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NEWS GLEAMS: Last Call for Our Reader Survey, 72-Hour Parking Rule Resumes, & More

curated by Emerald Editors

A round-up of news and announcements we don’t want to get lost in the fast-churning news cycle!

✨Gleaming This Week✨

Mohammed Ahmed smiles as he receives his COVID-19 vaccine at an ICHS pop-up vaccine clinic.
Mohammed Ahmed smiles as he receives his COVID-19 vaccine at an ICHS pop-up vaccine clinic at the Redmond Islamic Center on March 30, 2021. Photo courtesy of ICHS.

HealthierHere and Public Health – Seattle & King County Award $2 Million to 28 Organizations to Advance Health Literacy

On May 27, HealthierHere and Public Health – Seattle & King County (Public Health) announced 28 local organizations that will receive a total of $2 million in funding as part of the King County Health Literacy Project. The partnership between HealthierHere and Public Health aims to improve public health messaging developed by and for communities most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Health Literacy Project is funded through a financial assistance award from the federal Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health. Recipients include 26 community-based organizations and two Federally Qualified Health Centers. Over the next 14 months, partners will improve the systems for developing and disseminating culturally and linguistically responsive information about COVID-19.

In King County, rates of COVID-19 have been two to five times higher among American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, Latinx, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents compared to non-Hispanic white residents. The Health Literacy Project focuses on South Seattle and south King County — areas with high proportions of People of Color and low-income residents disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

Recipients will work closely with HealthierHere and Public Health to codesign a Health Literacy Training curriculum, Health Literacy and Sustainability Plan, participate in project evaluation, and co-facilitate health literacy training sessions at Public Health and in health care settings. The project is currently funded through July of 2023.

The Health Literacy Project plans to partner with:

*Twelve organizations will also serve as “Advisory Group Participants,” helping to steer the project’s design, implementation, evaluation, and accountability.

More information can be found on HealthierHere.org.

Photo depicting a steel or aluminum cookpot steaming water on a stovetop.
Photo by Michal Balog on Unsplash.

New King County Study Shows Imported Aluminum Cookpots May Pose Serious Risk for Lead Poisoning

The Hazardous Waste Management Program (Haz Waste Program) works with local partners to reduce exposures to prevent lead poisoning. They provide in-home environmental assessments to newly arrived refugee families to identify sources of possible lead exposure. Through working with the Afghan Health Initiative, the Haz Waste Program Research Team discovered that aluminum cookpots and pressure cookers often brought to the U.S. from Afghanistan may be a source of lead exposure.

The study, done in collaboration with the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington, revealed that several aluminum cookpots released enough lead under simulated cooking and storage conditions to present a significant risk for lead poisoning. The findings, which may have a negative impact on brain development for children and people who are pregnant or breastfeeding, were published this month in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.

Researchers found in further tests that stainless steel cookpots and pressure cookers contain much lower lead levels and are safer alternatives. Aluminum cookware that is certified by NSF International also contains low levels of lead and other toxic chemicals.

Further details around potential no-cost or low-cost solutions can be found on Haz Waste Program’s website and press release.

Photo of Seattle Parking Enforcement vehicle
Image is attributed to Mack Male (under a Creative Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 license).

Seattle Resumes Full Enforcement of 72-Hour Parking Rule for Vehicle Owners

As of May 13, the City of Seattle has begun resuming full parking enforcement for all vehicles that have remained unmoved for longer than 72 hours, as Seattle Municipal Code does not allow a person to park a vehicle on the same block of a city street for longer than that period of time.

This change is a return to the prior standards which were temporarily paused in March 2020 due to COVID-19 public health guidelines. While full enforcement is resuming now, parking enforcement officers will continue to provide official warning notifications on vehicles, allowing owners and occupants to move them before enforcement occurs. If it appears that people may be living in one of the vehicles, they will receive information about assistance, support services, and resources.

To avoid possible warnings and citations, vehicle owners are encouraged to regularly move their vehicles, as well as check their blocks for temporary parking restriction signs.

If a car is towed from a public street, instructions to locate the vehicle and documents required to release your vehicle will be available online. Vehicle owners should find and reclaim their vehicles by calling Lincoln Towing at 206-364-2000 or search for the vehicle on Lincoln Towing’s www.SeattleImpound.com website.

If a car was towed from a private parking lot, vehicle owners are encouraged to look for posted signs and phone numbers for the tow companies which may operate the lot. Those who cannot locate their vehicles should call the Community Safety and Communications Center at 206-625-5011.

Square image depicting blue mountains with text overlayed that reads, "What do you want from your news? Take our reader survey today!"
Image created by Henry Behrens.

LAST CALL: Take Our Joint Reader Survey With International Examiner and Real Change!

We want to learn more about who our readers are, what you read now, and what more you’d like to see from us. By doing this, we can better provide our respective readerships with even more engaging, culturally responsive, and socially relevant storytelling.  

Your individual answers will be confidential. If you are one of the first 200 readers to complete the survey, you will be entered into a raffle to win one of sixty $10 gift cards to coffee shops in the South End. The survey closes May 25. 

Completing the survey should take 5–10 minutes.

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