“For the last few years now, we’ve heard two presidents, not just President Biden but also former President Trump, argue that there is a national security issue with TikTok, but the government has never made a public accounting of what that issue is,” CBC Tech Contributor Ian Sherr said on Seattle’s Morning News.

More on TikTok: Cantwell must not obstruct full Senate from debating TikTok’s future

Sherr said there have been private meetings with Congress where the case has been made, but the American public has yet to hear any of it. That could be what spurred the lawsuit by TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance. The lawsuit argues the ban violates the First Amendment.

“Part of what I think is going to be interesting about this lawsuit is that it may force the government to actually be able to explain itself and explain what this danger is, instead of merely gesturing at national security as a reason for doing it,” Sherr said.

ByteDance’s lawsuit goes on to explain that this is the first time in history that Congress has singled out a company (which they refer to as a “speech platform”) for a ban. And therefore, bars millions of Americans and others from taking part in this online community.

While evidence of this “national security risk” has been hard to come by, Sherr shared a story about running app Strava, which was really popular among members of the military for a time. The app tracked the user’s runs and allowed competition among friends, but also featured a map of the U.S. that became problematic.

More from Colleen O’Brien: Mount McKinley became Denali; will Mount Rainier’s name also change?

“It had a map of the United States where you could see where everyone was running” Sherr explained. “Well, if you zoomed in on suspected classified areas of this country, imagine in the desert somewhere, you could see where people were running around nuclear silos, right. And suddenly, this app was leaking national security (information).”

Right now, the lawsuit sits with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

“I think Mount Rainier, the name will change. I think they’ll change it to ‘Taquoma,’ eventually, probably in our lifetimes. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” Banel said on “Seattle’s Morning News” Wednesday.

The exact pronunciation of “Taquoma” is also up for debate. While Banel will give it a softer ‘h’ like ‘Tahoma’ some tribes pronounce the name with a sound emanating from the back of the throat and truer to the ‘qu’ in the name. How to pronounce it will be up to the tribes at the center of the push to rename Mount Rainier.

“With the English language, there’s certain poetry to names like ‘Rainier’ and ‘Baker’. It’s sort of so familiar, but ya know, it’s a terrific debate to keep having continually,” Banel said.

The would ultimately have to approve of the name change and they are well aware of the efforts.

“(They’ve been) engaged in a years long process to create consensus around the indigenous community about what they would like it renamed. So, I do think in our lifetimes, we’ll see a change like that and it’ll be like Denali up in Alaska, but a bigger deal,” Banel said.

More on the history of Denali

I turned to to understand the history of Denali, and how it might inform the potential fight ahead of local tribes to rename Mount Rainier. The name for Denali was ensnared in a years-long battle between the federal government and Alaska.

In 1975, it was the Alaska legislature who lobbied the federal government to change the name from “Mount McKinley” (after a gold prospector and also President William McKinley) to “Denali,” which would pay homage to the Indigenous tribe that first named the mountain ‘Deenaalee’ meaning ‘the high one.’

It wasn’t until President Barack Obama’s administration that the name change was granted. (Readers can view of a PDF of the order to change the name as a PDF ).

Interestingly, , when then-President Donald Trump was in office, he met with senators from Alaska to ask about reversing it. But his efforts, apparently, ended there.

Feliks Banel joins “Seattle’s Morning News” every Wednesday and Friday for his features on local history. You can click on the player above or to hear the full conversation about Mount Rainier, which began with a brief history of Northwest explorer Captain George Vancouver‘s adventures and the fact that he is still honored to this day at a tiny cemetery in England.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Idaho’s new law only allows for an abortion during emergency care to save the mother’s life. The U.S. Justice Department sued Idaho on grounds that the law violates the federal Emergency Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). The lawsuit has made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. We invited Erin Carr, Assistant Professor of Law at Seattle University, on Seattle’s Morning News to help us wade through the Supreme Court arguments and questions in this case.

“Under EMTALA, hospitals that receive federal funding must provide “stabilizing treatment” for “emergency medical conditions” — even if it ends the pregnancy,” Carr said.

The Department of Justice is asserting that Idaho’s near complete abortion ban conflicts with EMTALA because under the abortion ban in the state of Idaho, there are criminal penalties for doctors who provide emergency abortion care where a pregnant woman’s health may be at risk, but her life isn’t necessarily at risk,” she continued.

Colleen O’Brien: Is the FAFSA loan worth the degree?

That seemed to be what certain justices zeroed in on during questioning. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Amy Coney-Barrett seemed to be seeking clarity from Idaho’s attorney Joshua Turner about how a doctor might determine if a woman is “near death’s door” or “at death’s door”. Carr said without clarity on the minimum standard of care for a pregnant woman, Idaho’s law could create near-fatal or lifelong harm to pregnant mothers.

“What (Idaho) is arguing is that the Idaho Defense of Life Act is not directly conflict with EMTALA. And that’s because they are not providing abortion care to anyone. And instead of providing that emergency care, the state of Idaho is essentially transporting those patients out of state in order to get that life-saving stabilizing care,” Carr explained.

One Justice brought up that there have already been women transported out of Idaho in order to receive care, so this is not a hypothetical situation. Idaho’s ban is already having real-world implications for women and, in fact, Carr said one in five doctors in Idaho has left to work in another state.

“It really places medical providers in Idaho in an impossible situation. And that’s because the Idaho Defense of Life Act provides very, very narrow circumstances in which abortion will be permissible, and that is where the pregnant person’s life is at risk, not necessarily their health, but their life. And so many providers in Idaho do not feel that they are empowered to provide emergency abortion care unless it is pretty much a given that this pregnant person is on death’s door,” Carr said.

The places women are being transported to from Idaho include Washington State, and we asked Carr if lawsuits are on the way as other states shoulder the financial and ethical burdens born out of these restrictive laws.

You can listen to the entire interview with Professor Erin Carr below.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

“They fix those problems. But now we have a new problem. And that is that some colleges said they received incorrect information from this government FAFSA form, the department of ed said, we get it, we know we have problems, they’re correcting these errors. Most of these problems should be resolved by the end of this month. But that leaves a lot of families sort of in limbo waiting to hear,” Schlesinger told Seattle’s Morning News on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio.

Other news: Arlington school breaks barriers one vending machine meal at a time

May 1 is typically the date to choose a college or university, but without answers on whether a prospective student got the financial aid needed, there’s no way to declare that. Some schools have extended the deadline by a couple of weeks, which helps, but there is no clear deadline on when FAFSA issues will be resolved.

This opens up the opportunity for a larger conversation, according to Schlesinger, that should start freshman year of high school but may still be valid at any point: Is your degree worth the loan?

“I think the biggest problem that we have seen maybe in the past 20 years or so, is that people are had been assuming loans and huge loans. And they said, OK, well, I’ll get a great job, I’ll pay it back. But what we have found out is that, of course, many people are really struggling to pay down this debt, because they’ve gotten jobs that didn’t support the amount of the loan that they took out,” Schlesinger said.

So, I think people need to have very frank conversations. This has to be a conversation where we are talking to one another about what this family as a total family can afford? What will that do to whoever is paying these loans back? How will we balance the need for us to plan for our retirement and send you to college, all these things are really important,” she continued.

Schlesinger said college degrees are still valuable. Research has shown college graduates earn more money over their careers, but borrowing too much money means their advantage will begin to narrow.

Colleen O’Brien: Seattle’s new walkability maps

Schlesinger has developed a rule of thumb for student loans: Limit the borrowing for the student to what you believe will be their first-year salary. That may sound tough to calculate, but there are plenty of websites out there that offer a peek into salary ranges.

You can hear the entire conversation with CBS Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger on the April 19 Seattle’s Morning News podcast, where Colleen O’Brien and Travis Mayfield ask her about President Joe Biden’s continued efforts to eliminate or reduce student loan debt.

To listen to the podcast, go here.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Instead of starting up your car, driving through traffic, circling to find a parking spot, and then finally arriving at your destination, you can instead strap on your comfiest walking shoes, fit in some exercise, take in the sights and sounds of your neighborhood, and access businesses with ease.

Capitol Hill resident Nat Henry loves his neighborhood. He loves it so much that he decided to develop an interactive website showing everything around him and how long it would take to get there by walking.

The idea grew beyond Capitol Hill to include other Seattle neighborhoods. When he released his creation to the public, he got such great feedback that he quit his full-time job at the University of Washington and went all in on

Colleen O’Brien: Female oncologist gives advice for women choosing a doctor

“I think that people wouldn’t be surprised to learn that areas like Capitol Hill, downtown Ballard, places like North Beacon Hill, are all very walkable, and you can meet most of your daily needs within a five or 15-minute walk,” Henry said. “There were some other neighborhoods that were surprising that are these very dense built-up areas that we think of in South Lake Union, or in Belltown. These are some of the densest neighborhoods in the city. But they don’t have the elementary schools, they don’t have the public libraries. And to get them, you either have to go across downtown or walk up Queen Anne Hill.”

What he didn’t anticipate happening as the maps came together was how valuable this data would be for city planners as the idea of a “15-minute neighborhood” gains popularity. It’s the idea that you should be within a 15-minute walk for daily services like groceries or health care.

“Zoning is the number one determinant of what people can and can’t do when they want to add an amenity or be close to a park,” Henry explained. “Every 10 years, Seattle has to update its comprehensive plan and basically lay out a vision for how the city is going to grow and change over time. And if five years from now, you want to open a supermarket in your neighborhood, and you found interested investors, and you’re ready to take the leap, you also have to go to the city and say, does this fit into the guidelines that were laid out in this comprehensive plan?”

Colleen O’Brien: Can you ace this quiz on consumer protection knowledge?

It’s a chicken and egg question once again – do you build up a neighborhood with amenities and hope people find the housing they need to support those businesses? Or do you build housing first then slowly add amenities?

“Seattle is considering in its next comprehensive plan, these neighborhood centers, which will be just small pockets of commercial retail that will then support the surrounding neighborhood so that more people can take walking trips to get to those amenities instead of driving to a different neighborhood,” Henry said.

Not driving as much is key to Henry’s motivation to get this map built out – and he’s already gone national with it and has interest from other city leaders on how they can use his map to plan their development. Seattle hasn’t yet reached out to Henry.

“Right now, Seattle’s car pollution is the number one source of greenhouse gas emissions in the city. And the majority of that is personal vehicle trips. Seventy-five percent of people say that they use cars just to get to their daily needs,” Henry told us. “If we could find a way to make the areas we live in more friendly to walkability, we might be able to have people saying ‘maybe we don’t need that that second car for the family,’ or ‘maybe we can just walk this trip instead of driving it.'”

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

The move will cause issues for House Speaker Mike Johnson, as far-right Republicans in the House are threatening his job over the issue of funding Ukraine. On Seattle’s Morning News Friday, Travis Mayfield and Colleen O’Brien were joined by Democrat U.S. Representative Adam Smith, who wouldn’t go as far as saying he’s frustrated at his colleagues who are threatening Johnson’s job, but did state the delays in this aid package have gone on long enough.

More from Rep. Adam Smith: Israel-Hamas war and the ‘impossible nature of the situation’

“The thing that has been frustrating is the overwhelming majority of the House, Democrats and a majority of Republicans, for that matter, support the funding,” Smith said. “And yet House leadership has refused to give us a vote on it for months and months and months because they have been bowing to the wishes of this small vocal minority that opposes it.

“We have waited way too long. Ukraine is up against a wall right now,” Smith continued. “Russia has them outgunned five-to-one because the help hasn’t gotten there. I hope that the help gets there just in time. But the months that we’ve waited to do this, because House Republican leadership was unwilling to allow the will of the majority to work, is really been costly to Ukraine.”

Turning to the Middle East, Israel finally responded to Iran’s weekend missile and drone attack by striking an air base near the city of Isfahan. Between Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, and now its conflict with Iran, many fear the start of a potential new World War if cooler heads cannot prevail. Smith said we’re in a dangerous time and wouldn’t rule out another global conflict.

“It could go that way very easily if just a couple more mistakes are made,” Smith said. “But I’ll go ahead and give at least a somewhat optimistic picture on this. Iran doesn’t want to go to war with Israel, and Israel doesn’t want to go to war with Iran. None of this means they couldn’t stumble into one. But it gives us a path.”

More from Colleen O’Brien: Female oncologist gives advice for women choosing a doctor

He believes what could turn things around is if peace can be found with the Palestinian people — a lofty goal sought by many U.S. presidents and world leaders for decades.

“That’s what we’re working towards and if that path happens, I think we can step back from the brink of that wider Middle East war that could possibly create an even larger war,” Smith said.

For the entire conversation with Rep. Adam Smith, listen to the April 19 Seattle’s Morning News podcast.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Mayfield: Why centering more women’s voices matter this month and every month

Medicine, for example, has long been a place where women’s pain has been mishandled or downright not believed. I spoke with , an oncologist and author of “All In Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women’s Bodies, And Why It Matters Today.”

‘We are afraid of making people uncomfortable,’ says Dr. Comen

“The opening of my book is a story of a woman on her deathbed and she would not be the first or last to apologize to me for something in that setting,” Comen said.

In this case, this woman apologized to me for sweating hours before her death. And in a given day when I see breast cancer patients, both who are sick or well, and I’m doing a breast exam, for example, almost every woman apologizes to me for something — not shaving their armpits, not having a pedicure or manicure, sweating during the appointment, asking too many questions. These are basic, either natural phenomena or basic needs that we have and yet mirroring a lot of what women deal with in society. I think we are afraid of making people uncomfortable, including in a doctor’s office and we disproportionately apologize for things that I don’t think we should be apologizing for,” she continued.

Speaking from my own experience, this does not surprise me. Women apologize for a lot — sometimes for just existing.

I’ve been trying to reverse this tendency. I have to say “sorry” when I’m simply standing somewhere and someone comes up alongside me. Like I’m in their way.

Women not getting proper treatment goes back historically

Back to medicine, Comen said women not getting the medical response or treatment they need goes way back in history and reversal of that bias has only just begun.

2016 study: Female physicians are paid $20,000 to $50,000 less than their male colleagues

“It wasn’t until 1993 that women were even required to be part of NIH (National Institutes of Health) funded clinical trials and minorities as well. So many of the drugs that we use, the devices that we use, the imaging techniques that we have, were based on this 70-kilogram reference male and did not include equal participation from women,” said Comen.

And that includes not only human subjects but when we look at drugs or techniques that were developed in the laboratory, it was often male animal models or male-derived cells that much of what we know about medicine was studied upon,” she added.

Comen shared advice for women before they choose a doctor and when they’re with a doctor. The full interview can be heard here:

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

“We are going for 500,000 diapers. We actually did 412,019 in one month last year, so I guess it could happen,” Hurst said hopefully.

After the diapers are distributed to non-profits like domestic violence shelters and food banks, the hundreds of thousands of diapers are typically gone within three to four months. The organizations typically open and repackage diapers and adult incontinence products into smaller portions to make sure more people can have their needs met.

Hurst says what contributes to the high demand for diapers is that WIC or EBT does not cover them.

Another need: Another Western Washington pet shelter faces food crisis

“First of all, they consider it the same as tobacco and alcohol. It’s kind of like something that they feel is not a needed product,” Hurt said.

Hurst has a big heart and it showed in our interview as she shared story after story of babies or elderly adults finding themselves without basic hygiene products.

“Talked to a police officer in Kent a couple weeks ago and he was talking about where he’s gone into some hotel rooms where there’s things going on with families and he said, ‘Cheryl I’ve bought a few boxes of diapers just wanted to let you know that.’ He said, ‘I have an 18-month-old. It’s really painful when you walk in there and you see a baby and you can see that that diaper needed to be changed three or four or five hours ago.’ I just tell people if you’ve ever wanted help in your life go out and help someone,” Hurst said, her voice breaking with emotion.

You can help Hurst collect diapers, wipes, and other hygiene items and meet her 500,000 goal by visiting .

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Weisbaum is also a contributing editor at , a nonprofit providing ratings for services in seven cities, including Seattle. With service bell in hand and our shows’ producer David Burbank ready with the wrong-answer buzzer, Chris Sullivan, Micki Gamez and I endeavored to win the consumer quiz. Tell us how you scored.

More from Colleen O’Brien: Doctor says we ‘need meat’ for mental health to thrive

First Question

The organic label can help you when making decisions about the food you buy, but it doesn’t apply to everything. The term “organic” is meaningless if it’s on a package of chicken, meat, eggs or seafood?

Second Question

State or Federal rules require some purchases to come with a cooling off period, giving you a little time to cancel the transaction without any penalty. How long is a cooling off period when you buy a car: Three days, seven days, 14 days or a month?

Third Question

You carry a balance on your credit card and money is tight. How can you make sure you don’t get charged a late fee when you can’t pay the whole bill?

More from Colleen O’Brien: Sen. Karen Keiser explains why this is the time to retire

How’d you do? Follow along with more questions with ConsumerMan Herb Weisbaum on the March 8 Seattle’s Morning News podcast.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

“The brain needs meat,” she said.

We asked her to explain that on Seattle’s Morning News, which led to a promising conversation about one’s ability to better themselves through simple, common-sense means.

Why meat is vital for mental health

“We’re used to hearing that meat is dangerous for our total health, including our brain health, and plants are really the best way to nourish and protect our brains. But the truth of the matter is that it’s actually — that’s upside down and backward,” Ede chuckled. “It is the only food that contains every nutrient we need in its proper form and is also the safest food for our blood sugar and insulin levels.”

More from Colleen O’Brien: Seattle-area homebuyers now have climate to consider

There is a reason blood sugar levels are not just important to people who have diabetes, but also to everyone with a brain.

“It’s also about brain energy, maintaining your brain to — for the brain to create energy for the rest of your life and protect your memory as well as your mood,” Ede said.

And it’s not about protein, as is drilled into us from the start. Ede said it’s more about all the other nutrients that meat contains.

“Vitamins and minerals like B-12, Omega3 fatty acids, and zinc, and choline, and iron, and iodine. So many of the other essential nutrients are much more difficult if not in some cases impossible to obtain from plants,” Ede noted.

Many ‘studies’ are ‘worthless’

Ede goes further to say so many of the “studies” we hear about in popular media about drinking red wine in moderation is great for your health, then one day it’s the worst thing you can drink,
or how certain berries are going to give your immune system super-antioxidant protection. Well, she calls them “worthless.”

She explains most “studies” we hear in headlines that influence our nutritional decisions are more “wild guesses” than actual scientific experiments.

This is the backdrop to our conversation about an example in her book of a scientist and doctor who put his bipolar disorder into “full remission” years ago by eating a Ketogenic diet.

You can hear our full conversation with Dr. Georgia Ede on Seattle’s Morning News podcast.

I’m going to be the first to say that I love interviewing smart people about topics around mental health and wellness. I remain a total optimist when it comes to one’s ability to better themselves. I also recognize claims of being able to “cure” oneself of bipolar disorder sound too good to be true. Since I work in the sphere of seeking information and truth I want to be clear that I don’t endorse any particular diet, therapy, or doctor. I have found my own methods to better my mental health, and I wish everyone well on their own journey.

The latest MyNorthwest news: Boeing negotiations with machinists expected to be contentious

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Her 29 years of public service are highlighted with efforts around healthcare access, worker protections, and women’s rights. I called Keiser, who is also , to ask about her decades in public service and why she decided to retire.

The age conversation

We even had the “age conversation” since the 2024 presidential primaries so often focus on the age of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

“I’m not really one to judge, I’m old myself, at this point,” Keiser said with a chuckle. “But I will say that there’s a undercurrent of ageism, which is as much a toxic attitude towards people as any other ‘ism.'”

We’ll get deeper into her answer about the difference between ageism and the conversation that’s appropriate when it comes to Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump, but I did appreciate our conversation on her legacy in the Senate. She was appointed to the seat back in 1995 and was reelected six times.

“It was time. It comes to you as a realization that you’ve done what you’ve wanted to do and maybe there should be other chapters in your life,” Keiser said.

Keiser said she’s thinking about writing another book, her second, after publishing “Getting Elected is the Easy Part” in July 2023. It was her “pandemic project” (referencing the COVID-19 pandemic). She wouldn’t go into details about her next book during our conversation.

Last week, her Republican colleague in the state House, , announced he won’t seek reelection after 14 years and one of his reasons is that he believes it’s time for new, younger minds to enter the Capitol dome.

More from Colleen O’Brien: Rep. J.T. Wilcox explains why he’s leaving the legislature

Sen. Karen Keiser looks back proudly at her body of work

While that may not be top of mind for Keiser, she did give a ‘tip of the hat’ to how much progress she has seen in her nearly three decades in Olympia towards a more diverse legislative body.

“I do say that we have a wonderful, wonderful new cohort of young and diverse legislators in our state legislature. When I gave my remarks on the floor on the retirement speech, I referred to Peggy Maxi, who was a Black representative — the first Black woman to be elected to the legislature back in 1971. And she was one of only eight women in the entire legislature at that time.

Today, the legislature is 46% women. So we have really changed the the makeup of members. And the new members have a lot to learn. And I thought when I wrote my little book that I could help guide them a bit,” Keiser added.

Keiser looks back proudly at the work she did on the Paid Family Medical Leave Act that went into effect as the Pandemic hit. She calls it a “lifesaver for families”

“It was set up so that the lower the income the higher the wage replacement so that people could actually pay the rent,” Keiser noted.

Keiser is hopeful about how the state legislature is functioning. Her Republican colleagues might not share that same sentiment, but Keiser was earnest in her assessment of the state legislature when she compared it to how our congressional leaders are handing their differences.

Seafood fraud: What it is and how to avoid it

It’s no secret Wilcox hopes younger lawmakers take his place, and Keiser does acknowledge her age in our conversation about her retirement, so what about the two presidential candidates?

“I think it’s folly to think someone who doesn’t have experience or learning will be able to do as well. But new ideas or important energy and new perspectives, and new representation are all important. So it’s a balancing act. The issue of competence is important. And if you’re competent, it doesn’t matter what age you’re at.” Keiser said.

You can hear more from my conversation with the senator, including the focus of Democrats for future legislative sessions and which instrument she would play if she joined a band in retirement in Friday’s Seattle’s Morning News podcast.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather joined Seattle’s Morning News to explain why they added the new function and how it works. Fairweather admits that even they weren’t sure users would be interested at first.

“We did a test period first and we found that people were clicking in on the information and it was something they used in the home search process,” Fairweather said. “So, since first adding flood we’ve added other risks like fire, wind risk, and now air quality risk.”

Related story: Starter home sales in Seattle drop 36%, largest of any US metro area

She says for flood risk in particular, when users see that a home has severe or extreme risk, they end up making offers on homes with about half the risk. Air quality is also an important data point for Redfin shoppers.

“Wildfire smoke might not be coming from Pierce County directly, but coming from surrounding counties and even as far away as Canada, Oregon, and California,” Fairweather said. “There’s just a lot of wildfire risk currently and that risk is increasing, which would increase the amount of days where there is unhealthy air quality.”

Even though some of Redfin’s data shows people will choose lower-risk homes when the information is in front of them, the data does not appear to change their choice to move to their preferred geographical location. If their heart is set on Florida, they will move to Florida, even though that state is in the bull’s eye of climate impacts such as more intense hurricanes, flooding, and land erosion.

“For heat, flood, and wind risk people are moving into those areas. Think of Florida that has all those risks. For air quality, people are leaving the West Coast, which has the highest air quality risk. And that’s largely because of affordability. Seattle has become quite unaffordable over the last 10 years or so. And that’s true of San Francisco and Los Angeles as well where the air quality risk is high,” Fairweather said.

What about sellers who see their home listed with poor climate data? Daryl says Redfin will remove that data from a listing if a homeowner contacts them. Hear more from Redfin’s Chief Economist on the February 29th Seattle’s Morning News podcast.

Editors’ note: This piece originally was published on March 2, 2024. It has been updated and republished multiple times since then. 

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Wilcox is a member of the Wilcox family, who owns . Wilcox Family Farms is an advertiser on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio.

“I knew in my heart it was time to go,” Wilcox said, remarking that 12 of his 14 years were spent in Republican leadership. “I feel like I’ve just got too much baggage at this point to be as enthusiastic as I used to be and this is a unique job. Most jobs you’re there working for yourself. In this job, if you’re going to do it well you’ve got to be doing it for everybody else.”

Previous J.T. Wilcox coverage: ‘Almost nothing of consequence’ passed, the state House Republican leader said

I was surprised to hear phrases like ‘painful moments’

I was surprised to hear him use phrases like “painful moments” and “too much baggage” in his explanation for resigning his position. He explained part of it has to do with being in the Republican minority for years and working hard despite knowing the work would be overshadowed by Democrat priorities.

For future lawmakers, his advice is to turn off the noise and focus on the work.

For example, one of the most common kinds of seafood misrepresented is white fish. Red snapper, a higher-priced fish, is often just tilapia.

“Some common examples include swapping out a more expensive fish for a lower value substitute, mislabeling the origin of seafood or misrepresenting the weight of the seafood and charging consumers more for less product,” Allyson Chiu, a climate reporter for the Washington Post who reported on last week, explained on Seattle’s Morning News.

More on seafood in WA: Invasive European green crab could spell disaster for Washington’s seafood industry

Packaged seafood should note the product’s country of origin, Chiu said. If it doesn’t, she suggested to simply walk away or ask deeper questions because a country of origin doesn’t always mean what you think it does. It could be the actual country of origin or just where the fish was last processed.

“Where does it come from? How was it caught or farmed? How much does it cost? And is it certified by a sustainability program?” Chiu asked hypothetically. “All of this information can help you make a decision about whether what you’re buying is actually what it says it is.”

More frequent seafood buyers may be able to eyeball the authenticity of a seafood product. The Pacific Northwest is home to different types of salmon as an example, with many residents and locals potentially able to tell or make an educated guess when a fish is farmed or wild. Farmed fish will have a more zebra-like pattern with the fatty layers more pronounced. Wild salmon has more muscle than fat.

The good news is that a lot of our seafood comes from local producers, or from Alaska.

“The fisheries in Alaska are certified as sustainable and there is a lot of work being done there to ensure that the seafood is what it is,” Chiu said.

More from Colleen O’Brien: Good news for jobs amid massive layoffs — AI engineers

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

This week, Dave and I called up our ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio colleague and GeekWire’s own to help us understand what’s happening and if that can give us a glance into the tech world’s crystal ball.

“I’d tell people to expect more,” Lewis answered when we asked if the layoffs would begin to slow.

More on layoffs in WA: Thousands of Raterlabs employees laid off 1 year after pay raise

Lewis said there have been roughly 200,000 layoffs, broadly speaking, in the last two years. All of the Big Five tech companies are involved: Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Google and Meta.

“Any time you’re going to hear about a tech layoff, you’re going to hear about something in Seattle,” Lewis said. “But all of these same companies, while they’re having layoffs, are also doing fairly intense hiring — primarily in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector.”

Despite shedding thousands and thousands of jobs, tech company revenue has shot up, but Lewis claimed that’s not necessarily due to shedding jobs. Instead, companies are finding ways to do more with less even with workers not being replaced by AI — yet.

“AI still can’t do everything these companies want it to do,” Lewis said. “And, in fact, the AI departments in all of these companies, Apple included, which is secretly working on something, says it is pretty spectacular. Those areas of the company are actually hiring fairly rapidly.”

More from Seattle’s Morning News: Latest COVID-19 variant escapes natural immunity

The good news for jobs in a story about layoffs? Lewis stated there is a dearth of qualified A.I. engineers and they are getting snapped up by every company because every company feels like they need to have a dog in this fight. Know any future college students looking for an area of study? *hint hint*

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

“It just does seem like there’s a lot going on and it’s partially that we’re aware of it and it’s partially that it’s real. None of (the viruses) are especially bad right now, the CDC is calling it a ‘moderate’ year,” Jerome said.

However, he says, we are still experiencing about 1,000 deaths a week in America due to COVID-19. That’s a somber reality as the other seasonal viruses, such as flu and RSV, do not kill at the same rate as COVID-19.

The most prevalent COVID-19 variant circulating right now is JN.1 (pronounced “jan one”) and is a sub-variant of omicron. JN.1 is very infectious, according to Jerome, and good at getting around the natural immunity we’ve built up from other variants.

‘Childcare reaching a crisis point’: State House tries to come up with answers

Jerome, who is the head of the Virology Division in the University of Washington Department of Laboratory Medicine, says that’s why getting updated COVID-19 booster shots will give you your best — shot — at escaping severe symptoms. This virus has not quite figured out how to escape a vaccine-induced immunity. But Jerome added that vaccination rates are not impressive.

“Not as much as probably one would like it from a public health point of view. (Only about 10% of children) have received the updated vaccine. For adults it’s about 20%. So, this is the latest omicron specific booster shot only about 20% of adults. People get the vaccine don’t get very sick from it. They do much better than they would have otherwise. So, that’s good.

“And it’s interesting to start to think about if we get in a world where only a few people are actually getting the shots, it may actually benefit them that everybody else isn’t, quite frankly, because JN.1 is an immune escape variant, but it’s escaping natural immunity because that’s what 80% of people have,” Jerome added.

The SMN interviews: ‘Human jukebox’ Nikhil Bagga, Rep. Monica Stonier, Rob McKenna

We also addressed the bird flu, which was wiping out flocks ahead of Thanksgiving last year and is having a concerning affect on the population of elephant seals in the Antarctic region. Why is that concerning? While it has been proven that avian viruses can jump to mammals, what we’ve seen in the elephant seals is the virus jumping from mammal to mammal. About 95% of that population was wiped out because of a bird flu variant.

Listen to the entire interview .

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

This week, on Seattle’s Morning News, Dave Ross and I interviewed , author of

“People trying to use willpower to change eating habits is not something that works very well, and from a neuroscience standpoint it’s not even in the conversation,” Brewer said confidently.

First, how do we even form habits around food?

“Everybody shares the same mechanism. There are three elements that trigger a behavior and a result. So, think of our ancient ancestors out on the savanna, they see food, there’s the trigger, they eat the food, there’s the behavior, and then their stomach sends this dopamine signal to their brain that says, ‘Remember what you ate and where you found it.’

“In modern day that’s still in play, where we are starting to learn to eat food, not when we’re hungry, but when we’re angry, sad, lonely, bored, tired — all these emotional reasons,” Brewer continued.  “Or we might eat beyond satiety, such as if we’re part of the ‘clean plate club.’ So, all of those become reasons that we eat not out of hunger, but just out of habit.”

More recent SMN interviews: Kissing booths, ‘creative wayfinding’ lures tourists back to Seattle

Speaking of the “Clean Plate Club,” that was never a mantra in my family, but I have plenty of childhood stories from my millennial peers about this forced ritual at dinner time. To put it kindly, they hated it. And, according to Dr. Brewer and science, this kind of eating is one way our brains get programmed to eat out of habit or for a reward (dessert) rather than out of hunger.

“Kids were taught to not pay attention their hunger and satiety signals, but to their parents wishes and demands instead,” Dr. Brewer noted.

Then, Dave asked what actual hunger should feel like since we’re all apparently so programmed to eat out of emotion or boredom. For that portion of the interview, .

Listen to more of our conversation with Dr. Judson Brewer or just click below.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

This week, we spoke to each of the bill’s sponsors, starting with Rep. Alicia Rule (D-Blaine). Rule’s would establish a Business and Occupation tax rebate for employers who provide childcare assistance to employees. It has bipartisan support but also a number of critics.

“Childcare is really reaching a crisis point for everybody. It’s not just that we are really struggling with childcare for those who can’t afford it, which is definitely an issue, but what we’re learning is that we just don’t have enough childcare spots for anybody, so this is a bill that would bring even more people to the table to solve the problem – particularly business,” Rule told us.

More Colleen O’Brien: Kissing booths, ‘creative wayfinding’ lures tourists back to Seattle

The B&O tax rebate would apply to businesses that have either childcare on-site or provide childcare stipends as a way of putting together a benefits package. According to , the Department of Revenue figures it would cost the state $170 million per year. And while Rule’s bill addresses childcare cost, I had to ask if it would in any way address the childcare shortage. She was – short on answers.

“There’s affordability, there’s access, and there’s quality. So we continually work on innovative solutions,” Rule said.

You can hear the entire interview with Rep. Rule here:

While Rule enjoys bi-partisan support of her bill, the main critique of it comes from a competing bill, This bill, from Rep. Tana Senn (D-Mercer Island), would require employers who receive preferential tax incentives from the state to provide childcare on-site or pay at least 25-percent of childcare costs for an employee.

Under HB 1716, Senn says large companies that already get tax breaks from the state would also cash in on the tax rebate and she doesn’t think that’s fair.

‘I like what I see in the mirror:’ Struggling addicts get help at Quinault Wellness

“Right now a variety of companies get tax breaks, obviously, the biggest one we think about is a Boeing or other companies like that. It’s a value statement that we’re saying that childcare is so important for businesses so that parents can get to work. And businesses rely on those workers. And so let’s have it all integrated. So it’s a so integration is a win win. Businesses help employees with childcare, businesses get employees, and that helps more thriving economy,” Senn said.

The companies that would be targeted by HB2322 would be determined based on if there are employees there making $250,000 or more annually. The idea being that if the company can pay employees such a high salary, and enjoy tax breaks from the state, they can certainly invest in childcare.

Listen to our interview with Rep. Senn here:

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

“What we saw in terms of visitation we had over 33 million people that came and visited Seattle during (2022),” Woody said.

That amounted to about $10.2 billion injected into the local economy through tourism. Pre-pandemic, the city would see closer to $12 billion in tourism dollars, so as Woody acknowledged in our interview Thursday there’s a ways to go.

The creatives at Visit Seattle are always looking for ways to entice outsiders to come to the Emerald City — a city known for its rain. Never deterred by that reputation, Visit Seattle in 2022 launched the and placed them in cities around the nation. It was their effort to show that a little rain shouldn’t stop you from coming to Seattle and, in fact, it can be cozy and romantic.

The booth has made appearances in Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Arizona, and the campaign went on to at the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International’s last year.

But what if those love birds from Miami, who came to Seattle to get cozy and take a walk to Pike Place Market, find themselves in the notorious 3rd and Pike/Pine corridor? Woody has an answer for that, too.

“What we end up doing quite often is we have ‘creative wayfinding’ to help visitors navigate,” Woody said gently.

That’s a nice way of saying they have brightly colored and clearly labeled signs to help tourists walk around the not-so-pretty parts of Seattle and make their way to the destinations we’re known for.

Listen to more of our conversation with Michael Woody .

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Jancee Dunn, The New York Times 

I’m always looking for unique ways to stay on top of health issues.

Last week, we interviewed a writer for The Washington Post who gave us a fascinating insight into a reduced sodium diet. Notably, reducing salt by just one teaspoon a day can have the same health effect as taking blood pressure medication — and that’s after just one week of reducing salt.

This week, we called up who is working on food mindfulness.

It’s common for us to know when foods make us feed bad. That’s more obvious as we’ll likely have a headache or stomach ache.

What’s less common, Dunn said, is looking back to note when foods make us feel good or energized.

“That was the exercise we did it was after three meals and say you have a snack in the afternoon, an hour and a half after you’ve eaten when digestion us underway just think back and rate on a scale from one to five how did the food make you feel?” Dunn suggested.

During the exercise, Dunn realized her breakfasts were leaving her hungry sooner, which lead to a second breakfast. That’s because she was eating cereals rather than adding a protein or even a complex carbohydrate to keep her going.

Listen to our interview to learn more about the “magic combination” for meals that will keep you energized and full longer.

More SMN Interviews: ‘Human jukebox’ Nikhil Bagga, Rep. Monica Stonier, Rob McKenna

Matt Markovich on the heated debate in Olympia over gas prices

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s plan to force gas and oil companies to reveal their pricing strategies has created a heated debate in Olympia.

We’re often joined on Seattle’s Morning News by ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio reporter Matt Markovich, who covers legislative issues and was there for the first public hearing on the plan.

The conversation about transparency is led by Inslee, who continues to deny that his contributed to Washington having some of the highest gas prices in the nation. We saw gas prices increase in our state around the same time gas and oil companies began buying their carbon credits to offset pollution under the governor’s CCA. Inslee insists that’s because these companies are gouging us.

“Senate Bill 6052 aims to address transparency issues related to petroleum supply and pricing in the state. It establishes a division within the Utilities and Transportation Commission to provide oversight and analysis of transportation fuel markets,” Markovich explains. “The bill requires the industry to submit monthly and quarterly reports on import and exports of petroleum products and other relevant information.”

The governor’s senior climate advisor admits the bill needs work, which opened the door for heated debate on the issue. You can listen to Matt’s rundown of what happened here.

ConsumerMan Herb Weisbaum on banks cashing in on overdraft fees

On Fridays, we’re joined by . Most of us know him as , who has served the region for decades with the best consumer advice to save you money and keep you from falling victim to fraud.

This week, a lot of attention has been given to the Biden Administration’s proposal to rein in overdraft fees. Some financial institutions charge as much as $35 per overdraft, which far exceeds the bank’s cost when processing the overdraft.

“Clearly, it’s not the cost of doing business in many cases; it’s just a revenue stream for the banks, and that’s what the wants to limit,” Weisbaum said.

According to the CFPB, banks made nearly $9 billion in overdraft fees in 2022 alone.

The proposal from the Biden-backed CFPB would cap fees at $3 per overdraft, something Weisbaum thinks the banking industry will absolutely fight. But in light of the recent transparency around this issue, some banks have voluntarily either waived or lowered the fees.

Listen to more of our interview to learn which banks are easing rules around overdraft fees, and how you can set yourself for success to avoid them until this proposal becomes reality.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.