Wednesday Evening Headlines

Seattle's economy is complicated. Inflation, tariffs, AI, layoffs, it's a lot

to keep track of. That's where we come in. I'm Joshua McNichols and I'm Monica

Nicholsburg. We host Booming, a podcast about the economic forces shaping our

lives here in the Pacific Northwest. Every week we dig into the big questions

about our economy and where you fit in. Find Booming on the KOW app or wherever

you listen to podcasts.

Good afternoon from the KOW newsroom. This is Seattle now. I'm Paige Browning with

a roundup of today's top stories. It's Wednesday, March 25th.

And before our top story, shout out to the people listening who are members of

KOW public radio. It's our fundraising drive this week. One of the big ones we

do each year. And we have loved hearing from you are listeners as you make

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or you can choose whatever gift you'd like. Donate and please leave us a

note about when or what you listen to when you make your gift. The link is in the

show notes. You're going to see a lot of green and yellow Sonic skier on your

way home today. Today, the NBA's board of governors took a big step toward league

expansion, which means the Seattle Super Sonics are closer than ever to returning.

Von Jones has more the board voted unanimously Wednesday to open up bidding for

expansion teams in Las Vegas and Seattle ESPN reports the expansion fee for each

team may be in the $7 to $10 billion range. NBA commissioner Adam Silver says the

league's goal is to have ownership and an expansion process solidified by the

end of the calendar year with the two teams starting play in the 2028 29 season.

20 years on the dot from when the Super Sonics left Seattle for Oklahoma City in

2008. Von Jones KUO W news.

Much more from Von on the possible return of the Super Sonics is on our show

tomorrow morning. The caretakers of the Super Sonics legacy are getting busy.

More than 5,000 pieces of Sonics memorabilia are housed at the Museum of

History and Industry in South Lake Union. Mohigh, but those items may be

headed to a new home climate pledge arena.

As incredible as climate pledge arena is way out in the open and the incredible

excitement of the arena is probably not an environment to meet these even

quality standards.

That's Leonard Garfield executive director of Mohigh Garfield says he looks

forward to potentially working with climate pledge and the team's new

owner to share and display the items in a way that preserves them for decades

to come after the Sonics left for Oklahoma City in 2008.

The collection stayed behind at Mohigh as part of a settlement agreement

between the city and the owners of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In the business of sports and events, two local teams are standing up to the

ticketing giants today. The Seattle Sounders and Rain are using a new ticketing

platform, meaning fans won't have to buy tickets through ticket master.

The professional soccer teams are moving to the ticketing platform jump.

They say it'll let them manage the process and get rid of the so-called middle

man.

In immigration news, the King County Council has voted to ban civil

immigration agents from staging on certain county property.

Council member Theresa Mascara introduced the ban.

She says other local governments that have felt the impact of immigration

raids have already passed similar measures.

We will do everything we can to make sure that ice knows civil immigration

enforcement, the corralling of people, the setting up of operations, the use

of our land for planning purposes, deploying our land as an enforcement

mechanism is not going to be permissible.

It'll be up to the King County executive's office to decide which

specific locations are restricted.

It could include vacant lots, parks, private sections of county buildings

and other areas owned by the county.

Council member Reagan Dunn voted no, saying in a statement, this will set

King County up for a lawsuit that will drain county resources.

Further south, Pierce County's become the latest jurisdiction to ban new

detention centers.

The county council passed a six month moratorium prohibiting new detention

centers or expansions in unincorporated areas of Pierce County.

The ban's similar to those already passed in King County, Seattle, C-TAC,

and to Quilla.

We're following major news within the indigenous community today.

The US Supreme Court has denied the Chinook Indian nation's attempt to

gain federal recognition.

Chinook Indian nation leaders say they'll continue fighting to be a federally

recognized tribe, a fight that's been ongoing for generations.

The nation represents five tribes along the mouth of the Columbia River.

It briefly gained recognition in 2001, only to have it stripped away less

than two years later.

Chairman Tony Nashio Johnson said in a statement that the nation's next step

includes seeking action through Congress and repotitioning the Bureau of Indian

Affairs, a King County official has been criminally charged for allegedly

violating a court order last year.

Scott Greenstone's been following John Arthur Wilson is the King County

assessor, an obscure but important job managing appraisers who determine

taxable property values.

Last year Wilson faced calls to step down after a number of restraining orders

surfaced filed by his ex fiance Lee Keller.

Wilson was arrested in July outside Keller's home in Seattle on suspicion of

stalking.

Now Seattle's city attorney has filed two gross misdemeanor charges against

Wilson, who didn't respond to a request for comment.

Keller declined to speak on the record as well.

Wilson apologized to Keller and the public last year and said he won't run

for reelection this year, but he is currently still in office.

Scott Greenstone K-WOW News in Seattle federal judges plan to appoint the

region's next US attorney and they've chosen a panel of lawyers to help.

This comes as the Trump administration has clashed with courts and

senators over some of its picks for top prosecutors.

Amy Raidell has more.

The Trump administration picked Neil Floyd, a former immigration judge to

be Seattle's next US attorney, but Senator Patty Murray made clear she would

block his confirmation.

Floyd is currently the top federal prosecutor in Seattle, but the district

judges have announced they plan to appoint a new US attorney as the law

allows.

This week, they named a panel of lawyers to vet applicants and make

recommendations.

It's chaired by Republican Rob McKenna, Washington state's former attorney

general.

Some judges picks in other states have been instantly fired by the justice

department, but federal judges in New Jersey recently negotiated with the

DOJ to install a consensus candidate, Amy Raidell K-WOW News.

Finally today, we've got a story gaining some buzz.

Washington is home to at least 600 types of bees.

That tally has grown by dozens of species, thanks to a statewide

survey of these key pollinators, John Ryan has the latest.

Volunteers found out across the state with nets and vials to gather

little buzzes of data for the Washington B Atlas with the help of expert

entomologists, they found dozens of species new to Washington.

They rediscovered other bees that hadn't been seen here for a century.

Elizabeth Murray is an entomology professor at Washington State University.

She says Northwest bees are very diverse.

Big, small, furry, hairy, too hardly having any hair, different colors.

There's a lot of variety out there.

They're doing a lot of work out in the ecosystem and also an agricultural

system. The Atlas aims to inform efforts to conserve bees and all the work

they do. Nationwide, wild insects are estimated to pollinate more than

$5 billion in crops each year. John Ryan K-WOW News.

Next time on Seattle now, the Seattle supersonic are closer to returning than

they've ever been after NBA owners voted to explore expansion bids.

The NBA wants sneakers back on the hardwood by 2028, poetry and motion 20

years since the Sonic's left programs.

Here more Thursday morning.

That's all for today from the K-WOW Newsroom in Seattle.

Our producer is Andy Hearst and I'm Paige Browning.

Seattle now and K-WOW are members of the NPR network.

See ya.

Bandolse comes in hundreds of shapes, sizes and flavors, but one Seattle

bakery is reimagining the Mexican sweet breads with Pacific Northwest

ingredients. Hey, I'm Brandy Foward, host of Seattle eats.

On the latest episode, Seattle Times food writer Bethany Jean Clement gives us

some inside tips to build the perfect pastry box from a local panadheria.

Listen to Seattle eats on the K-WOW app or wherever you get your podcasts.