So far, the WSP does not expect a copycat of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol Campus.

However, the agency, which provides law enforcement and security for the campus, is preparing for the worst.

Seattle mayor approves $970M levy to fund affordable housing projects

“We’re going to be extra vigilant — more so than we always are,” said WSP Communications Director Chris Loftis. “We always have a safety and security presence here on the capitol campus.”

The WSP, the FBI, and numerous local agencies are watching social media and other websites closely to see if groups that have caused trouble in the past are planning any demonstrations.

“We monitor internet chatter and announcements of meetings and people who have declared they’re going to come and demonstrate and protest and that sort of thing,” Loftis said. “We do that all the time.”

So far, there are no indications of any bad behavior to come.

“At this point, there’s nothing on the threat board — no one asking for permitting to do a large-scale demonstration, there’s no one announcing on their web pages or chat boards or anything of that nature that they’re going to come in numbers and do any harm,” Loftis said.

Still, troopers will be ready.

After the Jan. 6 attack on our nation’s Capitol, the WSP heightened its security at our state’s counterpart.

“We have more staff on site than we had then, we have more resources,” Loftis said. “There are more camera resources, there are more vehicular resources. We have people on foot patrol, we always have people on bicycle patrol, we have people in their vehicles patrolling.”

Just because you may not be able to spot the extra security, that does not mean that it is not there. The idea is for security to not be immediately obvious to the untrained eye.

“For every resource that you see, as far as security and safety resources, you can be assured that there’s likely a resource that you don’t see,” Loftis said.

One of the challenges of is that it is the largest in the country, due to its lakes and trails. While this nature provides beauty, the many trees and bushes also can provide cover to bad actors.

“We’re always ready. We have to be, that’s part of the job,” Loftis said. “At this point, we don’t have anything that is telling us to be at a specific place at a specific time with a specific group of folks, but we’ll be ready.”

More from Nicole Jennings: City of Kirkland hopeful hotel purchase will fill homeless shelter gaps

While harming people or property, making threats, and disrupting the peace will not be permitted, Loftis encourages people to come exercise their Constitutional rights and make their opinions on the Trump indictment known in a non-violent way.

“Everybody is welcome to come and say their piece. You’re welcome to come and be as passionate about your point of view as you wish to be,” he said. “But you are not welcome to come and harm other people, you are not welcome to come and harm property, you are not welcome to come and interfere with the processes of government.”

The facility — located where State Route 520, Northup Way, and Lake Washington Boulevard meet — is a partnership between the City and King County.

The center will be a long-term housing facility with wraparound services like mental health treatment, drug and alcohol rehab, and job counseling.

King County moving forward with plan to convert Kirkland hotel into homeless shelter

“The design of it is for folks to make a home there,” said Kirkland Deputy City Manager of External Affairs Jim Lopez. “What ‘housing first’ is all about is making sure that people have the support they need in order to keep a roof over their head and to live a safe and productive life.”

The county has purchased 11 hotels through its . County Executive Dow Constantine said during his State of the County Address that these facilities have given shelter to about 600 people so far. The County bought a Silver Cloud Inn in neighboring Redmond in 2021, but this will be the first such facility in Kirkland. The City will be able to refer about two-thirds of the rooms to locals in need.

“It is part of the continuum of care that is so desperately needed in Kirkland, and it’s a critical part of the continuum because it provides permanent housing opportunities to folks in need of it,” Lopez said. “This is really a partnership and a community-led initiative that is centered on the needs of the city and the Eastside, and we’re very appreciative of that.”

The Kirkland hotel will be able to house around 120 people. They will not be able to use illegal drugs on the property, and because of an amendment from the Kirkland City Council, everyone admitted to the hotel must pass a criminal background check.

“This is a significant milestone,” said Kirkland City Councilmember Amy Falcon during , when the vote was taken. “I’m hopeful and appreciative that our chronically unhoused and disabled community members will have a future permanent home in this building, with the services they need to lead a successful and fulfilling life.”

But not everyone agrees that this is the best path forward. The facility has received pushback from community members because of its proximity to daycare facilities and schools.

One Kirkland parent told ����Xվ Newsradio she pulled her son out of a daycare facility near the hotel because she was afraid of what might happen.

“Every day, passing the hotel, it gave me a lot of nerves about what could potentially happen,” she said. “I think it will really pose a lot of threats to the neighboring communities, especially with all the kindergartens and daycare facilities around.”

Another mom, who was picking her kids up at a daycare center next door, said she is considering going elsewhere for child care when the hotel opens because she does not think it will be a safe neighborhood anymore.

“Honestly, I’m not very happy about it. It alters the sense of safety and security,” she said. “I lived in San Francisco once, and the experience with having homeless shelters around was not very great.”

Lopez said numerous safety plans will be in place, such as a Good Neighbor Agreement, a Communications Plan, and a Safety Plan with the Kirkland Police Department.

“There’s even kind of an innovative approach we’re taking to have regular community meetings with the operator of the facility and the county,” Lopez said. “And what’s interesting is that both the city and the county have added a community liaison position to this process, so we will have staff directly assigned to be responsive to the needs of the community … The idea is to be proactive and to have these plans help facilitate all of us planning for everything we need to do to make sure that this is a successful endeavor.”

More from Nicole Jennings: Marysville Police find ‘rainbow fentanyl’ pills in Tic Tac container

“The process is not done … After the facility is reopened, there will be continual reports that we receive … and if problems arise down the road, they can be considered with corrective action taken,” said Kirkland City Councilmember Toby Nixon during last week’s council meeting.

Lopez said that the facility is not likely to open until at least the end of the year.

Data from the King County Regional Homelessness Authority estimates that there are 56,000 people who are homeless in King County.

During a recent arrest of a man who is suspected of selling drugs, Marysville Police officers found he was carrying a Fruit Adventure Tic Tac container full of little tablets in every color of the rainbow. However, the tablets were not cherry- and mango-flavored candy.

King County seeing increasing ‘white powder’ fentanyl

“Inside of that container were exactly 189 ‘rainbow fentanyl’ pills,” said Marysville Police Officer TJ San Miguel.

BE AWARE: Fentanyl pills, known as Rainbow Fentanyl, have been found and confiscated by our officers.

During “Operation Clean Sweep” on Friday, 28 grams of meth and 200+ fentanyl pills were confiscated, along with:
⚠️8 arrests
⚠️37 contacts
⚠️3 drug referrals
⚠️1 seized car

— Marysville Police (@MarysvilleWAPD)

On close inspection, a person can see the counterfeit “M30” stamp on the pill — which in itself is a disguise as prescription oxycodone pills.

But at first glance, the pills look like candy — exactly why police were afraid that kids might come into contact with them.

“It’s really the color and how these things present that caused that concern, that they could be targeted more toward children to young adults,” San Miguel said.

That was especially a worry because police believe the man arrested was selling the pills to members of the community.

Investigation leads to 27 indictments in West Coast fentanyl drug bust

“It was clear, based off of a couple of things, that he wasn’t just a user — he was also clearly selling these things and some other drugs,” San Miguel said. “We found 28 grams of methamphetamine on him also.”

A single pill laced with fentanyl can be enough to kill a person. Marysville Police arrested seven other people in Friday’s drug sweep and seized a car.

Many businesses chose to no longer take those 10s and 20s during the COVID-19 pandemic to avoid spreading germs through the handling of money and the face-to-face interactions required when making change.

Now, however, one member of the King County Council wants to ban this business practice.

“Cashless business is a gentrification accelerator,” Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles said. “Many people depend on cash to survive.”

Kohl-Welles, who represents King County District 4 (which includes parts of North Seattle and downtown Seattle), to require businesses in unincorporated King County to take cash.

“I’m very concerned that more and more cashless businesses are opening,” Kohl-Welles said.

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The bill would also prevent businesses from tacking on an extra fee for cash payments. People whose cash payments are refused could bring a civil action against a business.

Businesses would be allowed to require credit or debit cards for single transactions that are larger than $250, as long as they make cash an option for the first $250 of that payment.

Kohl-Welles wrote the bill because research shows that certain groups — such as seniors, refugee and immigrant communities, people of color, low-income communities, and people with disabilities — tend to rely on cash over credit and debit cards. She said card-only payment practices hurt these communities.

“They’re having increasing challenges with just buying things — essential services, or essential goods, such as milk and bread and so forth, if they don’t have a credit card,” Kohl-Welles said.

She was caught off-guard by this when she recently tried to pay with cash on an outing to see a film.

“I was at a movie theater in Seattle and was very surprised to find out that I could not buy a box of popcorn or a Coke unless I had the exact change or paid by credit card,” Kohl-Wells explained.

More than 2% of Washington residents said they are unbanked, meaning they do not have bank accounts or credit cards. About 17% are underbanked, meaning they may have a bank account, “but often rely on alternative financial services, such as money orders, check-cashing services, and payday loans,” as per King County.

There is no federal statute mandating that a private business must accept currency as payment for goods or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law that says otherwise.

While businesses may choose to go cashless for sanitary or security reasons, research data shows it can be discriminatory against those unable to pay with debit and credit cards.

Of those who still use cash for most purchases, the largest shares are people of color and those with the lowest incomes, according to data from the

More from Nicole Jennings: King County seeing increasing ‘white powder’ fentanyl

“I want to make sure that those individuals who are unbanked or underbanked be able to participate in the economy and access the goods that they need,” Kohl-Welles said.

The lack of cash-payment options can have a very real effect on people’s well-being.

“A person I know tweeted about how she had been very sick and sent her teenage son to get some food for them,” Kohl-Welles said. “He came back empty-handed because the store did not accept cash, and he did not have a credit card.”

The measure is being discussed by the King County Council Local Services and Land Use Committee Tuesday, where you can .

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Right now, about 200 pets, on average, are given to the shelter each month from families who can no longer care for them.

“Over the past year, year-and-a-half, we’ve seen intakes very much on the rise, and they don’t seem to be slowing down,” Charlton said, who works with people surrendering pets every day.

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Some people may have the idea that a person who gives up their dog or cat simply has decided they don’t want their pet anymore, but Charlton said this is a misconception. In most cases, pet owners are forced to make a heart-wrenching decision because their circumstances have changed.

“Folks don’t bring in their pets just because they don’t like them,” they said. “It’s usually much more complicated, nuanced, and, frankly, really sad.”

Often, it is because of a person’s financial or housing situation. Charlton said in the average case, the amount of money standing between a person keeping or surrendering their pet is $250 or less.

“Maybe someone found a house, but they can’t afford the pet deposit fee, or there’s a hole in their fence, or their animal got picked up, but it doesn’t have its license updated, so it won’t be released to them unless they get it updated … or they need a certain surgery or treatment and they have a vet they want to work with, but they don’t have the money,” Charlton said.

A change in finances can also cause a person to need to find somewhere new to live — perhaps somewhere their pet will not be welcome.

“A lot of families are having to make decisions around housing — maybe they found somewhere to live where they can have two pets but not three pets, or they’re having to move in with a family member who already has a pet, or they’ve become homeless,” Charlton said.

They believe record inflation has played a significant role in people struggling to afford pet-related costs over the past year.

“Everything is increasing in cost, our wages aren’t necessarily increasing, people are just having a really hard time,” Charlton said.

Luckily, Seattle Humane is able to step in and help with some of these expenses. The shelter is able to provide vet care to people who cannot afford it, along with pet food, supplies, funds for pet deposits, and other resources. The Pet Food Bank supplies more than 30,000 meals a month.

The shelter can also foster pets for up to three months while a person finds a different living situation.

Through these efforts, Charlton said Seattle Humane is able to help about half of the 400 people who come to surrender their pet to keep their beloved cat or dog.

More from Nicole Jennings: Redmond police chief calls for stronger stalking laws

With kitten season right around the corner, Charlton does not see the number of pet surrenders dropping anytime soon.

“We’re expecting to see a lot … it’s going to ramp up,” they said.

Seattle Humane takes donations, including pet food and gently used pet supplies, such as carriers, for pet families in need. The shelter also is in need of volunteers and foster families.

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Lowe said it should be a more streamlined process for a victim to get a protection order against their stalker, and for police and prosecutors to bring the stalker to justice.

“The way it currently is written, it doesn’t make it as … easy as it should be for an investigation to move forward, for a prosecutor to actually file charges against the person,” Lowe told ����Xվ Newsradio.

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Lowe is calling on the Legislature to pass , which would expand the definition of stalking so that it is easier to call stalking acts a crime. The bill unanimously passed in the House, but still needs to make its way through the Senate to go on the books.

If the bill does become law, it would allow any emotional distress a person experiences as a result of being harassed, followed, or electronically tracked to count as evidence of a crime.

“It’s emotional, it’s not necessarily a physical injury. It is based on the acts of the suspect — the stalking, the terrorizing, text messages, emails, phone calls, et cetera. That is a real issue, that is a real thing for a victim, but as the current law is, that is oftentimes not enough for cases to move forward,” Lowe explained. “So with the proposed changes, it will allow those issues, that fear, to be a viable part of a prosecutable case.”

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Current law does not take that emotional factor into account, instead requiring an act of harm or fear on the victim’s part that physical harm is imminent. Lowe said it is dangerous to require a stalking victim to wait for more tangible proof, since, by the time that proof arrives, it may be too late.

“This [bill] is really important in helping stalking victims seek protective orders,” Lowe said. “It will also help investigators and law enforcement when they bring these cases forward to the prosecutor to be able to obtain those protective orders, and then hopefully be able to serve them.”

During testimony this week, the bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Lauren Davis (D-Shoreline), said the state’s current system favors the stalker instead of the victim.

“We have, for all intents and purposes, decriminalized this insidious behavior,” Davis said. “It is incredibly difficult to charge and to prove.”

She believes her bill would legitimize victims’ feelings in the eyes of the justice system.

“About half of all stalking victims who are murdered actually reported their stalking,” she said. “But unfortunately … often those reports are not taken seriously because the individual acts of stalking on their own are typically not criminal in nature, and they may not appear threatening to someone who doesn’t understand the context.”

Zohre Sadeghi, the woman murdered in Redmond last week along with her husband, Mohammed Milad Naseri, had filed and been granted a protection order against alleged stalker Ramin Khodakaramrezaei. Lowe said police had not been able to serve the order because Khodakaramrezaei was a truck driver from Texas who was difficult to locate, as he was often on the road. However, Lowe noted that even if they had been able to serve that order, it may not have helped as criminals often ignore court orders.

More from Nicole Jennings: Planning a spring break trip? Expect plenty of airline fees

“A restraining order is simply a piece of paper that allows officers to take enforcement action should a suspect violate a court order,” Lowe said during a press conference on the day of the murders. “But a piece of paper does not protect a person when someone is intent on causing them harm.”

He advised anyone in a similar situation to report each and every action of the stalker to law enforcement so that everything can be documented. He also recommended taking security measures, such as putting up cameras and alarm systems in your home.

But if you have not flown since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, buckle your seatbelts and prepare for prices to take off.

Gee & Ursula: What about those airline fees?

Analysts expect airlines to raise fees this year as they try to recoup pandemic losses and keep up with inflation.

“They are dealing with cost increases — from oil, from labor costs, from maintenance, everything,” travel agent Barbara Robinson said. Robinson manages in downtown Seattle.

You can expect to pay extra airline fees for many perks that were once considered free — and this does not just mean checked baggage, either. Any meal bigger than a bag of crackers, a guaranteed seat next to your loved ones, and even carry-on bags are all incurring fees on many airlines.

“The least expensive ticket is called basic economy, and a lot of times, they give you a lot of restrictions on that ticket,” Robinson said. “That’s the airline’s way of saying, ‘You want the lowest price? We’ll give you the lowest price, but we’ll strip away all the unnecessary services.'”

Robinson said it’s not just the budget airlines tacking on these extra fees.

“It’s the majority of the airlines, the major ones — United, American, Delta, even Alaska Airlines here in town,” she said.

She tells her clients to count on shelling out $150 to $200 if they want a checked bag and a seat of their choosing.

President Biden to crack down on what he calls “junk fees.” Many airlines, , have backed away from charging extra for kids to sit with their family members, but those costs still apply to anyone who is a teenager or older.

Rather than shopping around for the best deal for each vacation, Robinson’s advice is to stay loyal to one airline so you can build up points and earn certain privileges — such as free checked bags or your choice of seat.

“If you’re a frequent flier with that airline, then you gain a certain status — you have a lot of leverage in terms of avoiding paying the actual fees,” she said.

Her other recommendation is to pack your bags and then take out half of the clothes and other items you packed. That way, you won’t go overweight or need extra luggage.

Alaska Airlines and United Airlines refused to tell ����Xվ Newsradio whether they are planning any new fees or hikes to existing fees this year. Delta Airlines and American Airlines did not respond to ����Xվ Newsradio’s request for comment.

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“We have a mental health care crisis in the state of Washington, and that’s why I am delighted to see a crisis intervention center right here in Kirkland,” Gov. Jay Inslee said. “It’s time that we stop thinking of our jails as mental health centers in Washington.”

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The facility will be the first of its kind in the region and one of just a few in the state. It will provide not only emergency treatment to those having a mental health crisis but also longer-term wraparound services, like drug and alcohol rehab, mental health counseling, and housing, so people can get their lives back on track.

Inslee and King County Executive Dow Constantine said this will be an alternative to jail, so police can take a person causing problems on the street to get help instead of being locked up.

“Right now, there’s no place you can go in a time of crisis,” Constantine said. “You can put your name on a list, and in a few weeks or even a few months, you may get a call.”

King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski said this will be cheaper than jail, which can cost hundreds of dollars a day to house just one person — especially if mental health services are part of that.

The facility will be located at 11410 NE 122nd Way, Kirkland, just northwest of the Totem Lake Fred Meyer. It will be about a mile from the North Kirkland Community Center and within two miles of Juanita elementary and high schools.

The crisis center will open sometime next year and will have the capacity to serve around 14,000 people every year.

To fund this center, $10 million was allotted from the state legislature, along with $1.5 million from King County. The Department of Commerce allocated another $10 million in grants.

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A similar service center is already in existence in Bellingham, but this will be the first in King County.

Constantine has called for a phase-out of the King County Jail in favor of facilities that can provide services.

He did not give an update on the county’s Partnership for Zero, which had the goal of having no more than 30 people living on the streets of downtown Seattle as early as this year.

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A Pierce County judge issued a warrant for civil arrest to take place on or after Friday if the woman does not comply with court orders to take antibiotics against TB.

She could still decide to take the required treatment at a Thursday court hearing.

Pierce Co. judge orders arrest of woman with tuberculosis if left untreated

“This is an opportunity for the judge to clearly have the information presented and to see if there’s anything new that comes up. This is an opportunity for the person to comply with the requirements,” said Nigel Turner, division director of Communicable Disease Control at the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. “And hopefully, we could avoid this [arrest].”

This will be the 17th court hearing for the woman. Turner said she has been refusing treatment for more than a year — and TB is a disease that can stay in a person’s body for several years when left untreated, if it does not kill the person first. It is not clear why she is refusing treatment.

“Detention at this stage is, unfortunately, our last resort,” he said.

If it comes to that, she would likely be arrested on Friday.

“This next order is a warrant for arrest and detention. And in that end, we work with law enforcement — the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department — to detain and transport the person to detention,” Turner explained.

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department told ����Xվ Newsradio it will help in any way if called upon to do so. The department said an isolation facility at the jail was already set up for the woman’s use.

“This is isolation, forced isolation,” Turner said.

The health department cannot force a person to take medication against their will, but it does have the legal authority to force a person to isolate so they do not infect others.

The woman would still have the option to choose treatment and get out of isolation early at any point.

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Turner could not say how long she would be in jail, but he did note that they would keep her for “no longer than absolutely the minimum necessary.”

“This is very rare for us,” Turner said. “It’s only very occasionally that people are not compliant — about three times in the last 20 years.”

said that it can take several months to treat TB with antibiotics, but a person may stop being contagious after just a few weeks on the medications.

The health department does not believe the woman is a significant threat to the community.��Unlike COVID, TB is not passed casually between people; it requires extended contact in an enclosed space. Still, Turner noted that TB is a very serious and fatal disease, and this woman has the potential to infect close contacts if she remains untreated.

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This program allowed states to give each family the maximum allotment of monthly food benefits for their household size. Families and individual recipients who were already at the maximum amount got an extra $95 per month.

Now, the loss of those extra food stamps will mean an average of $171 fewer per month for households.

Inflation brings jump in demand at local food banks

Babs Roberts with the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) said with record inflation hitting in the last year, this is bad timing.

“This is a really tough time for families,” she said. “Inflation is not only impacting grocery prices, but is impacting rent, utilities, gas.”

There are 520,000 households getting SNAP benefits right now in Washington, totaling about 899,000 people. That’s more than Seattle’s population, meaning more than 11% of Washington’s population receives food assistance.

If you are in that 11%, do not despair, Roberts said. There are quite a few other state and local organizations you can turn to for help.

“There are definitely options, and I would encourage people to look at them,” she said. “We definitely would have folks looking for local resources call WIN-211 — the . They may have local resources that can help you supplement your food.”

Additionally, she suggested reaching out to DSHS to see if you might qualify for other assistance programs that can help supplement your food benefits. Your local food bank is also there to help.

The loss of extra SNAP benefits is likely to impact the local economy.

“The emergency allotments equated to something over $90 million in federal funds that came into this state and were spent in grocery stores and convenience stores every month,” she said. “And that’s an economic boon.”

More from Nicole Jennings: A Ukrainian refugee family’s story of finding a new home in Everett

Roberts also pointed out that the more people have to save their money for food, the less they are able to spend on non-food items at other local businesses.

The State House of Representatives just passed a bill to , but that bill still needs to pass the Senate before it can become law.

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But fresh in their memories is that day one year ago, when life changed forever for millions of Ukrainian families, including the Lakatoshes.

At 5 a.m. on Feb. 24, 2022, Yosyp and Tetiana Lakatosh woke up to a phone call from Yosyp’s mother, telling them that Russia had invaded Ukraine and the war had started.

“At first we didn’t believe what my mom said,” Yosyp told ����Xվ Newsradio through an interpreter.

Seattle rallies behind Ukraine on day of Russian invasion

Their home of Kharkiv was one of the first cities that Russia targeted. Yosyp said that he and his family had lived about 60 kilometers, or 40 miles, from the border with Russia.

“The Russian tanks came to Ukraine and started sending rockets,” he said.

The Lackatoshes had a bomb shelter in their backyard that they hid in with their three children — Yosyp Jr., now 11, Kateryna, now 8, and Davyd, now 5.

“We made it into a game, where we would say, ‘Oh, let’s go into the bomb shelter.’ We would do picnics and things like that,” Tetiana said through the translator. “The older child understood more, but for the little ones, we tried to make it a game.”

But soon, the Lakatosh family made the hardest decision imaginable.

“After we had to be in the bomb shelter underground for three days, that’s when we decided we needed to go,” Tetiana said.

But leaving would take lots of money — and funds were tight because the Lackatoshes had just finished renovating their new house.

That house sits behind in Kharkiv, housing refugees. They tell ����Xվ Newsradio it’s still standing, for now.

Taking only a change of clothes each and their identification documents, the family piled into Yosyp’s work van and drove to Moldova, in a caravan of other cars full of families for protection. They wrote “kids” on the side of the vehicles so they would not be attacked. Along the way, they saw cities that had been destroyed by bombs.

“I could see it with my eyes, but on this inside, I couldn’t believe it. How was this happening to my country?” Yosyp recalled. “It was kind of unexpected, because we were all just living our lives, and then the war started.”

After two days of driving, they arrived in neighboring Moldova, and from there, went on to Romania. In both countries, volunteers gave them a place to stay. The Lakatoshes knew they wanted to come to the United States because they had family here, including Tetiana’s father. But the American embassy in Bucharest told them that the next appointment to get a visa was six months away.

“We didn’t have the finances to find housing in Romania for that long,” Tetiana said.

On Ukraine anniversary, EU pledges more support for refugees

The next option was to fly to Mexico and come through the southern border into California.

The family made the 13-hour flight from Bucharest to Cancún, and then to Tijuana, where they walked across the Tijuana River to California. Upon arrival, ICE took them into detention for three days. After their release, the government tracked Yosyp with an ankle monitor for three weeks. The family members also had to turn in their passports. Even now, they must check in with the government if they want to leave the state, and must send photos during a weekly check-in to prove they are at home; ����Xվ Newsradio saw this weekly check-in occur during the interview.

From California, the Lackatoshes flew to Washington, where they have relatives. The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, along with organizations like Volunteers of America and helped them to find housing in Everett. In Snohomish County alone, thousands of refugees like the Lackatoshes have been able to get a new home through these services.

At first, it was a tough transition for the kids, especially Kateryna. She missed the pet cats she had had to leave left behind with friends in Ukraine. In Kharkiv, Kateryna had taken part in extra-curricular activities, like piano lessons and art clubs. But here, she didn’t understand English and had a tough time making friends; there was also no money for music lessons.

“Every morning, she would get up in tears and say, ‘Take me back to the war. I’d rather live there in the bomb shelters,'” Tetiana said.

But the past year has been transformative for Kateryna.

“When we moved to these apartments [a couple of months after arriving in the U.S.], there are a lot of Russians and Ukrainians around here, so she at least has friends that she can understand and she can talk to,” Tetiana said.

She and Yosyp also got Tetiana a keyboard as a gift, so that she can practice the piano songs she remembers from back home.

Meanwhile, at school, Kateryna, Yosyp, Jr., and Davyd are thriving at their English classes. Tetiana and Yosyp laughed that the kids have passed the two of them up with their English skills.

“The kids get to go to a group for 45 minutes every day, where the teacher works with them on learning English, how to pronounce things,” Tetiana said. “The teachers themselves are very nice — they try to help the children find friends.”

The kids are also taking part in extra-curricular activities at school, like swim lessons and the soccer team, as well as events like family game nights. Tetiana said she and Yosyp are impressed by the Mukilteo School District.

And even though Katerina cannot get a cat here because of the current apartment’s rules, she gets to see her pets virtually through video calls with the friends in Ukraine who are watching the cats. Her parents got her a stuffed animal cat so she can have something furry to cuddle; they laughed that she carries around the cat so much, her teacher told her not to bring it to school anymore because she was playing with it instead of paying attention.

For the adults, having a tight-knit community through relatives, their church group, and other Ukrainian refugees in English classes at Everett Community College has helped them to feel at home. Tetiana’s sisters and Yosyp’s mother have since immigrated, so they have lots of family here. Yosyp and Tetiana have not yet gotten social security numbers or visas that will allow them to work, but they are hopeful the paperwork will soon be processed. Yosyp wants to translate his Ukrainian engineering diploma here so that he can find work in a similar field.

Photos: Ukraine’s leader defiant on anniversary of Russian invasion

In the meantime, they are trying to embrace life in their new home. Their favorite part of living Washington is the natural beauty. The family frequently goes on hikes.

“We love the nature — that we can go as a family to see waterfalls,” Yosyp said. “The kids love to go to Mukilteo, to the ocean here. The kids love to feed the seagulls and look at the crabs and the whales.”

They also like the family-oriented spirit of the culture here.

The Lakatoshes hope to go back to Ukraine one day, but they do not know when it might be safe to do so. And they know if they do return, it will be a different country.

“When we left Ukraine, that was the old Ukraine. Even if we get to go back, it will never be the same. Things have changed,” Tetiana said. “And the people who lived through the war, they won’t be the same either. Even our own kids, with what they survived … that chunk of their childhood is gone. They’re kind of grown-up now. And the kids who are in Ukraine, they don’t really have a childhood.”

That is why the family remains eternally grateful for the help and support they have received from volunteers here in their new home.

“We are very thankful for the U.S. and Washington state. [If it weren’t for their help], we would be sitting in bomb shelters,” Yosyp said.

If you would like to support Ukraine, the , which represents more than 100,000 Washington residents with Ukrainian heritage, is taking donations to send medical and tactical supplies to Ukrainain fighters. and help Ukrainian refugees to find shelter here in Washington.

You can also show support through events. The Ukrainian Association will be hosting to commemorate one year since the invasion.

In Seattle, Mayor Bruce Harrell declared February 24 the “Day of Solidarity with The People of Ukraine.” Many prominent buildings in the city, such as the Space Needle, T-Mobile Park, Lumen Field, and the Columbia Center, lit up in blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, along with other landmarks around the world this weekend.

At 8 a.m. on Thursday, showed over 41 flights delayed at the airport for the day, and more than 31 outright canceled.

Snow letting us know winter is far from over across Puget Sound

Port of Seattle spokesperson Perry Cooper said that cancellations and delays are one strategy that airlines can use to allow for the extra time, space, and staff needed to deice planes.

“When they know these things are coming ahead of time, when they know there’s a set of snow that’s coming, they can thin out their schedule by having some cancellations,” Cooper said.

While the airport is responsible for deicing the runways and tarmac, it is up to the individual airlines to deice their planes. It can take up to half an hour to deice a single plane. If this is done at the gate, it prevents another plane from taking that spot. There are other places where planes can be deiced on the tarmac, but space can be limited at Sea-Tac.

“We’re one of the smallest footprints of an airport around the country with the amount of passengers we have here,” Cooper said.

The largest share of canceled and delayed flights on Wednesday belonged to Alaska Airlines, which uses SEA as its main hub. FlightAware showed 37 Alaska flights and 10 Horizon flights canceled as of 7 p.m. on Wednesday, and 89 Alaska flights and 29 Horizon flights delayed.

Alaska Airlines told ����Xվ Newsradio in an email that it was preemptively canceling some flights in light of the winter storm.

“Reducing or ‘thinning’ the number of flights helps ease congestion at the airport and allows us to maintain a steady flow of aircraft instead of creating traffic jams. A reduced number of flights allows us to focus on deicing our aircraft,” the airline said.

Alaska noted that thinning out flights creates more of a buffer not just for deicing, but also for longer time spent taxiing.

“We intentionally slow our operations to allow time for the extra steps required during snowy or icy conditions,” Alaska said. “It takes longer for aircraft and other equipment to move around at the airport, much like driving on the interstate during similar wintry conditions.”

Some travelers who spoke with ����Xվ Newsradio at SEA on Wednesday said their travel plans had been disrupted — and not just by the snow Seattleites woke up to that morning. The frosty weather in Washington is part of a larger winter storm hitting much of the northern United States. That means that even if your flight is fine getting out of Seattle, the conditions at your destination could cause problems.

That was what happened to one Buckley mother and daughter traveling to Wisconsin for a funeral.

“We were supposed to fly to Milwaukee, and we got here and our flight had been changed to Friday … so now we’re flying to Chicago,” the daughter told ����Xվ Newsradio. “There’s an ice storm in Milwaukee. Chicago dodged it somehow, but Milwaukee got it.”

Photos: Parts of northern U.S. shut down ahead of winter storm

Even for those whose flights left on time, the snow and ice created challenges.

Linda Panattoni of La Conner, who was flying to Atlanta for a college reunion, got stuck behind multiple spinouts and car accidents on I-5. She ended up getting to the airport so late that she missed her flight. Panattoni was able to get on another flight out, but it required waiting at the airport for 12 hours.

“Traffic was awful — there was snow on the road,” Panattoni said.

When she got to the airport, she found an additional hurdle.

“It took forever to get parking — I’m up on the eighth floor, and I have handicapped parking,” Panattoni said. “I’ve never seen this airport this busy, where you don’t get parking. You usually just get parking, even at Christmastime.”

Cooper said that the airport is experiencing a rush this week with the overlap of Presidents’ Day and midwinter break for many schools, along with the post-pandemic return of midweek business travel. This means parking is limited, especially at the Sea-Tac garage. Cooper urged people who plan to drive themselves to the airport to arrive extra-early for their flights to allow for finding a parking spot.

“If you can use public transit, that’s a great option. Light rail is a great option. It’s not necessarily always nearby, but if you can do that or even stop [and park] at one of the light rail stations or have someone drop you off at one of the stations, or use an Uber, Lyft, the shuttles, those are options as well for you too so you can stay off the drive,” Cooper suggested.

People are mixing fentanyl with xylazine, a tranquilizer used on large animals like horses and elephants, to create a mixture known as tranq.

Tranq is especially lethal because both xylazine and fentanyl are downers, which cause the heart to beat at a dangerously slow rate. In minutes, a person can slip into a coma and die.

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But while naloxone — more commonly known by its brand name, Narcan — can reverse an overdose caused by fentanyl or other opioids, it is powerless against a tranq overdose.

“You can’t do that with xylazine because it’s a tranquilizer — it’s not an opiate derivative,” explained Rochelle Long, a mental health professional with the Marysville Police Department.

Right now, there is no known antidote for a tranq overdose.

Besides leading to lethal overdose, tranq has other alarming side effects, such as tissue death; the poison can cause a person’s flesh to literally rot away in open sores while they are still alive.

“We’ve started to see some people losing a finger, for example,” Long said, adding, “People don’t know how they’re losing parts of their skin or limbs.”

Not everyone who takes tranq does so knowingly. Just as some people buy what they believe are pain pills — that they do not realize are laced with fentanyl — people are buying fentanyl pills that they do not realize are laced with xylazine.

“This drug basically looks just like the fentanyl pills that are out there,” Long said.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration noted that because xylazine is a legitimate drug used by veterinarians on animals, it can be purchased with relative ease online.

Xylazine first began spreading on the East Coast before making its way west.

“It’s hitting the West Coast now … It’s also been up in Vancouver, B.C., hitting them pretty hard as well,” Long said. “So now we’re getting hit really hard.”

While tranq overdoses are increasing here in the Puget Sound region, xylazine still remains present in only a small percentage of overdose deaths overall. Caleb Banta-Green, acting professor with UW’s Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute, told ����Xվ Newsradio in an email that xylazine was detected in fewer than 1% of fentanyl overdose deaths in 2021 and 2022 in Washington.

“Xylazine is a minor issue right now in terms of [number of overdoses], we are remaining vigilant,” Banta-Green wrote. “Fentanyl is a major issue and we need to be supporting people getting on buprenorphine and methadone today to support recovery and reduce mortality.”

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office found xylazine in four overdose deaths of 732 in 2020, and seven overdose deaths of 1,018 in 2021.

However, the DOJ’s report notes that because xylazine is not a , it is not always tested for, so it is likely that we do not know the full extent of deaths from tranq overdose.

“The presence of xylazine in illicit drug combinations and its detection in fatal overdoses may be more widespread than reported as a number of jurisdictions across the country may not include xylazine in forensic laboratory or toxicology testing,” the report states.

A scam that is becoming more and more common across the state sees people selling fake gold along freeways.

The grift always starts with a person pulled over on the shoulder of a freeway, a highway, an on-ramp, or an off-ramp, pretending their car broke down. When a good Samaritan stops to help, the crook will say they are stranded and need money for car repairs or gas — so they will offer to trade “gold” in exchange for cash.

“They’re making it seem like people giving them cash are getting the better end of the deal because they’re going to take a loss on this gold,” said Washington State Trooper Kelsey Harding, who serves as a public information officer for Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, and Island Counties.

Washington ranks 6th in US for SIM card swapping scam

In reality, however, the jewelry is worthless.

Harding said the amount of money the thieves get from drivers each time varies, ranging from $100 to, in at least one case, $4,000.

Worse, some of the fraudsters will make it appear as though they have a family stranded with them to prey on people’s sympathies.

“They will have a female in the car and some kids, whether that truly is their family or not … trying to appeal to people, trying to get vulnerable people who are very compassionate,” Harding said.

Today one was caught in the act. This was the fake gold he was in possession of. Please share with individuals you know that may be more likely to fall victim to this. They are preying on good samaritans that are stopping to try to help. RO 2/2

— Trooper Kelsey Harding (@wspd7pio)

Troopers do not know if it is the same ring of people pulling the con each time, or if the people are unconnected. While the swindler is usually a man, there is no consistent description of the suspects or the vehicles they use. It is also not clear if those responsible are connected to similar rackets in the past.

What is clear is this specific crime is happening more and more often. In just the past six weeks, troopers knew of approximately 50 instances occurring across the state — and those are just the times that got reported.

More from Nicole Jennings: Grab a bite in Everett to help earthquake relief in Turkey, Syria

If you see someone on the side of the road trying to send gold to people — even if they do not approach you — call 911.

“If someone is trying to sell gold and they’re on the side of I-5, something is wrong with that, it doesn’t seem right, and we encourage people to call law enforcement,” Harding said.

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More than 41,000 people in Turkey and Syria died in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, and millions more are displaced in the freezing winter temperatures. Nine days later, in the rubble.

Through the weekend, in Everett is donating all profits from sales of manakish to , a nonprofit on the ground helping people in Turkey and Syria.

Locals come together to raise funds for Pakistan amidst floods

is a flatbread similar to naan that can be flavored with cheese, tomatoes, pesto, and other toppings. Alida’s owner Nechirvan Zebari said it is commonly eaten in the region hit by the quake.

“We thought it would be a really cool experience for people to come to experience the culture of those people, and at the same time know that the money that they are spending is going to be given to that cause,” Zebari said.

He also chose manakish for the fundraiser because it is the business’ most popular dish, and he wanted to be able to send as much money as possible to the earthquake victims.

And the profits are higher than usual — many of Zebari’s suppliers have slashed prices or given him free ingredients during the fundraiser, so his costs are greatly reduced. That means nearly every penny of your purchase will go directly to the cause.

“You’re probably looking at at least 95% of the money that’s being taken will be given over there,” he said.

Importantly, Islamic Relief provides aid to both Turkey and Syria. However, Zebari said that not every nonprofit is able to help Syria.

“They’re kind of cut off from the world politically — a lot of organizations can’t get in there because of the safety concerns and because of the political situation,” he said, adding, “it’s very important to bring awareness that buildings collapsed there, thousands of people have also died in Syria, and if people are looking to donate, donate to an organization that also gives to Syria, not just Turkey.”

Zebari’s family is from a town that could be thought of as the Blaine of Northern Iraq — it sits right on the border with Turkey and Syria. That means the earthquake hit close to home for him.

“It’s very close to our hearts,” he said.

Thankfully, none of his relatives or friends were hurt, but he wanted to do something for the millions of people who are suffering.

“It just absolutely burned me inside, I couldn’t overcome the emotions,” Zebari said of watching the earthquake footage.

More from Nicole Jennings: Legislature mulls expanding partial exemptions for property taxes

At first, he wanted to travel to the region to lend aid, but then he realized he could do plenty of good right here at home.

And he certainly has — as of Monday, Alida’s Bakery had raised $5,000 for earthquake relief. That’s twice as much as Zebari ever dreamed of, and the fundraiser still has several days to go. He encourages people who are looking for ways to help Turkey and Syria to stop by.

“Try something new, experience the culture, and know that 100% of the profits are going to helping these people,” he said.

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exist for certain groups in Washington, such as low-income seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities.

Whether a senior qualifies for tax relief and how much of a reduction they get is based on their earnings as a percentage of their county’s median income. Currently, households earning 65% of their county’s median income or less can get partial exemptions.

“A lot of times, property tax bills run right around $5,000,” said Clark County Assessor Peter Van Nortwick in testimony at the State Legislature. “And with the senior exemption program, a lot of times we’ll see those bills go down to maybe $2,000 or less.”

Legislature considering bill to lower taxes on canned cocktails

Now, a bipartisan bill in the Legislature would, if passed, expand the groups of people who qualify for partial property tax exemptions.

would increase exemption categories by 5% of county median income. This means that anyone making up to 70% of their county’s median income could get a tax reduction.

Income thresholds would also be re-adjusted every three years to keep up with inflation. Right now, they are only re-adjusted every five years.

Representative Sharon Wylie (D-Vancouver), the bill’s prime sponsor, said this would mean the world to seniors on a fixed income who have been harmed by record inflation.

“It’s in everybody’s interest to be able to age in place and to not lose the homes that we have put our life’s savings into,” she said. “This is a problem that is only going to get worse.”

King County Assessor John Wilson testified in support of the bill, noting that in his home county, the qualifying income would go up to about $72,000 per year.

“I very much support efforts to take into account the devastating impact inflation is having on seniors across our state … I hear far too often from seniors who literally are in tears from fear of losing their homes simply because their property taxes went up,” Wilson said.

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Bellevue Superintendent Art Jarvis said fewer students have resulted in less funding from the state, and right now, the district can’t afford to pay all its teachers along with the overhead costs of schools that aren’t full.

Families rally ahead of Bellevue School District consolidation decision

“In addition to the funding loss, enrollment decline currently leaves us with empty seats and classrooms. In the elementary schools in Bellevue, there is a surplus approaching three thousand seats, which translates to 100 empty classrooms or more,” Jarvis said in a prepared statement. “We do not need 18 elementary schools at the moment or in the next decade.”

But some Bellevue parents don’t agree.

“We think that the district has made mistakes financially, and they’re trying to solve it in the fastest and least creative way,” said Sean Hill, a parent to a Bellevue elementary student.

Jarvis’ plan breaks down as follows:

• North Area: Combine Ardmore Elementary School at Bennett Elementary School, Cherry Crest Elementary, and Sherwood Forest Elementary
• South Area: Combine Eastgate Elementary at Spiritridge Elementary and Somerset Elementary. Move Spiritridge Advanced Learning to Woodridge Elementary
• Midwest Area: Combine Wilburton Elementary at Clyde Hill Elementary and Enatai Elementary

Enrollment in the Bellevue District is down as some families have moved out of the area due to cost, while others chose to put their kids in private school during the pandemic.

Some Bellevue parents argued this decision came about too quickly. Eastgate mom Megan Russell told ����Xվ Newsradio her kids will be devastated to change schools.

More from Nicole Jennings: ‘Recycle, don’t throw out’ newest message from King County initiative

“Hundreds of kids’ worlds are crumbling,” Russell said during a rally

This remains just a proposal for now, as of this reporting. The school board still needs to vote on a final decision.

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In practice, consolidating schools would involve ending school at three elementary school buildings and combining students while repurposing the former school buildings.

“We know that they will be repurposed for other things within the district — for other district use — not for student use,” said Janine Thorn, chief communications and engagement officer for the district.

The district is considering this plan because of dropping enrollment. An official announcement is expected at Thursday evening’s Bellevue School Board meeting.

Open houses about Bellevue Schools consolidation being held this week

Seven elementary schools are up for consideration: Ardmore, Eastgate, Enatai, Phantom Lake, Sherwood Forest, Wilburton, and Woodridge Elementary Schools.

Despite the fact that the City of Bellevue continues to grow, with about 20,000 students and is expected to decline to about 16,000 by 2031 — a drop of about 20%.

There are several reasons for this downturn, including falling birth rates (a nationwide trend), families with kids moving out of the area because it is expensive, and parents pulling their kids out of public schools in favor of private schools or homeschooling during the pandemic.

The enrollment issue is far from exclusive to Bellevue. Seattle Public Schools in the 2024-2025 school year to balance its budget amidst a falling student population.

The Bellevue School District says having so many school buildings in use with fewer students is an inefficient use of resources, and a new plan is necessary to cut costs.

“Having students consolidated … frees us up to be able to do some other things — continue to provide those services at an efficient cost and stabilize and maintain our current staffing,” Thorn said.

But the families who rallied outside district headquarters said this all came about too quickly.

“We’re asking for more time and more input rather than just being told this is what’s happening,” said Lauren Houchin, who has twin first-graders at Phantom Lake Elementary in the Lake Hills neighborhood.

parents are rallying in protest outside office ahead of Thursday’s school board meeting, when the district will unveil its plan to deal with dropping enrollment. On the table: potentially consolidating three elementary schools.

— Nicole Jennings (@nicole����XվFM)

Houchin and her husband both work full-time, and she said that having her kids sent to another school would upend the family’s schedule. Having to drive across town to attend school events or pick kids up from after-school activities is a stressor that working families don’t need, she said.

“We walk to and from school with our kids every day,” she said. If the kids have to go to another school that is farther away, “we’d either have to look into taking a bus or driving in traffic.”

Houchin said that most kids at Phantom Lake walk to school. Some Phantom Lake parents previously told ����Xվ Newsradio that they had bought their houses specifically so that their kids could be near enough to school to walk.

“To think that they’ll have to move to another school and start over and make new friends, it’s just a big challenge,” Houchin said of her kids.

Phantom Lake is not the only elementary school with a tight-knit community. Eastgate Elementary dad Chad Thomas said that his neighborhood also revolves around the elementary school. If Eastgate ceases to exist in its current form, Thomas said his kids will likely have to go to school across I-90, certainly too far to walk.

“My mother-in-law and my aunt-in-law graduated from Eastgate in ’57 and ’59, respectively,” he said. “It’s a very important cornerstone of our community.”

King County is to get people to stop and think before automatically throwing something in the trash.

The goal of the is to make it easier for people to recycle or repurpose an item.

Adrian Tan, the policy and market development manager for King County Solid Waste, said the problem is not that people do not want to recycle; instead, they often just do not have enough information about what can be recycled, where, and how to do so.

“People who live in King County, they really appreciate the nature — we have beautiful surroundings, and they want to protect that,” Tan said. “And people do want to do the right thing. We just have to make it easier for them. We have to make sure that it is the easy, convenient choice.”

New King County project gives more options for recycling soft plastics

The plan increases ways for people to do the three R’s — reduce, reuse, and recycle (or compost). To improve knowledge about and access to recycling, the county will get more information out to people about where they can take their items — for example, batteries. The county will also work with companies to improve the labeling of their products to show what can be recycled.

Another goal is to get compost collection to all county households. Nearly a third of what goes to the county’s landfill every year is food and yard waste, which could be composted instead.

“When that rots in our landfill, that creates methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas,” Tan said. “Recycling, composting, doing the right thing is one of the easiest ways to contribute toward reducing your greenhouse gas emissions.”

The county’s program will give grants and technical assistance to small businesses, nonprofits, and community organizations to help them recycle and reuse more, as well as to get uneaten, edible food to people in need, rather than throwing it away.

The county will also develop technologies to help convert items that come to landfill into recycled products.

Also, possibly on the table is a county deposit-return system for bottles and other recyclables, so that you would get some cash or credit toward your next purchase when you bring those items back to the store where you bought them. and , if passed, would establish such a program statewide.

Seattle attorney representing 737 MAX victims’ families weighs in on Boeing arraignment

The county’s only landfill, Cedar Hills Landfill in Maple Valley, is set to be maxed out by 2040 if nothing changes. Sadly, the majority of what gets thrown out there could be salvaged.

“Right now, 800,000 tons are going to our landfill [every year] — it’s a mountain out there,” Tan said. “And about 70% of that could be reused, recycled, composted — many better ways of doing that.”

Cynthia Adams, a supervisor at King County Solid Waste, regularly sees perfectly good products coming into the Factoria Transfer Station in Bellevue, such as furniture, artwork, bicycles, and other sporting goods, clothing, and toys — many of them still in the original packaging. In some cases, staff can pull out cardboard, metals, or wood to be recycled if they are not contaminated, but for the most part, by the time an item arrives as trash at the transfer station, it is already too late.

Do you throw things out that could be reused? These are just some of the perfectly good items sees at its Factoria Transfer Station in . Most of what goes to the county’s Cedar Hills Landfill could be recycled/reused – and the landfill will be full by 2040.

— Nicole Jennings (@nicole����XվFM)

“It’s heartbreaking to see Victorian furniture going over the wall … They didn’t think to take it somewhere else, they didn’t think to have a garage sale, they didn’t think to ask a neighbor, put it online, to see if it could have a second life,” Adams said.

Adams said we need a shift in our society’s way of thinking, from a consumer culture that is waste-driven to one that stops and considers how to make do and reuse a product.

“I believe a lot of it is our mindset that you buy it, use it, and you’re done. And sometimes you don’t think about, ‘How can I help my community or someone else?’ ” she said. “I think slowly we’re getting there … but we haven’t changed our mindset to a recycle future.”

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The aerospace giant came to an agreement with the Department of Justice two years ago to avoid prosecution by paying $2.5 billion in fines to the families and to the airlines that had to ground their 737 MAXs.

However, U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor has now ordered Boeing to be arraigned after the victims’ families filed a brief stating that it was unfair for the deferred prosecution to be reached without their knowledge or participation.

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The two 737 MAX crashes — an October 2018 Lion Air crash in Indonesia and a March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash in Ethiopia –occurred within half a year of each other and killed a total of 346 people. In both cases, investigators found that a Boeing flight control system was part of the cause.

Seattle personal injury attorney Charles Herrmann has represented 50 of the victims’ families in lawsuits against Boeing, and was in the Fort Worth courtroom supporting his clients during the arraignment.

“Judge O’Connor recently ruled that the deferred prosecution agreement with Boeing violated the victims’ rights because they weren’t given input into it,” he said.

He said that some of the loved ones spoke in the courtroom about how hurt they were by the way in which the agreement between Boeing and the Department of Justice was reached.

“This is without precedent that you have a fraud by a corporation that it perpetrated against the government which results in the death of 346 people,” Herrmann said.

In a statement, Boeing expressed sorrow for the families of the victims.

“We are deeply sorry to all who lost loved ones on Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Flight 302, and greatly respect those who expressed their views at the hearing today,” the company stated. “We will never forget the lives lost in these accidents and their memory drives us every day to uphold our responsibility to all who depend on the safety of our products.”

Federal investigations have found that Boeing intentionally hid details about its Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System from the FAA, which pushes the nose of a plane down to avoid a stall.

“They didn’t inform the FAA when they made that change — in fact, they filed false reports and hid it from the FAA,” Herrmann said.

Herrmann explained that the motivation for keeping quiet about the system known as MCAS was financial — alerting airlines to this change would have required extensive pilot training, which would have been costly for Boeing.

“In the sale of 391 of these MAX planes to Southwest, it was written into the contract that if extensive training was required, Boeing would have to pay a penalty of a $1 million,” Herrmann said. “So they were facing, conceivably, $391 million that they would’ve had to pay to properly train the pilots.”

In its statement, Boeing said that it made safety improvements to the MAX during the nearly two years that the planes were grounded.

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“We have made broad and deep changes across our company, and made changes to the design of the 737 MAX to ensure that accidents like these never happen again,” Boeing said. “We also are committed to continuing to comply scrupulously with all of our obligations under the agreement we entered into with the Justice Department two years ago.”

If the Department of Justice throws out the previous settlement and Boeing is found guilty, Herrmann believes the company will be hit with sanctions, fines, and stricter oversight.

“I think you’re talking, first of all, full disclosure, number-one — so everyone can see exactly what Boeing did or did not do,” Herrmann said. “Secondly, that they do pay fines and additional compensation. And thirdly, that there’s some sort of monitoring and conditions to make sure that Boeing goes forward with safe manufacturing practices.”

One test pilot has been criminally prosecuted because of the MAX crashes, but was found not guilty.

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