News

  People who are anxious about the possibility of their property taxes going up have a new resource to turn to. King County just launched a web site to allow homeowners to appeal their property valuations electronically. They can use the site to look up comparable sales and submit that information along with the appeal.

The Washington Transportation Department says a temporary span on the Interstate 5 Skagit River bridge should open this week, less than a month since a section of the bridge collapsed.

Spokesman Travis Phelps says the framework is in place and workers are tightening bolts and welding sections on the temporary structure that's 24 feet wide and 160 feet long.

He says they'll be installing panels Monday that will be paved with asphalt to form the new bridge deck.

KPLU's Summer Jazz Brunch Cruise is Sunday, August 25.   Join us for a relaxing, two-and-a-half hour cruise on Elliott Bay aboard the Royal Argosy. 

Enjoy a scrumptious all-you-can-eat brunch, spectacular views, and great music from this year's special guest artist--one of the finest up-and-coming international jazz talents and freshest voices to come along in years--Halie Loren--performing with her quartet.

KPLU's Jazz Brunch Cruises are a summertime favorite for Northwest residents and out-of-town guests. 

This year's cruise will be emceed by KPLU jazz host Kevin Kniestedt.  The boat leaves Seattle's Pier 56 at 10:30 a.m. and returns at 1 p.m.  Tickets are $65.

Get detailed information and purchase your tickets HERE.

Thanks to the LaConner Chamber of Commerce for their support.

One way young kids learn to organize the world is by dividing it into living and non-living things. But now that robots vacuum our floors and smart phones talk back to us, do children think of technology as alive? A team of Washington researchers is exploring how kids interact with robots, and what that might reveal about both their brains and ours.

Hanging drywall is a dirty, hard job. And 250 workers at Summit Drywall, Inc., based in Issaquah, say it was even worse for them because they didn’t get paid the wages they were due.

The U.S. Department of Labor is suing Summit Drywall on behalf of the workers, claiming the company failed to pay minimum wage and time and a half for overtime.

This week is the start of summer vacation for a lot of students in the Puget Sound area. It's a time to relax, go to camps and have fun. 

But for children who come from families that don't have a lot of money these next few months are when they often fall behind in their reading skills.

Bert Wilson was an inspiration, mentor, and brilliant saxophonist who passed on June 6 in Olympia at age 73.  Some of his large output of music was featured on Jazz Northwest on Sunday June 16 at 2 PM Pacific on 88.5 KPLU and kplu.org. Although not widely known to the jazz public, he was sought out by saxophonists who regarded him as a guru of improvisation, extended techniques and the history of the instrument.

Expect the clouds to burn off later today, but you'll have to wait until Saturday for the really nice weather, says Cliff Mass, professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington and KPLU's weekly weather expert.

Each maiden voyage of a Boeing airplane has been cause for much celebration in Washington state. But now there’s a big chunk of the local aerospace industry that also supplies Boeing’s main rival, Airbus. So when a new Airbus plane takes to the skies – like the A350 earlier today – a large contingent of workers here in Boeing’s backyard watches with pride.

The Mariners are on the road for the next seven games. They're playing the A's in Oakland this weekend.

The team keeps finding more painful ways to lose. And KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel says the fans end up hurt the most.

Scientists with the city of Seattle are narrowing in on the source of polluted water that flows through the city’s largest watershed. With a new study, they’ve confirmed human fecal bacteria are likely entering Thornton Creek at multiple locations near Northgate and Lake City Way.

Sen. Patty Murray says the U.S. Department of Transportation is releasing the remaining $15.6 million of the federal share for repair of the I-5 bridge over the Skagit River that collapsed three weeks ago.

Murray, a Democrat, said Thursday Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told her in a phone call that the funds were being released. The total cost of the project is $17.8 million. The federal government previously released $1 million. The state is expected to provide the remaining money.

Homeless residents of a large Seattle tent city warn that closing down their camp will have dire consequences, while city council members left the door open to keep the camp dwellers together.

About 125 residents make their home at the West Seattle site known as Nickelsville. Advocates told members of a city council committee Wednesday that many of those tent dwellers will die on the streets if the city moves forward with threatened evictions September 1st.

Over his decades in public life, former Gov. Albert Rosellini helped bring Washington into the modern era, burnishing his reputation as one of the state's most effective leaders.

But FBI officials who scrutinized Rosellini's activities in the 1960s saw something else. They questioned his political associations and probed a series of allegations that Rosellini was corrupt. The Seattle special agent in charge once wrote to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover that Rosellini was "a thorough scoundrel."

There are two versions of this story.

One is the story of how drug-abuse involving heroin has spiked upward, especially in young adults, over the past decade. Drug experts say people end up on heroin as a last resort, after getting addicted to prescription painkillers.

That version is in the news this week, and has made headlines for the past few years, when annual drug trends come out.