KUOW News Podcast

Stories and features focused on issues shaping life in the Northwest.

A flight attendant who says she was injured by airplane fumes is suing Boeing and its McDonnell Douglas subsidiary. She wants the company to install filters and sensors to stop contamination of cabin air. Boeing responds that cabin air is safe already.

Decades–old — even century old — gold, silver and zinc mines have left a toxic legacy that's still felt today in the West. Caustic, polluted water drains into streams. Abandoned mines are also draining the wallets of U.S. taxpayers. T...

Seattle School Board members are on a six–week break for the summer. Last night (Wednesday) they closed a sale, passed a budget, and signed off on the Superintendent's performance evaluation.

The Seattle School Board is scheduled to decide tonight (Wednesday) whether to sell some property in West Seattle. The school district says the sale meets a state requirement to recoup 90 percent of the property value, but the price tag is less than fi...

The size of Northwest cities continues to grow amidst the recession, but at a modest pace. New estimates from the Census Bureau say Tacoma's population is at 197,000, up 1.2 percent from 2007 to 2008. The region's largest city, Seattle, is home to just...

Seattle's most famous strip club owner is due in Federal Court later this month to face charges that he promoted prostitution at his clubs. A grand jury has indicted Frank Colacurcio Sr., his son Frank Jr., and four associates on multiple counts of rac...

King County is grappling with budget problems. It has to decide how to fund critical programs like criminal justice and human services, but with dwindling revenue. Some programs that serve homeless people, for example, were set to expire Tuesday. The c...

Now that summer has started, the only skiing most people contemplate is water skiing. But Olympic winter athletes never stop thinking snow. There's one ski area in the U.S. where racers and snowboarders can train on real snow year–round. Correspo...

Real estate agents don't show up on the unemployment rolls because they're self–employed. But according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, about 6,000 agents have left the business since 2007. Those who remain are taking jobs, learning ho...

Agricultural guest workers in Washington State will be paid higher wages, starting today (Monday). But that's only for new hires. Workers who already have contracts will likely be stuck with a smaller paycheck.

At the Hanford Reservation in southcentral Washington, 53 million gallons of radioactive waste sits in underground tanks. That's enough to fill 80 Olympic–sized swimming pools. The government's been trying to clean up that mess, but it's slow goi...

Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski will soon sign into law a requirement that drivers use a hands–free device when talking on a cell phone. Meanwhile Washington state is marking the one year anniversary, July 1, of a similar, but weaker law. And stat...

The illegal demand for OxyContin and similar drugs is growing. As a result, pharmacy robberies are increasing. In an effort to help stem the tide, the states' major pharmacy chains recently talked with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in a meeting bro...

Seattle city employees in a gay affinity group will have their names shielded, for now. A King County Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that the city must provide information about the group, but that disclosing members' names would go too far.

The Seattle School District is working through details on its new Student Assignment Plan. That's the system that determines where children go to school based on where they live. The district gave an update yesterday (Wednesday) to the school board abo...

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire met with President Obama Wednesday, to discuss health care reform. She talked about it with KUOW's Derek Wang, and said there is no talk in Washington D.C. about a single–payer option. This interview was produce...

Come October Seattle Public Library users who get materials through interlibrary loans will have to pay a fee. Out of state users will pay more. And for the first time since the 80's, the library will also start charging for late children's, ESL and li...

The privacy of public employees will be at issue today (Thursday) in a King County courtroom. A Seattle employee wants the names of people who've joined a city–sponsored group for gay and lesbian staffers. The City Attorney reluctantly agrees it'...

State transportation agencies in the Northwest say they're finding pleasant surprises in stimulus road projects. In many cases, bids from contractors are lower than expected because of the slow economy. That may extend the impact of stimulus spending.