
National Parks Service wants you to know the National Mall: Will NOT be closed to the public on Inauguration Day despite reports to the contrary.
Biden unveils the details of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package: The "American Rescue Plan" is meant to sustain families and businesses until the coronavirus vaccine is widely available (whenever that will be). Here's a quick rundown of the plan, courtesy of CNBC:
Direct payments of $1,400 to most Americans, bringing the total relief to $2,000, including December’s $600 payments Increasing the federal, per-week unemployment benefit to $400 and extending it through the end of September Increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour Extending the eviction and foreclosure moratoriums until the end of September $350 billion in state and local government aid $170 billion for K-12 schools and institutions of higher education $50 billion toward Covid-19 testing $20 billion toward a national vaccine program in partnership with states, localities and tribes Making the Child Tax Credit fully refundable for the year and increasing the credit to $3,000 per child ($3,600 for a child under age 6)
The American Rescue Plan: Is one of two major plans that will be proposed by Biden in the first few months of his presidency as part of his "rescue and recovery" package. The second bill—expected in February—will focus on longer term goals. “A crisis of deep human suffering is in plain sight. There’s no time to waste,” said Biden in a speech from Wilmington, Delaware. “We have to act and we have to act now.” Watch the rest of his remarks here:
Slowly but surely, that awful barrier around the East Precinct will be gone: CHS Blog reports that the plywood surrounding the black hole on 12th and Pine a.k.a. the East Precinct will start coming down this week. According to a Seattle Police Department spokesperson, the removal of the plywood is part of a longer process to reopen the precinct "when safe to do so." Still no word on when the cement wall will come down.
Four Democratic House members have now tested positive for COVID: After sheltering-in-place during the siege of Capitol Hill. Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Pramila Jayapal, Brad Schneider, and Adriano Espaillat have come down with the virus. Additionally, Rep. Ayanna Pressley announced that her husband, who took cover in the House with her, has also tested positive. This comes in light of several Republican lawmakers refusing to wear masks during the storming.
Unemployment numbers are back up: First time claims surged to 965,000 as hiring across the country slows due the pandemic. Last week's total was the highest since the week of August 22, when over 1 million Americans filed first-time unemployment claims. Continuing claims also rose to 5.27 million.
We are living in Chromatica: Gaga is singing the national anthem at Biden's inauguration. The gays won.
I am deeply honored to be joining @BidenInaugural on January 20 to sing the National Anthem and celebrate the historic inauguration of @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris! đź’™ pic.twitter.com/MfgcG3j4Aa
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) January 14, 2021
There's a lot of poopy water in Puget Sound right now: A power outage yesterday caused The West Point Treatment Plant to send 11 million gallons of untreated stormwater and sewage into our beloved inlet. Heavy rainfall also overwhelmed pump stations in Shoreline and Medina, sending an additional 165,000 gallons and 80,600 gallons of sewage into the Sound. Kitsap Public Health District has issued health advisories along Bainbridge Island and North Kitsap shorelines.
Delta, United, and Alaska say no guns on flights to D.C.: The move comes ahead of next week's inauguration as law enforcement agencies are on high-alert for potential security threats at the ceremony. Delta and United's ban on guns in checked luggage to the Washington-area will start Saturday, run through Inauguration Day, and end the following weekend. Additionally, American Airline flights to D.C. will go dry starting Saturday.
Woman's body found in Seward Park: A jogger stumbled across a corpse early this morning near Lake Washington Boulevard and South Orcas Street. SPD says the cause of death was not immediately apparent but homicide detectives are looking for witnesses. If you have any information, call 206-233-5000.
Biden names Jaime Harrison as new DNC Chair: Not a bad consolation for losing South Carolina.
Parler says Amazon shut down their website to prevent Trump from joining post-Twitter ban: In a federal court hearing today, John Matze, CEO of Parler, said Amazon Web Services' decision to shut down the conservative cesspool was not based on the site's lack of compliance of the AWS Agreement. Rather, the decision was based in part "on a desire to deny President Trump a platform on any large social-media service." Amazon maintained they had "every right" to stop hosting the site.
But ICMYI: In a Twitter thread, Jack Dorsey doubled down on his decision to nix Trump from his microblogging site. "I feel a ban is a failure of ours ultimately to promote healthy conversation," Dorsey twote. "And a time for us to reflect on our operations and the environment around us."
I believe this was the right decision for Twitter. We faced an extraordinary and untenable circumstance, forcing us to focus all of our actions on public safety. Offline harm as a result of online speech is demonstrably real, and what drives our policy and enforcement above all.
— jack (@jack) January 14, 2021
Google pauses all political ads after Capitol Hill siege: Starting today, all of the search engine's platforms will block all political ads and any ads related to the Capitol insurrection, reports Axios. Google had previously lifted its ban on political ads after the general election in November to allow for advertising during the Georgia runoffs. The company also says it will be "extremely vigilant" about enforcing their Dangerous and Derogatory Content policy in light of last week.
Seattle Public Schools superintendent wants the state to prioritize vaccinating teachers, staff, and students: In a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee and Secretary of Health Umair Shah, SPS superintendent Denise Juneau wrote that prioritizing vaccinations for educators and support staff will "send a strong message for our public educators in a time when so much is uncertain."
You can have an Orca sighting in West Seattle, as a treat: Looking out at the pink evening skies and thinking about those big sharp-toothed whales in the Sound, I'm reminded of why I love living here so much. Careful of errant floaters, you wise and ancient creatures!
A January treat...my first Orca sighting #seattle #westseattle #PNW pic.twitter.com/MmBUDOGgGh
— Mike Jensen (@mjtwit) January 14, 2021