Congratulations to KCTS 9's Katie Campbell, who on Friday got an Emmy nomination in the video journalist category from the Northwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Science.
Katie was nominated for her work on "Where There's Smoke," a seven-minute Earthfix documentary produced in partnership with InvestigateWest on the health risks associated with wood-burning stoves. In Tacoma and many towns across the Northwest in the winter, wood smoke leads to sooty, toxic air pollution that leaves some residents – particularly asthmatics, kids and the elderly – gasping for breath.
Along with fireplaces and other wood-burning heaters, old wood stoves produce about half the microscopic particles of soot that typically hang in the air in the Tacoma area when winter air stagnates. By comparison, industry, already heavily regulated, emits just one-tenth of the Tacoma-area soot pollution.
In Washington, the state Ecology Department estimates that sooty pollution from all sources contributes to 1,100 deaths and $190 million in health costs annually.
Jason was InvestigateWest's associate director. A veteran of technology projects and online strategy for the nonprofit sector, he is a graduate of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and Graduate School of Journalism.
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In other parts of the country, the welfare checks have resulted in children being taken out of their homes and put back into government custody
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