A foggy emerald.
A foggy emerald. HK

A quick look at that thing weā€™ve been dealing with for two years: Say what you want about local leadershipā€™s affinity for dashboards, but we got some pretty nice ones. The King County COVID-19 Dashboard is very good, and I find the colors to be relaxing despite the less-relaxing numbers. Between Wednesday and Thursday, the county reported 4,787 new COVID-19 cases, 52 new hospitalizations, and two new deaths.

Canā€™t we all just get along? It looks like the Washington State Republicans are finally happy with ā€œKing Inslee.ā€ When he announced yesterday a plan to tap the national guard to help hospitals deal with the Omicron surge, they tweeted that Sen. Ann Rivers and others had the idea first, and that the governor just said it louder (and like, with the authority to put it into action). @ him next time.

COVID-19 emphasizes the cruelty of locking people up: You know how the main thing with staying safe in the age of a highly transmissible virus is avoiding congregate spaces? Yeah, good luck with that in jail. With COVID-19 spreading like wildfire in King County Jails, the president of the King County Corrections Guild asked for a 2-week shutdown. Hereā€™s the story.

Fluff: Okay. COVID-19 stuff is heavy. Enjoy this video of King County Executive Dow Constantine and a dog named Neville from West Seattle. Wednesday was the first day pets could ride the water taxi.

And now for the weather: Today, Seattleites can expect low 40s in the morning, but things should heat up to 50 degrees by mid-afternoon. Sounds great, but we are in for a cloudy day, so donā€™t get too excited ā€“ unless you're one of those sick locals who cherishes their seasonal depression.

But yesterday: Even though we wonā€™t get too much sun today (or we might, Iā€™m not a meteorologist), yesterday was sorta beautiful. Here are some pictures from the National Weather Service Seattle. I donā€™t understand the caption, but maybe someone else will like it.

Looks like you wonā€™t be able to beat up election workers: Yesterday, the state Senate voted unanimously to approve Senate Bill 5148, which would make threatening an election worker a class C felony. It will still have to go through the House and get Inslee's approval, but itā€™s a good start for these liberals and their dang democracy.

Speaking of democracy: U.S. Senator Patty Murray is also on a democracy kick. Hereā€™s the interview with KUOW.

Wee-ooo-wee-ooo: A fire destroyed two buildings and possibly damaged three others in a Redmond strip mall early this morning. So far, no injuries have been reported, but KOMO said the fire is still under investigation.

PTA energy: Teachers, who work in a petri dish called a classroom, are mysteriously getting COVID-19. Hmmm. Parents in the Lake Washington School district are helping to keep schools staffed during the Omicron surge.

Seattle Public Schools: I honestly donā€™t wanna get too into it, I promise Iā€™ll have a story on it later, but this school district is struggling under COVID-19. Today, many schools are closed or online due to staffing shortages. Students and teachers are set to protest later this morning for better COVID-19 safety measures. More to come.

Scam tests? The Center for COVID Control closed hundreds of testing sites nationwide, including two in Seattle and many in the surrounding area. Hereā€™s what the Everett Herald had to say about it:

Reusing disposable masks: Health experts turned against cloth masks in favor of N95s. But masks can be expensive, hard to find, and wasteful. CNN asked the experts how long we can wear the same N95. So far, it looks like we can wear them for a while, but this advice is subject to change as scientists continue to learn.

British people make no sense: The government is on the Queenā€™s shit-list because of some ragers at UK government offices in 10 Downing Street while the country was in official mourning the night before Prince Phillip's funeral.

Royally fucked up: In news that makes more sense, the Queen stripped Prince Andrew of his military affiliations and royalty in the face of his ongoing sexual assault case. Virginia Giuffre said Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine forced her into having sex with the duke when she was 17.