STOP THE SWEEPS OR GIVE US HOUSING NOW
"STOP THE SWEEPS OR GIVE US HOUSING NOW" Nathalie Graham

Tomorrow morning, the Seattle Parks Department and Seattle Police Department are expected to clear Capitol Hill's Cal Anderson Park of encampments (without the recently disbanded Navigation Team): Activists have called for "support at the park, asking people to bring camp supplies, furniture, and objects that can be used as barriers," reports Capitol Hill Seattle Blog. People seem to have heard those calls. Here's what the park looks like tonight:

Image_from_iOS__3_.jpg
NG
Image_from_iOS__4_.jpg
NG
Image_from_iOS__5_.jpg
Image_from_iOS__6_.jpg
NG

Nathalie Graham will have more tomorrow.

And we're off! Amy Fry, a COVID-19 ICU nurse at Harborview Medical Center, was the first of many front-line medical workers to get vaccinated in Washington state today, reports the Seattle Times. UW Medicine is starting to vaccinate its high-risk staffers this week. They expect to administer their first batch of 3,900 doses by early next week. Washington state officials expect 400,000 vaccine doses by the end of the year.

We haven't seen the last of Mayor Pete: The President-elect will nominate the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana—a city with a fleet of 60 buses—as his transportation secretary. While this choice is a little baffling, if confirmed, Buttigieg would be the first openly gay cabinet member in U.S. history. How exciting.

More anticipated Biden-Harris nominations: Former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm for energy department secretary, former EPA administrator Gina McCarthy for domestic climate czar, North Carolina environmental regulator Michael Regan for EPA administrator, and New York governor Andrew Cuomo aide Ali Zaidi for deputy White House climate coordinator.

Lets get this bread.
Let's get this bread. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Biden made a drive-in rally appearance in Georgia: Speaking over cheers and car honks, Biden spoke in support of Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock, the two Democrats looking to unseat Republican incumbent Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in Georgia's runoff Senate election. If Ossoff and Warnock both do the deed, it would give the Democrats control of the Senate, assuring Biden's cabinet picks a speedy confirmation process. Biden's speech comes after two recounts in the state, with Georgia's electors casting their votes for him yesterday. "Thank you for standing strong to make sure your voices were heard, to make sure your votes were counted, and counted, and counted again," he said. "I'm starting to feel like I won Georgia three times!"

MacKenzie Scott—philanthropist and Jeff Bezos's ex—gave away $4.1 billion in the past four months: To 384 organizations, four of which are based in Seattle, reports the Seattle Times. Craft3, Easterseals Washington, Walla Walla Community College, and the YMCA of Greater Seattle all received "extraordinary" and "transformational" sums of cash from Scott. Now if only her ex-husband could do the same!

Mayor Jenny Durkan approved the city's first new Public Development Authority (PDA) in 40 years: It's dedicated to establishing cultural spaces. The Cultural Space Agency has been in development for a long time. (At the end of today's presser, Mayor Durkan said that "it's almost like giving birth to a teenager.") It will "develop cultural real estate projects" intended to "build community wealth through transfers," and it will specifically focus on creating new art and cultural spaces for Seattle's BIPOC community. The city described it as "the first and only" program of its kind. Rich Smith has more here.

"BIPOC communities seeking to create generational wealth through cultural spaces and art institutions often highlight the lack of affordable commercial space as a major barrier," said Councilmember Tammy Morales in a statement today. "I’m hopeful this PDA, coupled with allocated funding, will create new spaces that will last in community for generations to come." Here's the Mayor's full announcement this AM:

What are you doing this Thursday night? Obviously you're listening to KUOW's Year in Review with Bill Radke and "special" guests. You can RSVP for free.

ICYMI: Small biz is fighting with big biz. 248 mostly Seattle-area restaurants released a statement aimed at the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce on Monday, criticizing them for suing the City of Seattle over its new JumpStart tax. The hundreds of restaurants, organizing through a group called Seattle Restaurants United, claimed the Chamber's lawsuit is "wrongheaded, harmful, and frankly infuriating to the small businesses which they claim to represent, but clearly do not care enough about to fight for," reports Paul Roberts for the Seattle Times. The Chamber claims the tax on high-earners at big companies (like Amazon) is unconstitutional (because it may violate the state prohibition against income tax) and argued that the city "cannot build a recovery around an unstable source of revenue." The restaurant group is calling bullshit. Spicy!

This is cute: I've only watched like two seasons of Schitt's Creek, but the show's Rosebud Motel has popped up in Queen Anne:

PubliCola has some mayoral election speculation: Will Councilmember Lorena GonzĂĄlez run for mayor next year? PubliCola thinks it's a decent bet that she will. Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda? An unlikely bet, as "word is that she has decided to run for a second term," writes Erica C. Barnett. More here.

While Mitch McConnell acknowledged the Biden-Harris win today, other Republicans (and the White House) did not follow suit.

This counts as food news, right? Support your local izakayas and order from Tamari Bar.