Reporter's Notebook

Crosscut.com reporter David Kroman tells KCTS 9’s Enrique Cerna the inside story of how he captured the details of a frantic race to halt deportations from Sea-Tac Saturday night. The drama played out as protesters and lawmakers descended upon the airport to protest their opposition to President Trump’s executive order imposing an immigrant ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

On this edition of Reporter’s Notebook, Crosscut.com city reporter David Kroman talks with KCTS 9’s Enrique Cerna about the Seattle police shooting of Che Taylor last February. Kroman obtained the entire dash-cam recording of the shooting. His story examines the police response after the shooting and the length of time it took for Taylor to be given medical aid. Medical examiners at Harborview Medical Center pronounced Taylor dead several hours after the shooting, but it is unclear whether he died at the scene or at Harborview. King County Executive Dow Constantine has ordered an inquest into the shooting.

In this edition of Reporter’s Notebook, KCTS 9 intern Peter Choi talks about his recent personal essay about the Seattle Pacific University shooting and how the shooting shook his belief in America. Peter, an international student from South Korea, lost his close friend Paul Lee in the June 5, 2014 shooting. Lee was shot and killed by Aaron Ybarra, who opened fire on campus students. Ybarra was recently found guilty of premeditated first-degree murder and other charges related to the shooting. He had plead “not guilty by reason of insanity.” In this conversation with KCTS 9’s Enrique Cerna, Peter Choi talks about his friendship with Paul Lee and how writing the essay is helping him cope with his death, while giving him the chance to express his frustration with an American gun culture that he finds hard to understand.

On this edition of Reporter’s Notebook, Crosscut staff reporter David Kroman talks with KCTS 9’s Enrique Cerna about his recent stories from Eastern Washington, where he talked with residents of the small farming town of Ritzville, Wash, where Donald Trump received 77 percent of the vote. We learn about their support of Trump and how the state’s east-west divide is such a significant factor east of the Cascades. We also talk about an interesting and sometimes testy Grant County Superior Court race where the sitting judge David Estudillo, appointed to the post by Governor Jay Inslee, squeaked out a win to remain the only judge of Latino descent in Eastern Washington.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray unveiled his 2017 budget this week amid the chants of protesters outside of Seattle City Council chambers. The Mayor’s budget places an emphasis on the hiring of more police officers, the shortage of affordable housing, and the homelessness crisis. KCTS 9’s Enrique Cerna breaks down the Mayor’s budget with Crosscut.com’s City Reporter David Kroman, who describes the atmosphere in the council chambers as tense. Read the story: http://crosscut.com/2016/09/seattle-budget-mayor-ed-murray-city-council/ Image Credit: Micah Sheldon (https://www.flickr.com/photos/30709234@N02/5674295171/)

Penny LeGate is one of the 32 members of King County’s Heroin and Opioid Addiction Task Force. In 2012, she lost her 19-year-old daughter, Marah Williams, to a heroin overdose. She spoke with KCTS 9’s Enrique Cerna about the task force recommendations and the need to view heroin and opioid addiction as a serious public health crisis.

It has been nearly a year since Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and King County Executive Dow Constantine declared a “state of emergency” over homelessness. Murray and Constantine promised more expenditures and more services to address the problem. Since then, the homeless population has continued to increase with the last one-night count finding some 3,000 people sleeping on Seattle streets — a five percent increase from the previous count. A deadly shooting incident in a homeless encampment called “The Jungle” in January highlighted the urgency of the problem, shocking city officials and residents. The Murray Administration has been strongly criticized for its handling of the sweeps of homeless campers. Now comes two long-awaited and pricey homeless reports that call on the city to make changes to how it deals with the homeless, how it spends money on services, its approach to housing and how that money is distributed to local programs. The reports says there are too many programs and they are inefficient in dealing with the city’s homeless crisis. The reports have already drawn criticism from local advocates for their cost and date-driven recommendations. Crosscut City Reporter David Kroman has written extensively about Seattle’s homeless problem and the efforts to address it. Kroman attended the press conference where details of the reports were discussed for the first time. He also heard from the Mayor’s office and captured reactions from homeless advocates. Kroman sat down to talk about the reports, the potential impact and what they mean in the ongoing struggle to deal with Seattle’s growing homeless population.

In this episode of Reporter’s Notebook, KCTS 9’s Enrique Cerna talks with Political Analyst Joni Balter about Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Bryant and his decision to finally come out against Donald Trump. What took him so long? Will it help give a boost to his campaign as he seeks to make up ground against incumbent Democratic Governor Jay Inslee?

Crosscut.com city reporter David Kroman talks with KCTS 9’s Enrique Cerna about the slow, difficult process to bring reform to the Seattle Police Department. Kroman provides the backstory about the challenges and the mounting frustration of the players involved in this critical police reform effort.

Crosscut.com Managing Editor Drew Atkins talks with KCTS 9’s Enrique Cerna about his reporting on the Trump financial donors in Washington State. Who are they? How do they really feel about the candidate? What prompted them to contribute to Trump’s presidential campaign? We also examine the Trump effect on fundraising for Republican candidates in Washington State. Is Trump a plus or a minus?