Seattle has a new group of concerned citizens, and their sole focus is getting cruise ships out of Puget Sound. The “Seattle Cruise Control” (SCC) coalition has activists from multiple non-governmental organizations coming together for a “Cruise Free Salish Sea.”
According to a press conference on Monday, July 19, at Smith Cove Park, SCC’s concerns are centered around the cruise industry’s lax environmental standards and poor labor practices. Cruise ships in Seattle are a divisive issue, with many pointing to the hundreds of millions of dollars the industry brings to the region, while others say the damage to the climate and those who work on ships or live near their berths isn’t worth the profits.
As King County moves through a phased re-opening of businesses and regular activities, we’ve updated our living guide to be more relevant to the current state of the pandemic. This our archives page. For the latest local coverage of COVID-19-related announcements and events, please follow along with our daily posts (on the home page). We’re also adding relevant updates to this post.
We created a living guideto provide a trusted aggregate resource for South Seattle during the COVID-19 pandemic. These are the guide archives—all our pandemic coverage from March 6, 2020 to June 12, 2020 in one place.
Looking for COVID-19 Updates and current pandemic-related articles for Seattle and King County? Visit this post.
“Young Women Empowered seeks to amplify young women’s leadership and role as courageous change makers. We believe in a world where justice is for all and we strive to make that a reality.”
—Victoria Santos
Last Saturday, May 23, Young Women Empowered (Y-WE) hosted a virtual panel titled Y-WE Care: Exploring Health Care Injustice, to speak on the injustices this global pandemic highlights in the U.S. health care system. The panel was moderated by Y-WE’s Co-Executive Director, Victoria Santos. Santos, who battled COVID-19 in March, took some time to speak on the impact this pandemic has had among BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities.
Every morning at 6 a.m., Penelope punches into work at a food processing warehouse in Eltopia, Washington. She works seven days a week with no days off for $13.65 an hour. With the exception of a 30-minute lunch break, Penelope is on her feet sorting spears of asparagus for up to nine or 10 hours a day. It’s difficult work in normal times. But now, it’s become dangerous.
Penelope says her employer is not providing her or other employees with enough personal protective equipment or allowing them any space to social distance to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus. She is undocumented, so she’s afraid of repercussions if she speaks out or tries to involve the Department of Labor and Industries, which is responsible for overseeing safe workplace conditions. But she is also afraid that these conditions will get her killed: she’s 40 years old and suffers from diabetes and heart disease, and has breast cancer that has recently reemerged.
With myriad sources relaying the latest happenings, the pandemic has been a whirlwind event for folx to keep up with — while simultaneously staying healthy. That’s why we created this living guide,to provide a trusted aggregate resource for South Seattle.
Looking for COVID-19 Updates and related stories for Seattle and King County? Visit this post.
