“You just shot your stand-up special over the weekend, how’d it go?” “Seattle’s Morning News” host Charlie Harger asked Piven.

“It was incredible. You’re the first people I’m talking to about it,” Piven replied. “I’m actually in St Louis. I just finished a show here, and I’ve been doing different cities every day. I went home to Chicago and filmed (the special) in front of my people, a couple of sold-out shows at the Vic theater. The whole thing was a miracle.”

Career-defining turn as Entourage’s Ari Gold

Piven became an overnight sensation after appearing as Ari Gold in the comedy series “Entourage,” for which he won a Golden Globe Award聽and three consecutive聽Emmy Awards across 96 episodes.

“With ‘Entourage,’ my job and, my God, was I lucky to have it, my honor was to take the written word, every single word, and make it feel improvisational,” Piven said. “Make it feel like, ‘Oh, man, this guy’s just making it up,’ because everyone thought I was just making it up, and what a great compliment that is.”

But his dedication to the character Ari Gold and the lexicon of profanity that came with it eventually caught up to him, as producers became convinced he wasn’t even acting.

“An agent actually said to me one time, ‘I’m having trouble getting you work on your hiatus because everyone’s saying there’s no way that’s acting,'” Piven said. “And I’m like, ‘I’m sorry, wait, what?'”

Piven’s love for Seattle

“I love Seattle,” Piven said. “My memory of Seattle is filming with Cameron Crowe in Seattle. I did ‘Singles’ and ‘Say Anything’ with Cameron, and then I did a music video with him in Seattle.”

One part of the Seattle leg of his tour that Piven is particularly excited about is performing at the Neptune Theatre, a historic 104-year-old venue with a 1,000-person capacity in the University District. In 2014, the theater was designated as a Seattle landmark.

“It’s a great venue,” Harger said. “I’ve been to a couple of shows there. In fact, I brought my daughter to a concert there once, and they brought us up on stage. I danced on stage there. It seemed like a lot of people were judging me and my dancing.”

“And, by the way, that feeling is very common. That’s what everyone feels the first time they really enter into a new arena like that,” Piven said. “If you wanted to be a professional dancer, and I don’t suggest it, my good man, I don’t know if you have it in you. I think if you were a stripper, your stripper name would be ‘Vanilla Drizzle’ or ‘Put some ice on it.'”

Piven’s show is happening . Show starts at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

(R-Aberdeen) joined “Seattle’s Morning News” just before the House sent the bill to the president’s desk to explain why this “big, beautiful bill” is necessary.

“I want to know your pitch to our 成人X站 Newsradio listeners, because we do have a mix of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents all hanging on your every word right now,” 成人X站 host Charlie Harger said.

“Look, this is a controversial bill, and let’s frame it the right way,” Walsh said.聽“What we ought to be doing in Congress … is doing normal budgets, like what we do in Olympia. You can like them. You can dislike them, but a regular budget allows for the right debate on these issues of what we spend our tax money on.

“We haven’t done a proper federal budget in like two decades, and this is what we get for doing all these Band-Aid fixes on our federal government spending,” Walsh continued.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Review said the bill would pile nearly $3.3 trillion onto the nation鈥檚 debt load from 2025 to 2034, a nearly $1 trillion increase over the House-passed version of the bill. The analysis also found that 11.8 million Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill were to be signed by President Trump.

“I’m old enough to remember when the Republicans were the party of fiscal responsibility,” Harger said. “All about balanced budgets, but here we are adding $3.3 trillion to the deficit. How can we justify that?”

“Well, it’s tough. We need to pass this kind of bill to keep things going on this revolving, temporary basis, because this is where we are. We’ve agreed to do this years ago, and we’re stuck now in this place,” Walsh responded. “What we need is leadership at the top, and the president has indicated he wants to go this way. This gets us back to conventional budget negotiations in D.C., and that’s the long-term play. This is a short-term step on the way to getting proper budgets written.”

Cuts toward Medicaid frighten Democratic reps, voters

Tax breaks, spending cuts, and new funding for national defense and deportations are among the top concerns for Republicans, according to The Associated Press, while聽Democrats worry the bill鈥檚 reductions to Medicaid will leave millions without care.

“What’s the truth about the Medicaid cuts that are in this proposal? Right now, in this country, we have a diluted Medicaid program,” Walsh said. “The program uses federal dollars that flow through the state governments. So every state has its own version of Medicaid. In our state, we call ours Apple Health. We’ve had a series of decisions made in how we run Apple Health that has diluted the benefit.”

Walsh said Medicaid’s initial purpose in Washington was to provide basic health insurance for people who are disabled, for people who are really down and out and not able to work and find their own health insurance, and a small sliver of older people.

“What the big beautiful bill is trying to do is refocus Medicaid dollars to get those reimbursement numbers back up closer to what the cost of providing the services is for a rural hospital,” Walsh said.

Listen to the full conversation here.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

Huffman discussed his journey from high school to culinary school on “Seattle’s Morning News” on 成人X站 Newsradio with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor. He also shared how his years working in local restaurants developed a skill set that led to being Canlis’s first Seattle-born executive chef.

James Huffman’s journey toward Canlis

“In high school, I started working in restaurants. At the time, while I was in high school, I didn’t know that I wanted to adventure into being a chef, or working in kitchens,” Huffman said. “Shortly after I graduated from high school, my love for the restaurant industry blossomed.”

Huffman noted he met his wife in high school, who is Filipino, and was聽blown away by the taste of Filipino cuisine

“I thought about cooking as a living, and I went to culinary school probably six months after I graduated high school,” Huffman said. “I didn’t look back; it was something that came very naturally to me, and I wanted to pursue it as a career.”

In his early years, Huffman began his food service career working as a busboy at Lake Forest Bar and Grill before he strived to become a chef.

“I started working at some pretty reputable restaurants early on, one of them being Purple Wine Bar and Cafe,” Huffman said. “After a year working there, I worked at a restaurant called Cafe Juanita that’s also in Kirkland, and then, eventually, the next step for me felt like going to Canlis, and that was roughly nine years ago.”

Huffman has been with Canlis for nearly a decade, initially starting as a cook before working as executive sous chef, and now, the eighth executive chef in the restaurant鈥檚 history, selected from 72 possible candidates for the job.

How Huffman built his top-tier skills

“What lessons did you learn back in the early days at each restaurant that you keep with you now at Canlis?” Manda asked.

“The culture at Purple was that you just worked super hard. I was surrounded by people who were extremely talented and fast-paced,” Huffman said. “I was 19 years old, working in a kitchen around a bunch of adults, I got a great sense for the urgency, pacing, and how to generally be a very hard worker.”

Huffman cited the restaurant’s diverse, flavorful offerings as a contributor to building out his own understanding of crafting unique menu items.

“I got a sense for building flavor profiles at Purple. They had a ton of classic yummy food, and with Cafe Juanita, that’s where I learned what it was like to work in a fine dining space, using old school techniques with elegance and refinement,” Huffman said.

Huffman has already changed almost 90% of the Canlis menu, leaning into seasonal food. The spring dishes Huffman was adding to the menu as the interim executive chef were a significant factor in Canlis鈥� decision to appoint him to the position permanently.

“At Cafe Juanita, I learned how to use my knife really, really well,” Huffman said. “The amount of knife work we had to do in that restaurant was pretty intimidating, but there’s only one good way to build that skill, and it’s to practice over and over again.”

Canlis offers a that includes king salmon, American wagyu beef, and a citrus parfait, among other surprises.

“When I got to Canlis, I felt very confident in my abilities to learn and grow with modern fine dining techniques, while also learning how to be a respectful professional and person,” Huffman said.

Huffman鈥檚 internal promotion is a significant achievement. Canlis usually hires chefs from outside the city, acquiring big names with Michelin-starred backgrounds.

“Something Canlis has been doing for a long time is supporting local producers and farmers, making sure that we’re honoring the product they produce by cooking it and making it delicious, while also making sure things don’t go to waste,” Huffman said.

Huffman aims to create a welcoming atmosphere for guests.

“We at Canlis want to always invite people to trust us and our hospitality, and let us take the lead,” Huffman said. “Hopefully, it’s the best experience that we can offer, and it aligns with what people are looking for.”

Canlis has now received 22 consecutive Wine Spectator Grand Awards, has been nominated for 15 James Beard Awards, and has won three of them.

Listen to the full conversation below.

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

“The question is, what will it take for this to slow down?” 成人X站 host Gee Scott asked on “Seattle’s Morning News.”

The cost of living in Seattle is 45% higher than the national average and 8% higher than the state average, according to . Buying a house in Seattle is even pricier, coming up at 112% more expensive than the U.S. average.

Analyzing income needed to live comfortably in Washington

“Obviously, we have a limited housing supply in the state of Washington that needs to be addressed like yesterday,” Gee said. “But I just don’t know when and if it’s going to stop. It feels like it won’t stop, and it feels like the only thing you can do to combat this is either A.) make a lot of money, or B.) move.”

New York ranked as the fourth-most expensive state to live in, with single adult New Yorkers needing to make $114,691 to live comfortably, according to SmartAsset. Hawaii is the most expensive state to live in, per SmartAsset, at $124,467 per person. Massachusetts ranked second at $120,141, while California ranked third at $119,475.

Having to move when the price goes up is reminiscent of gentrification, Gee noted.

“That happens throughout the country,” he said. “There were a lot of people that lived near the city, all across the country, the same people that were redlined, they had to move because they could not afford to live in those areas. And it’s almost like a common day redlining.”

To combat rising prices, Gee is trying to cut back on small spending. However, he noted it’s easier said than done.

“That is the hardest part,” he said. “And I’m talking about the little things. There have been times in my life when I’m like, ‘OK, saving 10 bucks, that’s no big deal.’ But yes, actually saving 10 bucks here, saving five bucks there, that adds up.”

Listen to the full conversation below.

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

McFarland detailed the alarming trend on “Seattle’s Morning News” on 成人X站 Newsradio.

“First of all, let’s just reflect on that number,” he said. “It is hard to find a 500% increase in anything over the course of six years. This is troubling, and it’s alarming to federal law enforcement.”

FBI reports rise in sextortion cases

The in Nashville labeled sextortion as a financially motivated criminal act involving offenders threatening to release compromising material unless a payment from the victim is received.

Between October 2021 and March 2023, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) received more than 13,000 reports of online financial sextortion of minors, according to the FBI.

“The crooks are targeting teenage boys, minors. It’s a paradigm shift in this type of crime. Traditionally, people were seeking illicit images of minors, only for the images,” McFarland said. “Now, they’re seeking the images to extort money out of the victim, and they think boys are less likely to report the crime.”

The FBI noted that victims are typically males between the ages of 14 and 17; however, any child can be a victim.

McFarland continued with the , a 21-year-old citizen of Ghana who was visiting the United States with his mother and allegedly extorted a man from Buffalo, NY, with illicit photographs.

“He tried to convince the [victim] to send money in return for not sharing illicit images the boy had posted on a social media account [Cole] had hacked,” McFarland said. “After talking to his father, the victim decided not to send the money, and it took two years to track down the person responsible.”

Nashville’s FBI Office stated that financially motivated sextortion offenders are usually located outside of the U.S., and West African countries such as Nigeria and the Ivory Coast, or Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines, are home to usual suspects.

“[Cole] is one of the fractions they’re able to catch. There are so many people who have executed this crime that they haven’t gotten their hands on yet, and part of that is the international component to this. A lot of the people doing this live and operate overseas,” McFarland said.

Listen to the full conversation below.

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

Vince Hall, the Chief Government Relations Officer at , stopped by “Seattle’s Morning News” on 成人X站 Newsradio with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor to outline the impact Congress’s new bill would have on American families.

Feeding America on the SNAP cut bill

“Congress is considering a bill that would significantly reduce funding for SNAP, Medicaid, and Medicare, three programs that play a critical role in helping meet essential needs for a lot of families,” Harger said. “This couldn’t come at a worse time. Summer brings higher expenses, and the cost of food and health care remains out of reach for millions.”

The SNAP program provides food benefits to low-income families, supplementing their grocery budget and enabling them to afford nutritious food essentials, according to the .

“The SNAP program projects that [the bill] would reduce the number of meals available to people struggling with hunger by 9.5 billion meals per year nationwide,” Hall said. “For comparison, the entire Feeding America network produces 6 billion meals, so the cut would be more than 150% of everything that America’s food banks can produce today, and would lead to very dramatic increases in food insecurity across the country.”

SNAP-eligible foods include fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy products, breads, and cereals. SNAP benefits cannot be used to buy alcohol, tobacco, medicine, vitamins, or hygiene items, according to the USDA.

Hall explained that the bill would also have a massive impact on Medicaid if it were signed into law as it currently stands.

“They’re talking about cutting in the order of $700 billion from the Medicaid program, which is a critical investment in the health care of our people, and helps hospitals, community clinics, nursing homes, and other facilities to take care of our most vulnerable citizens,” Hall said. “This cut would be directed in a harmful way to both their food security and their health security.”

Nearly 14 million children faced hunger in 2023, and one in every five children was unsure where they would get their next meal, according to .

“For about 9 million kids in the United States, a school cafeteria is their only reliable, consistent source of balanced and nutritious meals, and they often count on it for both breakfast and lunch,” Hall said. “It’s an important additional problem that we can expect to see across the country if this legislation is signed into law.”

Hall offered a way for people to get involved and enact change in their community.

“If people are concerned about Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP, it’s a really good time to pick up the phone and get in touch with members of Congress,” Hall said. “At Feedingamerica.org/snapcuts, people can fill out a couple of blanks and within minutes, communicate a very strong and important message.”

Listen to the full conversation below.

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

“I find it really unfortunate,” Ursula Reutin, co-host of “The Gee and Ursula Show,” told “Seattle’s Morning News” on 成人X站 Newsradio Friday.

Boeing, the Expedia Group, and Amazon’s LGBTQ+ employee resource group will not be returning as sponsors, according to The Seattle Times.

“I think there are some conservative talking heads who say, ‘Shame on The Seattle Times for outing these companies that are pulling back on their sponsorships,” Ursula continued. “Those same companies got great credit for saying they were going to support Pride, and a lot was made about, ‘Hey, we’re going to be supporting Pride, and this is something that is important and is something intentional that we want to do as a company.’ So if you’re pulling back, I think it’s not shaming, it’s just reporting a fact.”

found 61% of U.S. executives cited the Trump administration as the top reason for reconsidering Pride.

“I think it is news that these companies, for fear of the current administration, are pulling back their sponsorship,” Ursula said.

Seattle Pride faces budget shortfall

In April, Seattle Pride said it was facing a $350,000 gap in funding, reported.

Listen to the full conversation below.

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

Gee Scott, co-host of “The Gee and Ursula Show” on 成人X站 Newsradio, explained why travelers should be wary of “juice jacking.”

“What is juice jacking? It’s the type of cyber attack where hackers install malware on public charging stations, potentially stealing your data or affecting your device,” Gee said on “Seattle’s Morning News” last week. “So right now, TSA and them are warning travelers鈥攄on’t plug in your devices directly into the airport USB ports.

“You sit down at the gate, there are USB ports and everything like that, and you just go plug it up,” Gee continued. “But even when you plug it up, you notice how slow it is. Chill with that.”

TSA: Bring your own power packs to prevent ‘juice jacking’

TSA is advising passengers to bring their own compliant power packs.

Charlie Harger, co-host of “Seattle’s Morning News,” said he is the type of person who gets nervous if his phone is below 80%.

To which Gee cheekily responded, “If there is a guy that’s like, ‘Hey, I can’t let my phone get below 80,’ they usually iron their underwear.”

Listen to the full conversation below.

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

The population of young adults between the ages of 25 and 34 has decreased by approximately 5% between 2019 and 2023, according to , a drastic difference compared to the 35% increase that occurred between 2013 and 2019.

Where are the young adults going?

“So the question is, where are those people going?” 成人X站 fill-in host Angela Poe Russell said. “I did a little digging, and I found there’s a lure to small rural towns right now. They want anything with nature, lots of amenities, and low cost of living. Florida and Texas are definitely a draw.”

Poe Russell cited a statistic from Realtor.com, revealing that IRS applications to launch new businesses have increased by 13% in the smallest metro areas of rural counties.

“These are my peeps. This is my generation, 25 to 34. I’m 29 now, and all of my friends, everyone that we ask, don’t want to live in the cities anymore,” David Burbank, the producer for “Seattle’s Morning News” on 成人X站 Newsradio, said. “The nightlife holds no appeal anymore, and maybe part of that is crime. You don’t really feel safe being out in Capitol Hill much anymore.”

“If we look at Washington specifically, I’d love to know where people are going in Washington,” Poe Russell said. “I was recently visiting Leavenworth for whitewater rafting, and I saw all these apartments going up, and I was like, ‘Oh, what’s happening?’ Seeing a lot of growth there.”

Listen to the full conversation here.

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

, a longtime advocate for the queer community and co-executive director of Sustainable Seattle, told “Seattle’s Morning News” on 成人X站 Newsradio Friday they began their campaign for mayor after the queer community asked them to step up.

“I grew up in the city,” they shared. “I’ve seen it change a lot over the last couple of decades, and I was really looking for more leadership, especially as it relates to climate change and kind of the crises that are facing the current moment, and so members of the queer community asked me to step up and potentially run and stand for something.”

Seattle mayoral candidate Ry Armstrong calls for ‘bold action’

When asked what that “something” is, Armstrong responded, “I look back at the housing crisis. Ed Murray, former mayor, had that 10-year plan. It’s going to fix homelessness, right? It’s been 11 years, and where have we ended up? So I think we need someone who’s going to be that next generation of leadership, someone who’s going to step forward and say, ‘Hey, let’s build a thousand units in the first hundred days of our administration.’ There are a hundred tiny homes just sitting in SODO that LIHI (Low Income Housing Institute) wants to put somewhere. I think if we can start making bold action and not being afraid of making mistakes, I would love to see a mayor’s office that’s going to step up and actually fight back.”

Moving to the topic of crime, Armstrong said they have done a couple of ride-alongs with Seattle officers.

Armstrong’s vision to make Seattle safer

“One of my observations is this fact that police officers are doing seven jobs in one, and that’s unsustainable,” they shared. “Massive amounts of overtime. People can’t survive in that environment for a long time. So how can we specialize them back to emergency response, making sure that our city is safe, and they can respond in a timely manner.”

As mayor, Armstrong would look to invest in streetlights, pedestrian safety, and accessibility throughout the city.

“A lot of people in the neighborhoods have been forgotten,” they added. “As a mayor, how can we have town halls? So people who are afraid of where the nation’s headed, where everything’s going in the country, there’s just so much uncertainty, and I think people want to feel like they have stability.”

In their free time, Armstrong likes to scuba dive and enjoy the beauty of Seattle.

“It’s nice to just escape and get away and realize how we’re just small, little beings on this large planet,” they said.

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

Mallahan made his case for the upcoming election on “Seattle’s Morning News” on 成人X站 Newsradio, positioning himself as a more effective leader than Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and sharing his intentions for Seattle’s future.

“We really have it in us to have a model city for progressive government, and we just don’t see our values on the streets,” he said. “And I think that’s just because we have a lack of leadership in city government. And I jumped into the race because I don’t think there’s another candidate that can actually beat Bruce in the general.

“And I think Bruce has badly mismanaged city government. He’s allowed the police department to develop, I mean, there’s a lot going on there, but there’s a dysfunctional and demoralized police department, and he hasn’t been an activist mayor, even remotely in that regard. And homelessness continues to be a huge problem, and he shows very little vision,” he continued.

Joe Mallahan nearly became mayor in 2009

Mallahan got close to becoming mayor in 2009, beating then-incumbent mayor Greg Nickels, but losing by around 1% to Mike McGinn.

When asked what has changed since then, Mallahan responded, “I’m a much better candidate than I was when I lost to Mike McGinn, and God bless Mike, he ran a great campaign, and I ran an OK campaign. What’s changed in Seattle鈥攐ur streets are dirtier and less safe, and we have great progressive values. Well, progressivism would tell you, ‘We would take care of the homeless,’ and quite frankly, we deserve the homeless. We need to add a ton more emergency bedding and get people off the streets and into treatment.”

His approach to homelessness: ‘I think there needs to be an incentive’

Speaking further on homelessness in Seattle, Mallahan believes the city needs a new approach.

“I think there needs to be an incentive,” he shared. “I hate to use this term, but we need to hold the homeless accountable. The vast majority of homeless have mental health and addiction problems, so asking a lot from them isn’t reasonable, but you can certainly tell them, ‘Look, you can’t sit here and deal in and consume drugs in the public space. It’s bad for the common good. It’s bad for you. And we need you to get into treatment.’ And so there needs to be a little bit of push to treatment.”

Mallahan called himself “a pragmatic leftist,” adding that he believes conservative values and left values “overlap 80%” and that with his 30 years of management experience, he is the best candidate.

“I’m 62 years old. I just retired from T-Mobile, and I think I got eight years of great energy left in me, so I’d love to spend it serving the City of Seattle and its people,” he shared.

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

Gee Scott joined “Seattle’s Morning News” with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor, to embrace United Airlines’ policy change. He says he wants to hold late-arriving passengers accountable.

“I love more accountability,” Gee said, “What ends up happening is, the people who do things the right way, and are on time, then wonder why some of these planes are delayed.”

Positive effects on SeaTac

Gee sees this policy change as an opportunity to revamp the current congestion issues at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

“When you go to (Sea-Tac), everything is packed, you have to have some type of structure,” Gee said.

The new check-in policy, effective June 3, aims to align with the United Airlines checked-baggage deadline policy, according to It could potentially聽limit delayed flights as a result.

Listen to the full conversation below.

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

“If it’s a checkered line, zipper merge all you want, but you won’t talk me out of a double white line,” Joe said.

The zipper merge鈥攚hen two or more cars on the roadway take turns converging into the same lane, likely due to a blockage鈥攈as become one of the most debated topics in traffic.

Harger mentioned his strategy on Washington roads.

“My policy is that I will let one person in front of me if I am in the line, and then after that, nobody else is getting in,” Harger said.

I-5 commuters talk zipper merge in basketball terms

Harger summed it up as a lack of understanding, rather than incompetence.

“Why don’t people (zipper merge)? I don’t understand. Do we not teach how to merge?” Harger said. “I think that’s one of the big issues. People think you’re cheating, and you’re cutting the line. No, it cuts down on the congestion, and it’s safer.”

Joe linked the battle for a spot in traffic to playing defense on a basketball court, with a playful homage to a former Seattle Supersonic.

“Sometimes it’s Craig, and sometimes it’s Gary Payton in the driver’s seat, playing some good defense, and not letting people in,” Joe said.

成人X站 Newsradio traffic reporter gives his thoughts

成人X站 Newsradio’s traffic reporter, Chris “Sully” Sullivan, chimed in and offered his opinion on the matter.

“A double white line is illegal. You cannot cross that,” Sully said. “If we got some signage, indicating that this is a zipper merge area, by all means, get in the lane. Let’s be a team out here.”

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

Washington has seen 23 boating deaths in the past two years. Officials said 61% of those involved paddle sports, like kayaking or canoeing.

“Eighty-six percent of those fatalities were not wearing life jackets,” Rob Sendak, the state鈥檚 boating law administrator, said.

Officials urge life jackets for boaters

Today is the last day of . Sendak recommends that anyone who gets in the water wear a life jacket.

鈥淚t’s our mission to save lives,鈥� Sendak said.

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Tom Bower told 成人X站 Newsradio that when someone gets in trouble, time is of the essence.

鈥淭hat’s the hardest thing for any鈥擨 think any law enforcement agency or search and rescue agency would say the same thing鈥攂ecause of the cold water that we have here,鈥� Bower said.

Puget Sound is only in the lower 50s right now. Sendak urges everyone to wear a life jacket, no matter how calm the water looks. Officials said paddlers are especially at risk in spring and early summer.

“Right now, renters in Seattle are looking at a staggering $90,000 per year that you need to make, just to afford the basics of housing,” Gee told “Seattle’s Morning News” on 成人X站 Newsradio. “All while rent has skyrocketed faster than incomes can keep up.”

In Seattle, renters must make $90,840 to afford rent payments, and聽keep housing costs under the recommended 30% of their total income.

Gee Scott believes Seattle rent rates are reaching desperate levels

“Here in the Seattle area, it feels like you need to sell a kidney to afford rent,” Gee said.

Aside from high monthly rates, security deposits and advance rent payments have contributed to the uptick in total cost, according to Zillow.

“Some of the hardest working people are those who have three jobs, and the ones who have three jobs are barely making it,” Gee said.

Listen to the full conversation below:

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

成人X站 Newsradio’s Luke Ducey joined Manda Factor and Charlie Harger on “Seattle’s Morning News” to explain how new legislation could curb gun violence.

New law targets violence at Seattle clubs

“Last month, the Seattle City Council passed an ordinance to regulate after-hours clubs and lounges better,” Ducey explained. “These private clubs are now required to get a liquor license, hire security guards, and have surveillance video.”

The ordinance, which went into effect Monday, follows years of deadly shootings, including a recent double murder outside a hookah lounge.

“The ordinance came in response to, again, years of deadly shootings at these businesses like this, including a recent double murder outside the Capri Hookah Lounge in South Seattle,” Ducey said.

Listen to the whole conversation below.

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

That means hot spots for basketball like Southern California, Las Vegas, and, of course, Seattle will all be in the mix as a potential expansion city.

“It feels like there’s real movement now, in the long way, to bring the NBA back to Seattle,” Charlie Harger, co-host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on 成人X站 Newsradio, said. “We’ve had these optimistic times before, but this one feels different, right?”

“What’s different this time around is the language that Adam Silver is using,” , a veteran journalist with KOMO News, answered. “We’ve heard multiple times from the commissioner about when they may start an expansion process. At one point this time last year, he was saying in the fall. He was asked about it again this season, and then he got to the end of the season, and he basically gave a full-throated statement about the importance of Seattle and the fan base at the Board of Governors meeting, but again, did not commit to a timeline.”

According to Daniels, Silver is laying out the groundwork for an expansion committee to study possible cities for a few months this summer and turning in their results.

“Now that we’ve heard Silver specifically mention Seattle and Las Vegas, I think the writing is on the wall here,” Daniels said. “Once they start that expansion committee, it’s Seattle and Las Vegas, and in a few months after that, that’s when any sort of formal announcement will be made.”

Daniels cited that Climate Pledge Arena, ready to house an NBA franchise, has an NBA-ready locker room that’s just being used for storage in “the bowels of the arena.”

Who would own the Seattle SuperSonics?

“Who are we looking at in terms of potential owners?” Harger asked.

“Well, Samantha Holloway, who owns the Kraken, has already made it clear she would like to be a part of an NBA franchise,” Daniels answered. “Her family, the late David Bonderman, owned a piece of the Celtics, so she has been trying to put this group together to come up with potentially $4 or $5 billion. There are going to be multiple investors. There will be a long list.”

Daniels also shared he wouldn’t be surprised if the ownership group had a connection to Amazon, even throwing out CEO Andy Jassy’s name around in the mix. Amazon owns the naming rights for Climate Pledge Arena, and is already a partner with the NBA for the distribution of broadcasted games.

Listen to the full conversation here.

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

Gee Scott, co-host of 鈥淭he Gee and Ursula Show鈥� on 成人X站 Newsradio, was outraged the brothers may get a chance at parole.

“I tell you what you can be re-sentenced in another life, but this life you need to stay and live in prison,” Gee told “Seattle’s Morning News” Wednesday. “I want to say again, you killed your mama and your daddy, and then you dared to say you were touched.”

“Imagine getting a reward for being a decent person,” Gee said. “Well, stay in prison, and I’ll tell you what in the next life, wherever you think you’re going afterwards, then you have that opportunity.”

Listen to the full conversation below:聽

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.

“Governor Ferguson delayed the hybrid electrification for two of the state’s largest ferries back in March, which set the table to bring back some vessels three years earlier than planned,” 成人X站 Newsradio’s Nate Connors told “Seattle’s Morning News” on 成人X站 Newsradio.

Diesel comeback boosts ferry service before summer

The additions will bring WSF鈥檚 total operating vessels to 18, restoring nearly full domestic service, three years earlier than originally projected.

Here鈥檚 what鈥檚 changing:

• Seattle-Bremerton Route: Returns to two-boat service on Sunday, June 15.
  
• Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth “Triangle” Route: Will resume a three-boat schedule beginning Monday, June 30.
• Port Townsend-Coupeville Route: Gains a second ferry every weekend from Friday, July 4, through Monday, October 13, running Friday through Monday.

“Following the World Cup, the state is still committed to building electric ferries, with the first one in service by 2029,” Nate Connors said. “Adding three vessels puts the fleet at 18 running full time, with 21 total ready to go.”

Listen to the full conversation below:聽

Listen to聽鈥淪eattle鈥檚 Morning News鈥�聽with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast聽here.