Brandon Block

Federal aid is supercharging local WA police surveillance tech Pandemic relief funds are bankrolling new – and often unregulated – law enforcement tools such as license-plate readers, drones and AI video software.

I wrote about the spread of Flock cameras, license plate readers and other AI dragnet tools in 2023, bankrolled by stimulus cash and propelled by covid-era crime wave panic www.cascadepbs.org/investigatio...

WA cities reconsider license plate cameras after judge's ruling Police in Washington are backpedaling on using Flock Safety cameras after a tattoo artist filed lawsuits asserting their databases are public record.

Flock exec threatening WA's public records act indicates this could be a major ruling. Cities now waking up to the abuse potential of mass surveillance software. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

I talked with @kuow.org yesterday about the story of Alex Kuhnhausen, a 25-year-old WA prisoner who died last year from an infection that prison medical staff failed to treat and corrections officials kept hidden from his wife. www.kuow.org/stories/help...

Alex Kuhnhausen developed a bacterial infection while in solitary confinement. The repeated failures that followed offer a rare look at how decisions made by prison officials can turn treatable ailments deadly, @brandonblock.bsky.social reports.
www.investigatewest.org/how-a-wa-pri...

Investigations team caps four years with state law, policy reforms From youth labor violations to housing abuses to pandemic aid fraud, Cascade PBS investigative reporters cast light into undercovered corners of WA in 2025.

From youth labor violations to housing abuses to pandemic aid fraud, Cascade PBS investigative reporters cast light into undercovered corners of Washington. Our final Impact Report and a thread of some of the team's best work: www.cascadepbs.org/impact-repor...

Really good reporting from @ashleyhiruko.bsky.social on shelter beds being paid for but left unfilled, seemingly in part over a deputy mayor's personal dislike of a prominent Seattle homelessness services provider.

What happened to nearly $1 million of pandemic assistance in Thurston County? A case of fraud put a stop to emergency aid in Thurston County for months, but county leaders never pressed charges against the alleged perpetrator or demanded the money back.

I was on @kuow.org yesterday talking about why Thurston County leaders never pursued a property management company that Auditors suspected of running a $940,000 pandemic aid fraud scheme. www.kuow.org/stories/what...

Whatcom County Council has now introduced legislation to increase oversight of lawsuit payouts in continued fallout from my reporting on the favorable treatment of a former public works director accused of sexual harassment.

A press release condemning Cascade PBS’s decision to lay off its News and Investigations teams.

A press release condemning Cascade PBS’s decision to lay off its News and Investigations teams.

actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...

Olympia ‘Diaper Guy’ named in $940K rent aid fraud investigation Auditors flagged dozens of payments to Lance Benson’s property management company as suspected fraud. But county leaders chose to go after the nonprofit aid distributor instead.

New investigation: Auditors flagged dozens of payments to Lance Benson’s property management company as suspected fraud. But county leaders chose to go after the nonprofit aid distributor instead. www.cascadepbs.org/investigatio...

WA families struggle to rebuild after utility-sparked wildfires Five years after its power lines started a devastating fire in Malden, Avista has settled lawsuits for $27M — but fallen behind on disaster prevention.

Five years after a wildfire started by its power lines torched the town of Malden, Avista utilities has settled lawsuits with hundreds of victims for $27 million — but done little to prevent future fires. www.cascadepbs.org/investigatio...

It’s (Still) Not Easy Going Green: Bonus Episode Despite ambitious goals toward combating climate change, Oregon and Washington lag far behind other states when it comes to adding renewable energy.

Self-styled green energy leaders OR and WA lag far behind in adding renewables. I interviewed OPB reporters Tony Schick and Monica Samayoa who report the region’s maxed out transmission grid is stalling growth. www.cascadepbs.org/podcasts/nor...

Issaquah pays $5.5M to settle jail deaths as costs mount statewide Two men died after requesting medical help they never received. WA’s nation-leading jail death rates have led to millions in payouts, and local reforms.

New docs show that jail guards failed to respond to requests for medical help in the hours before David McGrath and Kevin Wiley died at the Issaquah City Jail. www.cascadepbs.org/investigatio...

WA lawmakers walk back agreement to end child support garnishment Legislators voted last year to stop intercepting payments meant for low-income families. Now with a budget deficit, they plan collections through 2029.

WA Democrats opted to extend child support garnishments as part of their plan to balance the state's budget deficit, just one year after voting to end the practice. www.cascadepbs.org/investigatio...

How the Pacific Northwest’s Dream of Green Energy Fell Apart The Northwest states passed aggressive goals to decarbonize the power supply but left it to the Bonneville Power Administration to build the transmission lines needed for wind and solar. The agency…

NEW: Oregon and Washington ranked near or at the bottom of the country for adding renewable energy during the past decade, despite pledges to eliminate fossil fuels from power generation.

With @opb.org

New Washington energy chair’s industry ties raise ethics questions Former energy consultant Kurt Beckett now heads the agency tasked with permitting his ex-clients’ wind and solar plants.

Kurt Beckett consulted for multiple wind and solar companies seeking development permits. Now he leads the agency tasked with permitting his ex-clients’ projects. www.cascadepbs.org/investigatio...

WA's workplace safety agency taking unprecedented enforcement action after @lizzgiordano.bsky.social investigation found a teen lost his legs doing prohibited work for construction company Rotschy

We were out picketing today to let @cascadepbsnewsroom.bsky.social know we want a fair contract now!

The @cascadepbsunion.bsky.social is back on the march holding another lunch time info picket. And today we’re joined by 9 community members (not to mention all the honks in solidarity) who know Real News costs Real Money! We’re gonna keep fighting til we get the fair contract we deserve.

How Seattle’s record-high minimum wage has — and hasn’t — paid off Though the cost of living remains above the $20-plus pay floor, activists say raising wages has been a success and are pushing other cities to follow suit.

When Seattle pioneered the $15 minimum wage a decade ago, supporters and opponents made equally dramatic predictions about its impact. Both were wrong, @sanfordnate.bsky.social reports. www.cascadepbs.org/politics/202...

It’s Not Easy Going Green: Episode 3 WA’s sunny, rural center has attracted big solar energy investment. As farmers reckon with a changing economic landscape, some don’t like what they see.

ep 3 is about central WA farmers, uneasy players in the big business of solar energy development. As they reckon with a changing economic landscape, some don’t like what they see. www.cascadepbs.org/podcast/nort... (4/4)

It’s Not Easy Going Green: Episode 2 An obscure state agency, the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, has the power to quash local dissent over clean power. It’s not very popular.

ep two explores EFSEC, a tiny, obscure state agency with the power to steamroll local opposition in the name of clean power. We unpack its many critics and would-be reformers. (3/4) www.cascadepbs.org/podcast/nort...

It’s Not Easy Going Green: Episode 1 A proposal for Space Needle-sized wind turbines near the Tri-Cities could be the opening salvo in Washington’s future green energy land battles.

ep one takes us to the Horse Heaven Hills – where a diverse coalition of farmers, tribes, homeowners and conservationists are fighting a proposal to site hundreds of Space Needle-sized wind turbines. (2/4) www.cascadepbs.org/podcast/nort...

🧵introducing "It's Not Easy Going Green," a new Cascade PBS podcast from @maleeha-syed.bsky.social and I about Washington's clean energy transition and its discontents (Kermit graphic by @jcohenwrites.bsky.social). www.cascadepbs.org/its-not-easy... (1/4)