

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Five people have died and thousands of homes have burned in wildfires sweeping across the Los Angeles area. 

Five separate fires are burning in the county - the Palisades fire, Eaton fire, Hurst fire, Lidia and Sunset fires. The Palisades and Eaton Fires are some of the most destructive in the region’s history. 

Local resources are stretched thin – but some help is on the way from Washington. 

Dozens of engines and more than 100 firefighters from local agencies have committed to travel to help battle the blazes in L.A.

Many are already on their way. 

Guests:

• Ben Peeler, Assistant Chief for Clark Cowlitz Fire Rescue

• Hilary Franz, Washington state's Public Lands Commissioner. She heads the Department of Natural Resources, which is also sending engines to Southern California 

Relevant links:

• What to know about thousands of evacuations and homes burned in Los Angeles area fires - AP

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Elect Donald Trump has promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants on day one of his administration. Removing the approximately 11.7 million people living in the United States without authorization would take a massive operational effort -- and likely require cooperation from both state and local governments.

Right now, most Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in the U.S. happen because of a hand off from local law enforcement. But that kind of cooperation is restricted in Washington state.       

2019’s Keep Washington Working Act  broadly limits state and local law enforcement from assisting with federal immigration proceedings. But Trump allies are already ramping up the pressure on local leaders in places like California and D.C. with similar sanctuary laws in place:

Stephen Miller’s America First Legal Foundation announced last month that it had identified hundreds of elected officials in sanctuary jurisdictions who it claimed could be held civilly liable for obstructing federal immigration enforcement.  

As the new Trump Administration takes office, Washington state’s elected sheriffs will be among those officials feeling the squeeze between federal agencies, and state law. 

Guest:

Steven Strachan, Executive Director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs

Relevant Links: 

WASPC Statement on local law enforcement involvement in immigration issues

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.