Soundside

Melinda French Gates says she is leaving the foundation that bears her name. She announced Monday she will depart the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to focus on other charitable ventures. The foundation headquartered in Seattle is the largest philanthropic organization in the world. This year, it plans to spend 8 and half billion dollars on causes ranging from education to water sanitation. The move marks a new direction for the world of philanthropy and the Pacific Northwest’s best-known ex-power couple. We can only make Soundside because listeners support us. Make the show happen by making a gift to KUOW:https://www.kuow.org/donate/soundsideSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the weekend news broke that in addition to current Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson, two more people named "Bob Ferguson" would also be running for governor. By Monday's withdrawal deadline, the "Bob" party looked to be winding down: both of the newcomer Bob Fergusons dropped out of the governor's race. But some officials say the shenanigan reveals a broader problem in the state's two person open primary system.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the podcast "Lost Patients," journalists Will James, Sydney Brownstone ,and Esmy Jimenez explored why so many people with severe mental illness in Washington state are not getting the care they need.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A group of volunteer vigilantes are fighting crime in the dark of the night. Soundside producer Alec Cowan recently joined two heroes on patrol to hear more about the work local superheroes are doing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After four years of closed door negotiations, the Department of Energy, EPA, and WA Ecology released a revised plan to clean up 56 million gallons of nuclear waste at the Hanford site in Central Washington. Much of that waste will be turned into glass.We can only make Soundside because listeners support us. Make the show happen by making a gift to KUOW:https://www.kuow.org/donate/soundsideSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Like many school districts across the state and country, Seattle Public Schools is staring down a shaky financial future. The district is projecting a $105 million dollar budget shortfall next school year. Soundside host Libby Denkmann talks with SPS School Board President Liza Rankin about what these potential closures could mean for educators, families, and students.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In late April, the PTAs at Cascadia and Decatur Elementaries, two highly capable cohort schools, retained a lawyer and sent a letter to the district outlining concerns about the changes to the highly capable program.The letter alleges that SPS doesn’t have the resources to adequately implement the neighborhood school model. And so closing the cohort schools would be a violation of a state law – one that requires districts to provide an educational program for highly capable students.We can only make Soundside because listeners support us. Make the show happen by making a gift to KUOW:https://www.kuow.org/donate/soundsideSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She’s an Oscar nominee, a Golden Globe winner, and the pride of Mountlake Terrace High School. And now, Lily Gladstone has an executive producer credit for her work with "Bring Them Home" a new documentary screening at SIFF next week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Soundside host Libby Denkmann sits down with Dr. Joachim Moeyens of UW's DiRAC Institute to talk about the algorithm that has helped discover over 27,000 new asteroids in our solar system.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What started as an art fair made it big in 2001, when the Bellevue Arts Museum opened its brand-new building on the corner of 6th Street and Bellevue Way. But in the decades since opening its doors, BAM has struggled financially, and in recent reporting, the Seattle Times’ Margo Vansynghel found that a recent fundraiser was just one symptom of larger financial struggles.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.