Funding for the ad placement of Mayor Harrell’s commercial came from some of Seattle’s biggest names, including Mariners majority owner John Stanton, Tod Leiweke, part-owner of the Kraken, and Brad Smith, the vice chair and president of Microsoft.

“These are big names. There’s a reason why these folks want Mayor Bruce Harrell to keep his job,” KIRO host Jake Skorheim said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “They’re not necessarily saying they think he’s the best mayor in the history of the town, or even the best option. But of these candidates, they seem to think Harrell is the better option than Katie.”

“It’s a better option for their particular business interests,” KIRO host Spike O’Neill responded. “That’s what the election cycles are all about. Giving to the candidate who’s going to help your business, and your employees do better.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Mayoral race heats up

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and mayoral candidate Katie Wilson have participated in numerous debates leading up to the general election, discussing various Seattle-based topics.

Wilson earned nearly 51% of the vote in the August primary, compared to Harrell’s 43%.

“We need a mayor’s office that is responsive and effective, and right now we are failing,” Wilson said during an opening statement of an Oct. 3 debate. “We cannot have another four years when the rates of unsheltered homelessness go up and up and up. I cannot keep watching families like mine move out of the city because they cannot afford to live here … I know that together we can build a city that we can all believe in.”

Harrell, who served on the Seattle City Council from 2008 to 2020 before becoming mayor, has been exhibiting his experience as both a lawmaker and a Seattle native, having grown up and attended school in the city before assuming a leadership role.

“I need four more years to right the ship, and we’ve laid the foundation for it,” Harrell said.

It’s been a contentious race, marked by numerous allegations and controversies between the two. Harrell and his campaign team claimed that Harrell’s skin was edited to a different color in a photo posted by Common Power, which Kate Wilson and her campaign team later promoted.

Wilson was also accused of falsifying an endorsement from Claude Burfect, a prominent civil rights activist who was the first vice president of the Seattle-King County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Earlier this year, former Seattle Deputy Mayor Monisha Harrell accused Mayor Bruce Harrell of sexism and running a toxic office where sexism was the apparent norm. Monisha is the mayor’s niece.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

KIRO host Spike O’Neill shared what it was like for him to ski for the first time at 31 years old.

“Horrifying, and then the most gratifying and invigorating feeling of being able to control yourself rolling down a hill. It’s an amazing feeling everybody should experience at some point in time,” he said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “And we’re so blessed here in the Northwest, when we get snow, and we’re getting snow pretty regularly.”

Spike highlighted that people don’t have to travel very far out of the Seattle area to ski.

“You’re an hour out of town. Almost any direction you can get water skiing and snow skiing in the same day, and that’s the only place in the world you can do that,” he said.

KIRO host Jake Skorheim pointed out the various options for skiing in the area.

“We have Snoqualmie, which is great. If you’re out on Highway 2, you can head out to Stevens Pass. There’s Crystal Mountain over on the east side, there’s Baker,” he said.

Looking at the forecast, Jake noted that a weak La Niña is expected for winter, which typically brings cooler, wetter, and snowier conditions.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

An article written by Mike Gastineau summarized the touching moment Greta shared with her late father’s statue. Mike spoke on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio to reveal the background of how this amazing story came to fruition.

“It’s an amazing story. Greta started the game in her seat, ended up in the owner’s suite for a while, but said she was driving herself crazy. She’s pacing and nervous,” Mike said. “Finally, she said that in the 15th inning, she felt something call her to go to [Dave’s statue].”

Greta Niehaus sits with father’s statue as Mariners win in extra innings

Mike explained that Greta often visits her father’s statue, located beyond center field of T-Mobile Park, but this moment was one of a kind.

“She’s been to the statue lots of times, but she’d never gone during a game,” Mike said. “The way the statue is built, there’s a little chair next to Dave where you can sit next to him and get your picture taken. Nobody sits there and watches the game, but Greta comes over in the 15th inning and works her way through the crowd and sits down.”

Greta’s feeling that she needed to spend this historic moment with her father proved to be the correct instinct, as Jorge Polanco lined a single into right to walk off the Tigers and send the Mariners to their first Championship Series appearance since 2001.

“Greta works her arm through the arm of the statue, she’s engaged, and holding on to her dad. Then the next pitch is Rizzs going crazy,” Mike said. “It is a beautiful, serendipitous moment that was captured forever.”

Mike praised Dave’s career as a Mariners broadcaster for 34 seasons, further claiming that Dave was instrumental in helping develop his career.

“Anytime I can do anything to further the knowledge, love, and appreciation of Dave Niehaus, I will do it because I knew Dave very well, and he was so influential to me, and so kind. He helped guide me in my career and was a great broadcaster,” Mike said. “[The story] is a neat thing to happen in the middle of this beautiful baseball run that we’re all enjoying.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Reptile Zoo owner Isaac Peterson told “The Jake and Spike Show” the zoo will remain open after all, with ticket sales nearly tripling.

“We’ve been really busy, and we’re just going to try one more time to keep the zoo going. We’re gonna shut down for about four weeks, open back up in mid-November,” he said.

Isaac previously told “Jake and Spike” that COVID and inflation were difficult for his business, but after cutting down his staff, he’s optimistic about the future.

“We just appreciate the public for keeping us going. There was nothing that I did. We were just really busy, and it worked out,” Isaac said.

Last time, Isaac showed off his friend Linguine, a 10-foot, 40-pound, albino Burmese python. This time, he brought a little 23-year-old alligator named Boots.

“The main thing I gotta mention is, so like other reptiles, they don’t have a bladder, so you might get peed on,” Isaac warned.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Jake Skorheim and Spike O’Neill, co-hosts of “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio, uncovered Spike’s chilling details of a potential ghost presence within his home and how he is grateful for the company of his ghost.

“Why do you think your house is haunted?” Jake asked.

“There are little things that happen around the house. I’d close doors, and they’d be open again. I’ll walk into a room sometimes, and it’s just colder than the rest of the house,” Spike said. “I have emptied a cabinet looking for a spice, put it all back inside, walk away, and come back 20 minutes later, and the spice is just sitting by itself on the counter. I just say, ‘Thank you,’ and I throw a little grace.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

KIRO host Jake Skorheim questioned the idea of allocating funds towards King County’s homeless crisis in general, claiming the issue has worsened despite billions of dollars being spent on it.

“Where could that money have been spent better? It’s certainly not fixing the homeless crisis,” Jake said. “All this money, and we’ve seen not only no improvements, but we’ve seen a decrease in available services for people, and an increased number of homeless on the streets. I would rather they just leave it alone and not spend $1 than to spend $2 billion and see it grow by 26%”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Coe, 78, registered as a Level 3 sex offender, is now at a home on 15th Street S.E. in Auburn, after plans to place him in Federal Way received pushback. According to the City of Auburn, leadership had no prior knowledge or communication that Coe would be moving into a home in the area.

“I had no idea until we heard it in the media,” Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “They were calling, asking us how we felt about Kevin Coe’s relocation to Auburn, and we were surprised. We had no idea that he had been released to an Auburn adult family home.”

Coe, 78, was arrested in 1981 and initially convicted on four counts of first-degree rape. Those convictions were partially overturned due to the use of hypnosis on victims, which raised concerns about the reliability of their testimony. A second trial in 1985 resulted in three convictions, but two were later overturned by the state Supreme Court, leaving only one conviction intact.

Coe is still linked to at least 43 rapes in the Spokane area between 1978 and 1981. His alleged victims were between 15 and 51 years old.

“What did Federal Way do when they heard this that allowed them to say no and forced Coe’s removal from their community?” KIRO host Spike O’Neill asked.

“My understanding is that they were notified well in advance, and the media was aware. I believe that there were media and outraged residents at the location when Kevin Coe was going to be placed at the adult family home, so they had a backup plan to relocate him to Auburn,” Backus answered. “So that’s what they did. And we had, again, no notice. Had we had notice? We would have had people there as well, so that he had to just continue to move on.

“I’m not wishing him on any other community,” Backus added. “This is not a situation that any community deserves to find themselves in.”

Clashing reports on Coe’s health

Coe was in custody for more than four decades, but, due to his advanced age and deteriorating health, multiple state psychologists believe he is no longer a threat to commit predatory acts of sexual violence, leading to his unconditional release. Coe was bound to a wheelchair when he was released and transported to Auburn.

“When our police officers went up to determine if he was actually residing there, he was not in a wheelchair,” Backus said. “So when we’re hearing that he has been that he’s resigned to a wheelchair, I don’t know that that’s the case.”

Coe is currently residing in a licensed family care facility in Auburn.

“The laws need to be changed, and I commit right now that I will be in front of the state legislature this year, making changes or asking for changes, because nobody wants this in their community,” Backus said. “Nobody deserves this. There has to be a better way. The state has to find a better way to do this.”

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

KIRO host Spike O’Neill thought: Why not give it a try?

“The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio asked the Mariners if they could have some dirt from the field.

“We asked for permission to go up and scoop some dirt out of the infield. And the Mariners were like, ‘Well, we don’t want to tell anybody to eat dirt. Maybe there’s a liability issue here,'” Spike said.

KIRO host Jake Skorheim said the official team spokesperson urged people not to eat the dirt.

“It’s not actually dirt. There is a chemical mixture that the field is made up of to absorb water,” Jake explained.

The show managed to acquire just enough dirt for Spike. Clinging to hope, he swallowed it down with some milk.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

KIRO Host Jake Skorheim was concerned with a request for more money from Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, which would be spent on a problem that has shown little to no improvement. The request asked for $10 million to improve math teaching skills for elementary educators and math software for students.

“I guess they’re going to get certified to teach children math, which I assume they needed to do the job in the first place,” Jake said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “These are drop in the bucket, nonsense things that mean nothing.”

Jake explains that the current Washington budget for education is $33.6 billion, the largest allocation of funds in the state’s budget. Despite the heavy financial focus on children’s education, the needle hasn’t moved.

“We should be appalled at that number; it’s the largest spending in the state,” Jake said

“No, we should be appalled at the results,” Spike responded

“But the number doesn’t justify the results, right?” Jake asked. “Why are we spending that much? The problem with that argument is that more money is going to lead to better results, which is not the case.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Geoff Gould, president of the Pacific Northwest Giant Pumpkin Growers, knows all about growing the largest pumpkins.

“Carpinito’s Pumpkin Farm and Corn Maze, we had one grower, the one that won it, a repeat winner—2,088 pounds. So he got first place and a bonus,” Geoff told “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

To create a pumpkin that large, Geoff said you would need a specific seed and fertile soil.

“You need the Atlantic giant seed variety to grow a big one that’s going to go a few hundred pounds or a few thousand pounds. You need good soil. You need to germinate those seeds at 80 to 90 degrees. You can’t just throw them out there in the ground. You need a lot of manure, water,” he explained.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

The National Football League (NFL) had previously banned the use of smelling salts, but “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio detailed a tiny loophole allowing players across the league to continue using the tactic.

“The league did ban smelling salts, but teams cannot provide them because they have been accused of masking concussion symptoms,” KIRO host Spike O’Neill said. “When someone gets cracked, they do a concussion protocol. The smelling salts can clear their senses, so teams can’t provide them, but players can provide their own. They’re not banned.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

KIRO host Jake Skorheim described one of the many small businesses affected by this new tax, which impacts niche business experiences such as the Creative Hands pottery studio in Bothell.

“This new tax that will be imposed on [Creative Hands], which technically qualifies as a live presentation, has an additional 10.2% sales tax. With just a sign of a pen from Governor Ferguson, he decided to make it harder to do business for these people,” Jake said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “This poor business is already saying people are leaving, they’re losing business because of this tax.”

“There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of small businesses struggling to get by, subjected to the same tax,” KIRO host Spike O’Neill added.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

In light of the recent statistics, KIRO host Jake Skorheim posed a question about whether Seattle is completely out of reach financially for residents, or if the data is primarily counting a majority of wealthy people in Seattle.

“I don’t think it’s out of reach. Half of people make less than $250,000, and half live comfortably,” KIRO host Spike O’Neill said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “A lot of people make less than that and are doing just fine. We’re not living high on the hog. I cut down my caviar intake, but there are so many things that Seattle offers a family.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.