The country is re-opening enrollment for health care offered through the federal marketplace. I guess it's better than nothing.
The country is re-opening enrollment for health care offered through the federal marketplace. I guess it's better than nothing. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Here's your daily evening round-up of the latest local and national news. (Like our coverage? Please consider making a recurring contribution to The Stranger to keep it comin'!)

We had our State of the State, and now it's time for our State of the City, Seattle. At 5:05 PM tonight, Mayor Jenny Durkan will deliver her fourth (and final) State of the City address. It will broadcast live on the Seattle Channel. According to a press release from the mayor's office, Durkan will touch on the city's vaccination efforts, housing crisis, and, as Inslee did for the State of the State, drool over Amazon's Climate Pledge Arena.

A 90-year-old Seattle woman walked six miles roundtrip through the ice and snow to get her first COVID-19 vaccination shot on Sunday: "Had it been shorter, I would have been happier. But I made it," she told Seattle Times' Nicole Brodeur.

Unfortunately for the world, the social media platform for domestic terrorists, Parler, is back online and in business: The platform "limped back to life" on Monday after finding a new host in SkySilk, a company based outside LA. The website is operating at a slow pace and is not accepting new users at this time.

Following Trump's expected acquittal by Republicans on Saturday, Dems are still pushing for justice: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is establishing an "independent, Sept. 11-style commission" to find out who was behind the January 6 domestic terrorist attack on the nation's Capitol. (Wonder how many more "get out of jail free" cards Trump is holding? Because he'll need all of 'em.)

Meanwhile, Utah Republicans are planning to strike back against their own Sen. Mitt Romney for having the AUDACITY to vote in favor of convicting Trump: They accused him of being "an agent of the Establishment Deep State," apparently forgetting that the GOP has been the establishment for years.

Tax grifter Tim Eyman says he's not letting Attorney General Bob Ferguson get him down: Thurston County Superior Court recently slammed Eyman with a $2.6 million fine for campaign-finance violations ("the largest in state history for an individual’s campaign-finance violations," notes the Seattle Times), and now Eyman "can have no financial decision-making authority for any political committee," among many more cannots. But Eyman suggests he's unbothered: He says it's "full steam ahead," reports the Times. Ferguson says that if Eyman "fails to follow the requirements of the injunction he will see us in court again."

The wintery blast that whipped through the PNW is also hammering the rest of the country: It has to do with a polar vortex, which brings an "arctic invasion" throughout the entire continental United States. It's below freezing in New Orleans—which, on the bright side, should help keep away the Mardi Gras crowds.

The brutal assault and death of an 84-year-old San Francisco man, Vicha Ratanapakdee, has sparked large rallies against anti-Asian American violence: Hundreds showed up at San Francisco's Civic Center on Sunday to call out escalating violence against Asian Americans. "We're here to say, we are not targets," said Lai Wa Wu from the Chinese Progressive Association. "We've also lived under a president who continued to blame COVID on Asians time and time again."

Seattle Film Critics Society says Nomadland is the best picture of 2020: It picked up a bunch of awards from the society, including Best Actress (Frances McDormand) and Best Director (Chloé Zhao). Other leaders include Minari (winning three awards) and Sound of Metal (Best Actor for Riz Ahmed). I want Riz to win a bunch of Best Actor awards this season, but I think it's likely he'll lose to Chadwick Boseman for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.


GOP donors gave millions to a scheme that would purportedly investigate "voter fraud" in the 2020 election: Now they're asking for their money back because SURPRISE! The former president and his fellow grifters fleeced them! (Saaaad trommmmbooooone.)

"In the eight Washington counties with the largest share of potential Latino voters, people with Spanish-sounding names... are nearly four times more likely than others to have their ballot rejected for a signature mismatch, according to an InvestigateWest analysis of four recent elections."

That InvestigateWest analysis showed at least three recent examples where the signature rejections made up more than the final margin between two candidates: The examples include the Wapato mayoral election of 2017, a recent Yakima county race, and that race where Sen. Mark Mullet won reelection. There are plenty of important lessons in the piece, especially on implicit bias and language barriers, and also: We've got a cursive problem!

A warning as rainy weather returns to our region: Beware the avalanches.

Members of the Los Angeles police circulated a valentine featuring a picture of George Floyd with the words "You take my breath away": Tell us more about how you think the police can be "reformed."

According to officials, the father of rapper Nicki Minaj was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver.

Indoor dining, meet Great Wheel dining: The Seattle Great Wheel is offering a four-course dinner and wine from The Fisherman's Restaurant starting at $152.50 plus taxes. (Seattle Refined has pics here.) The "four courses" are pre-fixed and include a shrimp cocktail, caesar salad, grilled salmon, a side of vegetables and rice, and then a lil' chocolate. Something about eating shrimp cocktail on a Ferris wheel during the plague feels off to me.

Today through May 15, the country is opening a special health care enrollment period: It's a result of an executive order signed by Biden back in January, which mandated a special COVID-19-related enrollment period on the federal health insurance marketplace. The Biden admin has promised $50 million on outreach and education to help people know about the period. In a statement today, Biden reiterated that "health care is a right, not a privilege." We'd like to reiterate that single-payer health care can be here in Washington state by 2026, if we want it.

ICYMI: Writers continue to call for the resignation of Hugo House executive director Tree Swenson. The growing group claims the partially publically-funded organization has failed communities of color and "fallen short of being a welcoming and supportive place for writers of all races, economic backgrounds and for those who write in languages other than English."

An open letter, published in July, detailed a history of "recurring themes" related to Hugo House and writers of color, including claims of a lack of diversity in leadership, tokenism, and that the classes are inaccessible to communities of color. A failure to properly address the concerns has led to rumblings of a teacher's strike. Hugo House is expected to have an announcement in response to the demands this Tuesday. ("Board President Dick Gemperle said on Friday that there would be a board meeting on Tuesday and 'things will resolve at that time,'" reported Moira Macdonald for the Seattle Times over the weekend.)

KOMO took a break from filming their meat-and-potatoes Seattle Is Dying pornography to capture some good old-fashioned weather smut: I love it when Mother Nature smacks a car's ass and shows it who's boss.

Will someone think of the outdoor dining tents?!?! These people are obsessed with tents.