Casual Friday with Michael Wong and Danny Ball

The fatal shooting of a teenager at a protest in Seattle has gone unsolved for six years. This is open in your face. How are there no answers? Our investigation has uncovered new evidence and witnesses who say they've never talked to police. Did police ever call you? Not once. Listen to We Keep Us Safe, a new true crime series on the Embedded podcast from NPR. Hey, good morning. I'm Patricia Murphy. It's Friday. This is Seattle now. This week, Seattle City Council banned so-called junk fees for renters. Orcas were spotted in Salmon Bay looking for a seal snack. And 60, yep, 60 cats were rescued from a boat in Tacoma. Asian verified creator Michael Wong and simply Seattle's Danny Ball are here to break down the week. But first, let's get you caught up. July numbers are showing more uncertainty in Seattle's housing market. A Redfin report shows that the Seattle metro area had the steepest decline in the country last month as year-over-year home purchases fell 15%. Axios reports that housing inventory is rising as sales are slowing. Active listings jump 24% year-over-year in King County. Gas prices are also on the rise, and Washington is paying the third most per gallon out of any state in the country, according to AAA. Washington's average price per gallon was $5.16 Thursday, which is more than a dollar higher than the national average. The greater Seattle area is paying $5.35 on average. The state's average has jumped about 18 cents a gallon from last month. And if you don't have plans this weekend, how about some disaster prep? Seattle Emergency Hubs and the Capitol Hill Community Council are hosting the Urban Survival Skills Fair in Volunteer Park. It's a free event focused on things like home safety, neighbor-to-neighbor communication, and sanitation. The event runs from 2 to 4 Sunday afternoon. Check back for more headlines on tonight's episode of Seattle Now.

It's Friday again. Hope you're squeezing in the best of the last weeks of summer. Michael Wong is here. He's the creator of Asian Verified. You can find his work on social media or in The Stranger. Michael, really good to see you. What a do, Trish. Happy to be here. Yeah, good to see you, man. Danny Ball's here, too. He's the social media manager. It's simply Seattle and the host of the iconic Sonics podcast. Danny, good to see you too. Thank you for having me back. It's hard to not have a smile on my face when I'm with you two in this booth. Oh, that is so nice. Flattery will get you. everywhere in this room. All right, before we dive in, when it comes to orca sightings in Seattle, sometimes it's the luck of the draw. And if you happen to be at the Ballard Locks on Monday, you were very fortunate. Several orcas were seen swimming and probably snacking their way through Salmon Bay. Have either of you ever seen an orca? I have not. I know that as a kid, though, I used to point at any whale I saw and yell free willy over and over again. My mom reminded me of that. But no, I've never seen one in person. I've always wanted to see an orca. I once went on a two-hour kayak trip in the sandwants. I paid one, by the way. It wasn't just like on my own volition. And we saw absolutely nothing. Oh. I would never recommend that unless you're interested in prolonged disappointment. But I would stick to the fairies. I think the white whale here, no pun intended, is seeing a whale on a ferry or an al-Qaeda or something. Yeah, yeah. All right, quick poll, is seeing an orca in Salmon Bay a bigger deal than seeing neighborhood icon Jimothy? I hate to be this guy, but like just looking at their lifespans with a quick Google, I think seeing Jimothy's maybe a little bit more, a little bit more rare. Wow. or Jimithy, Michael. I didn't expect you to say that. I'm saying orca is absolutely the play here. I think the one that requires the least amount of explanation is better. Because what are you going to tell your great kids one day? I saw the raccoon with spine problems, bro. So, yeah, orca for me. Okay. All right. These are bigs killer whales from what I understand. And a local biologist said, There may be more behind the sighting than luck. Apparently, these transient whales have been showing up more frequently and for longer amounts of time. She thinks they may have been looking to eat some seals, which have been hanging out at the locks eating salmon recently. And I was actually at the Ballard Locks this week on Wednesday, and there were a ton of salmon passing through the fish ladder and lots of seals trying to grab a salmon snack. And lots of people actually waiting to see a show, to see these seals eat these salmon. Would you turn away? you saw a seal snacking on a salmon or an orca snacking on a seal? Well, one, my mind immediately went to Quigon Jin saying there's always a bigger fish in Star Wars. That's all I could think of. But then I think the seal eating a salmon I could probably watch, but the orca on a seal. Those are just like big animals. I feel like I could watch the initial attack. But like I think it's like the parts that isn't in animal planet or like whatever. National Geo is like that like that like goes on for like five or ten minutes. Like I'm like I can't stick around for that long. Yeah. It's not one big chomp. I think it's not one big chomp. And actually even the seal tearing the salmon apart can be kind of graphic. But you know, who doesn't love to eat some salmon? I can empathize. Okay. Moving on to the big story of the week. There are a few things more maddening than being.

being nickeled and dined by a company charging little extra fees or surcharges for things that seem like they should be included. And I'm talking to you, fries that don't come with the burger. Now... Changes are coming to how Seattle landlords can charge tenants these kinds of fees. The Seattle City Council this week voted to ban so-called junk rental fees or charging fees deemed unfair or excessive. The junk fee legislation passed by the council requires landlords to disclose all mandatory and optional fees up front in home listings or ads. Would you prefer it that way? How would apartment hunting change if you could see everything up front? I think I'd be more frustrated during the hunt, but I think I'd also have less buyer's remorse after the fact. And so I think it's probably the right way to go about it. I think it's the coming to grips with maybe my budget isn't what I thought my budget actually was, which it was like that hurts, but at least I'm doing it up front and I'm not like three months into a lease where I'm like, well, no, I'm a little over my head because I've also done that part. So I'd be frustrated, but I think it's probably for the better. What do you think, Michael? Yeah, I don't know. Am I a boomer, guys? Don't sneak any fee on me. And what is going on? Like, that this is news. It's crazy to me. Yeah, absolutely tell me everything I'm paying on the line, bro. I'm tired of that. Of course, we see it in Ticketmaster. We see Airbnb. We see it with the restaurants that we see in the city. I need to know up front, please. Yeah, absolutely. That's a good point on tickets. Now that ticket sites can't do that, it's so much more, like, stress-free of like, do you want to go to this game? Like, let's look. And then you have the actual budget right in front of you, this is what we got to pay. And, like, you and your homie or your group chat can figure it out, like, on the spot. Rather than the like, oh, we're going to do it, and then I'm another 30 bucks in the hole after that. You're not a boomer. I'm with you. Or maybe I'm a boomer with you. We'll do it together, Rob. Hidden fees seem like an inevitability in a lot of areas, playing tickets like you said, concerts or sports games, and the complaints of some businesses charging Seattle's sugar tax for diet sodas, which is diabolical. What is the most annoying fee you've paid? I'm not afraid to say it. I'm so tired of how restaurants and major cities are treating this. service fee. Oh, yeah. Now, let me say this again. I don't care about an aggregate. Like, okay, that's how much it was going to be at the end of it. I'll pay that. I don't want to see how you freaking did the math on that because you don't know how to do math. Don't show your work. Don't let me see the code on that because I don't want to review it. I see all the bugs. This is a, and what's the common tort to service charges at the restaurants? It's bake it into the menu, bro. Yeah. And listen, do not at me. I'm not going to read it. Just know that we all feel this way. And if I'm the one to tell you, restaurant owner, do it. Bake it into the menu. We still want to support. Most annoying fee I've paid. I mean, it's probably right there with that. I'd go back to the sports tickets. It's like I've already committed to doing this. I've already seen myself in those seats. I can see, you know, the storm running out. I'm getting tickets right next to the tunnel.

And now I'm going another $45 into it. And then I've also already told my friend or my uncle or whoever that I'm going with, this is the price. And so then I'm eating it on the Venmo on the back end because I'm like, I don't want to then charge my friend a fee because I hated the fee so much. Hopefully they buy my first round or something like that. But those are the ones that really got me. Those were the most annoying. Yeah, I get burned by like sin taxes, like sugar tax, really, really pisses me off. And I used to be a smoker and those taxes used to piss me off too. Now my kid is away at college and a rental and I'm paying his rent. The landlord charges $10 for me to pay with my debit card. If I break that into two payments, which this poor lady often has to do, that's an extra $20. That is $20. That chaps my ass. Time for a quick game. We're calling it, is it junk? I'm going to tell you a rental fee. You're going to tell me if Seattle considers it a junk fee. Here's the first one, air conditioning rental fees. Apartments in Seattle without central AC will sometimes have a stock of portable units, the loan renters for the summer for a fee. One of our producers says in her building, it's $100 a month with a three-month minimum. By the new law. Is that a junk fee or not? I'm saying not junk fee. I'm saying not a junk fee. That feels like an add-on. You are both correct. It is an optional opt-in. Beautiful. But along a similar vein, some landlords charge for in-unit washers and dryers that are already installed. This is a junk fee since a pre-installed appliance isn't optional. That's what they were doing in Seattle? I'm like, no, I get it. No, where do I sign the class action, dude? That's crazy. I mean, I've never been, I've never actually had in-unit. But if I did, I would be really mad right now. All right, pet rent. Renters in Seattle often have to pay extra rent each month for having... a pet, and as you know, those fuzzy fools do not have a job. Pet rent is different from the refundable pet deposit owners pay up front to cover any damage pets might cause. And this is in a city where there are more dogs than kids. So is that a junk fee? Yeah. I think if you're paying the deposit up front, they're tacking this on, that's double dipping, you know, double jeopardy. I say this as a dog guy, staunch dog guy. I can understand why they would charge rent for the dog. Some dogs are so loud all day while you're not at home. You have no idea about this as a renter. But your dog is yapping the whole time you're gone to slow. The flow of radical pets. I think of responsible pet owners are happy to pay some rent. That's just my take on it. I'm not trying to be boomer about it either. I love dogs, but your dogs be yapping when you're not at home, I promise you. Well, this is a junk fee, according to the new legislation. Renters argue that pets are essential.

companions and because they pay a pet deposit up front this is pure profit for landlords so landlords say without pet rent everyone in a pet rental buildings rent might go up so talk about you know everybody's going to suffer your dog better your dog better be cute that's right your dog better be cute then if my rent's going on key replacement fees is classic human nature to lose your keys maybe you left the house in too much of a hurry or drop them and never found them again. Now you have to make the dreaded call to your landlord to get into your house to get the locks changed and get new keys. Is that a junk fee? No. As somebody who's lost many keys, I'm like, that's on me. That can't be a junk fee. Oh, yeah, not a, yeah. Very much inconveniencing somebody in that situation. Okay. You are correct. No. The keys are technically landlord property that you're borrowing so they can still charge you for the locksmith and the replacement set. Also very expensive, very expensive. So don't lose your keys. Don't recommend doing that. Don't recommend. Wallets even less. Lose your wallet. Don't do that either. All right. One more. Valet trash fees. Some buildings have valet trash pickup. It works like this. Instead of lugging your trash down the hall or down the stairs, you leave it right outside your door to be taken away by the valet service. The catch usually isn't optional even if you want to save a few bucks and move the trash yourself. Is valet service a junk fee? I think inherently in the definition of junk. Well, and junk, it's trash. I'm just going to say, yes, it is. It is. It's junk fee because it's making something that shouldn't be mandatory, mandatory. Okay. Yes. Under the new law, landlords can only charge people for valet trash pickup if they opt into the service. Would you opt into this service or would you haul your own trash down to the bins? No, I'm one of those people that loves multitasking and I'm like, I can put a load of laundry in and take my trash out and go to the grocery store to get mel. like all in one trip so I've got like you know six things in my arms I'm trying to jimmy my door closed I try to be a private person mostly and to the point where I was upset that my milkshake came in a clear cup yesterday I didn't want people seeing where I was where my status was in the drink so I'm absolutely not leaving my freaking trash outside my door bro I don't want nobody to know what happened between me and in the rubbish okay Spoken like a guy who's had paparazzi in his trash. I don't want to report. Yeah, maybe. All right, moving on to our next topic. The Seahawks Super Bowl title defense begins tomorrow with a preseason game at Lumen Field, which is good because it may put an end to some of the misery Seattle sports fans have been feeling lately. We're coming off what may be considered the greatest year in Seattle sports history. The Mariners made a deep run last year. The PWHL came to Seattle. The Seahawks won the Super Bowl, and the city hosted the World Cup, among other things. Pretty good stretch from last summer to this summer, except when Megan Rapino and Sue Bird broke up back in April.

And maybe, just maybe, that was an omen. Things have been especially bad for the Mariners where Starcatcher Cal Raleigh told the media the team isn't playing well. And that starts with him. He said, I'm awful. I'm awful. Cal really has struggled this year. What does it take to go up there and own it? Yeah, well, I'm uniquely positioned. Like, I have to come out and show my bias a little bit here. At Simply Seattle, we have big dumper collection. I have helped out with a lot of the marketing. I've gotten to meet the man himself. So one, it takes a lot, like just to admit that you're having a bad year and say that. And, you know, I think it's harder even to go from a historic year of highs to a historic year of lows. And I won't bore anybody with baseball stats right now. But I would like to share a story. And this is the second time I've come on and shared a story about Philadelphia sports, I believe, on a Seattle podcast. But in 2023, a very high-paid shortstop for the Phillies was having a terrible year. They were right around the same time of the season. They were still kind of in the playoff hunt. But he was really struggling. His name's Trey Turner. And instead of booing him, as Philly fans do so often to their own players, they got back from a road trip where he had a really hard time. And in his first at bat, the whole stadium stood up and gave him an outstanding ovation. He went on for the last 48 games to be one of the best. batters in the league the Phillies turned it around they made it all the way to the NLCS so again bias aside I think it's time we give Cal a standing ovation we thank him for what he did last year and we energize him with positive energy opposite of the booze and see if that can't be our Etsy witch of 2026 so much mental yeah so much maybe more than any other sport yeah yeah To be real and empathize for a moment. It's the same reason, like, someone who's prolific as Shaq was missing all those free throws. And I think it's hard for a normal person to fathom. And I can empathize, not as an elite athlete, in some ways that it's easy to feel like you're not so good even when you have all the pieces. And I think it's hard to put bat on balls, but it's harder for the mariners to keep people interested in one topic for more than a week. Cal has been replaced by a fucking raccoon. Yeah, you can only have the 50 greatest players of the team in town for so long. It's tough. Back to Jim Mithy, folks. We asked our listeners last week if they thought the Mariners could turn their season around. Several losses later, here are some of the highlights. The Mariners have often been a team that runs almost solely on vibes. And this year, the vibes have just not been there. Unless there's a really big shift in the energy, I don't think they're going to be able to turn it around. The fans need to remind them of that, that we believe in them, and that they can play baseball. We've seen them play baseball, good baseball. This season, the Mariners routinely commit mistakes that would get you a stern talking to as a middle school ball player and outright benched in high school baseball. Needless to say, MLB playoff teams do not make these mistakes. Brutal. That last listener left six straight voicemails to get around the one minute time limit. That guy got an opinion, man. He has got an opinion. The struggles aren't just on the diamond, though. The storm are the worst team in the WNBA by record this year. And the Sounders are having their struggles, including two tough losses to rival Portland.

Do you need the low points like this to make the high points feel better? You absolutely need these low points to the specifically to the storm point. I would say this is actually just all a part of the plan. Like we're going to overhaul our whole team. We're going to get rid of all our good players so we can go get this best player in the draft. These are very low lows, which you need. But we have the youngest front court in the WMBA. The future is so bright. Continue supporting that team through and through. So you need these lows to find the highs. That's going to be my take. And I'm standing by it. That feels like sage wisdom there. Danny Ball. At the very least, the Seahawks are on their way back. You can watch their preseason journey on HBO's hard knocks. It's hard to get to the mountaintop in any context. Would you trade last year's Seahawks Super Bowl for a championship in any other sport? It's not a championship, but my bias is going to show. I would trade that Super Bowl to have the Sonics back in a heartbeat. I'd do it in a heartbeat. I know that's probably a hot take, but yeah. That's a beautiful hot take. Yeah, I would trade the Super Bowl for us to have a better game at the World Cup than that round of 16 game, which I paid money to go to and was so disappointed. And we could be on a tear right now patriotically in this city. If we had just won that game, but now we're trying to recall the mayor. So that's where we're at right now. Think about it. Think about it. Would you have given up World Cup hosting duties if it meant the Mariners had a chance? I put this in my... notes i said before the world cup if you had asked me that well really before we recorded the last episode of michael and i together i would have said yes 100% after that hearing his take of go make a memory be like take away something from this to tell your kids about i wouldn't trade it i would not trade the world cup so he convinced me my guy i went like i said i went to the game and even though i was that that game literally started a depression bout in me oh man i still know Sports fat for your health. It's true. I still know how much the World Cup did for this city. And I think the M's winning is mainly good for the M's. Okay. All right. Another sage take. All right. One last thing before we go. We're heading back to animals in the water for our last story. But in this case, we're talking about animals that aren't supposed to be swimming. Tacoma police conducted a wellness check on an abandoned boat found something they weren't expecting. Lots and lots of cats. Officers had to return across multiple days to trap and rescue all the cats hiding out on this vessel. In the end, they found 60 on one boat. The story starts with one pregnant cat that the boat owner got as a gift, according to the Seattle Times. The guy's a rigger without a ton of extra cash. He told the times he couldn't afford to get the full litter, spayed and neutered. He did pay the mom. But beyond that, all the kittens were running around fancy free. So from there, nature took its course and one little turned into a family of 60 cats. How many cats is too many? And what is your criteria? I said three and a half. I don't really know what that means. You're right. It's like there has to be a fourth special cat for me to be okay with it or like a little tiny kitten or something. But all of my friends that have cats, they all have a candle budget. Because that's just kind of the reality. I think it's right around three or fours is the number that I'm okay with. All right. I agree with that. But yeah, I'd say it's less the amount and more how the owner keeps the space. And I know 60 cats in a cabin of a boat.

You can't have enough budget for candles in that situation. No, there aren't enough candles. No. There are not enough candles. And I'm not sure there's enough litter boxes. You got that right. For that. And honestly, that was a whole situation. The boat owner has taken full responsibility for the unwieldy amount of cats on board because in his words, what else are you going to do? Do you empathize with this guy? I actually do. I think this got out of hand. He sounds like he cared, but he was in over his fuzzy head. Sounds like he's still a participant in like, you know, making public. apologies and having an opinion about how it's being done. And, you know, I respect them for that reason. I agree with you. Just because you love cats, things get out of hand pretty easily and the love can go astray. Not to make too much of a bun. The effort to rescue the felines took an entire team and a couple of rogue animal lovers. Two runners stripped down, dove into the sound to rescue a cat who jumped off the boat. They were like floating on their back. It was pretty crazy. A private trapper then saved another cat who jumped the boat, then came back and boarded the boat to save another two cats, even as authorities told her it was private property. She shouldn't do it. They would handle it. Are you the type to jump into action to rescue a helpless animal? Oh, yeah. Helpless animal. Help a dad with a selfie, you know, all the above. I see something. All around good guy, Dan. Oh, yeah. Well, unless you're in my way on the escalator as we found out the last time. Right on. What about you, Michael? Are you a sucker for an animal in need? Oh, yeah. Almost in the way that I exhibit more empathy for these animals sometimes than my fellow human beings. So I have a soft spot in my heart for that kind of stuff. I have to scroll past animal abuse commercials and stuff. I can't do it. No, no, yeah. I've actually rescued a lot of. animals in my day. Most recently, two chickens that were rogue in my neighborhood that I had to take a lot of time to try and trap. Holy crap. Yeah, it was something. I cannot ignore an animal in need. It's pathological. Police and animal control saved the rest of the cats over several days. Now, some are already in foster homes adjusting to land. And if you're interested, many will likely be spayed, neutered, and up for adoption in Tacoma soon. Oh, very cool. Yeah. So maybe if you want to help out, go rescue one of these poor cats that was on board. likely you'll be able to take them out on your paddleboard if you like. Because they already have their sea legs. I love it. This would be the first time in history, feline history, that a cat pined for the water. That's right. That's right. And we are leaving it there. Michael Wong is the creator of Asian verified. Danny Ball is simply Seattle's social media marketing director and the host of the iconic Sonics podcast. Danny, good to see you, man. Thanks. Thank you so much for having me. Michael, good to see you. Thanks. Thank you. Have a good week, everybody. Thanks for listening to Seattle Now. No secret junk fees here. This show is free unless you want to send us a check. Otherwise, why not show your appreciation? Rate the show, review it, and tell a friend to listen. Today's episode was produced by Brooklyn Jamerson Flowers. It was edited by Bond Jay Jones. Our production team also includes Caroline Chamberlain, Gomes, Andy Hurst, and Paige Browning. Greg Kramer does our theme music. Seattle Now and KUOW Public Radio are members of the NPR Network.

I'm Patricia Murphy. Talk to you tonight for evening headlines. The midterm elections are drawing near, meaning fact-based reporting is more important than ever. I'm Libby Dankman, host of SoundSide, where we bring you news and conversation rooted in the Pacific Northwest. We dealt beyond the headlines to bring you different perspectives on stories that impact your life right here in Washington State, and we're easy to find Monday through Thursday at noon and 8 p.m. on KUOW 94-9 FM. Or you can listen anytime on the KUOW app or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks.