May 2, 2024
Immunocompromised and at-risk Americans feel left behind as COVID restrictions disappear
Written by Clayton Sandell for Scripps News Four years after the COVID pandemic swept across the U.S., mask mandates are no more. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer recommends a five-day isolation after a positive test, and travel restrictions have been lifted. But for millions of Americans like Jessica Spangler’s 9-year-old daughter,…
Advocacy & Civic Engagement | Health & Well Being | Policy & Law
New York cities plagued by blackouts due to climate change, study finds
Written by Saul Elbein for The Hill. Climate change is pushing some New York City neighborhoods into dozens of nearly daylong blackouts per year, a new study has found. Large swaths of the state’s principal towns and cities faced repeated, protracted and dangerous weather-driven power outages between 2017 and 2020, according to findings published Wednesday in…
Advocacy & Civic Engagement | Design & Building | Diversity, Equity & Justice | Economy & Development | Health & Well Being | Housing & Homelessness | Infrastructure & Transportation | Innovation & Technology | Natural Resources & Environment
April 26, 2024
Seattle’s troubled past and present suggest a new approach to mental health
Written by Will James, Sydney Brownstone, and Esme Jimenez as part of the series “Lost Patients” for KUOW, an NPR Station. Edward Moore, a 32-year-old sailor, was discovered, near freezing and living in a tattered tent on the shore near current day Seattle in 1854. At the time, Washington was still a territory and Seattle…
Advocacy & Civic Engagement | Design & Building | Diversity, Equity & Justice | Economy & Development | Health & Well Being | Housing & Homelessness | Policy & Law
Leave the imported shrimp, take the local bivalves: sustainable seafood choices
Reported by Kim Malcolm and John O’Brien for KUOW, a NPR news station. Seafood and the Pacific Northwest go hand in hand. Maybe you’re one of those people out fishing, clamming, and crabbing during the season. But if you’re more of a shopper, your options aren’t all local and sustainable. Jessica Gephart is an assistant professor…
Advocacy & Civic Engagement | Economy & Development | Health & Well Being | Natural Resources & Environment | Policy & Law
April 22, 2024
Has the US finally figured out how to do high-speed rail?
Written by Jeremy Hsu for NewScientist. Construction began today on the first true high-speed rail line in the US, which will connect Los Angeles suburbanites to the bright lights of Las Vegas, Nevada. Not only should the project enable people in the US to finally experience European and Asian standards of speedy passenger trains, it…
Advocacy & Civic Engagement | Design & Building | Diversity, Equity & Justice | Economy & Development | Health & Well Being | Infrastructure & Transportation | Innovation & Technology | Natural Resources & Environment | Policy & Law
Skip the Traffic: Commuters Turn to Ferries to Get Around
Written by Linda Baker for The New York Times. As remote work reshapes the way people live and travel around cities, Americans are taking to the waterways not only as part of their commute but also as part of their daily lives. Some coastal cities are seeing ferry ridership bounce back after a decline during…
Advocacy & Civic Engagement | Design & Building | Economy & Development | Infrastructure & Transportation | Innovation & Technology | Natural Resources & Environment | Policy & Law
April 17, 2024
Quiet! Our Loud World Is Making Us Sick
Written by Joanne Silberner for Scientific America. Ten years ago Jamie Banks started working from her home in the town of Lincoln, Mass. After a couple of months, the continuing racket from landscaping machines began to feel unendurable, even when she was inside her home. “This horrible noise was going on for hours every day, every…
Advocacy & Civic Engagement | Diversity, Equity & Justice | Health & Well Being | Natural Resources & Environment | Policy & Law
E-bike fires are sparking trouble in Seattle. Here’s how to use them safely.
Written by Gustavo Sagrero Álvarez for KUOW. Seattle’s streets have become home to hundreds of electronic bikes and scooters in recent years, with a growing number of commuters and hobbyists relying on them to get around. As usage of these lithium-ion battery powered devices grows, so has the number of fires in connection with them….
Advocacy & Civic Engagement | Design & Building | Health & Well Being | Infrastructure & Transportation | Innovation & Technology | Policy & Law
April 12, 2024
How Washington’s local governments have moved to allow for denser housing
Originally reported by Laurel Demkovich in the Washington State Standard. Washington lawmakers in recent years have passed laws to require local governments to allow for more housing density with duplexes, triplexes or attached dwelling units. But before lawmakers required these changes, they looked at ways to incentivize local governments to do this on their own….
Advocacy & Civic Engagement | Design & Building | Economy & Development | Housing & Homelessness | Policy & Law
April 8, 2024
Seattle Civic Poet Shin Yu Pai launches new public poetry project on April 1
Originally reported in Northwest Asian Weekly by Kai Curry. National Poetry Month takes place every year in April. Its purpose is to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry nationwide. This year, Seattle residents will have the privilege and pleasure of discovering, installed throughout various parts of the city, poems by local poets on topics of…
Arts & Culture | Design & Building | Diversity, Equity & Justice | History & Preservation