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Hey, good morning. It's Patricia Murphy. It's Wednesday. This is Seattle now. We've had a blissfully smoke-free summer, but that's not likely to be the case most years. Wildfire smoke has become a fact of life across much of the West Coast, but there's very little science on how it impacts

wildlife. This fire season, hundreds of volunteers are looking for clues by watching birds.

I like being part of it because it's something bigger than yourself, and it feels important,

even though it's just this tiny little snippet.

We'll hear more from local birder, Nadine Santo Pietro, and researcher Olivia Sanderfoot in a

minute.

But first, let's get you caught up.

We're weeks away from respiratory virus season.

Public health Seattle, King County wants you to get vaccinated against flu and COVID.

Both vaccines are updated to fight the latest anticipated strains of viruses.

Maybe do it now. The state says we had a slight increase

in reported positive COVID cases over the summer. We'll put a link in the show notes with a

list of county-run vaccination clinics. Community members will walk today in honor of a beloved

dog walker who was killed during a recent carjacking, Ruth Dalton was on the

job in Madison Valley when it all started. Her dog Prince was also killed. The Candlelight

...