Thursday Evening Headlines

0:00SoundSide brings you beyond the headlines with news and conversation rooted in the Pacific Northwest. I'm Libby Dankman. Every week I sit down with local journalists for SoundSide's front page, where we give you a shortcut to understanding the latest news and cultural moments and how they affect us here in the Puget Sound region. It's all here on SoundSide, on the radio or streaming Monday through Thursday at noon and 8 p.m. on KUOW on the KUOW app or wherever you get your podcasts. Good afternoon. From the KUOW newsroom, this is Seattle Now, I'm Cade Browning. Welcome to your first 6 p.m. sunset of the year in Seattle. That won't last long though. We spring forward this weekend putting that sundown closer to 7. With that, here's a roundup of today's top stories. It's Thursday, March 5. Again we have a lot of news running the local to federal gamut today. First, Washington State sued the Trump administration today over tariffs, joining a coalition of 23

1:05states. The state argues President Trump is overstepping his power by imposing a 10 percent tariff on much of the world last month. The state's new legal action comes after the Supreme Court struck down Trump's previous sweeping tariffs. That claims the previous tariffs were legal under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and says the new ones legal under a 1974 law about temporary taxes. Also in DC, a farewell to gnome. Members of Washington State's congressional delegation are praising the ouster of Homeland Security Secretary Christy gnome. Today Trump fired gnome and said he'd assigned her to a newly created security position. In Congressman Dan Newhouse, wrote on social media, a change of leadership was long overdue. He added that he looks forward to working with Senator Mark Wayne Mullin, whose President Trump's pick to replace gnome. Democratic Representative Susan Delbene said it was long past time that gnome was fired,

2:06noting that Americans were killed by federal immigration agents. And Congressmember Pramila Jaiapal said, good riddance. An issue that began in Tacoma could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court. That is, a lawsuit against the Trump administration's use of mandatory detention for undocumented immigrants. Amy Raidle has the latest. It's an issue making its way through federal appeals courts around the country. Should longtime residents detained for entering the U.S. illegally get to seek release while their cases play out, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and a U.S. District Judge in Tacoma say yes, federal law requires that they can seek a bond hearing. But the Justice Department's Attorney Benjamin Hayes disagreed. He told the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday that treating longtime residents differently from those at the border encourages people to evade enforcement. The entire incentive structure that it creates is to encourage aliens to violate the immigration laws. Attorneys on both sides asked the three-judge panel to rule as quickly as possible.

3:10Amy Raidle, K-U-O-W News. The measles are spreading. Washington State Health officials have seen a rapid increase in measles cases over the last two months. The State Health Department says if you're not vaccinated, do it now. K and KX reporter Mitch Borden has more. Since January, at least 26 people have been diagnosed with measles in four counties across the state. According to Washington's Department of Health, that's more than doubled the number of cases reported all last year. The vast majority of the measles cases were children who were unvaccinated, many living, and snow-homish county. Across the U.S. communities are seeing a resurgence of measles. Over 1100 people have been diagnosed with the disease in the last few months. Officials are urging people who are not vaccinated against the disease to get the measles' mumps and rebella shots. The state offers free and low-cost vaccines for children and uninsured adults.

4:14Apple health insurance also covers the measles vaccine. I'm Mitch Borden, reporting. Seattle's primary river has a lot more help coming its way. The U.S. Justice Department, the EPA and Washington State have reached an agreement that requires more than 100 parties to help clean up the lower Duwamish waterway. It's a superfund site for five miles, a declaration that means it's badly polluted, and that came from more than a century of industrial and commercial waste. A group that includes Boeing, King County, and the City of Seattle started cleaning it up in 2024, but this settlement calls for the other parties to kick in $130 million. Most other things these days have to do with the FIFA World Cup. With about 100 days to go until Seattle hosts its first FIFA men's game, local transit agencies are sharing their game plan. Noelle Gaska has more. Seattle's getting a projected $17.4 million from the state legislature in Congress for transit

5:16services during the World Cup. It's not clear how that money will be divided between agencies yet. During a presentation to the Seattle City Council, King County Metro's Jonathan Rose said they'll be deploying a special fleet of matchday shuttles to help move spectators to and from Lumenfield. This is going to be 35 to 40 60 foot coaches dedicated to this service with the ability to transport over 2,800 people per hour between the shuttles and expanded light rail bus and water taxis services. Transit leaders are optimistic that Seattle will be able to handle the influx of fans. Noelle Gaska, K-O-W News. Some things to know in local politics, King County has added a new watchdog, along with other measures to tighten up oversight of its finances. Executive Girmai Zahalai says he's creating a new internal auditor position to scrutinize county spending. The move comes after an audit last year found the County Department of Community and Human

6:19Services had mishandled millions in grants. We are still watching, as are millionaires, the fate of the so-called millionaires tax bill. Some Democrats in the state house are now withholding their support. The Washington State Standard reports about a dozen holdouts are waiting to see if a new version meets their approval for how the tax dollars would be spent. The legislative session scheduled to end one week from today, Democrats can only afford to lose nine votes and still pass the measure. Governor Bob Ferguson already is thinking it won't pass and is urging lawmakers to bring it up next year. A couple of final notes, Washington's cap and trade program could link as soon as next year with carbon markets in California and Quebec. This is the program where big polluters have to pay for every metric ton of carbon they emit over a certain limit. Americans can officials say linking up would decrease the price to pollute. The State Department of Ecology is taking public feedback through May 1st.

7:23And finally, we're following the penny phase out. House bill 2334 would allow retailers to round up or down to the nearest nickel on cash payments. It's headed toward the state senate, the final vote it needs before going to Governor Ferguson. Washington retailers have been finding it difficult to give exact change ever since the federal government decided to stop minting pennies. Next time on Seattle now is casual Friday. Our neighbors to the North, British Columbia are officially leaving our shared time zone. But we've got a bigger problem this weekend entering daylight saving time. Your phone tells you what time it is and presumably we all use alarms on our phone at this point if you're still using a wind up alarm clock, you know, Godspeed. Hear that and more tomorrow morning. That's all for today from the KUOW Newsroom in Seattle. Our producer is Andy Hurst and I'm Paige Browning, Seattle now and KUOW are members of

8:27the NPR network. See you later. Music festivals and fan conventions, art walks, author events and reading parties. The next few months are amazing for art and culture in the Seattle area. And every week KUOW's art and culture podcast meet me here will give you the inside scoop. From inspired recommendations to surprising chats with artists, you'll discover what's truly special about Seattle's creative communities. Listen to meet me here on the KUOW app or wherever you get your podcasts.