That’s what a group of Western Washington business and industry leaders is claiming. Flanked by Washington U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, the group provided details on the impacts of the tariffs.

“Our brand is known for patented safe sleep products,” Jeff Damir, the COO of Seattle-based , told 成人X站 Newsradio.

Damir said most of what they sell is made in China (outside of a small line of “Made in USA” products) where they have long-standing relationships with factories. The products manufactured in China are now subject to the changing tariffs.

“Last month, we brought in a container鈥攁 container with a value of about $200,000鈥攁nd we had to pay an extra $20,000 to bring that in,” he explained. “This month, we’re bringing in another container. That container will cost us an extra $40,000 because the China tariffs went from 10% to 20%.”

Now? Swaddle Designs has a container of products to be shipped to the U.S. currently sitting in China. That container would cost them $300,000 in extra tariffs alone, given the 145% tariff increase.

They’re keeping it in China, hoping the tariffs will come down.

Can companies pivot to making products locally in the U.S.?

As for manufacturing products here? Damir told 成人X站 Newsradio it’s not practical or cost-effective.

“There’s just no way that we could ever bring production back,” Damir said.

What about businesses that already make their products in the U.S. with home-grown ingredients?

“I buy most of my ingredients locally, and I haven’t thought that I would be all that impacted,” said Molly Neitzel, the CEO of , a small Seattle-based chain. “What I didn’t think about until my CFO came to me is spoons.”

Molly Moon’s buys compostable spoons from a manufacturer in China, but under the current tariffs?

“The current structure will cost us about $240,000 this year,” Neitzel said. “That’s almost half of my total anticipated profit for 2025.”

A fractured relationship with Canada

It’s not just U.S. tariffs on imports causing challenges. Chris Stone, the deputy director of the , which represents more than 1,000 family-owned wineries and 400-plus farmers, said the tariffs have drawn retaliation.

“The best example would be Canada, our No. 1 export market, which literally evaporated,” Stone said. “Disappeared overnight.”

In response to the U.S. tariffs, Canada has banned U.S. alcohol sales鈥攁 loss of $10-12 million in business. Washington U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell pointed out that she helped promote American wines in Canada.

“I want you to know that I helped get British Columbia to put more Washington wine on their shelves,” Cantwell said.

She and Republican Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley have introduced the Trade Review Act, which they said would return most of the control over tariffs to Congress.

President Trump insists his tariffs will boost manufacturing in the U.S., give the U.S. leverage to reduce tariffs that other countries place on American products they import, and force countries to stop fentanyl from entering the U.S.

Heather Bosch is an award-winning for 成人X站 Newsradio.

Those who applied for help to repair their homes or businesses through the will not be affected by FEMA鈥檚 decision. The SBA has already issued $12 million in disaster loans to assist individuals and businesses impacted by the storm.

While the deadline to apply for aid related to physical damage has passed, businesses and nonprofits still have until Sept. 23 to apply for SBA assistance with working capital needs. Additionally, state relief funds are available for residents in King, Snohomish, and Whatcom counties. To access these funds, individuals should contact their local

FEMA denies Washington’s request

On January 14, Washington requested federal disaster assistance to address the severe damage caused by the storm to highways, public utilities, and power infrastructure. Nearly three months later, on Friday, FEMA rejected the request in a letter to former Governor Jay Inslee. The agency cited that additional federal aid 鈥渋s not warranted,鈥� without providing further explanation.

In response to the denial, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said the state鈥檚 application met all of FEMA鈥檚 criteria. He criticized the federal government鈥檚 decision to withhold assistance, as reported by 成人X站 7.

Earlier this year, former Governor Jay Inslee authorized state funding to assist residents recovering from the disaster. Inslee had activated after determining that the state did not qualify for FEMA鈥檚 Individual Assistance program.

Contributing: Julia Dallas, MyNorthwest; 成人X站 7

Former Washington State Governor Gary Locke, a third-generation Chinese American who served as U.S. Ambassador to China from 2011 to 2014, told 成人X站 Newsradio Tuesday that the tariffs “make absolutely no sense.”

“They will simply raise the cost of goods that Americans pay because this is a tax that the importer, the U.S. company purchasing these items, must pay before they can unload them off the ships or at the docks,” he added.

Former U.S. Ambassador to China: Tariffs will heavily impact Costco, Home Depot, Apple

Locke said the trade war might affect more products than consumers might think.

“When tariffs are going to be almost 50% on South Korean products–that means those Samsung and LG televisions and appliances will cost the Costcos of the world, the Home Depots of the world and the appliance stores of the world, 50% more,” he explained. “They’re simply going to pass those costs on to the consumer. And the same thing with China, those Apple phones that are made in China, it will cost Apple to bring those phones in twice as much money when they bring them into the United States.”

Locke also noted that a trade war between the world’s biggest economies would not be good for either country.

“Americans will buy less, and that means China will make less because the demand is lower,” he shared. “That means more unemployment for the Chinese people. So it’s not good for China either.

“And then when China retaliates against the United States, as it has announced, 34% tariffs, that means American goods cost more in China, and so the Chinese will, instead of buying soybeans or Boeing airplanes, they’ll buy the soybeans from Brazil. They’ll buy Airbus. They don’t have to buy GE medical equipment. They can buy the German medical equipment. So that means American companies sell less to China, which is a major market for American companies,” he continued.

What would need to happen to get both countries back on track?

When asked if the Trump administration can negotiate with China, Locke responded that China is “a very proud country.”

“They don’t want to be seen as capitulating to what they perceive as a bully,” he added.

So, if China doesn’t want to budge and Trump is standing his ground, what is Locke’s advice?

“Well, we either need business leaders to do some shuttle diplomacy, or we need some retired diplomats or people from other countries to engage in that back and forth and to try to propose a reduction, a de-escalation of this tariff war,” he said.

Contributing: Julia Dallas, MyNorthwest

The bipartisan is modeled after the

Under the proposal, the president would be required to explain why a tariff is needed and its potential impact on the economy.聽After 60 days, the tariff would expire unless Congress passed a joint resolution approving it.

鈥淭rade wars devastate American working families, small businesses, and manufacturers,鈥� Cantwell said. 鈥淎rticle One, Section Eight of the U.S. Constitution gave Congress鈥攖he explicit authority to impose duties and regulate commerce, given the far-reaching impact to our national economy.鈥�

Congress would take tariff power under bill

Congress would also have the authority to pass a joint resolution to end the tariff at any time.

“For too long, Congress has delegated its clear authority to regulate interstate and foreign commerce to the executive branch,” Grassley said in a .

For decades, global commerce abided by tariff rates agreed to by the U.S. and 122 other countries during the 1980s and 1990s. On Wednesday, President Trump dismantled that arrangement, saying other countries had exploited the system and 鈥渞ipped off鈥� the United States for years, causing its once-mighty manufacturing base to shrink.

鈥淥ur country has been looted, pillaged, raped, and plundered,鈥� Trump said in the Rose Garden. 鈥淭axpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years. But it is not going to happen anymore.鈥�

The orca calf belongs to a family of transient killer whales, or “Bigg’s” killer whales, and was first spotted in the Salish Sea on Thursday, March 20, between Port Townsend and the San Juan Islands.

Erin Gless of the highlighted the historical significance of its lineage.

鈥淪he is part of a line of killer whales that were the very last ones to be captured in Washington state,鈥� Gless said. 鈥淏ack in 1976, there was a group of six killer whales who were rounded up down in Puget Sound, and the goal was to ship them off to SeaWorld.鈥�

The capture at Budd Inlet sparked outrage among witnesses, including the late Secretary of State Ralph Munro, who was sailing in the area at the time. Protests followed, and Munro even filed a lawsuit.

According to Gless, 鈥渁ll of that pressure led SeaWorld to release the whales.鈥�

Of those freed, one whale鈥攌nown as T-46 or Wake鈥� became the matriarch of a sprawling family.

鈥淭his new little baby is now her great-grandcalf, and none of that would be possible if those whales were not released nearly 50 years ago,” said Gless.

Killer whales are endangered

These roundups have affected whale populations for decades. Tokitae, or Lolita, was an orca who was captured in a separate roundup in 1970. Tokitae remained in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium until her death two years ago. She belonged to the endangered Southern Resident killer whale population, a type of orca that only eats salmon.聽 As salmon stocks decline, only about 73 Southern Resident whales remain today.

That being said, there are roughly 400 “Bigg鈥檚” killer whales alive today. According to Gless, the name originated from , who first distinguished them from Southern Residents.

Protected food sources

In 2023, Washington signed a bill designed to keep recreational boaters away from Southern Resident killer whales, requiring them to stay between 300 to 1,000 yards in distance. This law does not apply to the “Bigg’s” population however, as boats are only required to stay 200 yards away from them.

Unlike Southern Residents, “Bigg’s” killer whales eat seals, sea lions, and other marine animals. 鈥淪eals and sea lions have been protected for decades, and so their populations have rebounded. That has lured those transient, quote-unquote, killer whales back into the area,鈥� Gless explained.聽 鈥淎nd now they鈥檙e here almost every day.鈥�

While Southern Resident killer whales must travel farther in search of food, “Bigg’s” now have greater access to food sources, urging them to stay closer to home, here in the Pacific Northwest.

March Madness is fast approaching with Selection Sunday on March 16th. 68 teams will play in the 2025 NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournament.

But the home cities of some of those teams might be just a little better for the fan experience, if you believe that just came out.

It’s a new ranking of the “Best Cities for College Basketball Fans.”

Analyst Chip Lupo said compared more than 290 US cities on nine key metrics.

“Number of teams per city, winning percentage, stadium capacity, social media engagement,” were among other factors.

More from MyNorthwest: Gee Scott on new era of Seattle football: 鈥楢re you OK with the direction of the Seahawks?鈥�

College basketball fans gave us their thoughts

It’s a long list of cities, but 成人X站 Newsradio wanted to find out which college town in Washington ranked the highest on the list.

Sorry Huskies, it was not the University of Washington.

Seattle, at 107 on the list, got dinged for its higher college basketball ticket prices, smaller venue, and higher turnover in coaches, over the past decade. “That kind of gauges if there’s stability within a program,” Lupo explained. The Huskies have a relatively new coach in Danny Sprinkle who was hired last March.

What about the Spokane and Gonzaga Bulldogs? The Zags have a reputation for making the playoffs.

“Number of conference regular season championships, 28- wow! OK,” Lupo said as he poured through the WalletHub data.

Still, Spokane was not the highest-rated basketball college town in Washington State. The Bulldogs’ home city ranked 176th on the national list.

“What hurts Gonzaga is the minimum season ticket price for a college basketball game is about $1200.”

Lupo admits that the ticket prices are high because the team is so popular.

So who comes out on top?

Nevertheless, according to WalletHub, the best city for college basketball fans in Washington State is Pullman, home to the Washington State University Cougars.

“They are the heart of Pullman, Washington. Pullman, Washington IS Washington State University. I mean, without it, (the city) would basically be a crossroads.”

Or perhaps a lentil field.

Pullman also scored points for having decent ticket prices, two Hall of Fame coaches, and great fan engagement.

Cheney, home to the Eastern Washington University Eagles, is ranked 79th. WalletHub notes that Cheney has good stadium capacity, and the Eagles have had two hall of fame coaches.

As for the overall national list, Los Angeles was ranked the best city for college basketball fans. Philadelphia, which has several college teams, was second.

Stores, Connecticut – home to the powerhouse U-Conn Men’s and Women’s teams – ranked third.

From Bump & Stacy:

Heather Bosch is an award-winning for 成人X站 Newsradio.

“She’s still there. She looks normal. She’s behaving normally,” Michael Weiss, a research director with the Center for Whale Research, told 成人X站 Newsradio. “And that we were able to confirm the calf’s sex, and it’s a female, which is really good news.”

More on southern resident orcas: New law in effect to protect endangered Southern Resident orcas

Healthy female calves are pivotal to repopulating the species locally, as just 73 southern resident orcas remain. This most recent calf, J62, is the only surviving calf out of four born by endangered southern resident killer whales to the Puget Sound area since late 2023.

“The big limiting factor is their reproductive success,” Weiss said. “So the female’s ability to have calves, and also to keep them alive long enough so that their calves can have their own calves.”

According to the Center for Whale Research, the whales’ population is threatened by pollution, noise from vessels and a declining food source. Southern resident orcas mainly eat Chinook salmon.

Another calf, initially dubbed J61, born around Christmas 2024 to J35, a killer whale known as Tahlequah, died in the new year. J35 was seen carrying the body of J61 with her for several days. The Center for Whale Research noted this behavior was seen previously by J35 in 2018 when she carried the body of her previous calf that had died for more than two weeks 鈥� 17 days.

More coverage on J61: Mother orca whale again seen carrying dead calf; another new calf spotted

“We did see J35 in our recent encounters with J pod,” Weiss said. “She has now dropped that calf and she appears to be normal. J62 is not out of those woods yet. We know we don’t know what’s going to happen over the next few months, but it is encouraging to at least see a calf that looks and is behaving normally.”

Normal behavior from an orca calf includes traveling with her family, keeping up with everyone and showing no immediate indication that she has any decline in her body condition.

Contributing: Frank Sumrall, MyNorthwest

Heather Bosch聽is an award-winning anchor and reporter on 成人X站 Newsradio. You can read more of her stories聽here. Follow Heather on聽, or聽email her here.

It’s based on the 1980s movie classic, where Marty travels back in time from 1985 to 1955 in a DeLorean ‘modified’ by his buddy Doc Brown. Once there, he must make sure his parents meet and fall in love, or McFly will cease to exist.

“Whoa, this is heavy,” Brauch — as McFly — says on stage.

It’s a stage he is excited to stand on.

“You know, I grew up going to the touring productions at the Paramount, so to come back and think about my face (up) on that marquis is incredible.”

It’s also no small task to retell a story that’s well known to generations of the movie’s fans.

Brauch says that at times he does tap into his inner Michael J. Fox, who starred in the film.

“Are you telling me you built a time machine out of a Delorean?” Brauch asks with the pitch of his voice rising and quivering, just a little, with disbelief.

But he and others in the cast are also bringing their own flavor to their roles.

“There’s a lot of new moments throughout that we’ve gotten to kind of make our own which I think also gives the audience something new to look forward to which is also exciting,” Brauch said.

Seattle holiday season events: Where to go to get into the spirit

He said he’s particularly fond of the rock n’ roll ending to the show.

“Once I get up there on the stage in the dance (scene), that’s really when I feel like, alright, we’re home free all I get to do is rock out now,” Brauch explained.

Brauch’s Seattle homecoming comes after a few months of performing the musical for audiences across the country.

“I really feel like the audience has come along with us on this journey and they get to celebrate just like we do,” the actor said.

It’s a journey back to the future with an artist who clearly has a bright one ahead.

Heather Bosch is an award-winning anchor and reporter on 成人X站 Newsradio. You can read more of her stories here. Follow Heather on , or email her here.

Auditor Garth Fell told 成人X站 Newsradio Snohomish County will be mailing out more than half a million ballots on Thursday.

“So they’ll begin arriving in voters mailboxes Friday through the weekend and into early next week,” he said.

Super PACs fuel spending surge: More money spent against Reichert than Ferguson in WA governor鈥檚 race

King County mailed 1.4 million ballots Wednesday and over half a million in Snohomish County.

“Will be sending out roughly 520,000, ballots to Snohomish County voters, so over half a million ballots headed just our to our county,” Fell said.

Both counties expect high voter turnout this presidential election year.

“Yeah, historically, we see good participation in presidential elections anywhere between 75 and 85%,” he explained.

Medved: Fear of low voter turnout may be misplaced as Georgia breaks record

While some states turned primarily to voting by mail during the pandemic, Fell said Washington has been using the vote-by-mail system for years.

“In fact, in most counties, this will be their fifth presidential election voting by mail,” he said.

You don’t even need a stamp, just get your ballot in the mail, or in a drop box, by election day. Fell also stressed that residents’ votes will be more “secure” than ever.

“Snohomish County, we recently opened up a new election center where we focused on ensuring that there was great security for ballots and for staff, but also great transparency,” he said.

He said you can even watch the process.

“Visitors can come and watch us process ballots, see how it’s happening and see for themselves that ballots are being handled accurately and carefully and that election results are accurate as well,” Fell explained.

Harger: Three weeks until Election Day and 2016鈥檚 lessons still matter

He said workers make sure the election is fair and secure.

“We are in the voter registration rolls daily, updating information for voters, removing voters that have passed away, changing addresses for voters,” Fell said. “So our voter registration rolls are very accurate.”

Fell said the county handles ballots carefully, signatures are checked and vote-counting equipment is tested before the election. Also, election results are audited afterward.

“The vote counting equipment is behind layers of security and is never connected to the internet,” he added.

Visit to find more information on what election workers are doing and where.

Contributing: Julia Dallas, MyNorthwest

Heather Bosch is an award-winning anchor and reporter on 成人X站 Newsradio. You can read more of her stories聽here. Follow Heather on聽, or聽email her here.

You can listen to the music and the story of how “Jubilee” was born, below:

It’s a creation of Tazewell Thompson, who was introduced to that style of music after he was removed from a broken home.

“I grew up in a convent, in a Catholic convent, and one day the music teacher said to me, see me after class,” Thompson told 成人X站 Newsradio. “I have something that you should hear that concerns you and your people. I showed up, and she started playing Negro spirituals for me. I had never HEARD Negro spirituals.”

He was entranced.

“A Negro spiritual is what the enslaved men and women and children sang on the plantation,” he said. “They sang them in the fields, they sang them in the houses that they worked in, whenever they could. They’re work songs.”

Fall fun: Pumpkin patches, Halloween haunted houses and more to do in October

They were also songs of community, deep faith and survival.

“Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus,” Thompson sang, his deep baritone voice illustrating the point.

“Now-” he added, “there’s a CODE in that song. When you hear it being sung in the plantations, that’s telling the others we’re going to escape. We’re going to run away.”

There are layers to these songs, which he said makes them wonderful as well.

Students brought those wonderful songs to Fisk University, a school that was founded in Tennessee after the Civil War, for the education of newly freed slaves.

“One of the administrators who came down from the northeast was extremely impressed with hearing the voices of the students just singing here in the campus area,” Fisk University President, Dr. Agenia Clark told 成人X站 Newsradio. “So impressed that he put together a group of singers and decided to take them to Europe to do a musical tour.”

The Fisk Jubilee Singers’ tour in 1873 included a performance for Britain’s Queen Victoria and was so successful it funded the construction of the first permanent building on the campus

“And that building still exists today, we still use it today, and it’s still one of the most magnificent structures we have on campus,” Clark said.

It’s a building that is as strong as the choir’s legacy.

“I saw a wonderful documentary on the Fisk Jubilee Singers, and I was hooked!” Thompson, who was inspired to write a musical about the original group, said.

It was Seattle Opera’s general manager who challenged Thompson to take it a step further.

“You are doing Jubilee here,” he said she told him. “You’re bringing it here.”

“I was thrilled- over the moon!” Thompson said. “She said, however, NOT as a musical. We’re going to do it as an opera.”

Among the performers, portraying the original Fisk Jubilee Singers is soprano Tiffany Townsend. She said she grew up singing Negro spirituals in church, but that performing them in this opera is different.

“Putting it in an opera … I don’t think we take them for granted anymore,” she told 成人X站 Newsradio. “They’re more potent, I think. When I sing these songs, there’s more emotion behind them than just like a song that I sing in passing. I’ve been actually forced to think about things that happened in the past.”

Other news: Grand Illusion Cinema in Seattle鈥檚 U District to relocate

The songs of an enslaved people, sung by the newly freed, to pay for their education and ultimately to become part of an opera that educates others.

“Everyone that attends this opera will get an opportunity to hear the impact of that era and how it can still touch and tickle our souls, today,” Clark said.

“As we go forward as a people, I want it to change your life as much as it’s changed my life,” Townsend said.

She said she hopes the opera will prompt people in the audience to think about something bigger than themselves.

“I also want them to say to themselves, ah, see? This was a time when America, after a civil war, where we fought each other, this was a time when we all came together and celebrated our togetherness,” Thompson added.

Seattle Opera performs from October 12 through 26.

Heather Bosch is an award-winning anchor and reporter on 成人X站 Newsradio. You can read more of her stories聽here. Follow Heather on聽, or聽email her here.

Federal mediators joined talks between Boeing and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers this week but company and union officials reported that little progress was made during the first two sessions.

成人X站 Newsradio’s Heather Bosch interviewed SPEEA president John Dimas on Friday. SPEEA stands for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace. It is a professional labor union that represents aerospace professionals in the United States, including engineers, technical workers and pilots.

Here is her interview:

Heather Bosch: Boeing machinists are on strike. My understanding is that Boeing, the company, asked the SPEEA union to do something during this walkout. What happened and what was your response?

John Dimas: We had been hearing rumors of possible furloughs, and that was going through the membership and through the workplace. Wednesday we decided that we were going to meet as the executive board to address those rumors and see what we’re going to do and as it would happen, about 5:30 on Wednesday night, we received a request from the company to see if we were interested in in a voluntary furlough program. Our contract doesn’t have it there to have such a program. And they wanted to know if we wanted to participate in that voluntarily and really no negotiations they just kind of sent us the request and were looking for an answer. So we met before our regular meeting last night and talked about it. We came to the decision to say no to furloughs and then we announced it at our regular executive board meeting last night.

Listen to Heather Bosch’s full interview with SPEEA President John Dimas below:

Bosch: Correct me if I’m wrong, but your contract says that you are not allowed to be furloughed.

Dimas: Yes, basically, it says that that we can’t be furloughed. We don’t participate in furloughs.

Bosch: What was Boeing’s response when you said, no, our contract says we don’t do this?

Dimas: Their initial response was they thanked us for a timely response. And I believe that is the only thing that we’ve heard from the company, as of yesterday,

Bosch: How many folks does SPEEA represent now?

Dimas: I think not sure if we have hit 20,000. We are at 19,500 is the latest count.

Bosch: That’s all with specific to Boeing?

Dimas: No, so we can actually represent all aerospace workers now across the country, regardless of just Boeing or traditionally tied to Boeing. So workers that we cover are in Washington, Pacific Northwest, Oregon, a little bit in California, Utah and we have a sizable unit in Wichita, Kansas.

Bosch: Gotcha so Boeing specifically, how many folks do you represent?

Dimas: I would say that’s about about 17,000.

Bosch: I can see Boeing saying, ‘Hey, come on for the good of the company. Take a furlough or two. Take a couple weeks off. You know, why not? Do the company a solid here?’

Dimas: It’s by no coincidence that the machinist strike is going on right now. So we see this as a tactic to undermine our brothers and sisters in the machinists union. And we will not. We stand with the machinists 110% and we support what they’re asking for, for them fighting for a good contract, and that the jobs that are just not paying enough for what the cost of living is, especially in Washington state. But also we have our own negotiations with the Boeing Company in two years, so we’re keeping an eye on that. And, we’re wondering if we’re going to get run across the same resistance. Because quite honestly, this has been the Boeing playbook for at least 2025, years, and it’s still kind of the same playbook, even though these extreme measures with the furloughs and the cuts have been extreme. We’ve never seen the company do anything like this before.

Bosch: Why do you think they’re doing something this extreme? What is your gut as a union man telling you?

Dimas: I don’t know. That’s a good that’s a good question. Honestly, most employees at the Boeing Company, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a machinist, if you’re SPEEA, if you’re some other union, or if you’re non-represented, you care about the airplane because that is a product we built. Where Boeing is the largest exporter in the U.S. and Boeing doesn’t get paid until aircraft are delivered and they’re delivered safely. So, you know, it really puzzles us why? But the number one reason would have to be that they’re trying to force the machinists into an unfavorable contract. At least that’s most of our guess. And what is most of our members guess?

Bosch: I was going to say, you mentioned contracts talks coming up in a couple of years, the machinists, as you know, are saying, hey, our wages have been stagnant. We’ve been giving things back, like we gave up our pension. Are your members feeling like they’re in the same boat in some ways?

Dimas: Yes, in the previous contracts that we voted on, especially with the contract extensions. We lost our pension, the wages have been lower in the last couple of years, and that is actually retirement security and pay are some of the top couple of issues that SPEEA members talk to the leadership about, we hear that a lot. So any which way we can support other unions in making sure they get a good deal, that it just benefits everybody. Those are our values, and that’s what we support. Gotcha with the machinists off the job is their daily work for engineers, yes and it’s going to depend on areas. If you directly support an aircraft, they may reassign you to do some other type of duty. But the bottom line is, Boeing had been understaffed, there is more work to do than they have people to do it, and all of this disruption with the furlough is going to probably put a lot of, I’m going to speculate, a lot of schedule at risk for not just deliveries here in the near future, but also It could affect deliveries in the next year or two.

Bosch: The strike itself seemed to catch Boeing flat-footed. There are some analysts I spoke to that thought, yeah, the company was pretty sure that they were going to accept this contract, we were going to move forward. I’m curious if you as a worker, as a union leader, saw this coming, or whether it took you all by surprise?

Dimas: No, it did not take us by surprise. Until about a year ago, I worked in a job role that I had the opportunity to work with machinists, fixing electrical issues on the 777. And so I know quite a few machinists, and this has been talked about for years, that it has been talked about their pay and about health care and a lot of other benefits that they were just lacking. And especially newer machinists have a hard time with the cost of living. I mean, they can go to fast food or other type of non-manufacturing jobs and get paid the same or, if not, more, instead of building a world-class aircraft. So yeah, I personally have heard this in the workplace, for machinists, so for the company to come out and say that they were shocked or they thought that the offer was going to be enough for the machinists, that I find that very hard to believe.

Bosch: Machinists are also saying just flat out, ‘Hey, we are also striking because we are concerned about quality, about the safety of our products. You know, our company has taken a black eye because it hasn’t been paying enough attention to that.’ Do you believe that is a reason for the strike as well, from what you’re hearing, and is it a concern of the SPEEA union as well?

Dimas: Yes, if you’re a machinist, if you’re SPEEA or if you’re non-represented, I can tell you from almost next year, I’ll be there 20 years, and in that time, people take great pride in being Boeing employees. And you know, a part of us goes into every aircraft that goes out and gets delivered and gets into the flying public. So yeah, they do care very deeply about putting out a good airplane. You know that the Boeing company has a great reputation and the safety of the flying public.

Editor’s Note: This interview was edited for grammar and clarity.

Contributing: The Associated Press; Bill Kaczaraba, MyNorthwest

Heather Bosch is an award-winning anchor and reporter on 成人X站 Newsradio. You can read more of her stories here. Follow Heather on , or email her here.

The rate of deadly overdoses dropped 15% in the first seven months of this year compared to the same time period last year.

The revealed fatal fentanyl overdoses have declined 20% in the first six months of this year compared to the first half of 2023. The county’s data showed there have been 751 fatal deaths to date this year compared to 1,339 fentanyl deaths in 2023, putting the daily numbers at 3.66 overdose deaths a day last year compared to 2.84 overdose deaths a day this year.

Heather Bosch’s series ‘Facing Fentanyl:’ Hear the voices of people hurting

“I think eventually the death rate is going to go down because this wildfire will burn it out, and it will be burning out on people who have died from fentanyl,” Caleb Banta-Green, Ph.D., a doctor with the University of Washington (UW), told 成人X站 Newsradio.

The county credited proactive steps for this drop, like its effort to widely distribute Naloxone — a life-saving medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. But fentanyl overdoses were the No. 1 cause of death for homeless people in King County in 2023, with officials knowing there’s still a long way to go in improving this crisis.

“People that we’ve seen overdose in one week or one month, and they did not want to be treated, they had a subsequent overdose that was fatal,” Seattle Fire Lieutenant and Paramedic Brian Wallace said.

Facing Fentanyl: Addiction in pregnancy 鈥榬uins multiple lives鈥�

Fran Humphreys told 成人X站 Newsradio she lost her daughter to the epidemic in 2021.

“She bought what she thought was Percocet a couple of days after she had graduated from beauty school and, sadly, she took what she thought was Percocet, and she never woke up,” Humphreys said.

Head here to read Heather Bosch鈥檚 series “Facing Fentanyl,” which won a 2024 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award in the Region 1 Radio | Large Market category. The series also won a Gracie Award as the best “Hard News Feature” by any local radio station in America.

Listen to the series by or tapping on the player below.

Heather Bosch is an award-winning anchor and reporter on 成人X站 Newsradio. You can read more of her stories聽here. Follow Heather on聽, or聽email her here.

Fire information officer Brad Bramlett said the current size of the fire is 37,000 acres.

Firefighters are dealing with temperatures in the 90’s and they’re keeping an eye on the winds, which tend to shift over the lake in the afternoon.

Fires in the West: Fast-moving San Bernardino wildfire torches hillside community, forcing evacuations

“Part of the day they will have uplake wind and then it will shift to downlake,” Bramlett told 成人X站 Newsradio. “As it goes downlake, those winds tend to be a little bit higher.”

Level 3 “get out now” evacuations have been issued, but many of the 80-or-so full-time residents are refusing to leave.

“Many of those folks did stay, but we’re going to do what we feel we have to do and do our firefighting efforts safely and as aggressively as possible,” Bramlett said.

Hawaii fire aftermath: How Lahaina鈥檚 more than 150-year-old banyan tree is coming back to life after devastating fire

In addition to ground crews, helicopters dropping water and an air tanker loaded with fire retardant will help attack the flames.

“They have what they call containment lines where they go in and rake around structures,” Bramlett explained. “They’ve got sprinklers set up. They have some hoses laid in there as well.”

Bramlett explained that fire is going to move uphill more quickly than it is going to do downhill.

“It sort of went up behind Stehekin, behind the ridge and then it’s been steadily moving down the ridge towards the community,” Bramlett said.

The Department of Natural Resources has issued a statewide burn ban restricting the use of outdoor burning, campfires, the use of charcoal briquettes, and prescribed burns on all forest lands within DNR鈥檚 fire protection, including all Washington State Parks.

Heather Bosch is an award-winning anchor and reporter on 成人X站 Newsradio. You can read more of her stories here. Follow Heather on , or email her here.

Contributing: Bill Kaczaraba, MyNorthwest

Kroger and Albertsons insist they need to combine forces to be able to compete with Amazon, Walmart and other companies.

“That’s a bunch of baloney,” Schrier told 成人X站 Newsradio on Thursday. “We know that when stores merge, competition goes down. There is no good faith in this merger.”

She said the corporate marriage would result in fewer stores, less choice and higher prices.

“This feels like a bit of a scam, maybe even more than a bit, because when these stores come in, they will likely fail and will then be bought up by Kroger-Albertsons and then we will have one company controlling the vast majority of these supermarkets,” Schrier said.

Lawsuit: Mega-merger between Kroger and Albertsons delayed by a Colorado court

Schrier said Kroger and Albertsons are already making plenty of money.

“Kroger had a 45% increase in profit just in the year 2023,” Schrier said. “We are all feeling it when we got to the grocery store.”

From their perch, Kroger and Albertsons said the merger will be good for consumers.

“The combination of Kroger and Albertsons Companies brings together two purpose-driven organizations to deliver superior value to customers, associates, communities and shareholders,” Rodney McMullen, Kroger chairman,

Impact: These 124 Washington stores will be impacted by the Kroger-Albertsons merger

Schrier said the deal would be bad for her constituents, not just shoppers, but also farmers.

“Supermarkets are already putting down pressure when they buy produce like apples from the 8th District and then they’re selling them to us at higher prices and so we are just seeing corporate greed all along the way,” she said.

Roadblocks remain before the deal can be completed. Finalization has been paused until a Colorado District court can rule on a lawsuit that’s been filed to stop the merger. Attorneys General in several states — including Washington — and the Federal Trade Commission are suing to stop the merger.

Heather Bosch is an award-winning anchor and reporter on 成人X站 Newsradio. You can read more of her stories here. Follow Heather on , or email her here.

Contributing: Bill Kaczaraba, MyNorthwest

Washington Congresswoman Kim Schrier says the high prices are due to one thing: “corporate greed.”

Schrier, who represents the 8th Congressional District, said pandemic era supply chain problems have long since subsided.

“They’re just keeping prices high because they can,” she insisted. Schrier predicts prices will rise even higher if the proposed merger goes through between Kroger – which owns Fred Meyer and QFC and Albertsons, which operates Safeway.

“I am just fiercely fighting against this proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons, which will take away competition and jack up prices even more.”

Related news: Kroger, Albertsons alter their merger plans, include Haggen in new deal

Nine state attorneys general – including Washington’s – and the Federal Trade Commission are concerned about that, too.

They’re suing to stop the $24.6B merger between the two large grocery store chains.

Schrier said the central Washington farmers that she represents sell products to those stores, and she claims, “One of those two – which I will not name – is the one that pays the least to the farmers in my district.”

When pressed by 成人X站 Newsradio’s Heather Bosch to name-names, Schrier answered, “You got it. Kroger low-balls farmers. Albertsons has higher prices.”

Schrier said she fears farmers will end up being paid less, overall, if the Kroger Albertsons merger goes through and that shoppers will end up paying more.

“I am in touch with the FTC and have advocated and made my views very clear about what that would mean for consumers and for farmers in Washington State.”

Asked if the FTC has a case, she replied, “I absolutely believe so.”

To ease anti-trust concerns, the combined companies say they plan to sell 579 stores across several states, letting go of the most in Washington State: 124. They say that will lead to continued healthy competition.

Kroger and Albertsons have repeatedly said that they need to join forces in order to compete with companies like Amazon, Walmart and Costco.

The companies also claim the merger would lower consumer prices and protect union jobs.

When asked specifically by 成人X站 Newsradio about the impact of the merger on farmers, Kroger said in a statement:

We pursued this merger because of the benefits it will provide for all of our stakeholders, including the farmers and suppliers. In fact, we committed to increasing the number of local products in our stores by 10% following completion of the merger.

Heather Bosch is an award-winning anchor and reporter on 成人X站 Newsradio. You can read more of her stories here. Follow Heather on , or email her here.

“People are annoyed about tipping,” Bankrate Senior Analyst Ted Rossman told 成人X站 Newsradio.

The online financial service is out with a new survey on tipping. It found that about 6 in 10 Americans have a negative view about tipping and it’s getting worse.

“Thirty-five percent say tipping culture has gotten out of control. That’s up from 30%, last year,” Rossman said.

The survey found that Americans are feeling inundated with “tip creep-” or the increasing number of businesses now asking for tips.

“I was asked to tip at a self-checkout machine at Newark Airport. I’ve been asked to tip at a pick-your-own strawberry farm. I mean, some of this does feel like it’s gone too far,” he said.

There’s particular angst about the proliferation of tipping screens that pop up after you’ve handed someone your credit card or cash.

“Those tip prompt screens do annoy a lot of people, 34% say they’re annoyed about these pre-entered tip screens,” Rossman said.

He added the choices you’re offered often appear to be random. Customers may wonder why they’re being asked to choose between a 15%, 20% or 25% tip … and whether there will be any repercussions for opting not to pay a tip to the person handing them a pre-made sandwich at a gas station.

Interestingly, Rossman said, there ARE people who have no qualms about skipping tips. The difference is generational, with older Americans and women tending to tip the most.

“Young adults are the worst tippers, by far,” Rossman said. “In fact, two-thirds of GenZers fail to tip at least some of the time at a sit-down restaurant.”

He said it’s not just that younger people tend to have less money.

“A lot of young adults seem to have this kind of social justice view of tipping, as in, it’s not fair, so let’s not do it. And it’s true that tipping can be sexist or racist, unfortunately at times,” Rossman said.

However, Rossman believes you should tip for services where they are traditionally expected, including sit-down dining, taxis and hair services. Those tips are usually counted as part of the worker’s pay.

“If you’re failing to tip, you’re really hurting that worker much more than the business,” he said.

Nevertheless, people are tipping less often than they did during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“During and immediately after the pandemic, there was this kind of groundswell of support for service industry workers, and people were tipping more generously,” he said. “I feel like that groundswell of support, though, has long faded.”

Heather Bosch is an award-winning anchor and reporter on 成人X站 Newsradio. You can read more of her stories聽here. Follow Heather on聽, or聽email her here.

Witnesses who saw her struggling to get out of the swift-moving water called 911.

“Several officers, from other agencies, immediately tried to throw her ropes and life jackets as she was going down the river with the current,” Pierce County Sheriff’s Sergeant Darren Moss told 成人X站 Newsradio’s Heather Bosch.

“Eventually they were able to throw her a life jacket that she got on,” he said.

But as she was pulled further downstream, Moss said there was no time to wait for a boat.

“We did have two people go in their gear, their safety gear and life vests, to just go rescue her out of the river,” he said.

Rescuers brought her up the river bank to paramedics. Moss said she was conscious but likely exhausted and cold.

“We’re concerned about hypothermia in this kind of situation,” he said. “The water in our rivers is very cold.”

Moss said it’s unclear how she ended up in the river.

Other news: Rough seas strand cruise ships, await tugboats to help dock聽

聽(DOH), rivers during the Spring are often high and swift due to snow melt and can “easily overwhelm the strongest swimmer.” During the summer, water that feels warm on the surface may be much colder deeper down.

The DOH stated people should know their limits before swimming in open water, which can be much harder to swim in than a pool. They should also wear a life jacket. Children 12 years old and under must wear a life jacket on moving boats less than 19 feet long, per Washington law. Swimmers should also prepare beforehand by checking river or stream conditions by contacting the at 253-428-3600 ext. 2635.

For more resources on water safety, .

Contributing: Julia Dallas, MyNorthwest

Heather Bosch is an award-winning anchor and reporter on 成人X站 Newsradio. You can read more of her stories聽here. Follow Heather on聽, or聽email her here.

Travel expert Steve Danishek said cruise ships have engines that typically allow them to move the front and the back of the ships sideways, so they can maneuver safely toward a pier and dock on their own. But the rough water has overwhelmed the engines.

Previous boating accidents: NTSB probe found captain was asleep at the wheel during 鈥�22 ferry crash

“The sides of the ship act like sails that catch the wind and the wind can push them around,” Danishek told 成人X站 Newsradio in reference to the high winds hitting the vessels. “If they try to dock and the wind pushes them, then they can either severely damage the ship or the dock, and putting Pier 91 out of business would be a catastrophe.”

is one of two Seattle piers that host cruise ships.

But bringing tugboats in to help guide the cruise ships to the pier will take hours. Danishek said the ships, the and the , carry thousands of passengers who, unless they had planned to stay in the Seattle area an extra day, have likely missed their flights home.

It’s a delay that one would not necessarily anticipate.

More from Heather Bosch: Hoop dreams are high for the Seattle Storm

“Usually the storms are gone and we don’t have any problems at all,” Danishek said regarding weather during the Seattle cruise season. “I can’t remember having a ship anchored in Elliot Bay during the summer due to weather.”

Contributing: Frank Sumrall, MyNorthwest

Heather Bosch is an award-winning anchor and reporter on 成人X站 Newsradio. You can read more of her stories聽here. Follow Heather on聽, or聽email her here.

成人X站 Newsradio spoke with several key members of Seattle’s professional women’s basketball team at the team’s new 50,000 square-foot practice facility and headquarters in Interbay, where photos of Storm legend — and newly minted member of the ownership team — Sue Bird, loom large.

New to the team is Nika Muhl.

“I love Seattle,” Mulh said.

The native of Croatia is coming off an exciting NCAA women’s basketball season with the University of Connecticut Huskies. She was the Storm’s first draft pick this season.

“These women that I’m surrounded with are legends,” Muhl said, looking at the Storm’s practice court. “They’re amazing. They’re just inspiring to me, personally.”

Commonalities between Nika Muhl and legend Sue Bird

There are bound to be some comparisons between Muhl and Bird. Both are point guards. While the Storm retired Sue Bird’s #10 jersey number, Muhl wore #10 in college.

But Muhl said that doesn’t necessarily add to the pressure of her rookie year.

“It’s more like a humbling thing,” she said.

“All these little similarities that we have. It’s definitely a cool thing,” she added, gesturing to a photo of Bird. “It’s just a constant reminder of how hard I have to work.”

More on the team: Storm announce the return of Sue Bird聽

For Muhl and others who are new to the team, there are plenty of established “greats” on the court to learn from.

“Amazing players,” said Muhl. “I’m just trying to learn from them as much as I can, you know, take everything in and be a sponge.”

One of those veterans is Jewell Loyd. The point and shooting guard was drafted by the Storm in 2015.

“We’ve been building this season and I’ve been here the longest. I’m definitely a veteran on this team, so my job is to come in and do my job and lead when I need to lead and have fun,” Loyd said.

When asked how she helps new players adjust to the team, Loyd was matter of fact.

“At the end of the day it’s just basketball,” she said, indicating that every player is here because the team saw potential in them. “No added pressure. Just come in here. Learn. Be a sponge and do what you do.”

What will the Seattle Storm bring to this season?

As for what it’ll take to get this team into the playoffs, “I think people are still trying to figure that out. You know, every year it changes. We’ve obviously won championships here. We’ve had different dynamics with different teams, but every team has a different journey,” Loyd said.

Storm Head Coach Noelle Quinn commented about her role in helping create a championship-caliber team

“A lot of things, come into play,” Quinn said. “Instilling confidence in our players is putting them in positions where they can be successful on the floor. It is coaching them and guiding them to play the way that I’ve envisioned them playing. It takes time.”

As this team works to find its winning rhythm, they are aware that perhaps more eyes — than ever — are on them, because of the surge in popularity of women’s basketball. But to them, it’s not daunting. In fact, it’s long overdue.

“Finally! No, it was not a surprise to me,” Muhl said. “We’ve got to give our flowers to all our vets and the people (who came) before us because, without them, women’s basketball wouldn’t have the opportunity to go even further.”

More sports: UW star basketball player is living her dream, looking toward the future

Loyd shared the same sentiment.

“It’s about time,” Loyd said. “Women’s sports have been, obviously, growing and we’ve been asking for attention for a long time and now it’s here. Now it’s our job to produce and keep doing what we’re doing.”

Quinn agreed.

“I love that we are in a time that eyes are one women’s basketball. The time is now, the time is tomorrow — in the future as well,” Quinn said. “I’m proud to be a part of this movement.”

The WNBA Storm welcome the Indiana Fever — and Caitlin Clark — to Seattle on Wednesday, May 22.

Reports about the bear had been coming into the (WDFW) for several days. It was most recently spotted in Titlow Park, south of Point Defiance Park, and near the Tacoma Narrows Bridge along the water. A viewer sent in a photo of the young black bear.

“In this case, we did not immediately set out to try to capture this bear,” WDFW spokesperson Jennifer Becar said. “Our hope is that it would move out of the area on its own.”

But it didn’t. Instead, it ended up in a tree in the backyard of a home in Lakewood.

That’s where WDFW workers used a tranquilizer to capture him. The bear was put into a cage-like contraption called a culvert trap.

“They’ll hitch that to a truck and then the whole rig will drive out to the mountains — open up the door, and out goes the bear,” Becar said.

Video of bears in Seattle: Flock of ducks become accidental afternoon meal for Woodland Park Zoo bears

She added it’s not uncommon for young bears to wander, sometimes into urban areas, in the spring.

“This time of year these young adults are often last year’s offspring that are now at an age where they’re ready to take off and find their own place in the world and sometimes that ends up with them taking a wrong turn and they end up in Lakewood,” Becar said.

Becar said the bear has been tagged, so they’ll know if he comes back to town.

She said it’s easier to relocate bears if they don’t get use to hanging around in people’s backyards, looking for easy food.

“Things like our garbage cans, our pet food, our bird feeders — all of that is very tasty and very attractive to a black bear,” she said.

More on bears in the state: Grizzly bears to return to Washington despite opposition

WDFW doesn’t think this bear had time to become too accustomed to being around people, so they’re hopeful he’ll stay put in the North Cascades.

There were no negative encounters with people, according to .

Contributing: Frank Sumrall, MyNorthwest; 成人X站 7

Heather Bosch is an award-winning anchor and reporter on 成人X站 Newsradio. You can read more of her stories here. Follow Heather on , or email her here.