Vaccine cards, who needs em?
Vaccine cards, who needs 'em? ARTISTGNDPHOTOGRAPHY/GETTY

Maybe the anti-vaxxers will stop acting oppressed: King County officials announced today that restaurants, bars, gyms, and theaters will no longer have to check customers' proof of vaccination start March 1. King County Executive Dow Constantine said, “Our public health experts believe that now is the appropriate time to lift vaccine verification, based on high rates of vaccine coverage and the decrease in new cases and hospitalizations across the county.” Whether or not you agree with this decision, when it comes to case volume, he’s not wrong. We’ve seen a huge drop since Omicron rocked our region. In King County, average daily cases have dropped more than 82% since peaking in early January and hospitalizations have dropped more than 62%. Still, businesses have had mixed reactions.

But wait, there’s more: Not only will businesses be free to decide whether or not to check vaccination status, Gov. Jay Inslee scheduled a press conference tomorrow in Olympia, and many expect he will make a call on the indoor mask mandate. He recently said you could ditch masks outside (still, I literally did not know we were doing that) and now we wait to see if we can walk into an establishment bare face with no vaccine card.

Way ahead of you: Schools are already down for this. The Washington State Superintendent asked Inslee to pretty please lift the mandate on schools. He could get his wish tomorrow. One district in Northeastern Washington is risking state funding by making masks optional for staff and students.

Speaking of King Inslee: Ever annoyed with our governor, the Washington Senate approved a bill that authorizes legislative leaders to terminate a governor's state of emergency after 90 days if the Legislature is not in session. Now the bill is off to the House.

Fuck the staff though, amiright? Yesterday, state lawmakers killed House Bill 1806 for the second biennium in a row. The bill would have allowed legislative workers to unionize. The workers cannot legally lobby on behalf of the bill, but today over 100 legislative workers called in sick to protest working conditions.

Rich has the story.

So many fucking sweeps: The Seattle Times reports that we are back to the status quo when it comes to sweeps under Mayor Bruce Harrell, who bragged about clearing encampments in his State of the City address.

For tiny shelter stans: In other homelessness news, Councilmember Andrew Lewis, who loves tiny shelters the way a mother would love an unspectacular baby, wrote an Op-Ed for the Seattle Times urging the Legislature to pass Senate Bill 5428 that would remove some of the formal processes to building non-permanent shelters. Lewis said the review processes make a five to six-week project take a year.

Mosqueda ‘n marijuana: I wish this was a blurb about me and Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda sharing a joint (me and any members of the council would be both a dream and a nightmare blunt rotation), but instead I thought I’d let you know that Mosqueda hosted a community panel on equity in the cannabis industry and correcting the wrongs from the war on drugs. Lots to dig into here, but in general the panel discussed vacating criminal records, investing in career growth and ownership for BIPOC workers in the cannabis industry, increasing training and protections for workers, developing strong safety measures, and experiences after union organizing.

Weed dies in Legislature: I’m sorry this is all city and state politics. I’m so boring. Literally this is all I talk about in real life too. Plus Taylor Swift gay conspiracy theories. But anyway, a bill in the state to address cannabis equity does not look like it will come to fruition this session.

Don’t block the box! Starting March, SDOT is cracking down. In partnership with SPD, SDOT will turn on new traffic cameras in eight locations around Downtown which will take photos of cars that are illegally driving in bus lanes or blocking crosswalks and intersections. If you’re caught, expect a $75 ticket in the mail.

In other anti-car news: This is actually just a funny picture that the conservatives made of Pete Buttigieg because apparently he is waging war on cars? Kinda sounds too cool for him, but okay.

Cops are fucking lame: Cops busted a teen for doing donuts on a baseball field in Bonney Lake. Didn’t know it was illegal to be cool as hell. Jk, please drive safe :)

Okay, okay here is some pop culture stuff?? Star of Secret Life of the American Teenager Shailene Woodley (remember the iconic “You’re my whore,” line?) and Aaron Rodgers are no longer engaged. Wild.