by Brett Hamil
Weekend Long Reads: The 25th Amendment
by Kevin Schofield
This weekend’s reads reflect this past Wednesday’s events, in particular President Trump’s inciting of an insurrectionist mob to storm the U.S. Capitol. We look at the role of the 25th Amendment in removing a President who is unfit to serve. We also reflect on a dark moment in German history with an eerie similarity to what we just saw play out in our nation’s capital.
Continue reading Weekend Long Reads: The 25th Amendment
Newly Renovated Brighton Playfield Offers Refuge of Community During Pandemic
by Eli Tan
On an overcast Thursday afternoon in December, groups of local kids gather to play pickup soccer on Brighton Playfield, located in the heart of South Seattle next to Aki Kurose Middle School. It has rained all week, which in past years would mean that the field’s overgrown and misshapen grass surface would be unplayable. But now, after the park’s recently completed remodel, the kids play on artificial field turf without issue.
Suffused with colored lines marked for soccer, baseball, football, and ultimate frisbee, the dazzling green surface is a bit jarring for anyone used to the previously natural and blended landscape. Newly paved concrete walkways have replaced the mudded paths. Fences line the exterior of the field at a proper height.
The most important feature of the renovation, however, may not be the flatness of the leveled ground or softness of the state-of-the-art field turf. It’s the lights.
Continue reading Newly Renovated Brighton Playfield Offers Refuge of Community During Pandemic
The Morning Update Show — 1/8/21
The Morning Update Show — hosted by Trae Holiday and The Big O (Omari Salisbury) — is the only weekday news and information livestream that delivers culturally relevant content to the Pacific Northwest’s urban audience. Omari and Trae analyze the day’s local and national headlines as well as melanin magic in our community. Watch live every weekday at 11 a.m. on any of the following channels, hosted by Converge Media: YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and whereweconverge.com.
We’ll also post the Morning Update Show here on the Emerald each day after it airs, so you can catch up any time of day while you peruse our latest posts.
Morning Update Show — Friday, Jan. 8
#CapitolRiot Fall Out Continues | Is Social Media to Blame for Extremist Groups? | SPD Feedback Form – Today is the last day to submit! | #SawantRecall with Capitol Hill Seattle Blog | Live Coronavirus Update with Producer Nikki | Food Fri-YAY with Super Six in Columbia City
Continue reading The Morning Update Show — 1/8/21
King County Commits $7 Million to Increased Vaccination Efforts, Won’t Change Jail COVID Protocols
by Carolyn Bick
King County will be committing $7 million to ramp up vaccination efforts to prevent against COVID-19, with two high-volume vaccination sites slated for South King County in the near future, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced in a public health briefing on Jan. 8.
Continue reading King County Commits $7 Million to Increased Vaccination Efforts, Won’t Change Jail COVID Protocols
Try Asking What Success “Feels” Like Instead of What it “Looks” Like
by Julie Pham, Ph.D.
Have you ever been asked, “What does success look like to you (at some point in the future)?” Have you ever asked yourself that question?
If you have any achievement-oriented people in your life, or you are one yourself, my guess is the answer is yes.
I was asked by a friend a few months ago, “What does success look like to you in five years?” I bumbled my way through, trying to remember my organization’s mission statement. Implied in that first question is another question: “What activities do you need to be engaged in now to help you achieve your vision of success?”
Continue reading Try Asking What Success “Feels” Like Instead of What it “Looks” Like
What We Know About How Unhoused People Can Receive COVID-19 Vaccines
by Chetanya Robinson
Medical workers, staff, and residents at long-term care facilities are starting to receive their doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as King County and the State roll out the first phase of their vaccination plan. Next in line is a group that includes residents and staff at shelters, as well as school staff, essential workers, people in jail, emergency responders, and more.
Public Health — Seattle & King County is considering multiple ways to get the vaccine to everyone, whether or not they are homeless, and plans could change at any time, said Jody Rauch, who works as the clinical quality lead for the agency’s Healthcare for the Homeless Network (HCHN).
There’s not a lot of detailed, specific guidance from the CDC or the State Department of Health on what the next phases of vaccination will look like, Rauch said — including, for example, in what phase all unhoused people will be vaccinated.
Continue reading What We Know About How Unhoused People Can Receive COVID-19 Vaccines
OPINION: Reflections on Insurrection — a Reason to Fear
by Glenn Nelson
Content Warning: This article contains strong language.
A few decades back, I was in the heart of Mitch McConnell country — aka Kentucky. Being a longtime basketball writer, I was fascinated with that region’s love affair with the sport. Everyone in that particular, depressed coal-mining region was white and seemed to have a hoop, built mostly on dirt patches.
My hoops background was urban, so very concrete. Seeing a wooden backboard, set on a wooden plank, stuck in a clutch of dried mud in Middle-of-Nowhere, USA, was a wonder. I got out of my car for a closer look.
Some movement in the corner of my eye made me spin toward an adjoining shotgun shack — to spy a literal shotgun pointed at me.
Continue reading OPINION: Reflections on Insurrection — a Reason to FearThe Morning Update Show — 1/7/21
The Morning Update Show — hosted by Trae Holiday and The Big O (Omari Salisbury) — is the only weekday news and information livestream that delivers culturally relevant content to the Pacific Northwest’s urban audience. Omari and Trae analyze the day’s local and national headlines as well as melanin magic in our community. Watch live every weekday at 11 a.m. on any of the following channels, hosted by Converge Media: YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and whereweconverge.com.
We’ll also post the Morning Update Show here on the Emerald each day after it airs, so you can catch up any time of day while you peruse our latest posts.
Morning Update Show — Thursday, Jan. 7
Pro-Trump Protesters Storm the Capitol in D.C. & Gov. Jay Inslee’s Home in Olympia | Election Results Are Officially Certified | Congratulations to Senators-Elect Reverend Raphael Warnock & Jon Ossoff of Georgia | SPD Seeks Community Feedback on Draft Use of Force, Crowd Management Policies (Due by Jan 8!) | Amazon Launches $2 B Housing Equity Fund to Preserve and Create Over 20K Affordable Homes | Grant Empowers Black and Tan Hall to Purchase Venue
Continue reading The Morning Update Show — 1/7/21
Siembra: Creating Roots, Community, and Celebrating South American Cuisine
by Chamidae Ford
There is no denying that COVID-19 hit the restaurant industry hard, forcing businesses to lay off countless employees who made their livelihood by serving, cooking, and working in restaurants. Alex Dorros, who co-founded the new South American restaurant Siembra with his mother, Sandra Marulanda, is one of the many who lost their job back in March.
Owning a restaurant was never what Dorros had envisioned for himself, but the pandemic created a unique opportunity, and he seized it. After he lost both his restaurant jobs and his mother left her teaching job, the duo realized Siembra was a venture they could work toward together.
“We weren’t really thinking about being business partners from the beginning,” Dorros said. “But then, as she lost her job and we were sitting there cooking and testing recipes, we were like, ‘Why don’t we just do this together?’”
Although opening a restaurant in the pandemic has been a daunting and challenging task, Dorros has found joy in the process.
Continue reading Siembra: Creating Roots, Community, and Celebrating South American Cuisine