The Weirdest Seattle News of 2024
Barging In
A runaway barge drifting perilously close to tourist attractions on the Seattle waterfront? Sounds like a scenario dreamed up for a Grey’s Anatomy episode. But it actually happened late last year. Before the massive barge loaded with empty containers could smash into the Great Wheel or Seattle Aquarium, the captain and crew of a nearby King County Water Taxi acted fast, using their own vessel to push the barge north toward an isolated area. Remarkably, nobody was injured.
Radio Radio
For the past three decades, Seattle’s beloved indie radio station KEXP has been slowly growing its footprint: increasingly large transmitters, a new home in Seattle Center, a popular YouTube channel for its live performances, ownership of a second radio station in the Bay Area. Wait, what? Yep. KEXP purchased KREV 92.7 out of receivership for $3.75 million. The new KREV will broadcast KEXP programming in and around San Francisco and eventually launch a local Bay Area music show. How did KEXP pay for it? With help from a $10 million bequest left by an anonymous donor—so don’t worry, Amplifiers, your dollars are staying local.
Pac-2
The once-storied West Coast college sports conference that was home to the University of Washington, UCLA, Stanford, and others has been cannibalized by bigger, wealthier conferences with more lucrative TV deals. The result is that 10 of its 12 programs are on their way out the door, leaving only Washington State University and Oregon State University holding the (empty) bag. The logistics are complex, and the legal fight is ongoing. But look for Pac-2 football in 2024, while the Huskies break new ground in the Big Ten, which is actually going to be closer to a Big 20.
Bartell Them Goodbye
A pandemic-era Capitol Hill landmark is gone, and a historic local chain is struggling. The Rite Aid with the “Come Get Sh_t_ Here” marquee became the latest in a wave of closures among Seattle-area drug stores since the pharmacy giant declared bankruptcy. Rite Aid—which bought Seattle-founded Bartell Drugs in 2020—has been shuttering locations of both chains for months, including stores in Everett, Bellevue, and Redmond.
Bombs Away
You never know what’s laying around in the neighbor’s garage. A Bellevue resident passed away recently and left his neighbor in charge of his belongings—including a rusted, military grade missile. After the neighbor called a museum in Ohio to ask about it, the museum reached out to local police. Turns out the missile, a Douglas Air-2 Genie designed to carry Cold War–era nuclear warheads (but not carrying one), was inert.
Carroll Carousel
The 2024 Seattle football landscape will look a lot different. But not that different. Only a week after legendary Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was ousted after 14 years, and the only Super Bowl victory in franchise history, the Washington Huskies hired his son Brennan to be their offensive coordinator. (They also added Steve Belichick, son of former Patriots coach and Seahawks nemesis Bill, to lead their defense.)
Testing, Testing
Four years after the country’s first known case of Covid-19 was confirmed in Washington, our state is introducing vending machines to dispense free test kits, among other health supplies. Close your eyes and think back to early 2020. This is not the future you would have imagined. The machines, unveiled by the Department of Health, will be in public places, managed by local health jurisdictions and Tribal nations.
Twice Is Nice
We’ve been playing baseball or some form of it for more than 150 years. And yet the sport will always give you something you’ve never seen before. Case in point: Mariners fan Josh George caught a foul popup from third baseman Josh Rojas in the first inning of a home game against the Royals. Then, on the very next pitch, George got another foul popup off the bat of Rojas. The next day, the Mariners invited the lucky fan out to throw not one, but two ceremonial first pitches.
Ramps to Nowhere No More
For decades, foolish Seattleites have jumped off the “ramps to nowhere” at the Washington Park Arboretum and into the murky waters below. The ramps were a remnant of a north-south freeway project that was halted by community activists in the ’60s and ’70s. And now, finally, they have been removed: casualties of the 520 bridge replacement. The city kept one of the former bridge supports in place, with plans to make it a monument to the successful freeway revolt.
A Striped Star
It started out as a novelty. Then it grew into a phenomenon. Four zebras escaped from a trailer pulled over off I-90 in North Bend, sauntering out into the woods. Three were captured relatively quickly. But the fourth didn’t turn up. For days. “He could be going to Cle Elum by now, he could be up by Rattlesnake, he could be taking a drink out of the lake…we don’t know,” North Bend mayor Mary Miller told FOX 13 Seattle. On social media, pictures of Shug the zebra appeared on a ferry, atop the Space Needle, at Dick’s. It turned out he was just hanging around North Bend, where eventually local residents found Shug—a female, contrary to early reports—in good health.
Bird Watching
When the Storm selected Sue Bird with the first pick of the 2002 WNBA draft, expectations were high. Two decades later, Bird retired as a five-time gold medalist, four-time league champion, and the kind of Seattle icon kids and adults admire equally. Now, she’s also the kind of icon who gets placed under the tree as a Christmas gift. The “Barbie Sue Bird Inspiring Women™ Doll” features Bird rocking not Storm colors, but a red, white, and blue jersey with her iconic number 10, and includes a little basketball, too.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Kinkajou
Drivers stopping for a breather at a rest area near Yakima on Interstate 82 were treated to a rare sight recently—a small, raccoon-like creature with sharp teeth, a long tail, and big round eyes clinging to a signpost. The animal turned out to be a kinkajou—a tropical rainforest mammal whose habitat stretches from Mexico to Brazil. How it ended up in an arid valley in Central Washington remains a mystery. But it was rescued by the Department of Fish and Wildlife and sent to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma for care.
Tower Time
For a long time, the most iconic building in Seattle wasn’t the Space Needle—it was the Smith Tower, once the tallest building on the West Coast, with its pyramid pointing up to the sky. Since its construction in 1914, the skyscraper has lived many lives. For two decades, it was owned by local restaurateur Ivar Haglund, then by Samis—the foundation left behind by the eccentric Pioneer Square landlord Sam Israel. Now it has been purchased by a group of investors led by holding company GT Capital. No word yet on what they have planned for the penthouse.
