Youll need a helmet.
  • Pronto Cycle Share
  • You'll need a helmet.

Seattle’s Bike-Share Program Launched Yesterday: Perhaps you saw some folks riding around on the green Alaska-Airlines-sponsored bikes? Yesterday, Ansel Herz laid out everything you need to know.


Hella Wind, Rain Last Night: “Wind gusts on Monday afternoon reached 50 mph in Oak Harbor, 43 in Hoquiam and 41 in Bellingham,” reports King 5, while KOMO says Quillayute received two inches of rain in a 24-hour period. Trees fell down in Mount Vernon, and one knocked out power in Puyallup. After sporadic showers today, another storm is expected to move into the region tonight.


The Vatican: Slightly less hateful?

Vatican Shifts Tone on Same-Sex Unions: The Catholic News Service calls it “strikingly conciliatory language on situations contrary to Catholic teaching” regarding the Vatican’s statement yesterday that same-sex unions can exemplify "mutual aid to the point of sacrifice (that) constitutes a precious support in the life of the partners." The statement was part of an official midterm report from the Synod of Bishops, which meets to review Catholic teachings. It continued:

Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community. Often they wish to encounter a church that offers them a welcoming home. Are our communities capable of providing that, accepting and evaluating their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?

King5 reports on what local LGBT community members think of the announcement.

This is going to get torn down.
  • Eli Sanders
  • This is going to get torn down.

New County Juvenile Jail and Courthouse Get Green Light: The Seattle Times reports that the Seattle City Council voted 8 to 1 to approve zoning changes that will allow King County to build the new facilities. Council Member Kshama Sawant was the lone dissenter.

Local Nurses Say They Don’t Feel Prepared for Ebola: In light of the fact that a Dallas nurse who treated patient Thomas Eric Duncan has been diagnosed with the virus, reports the Seattle Times. (Although KOMO reports the opposite.) Meanwhile, CNN says the infected nurse, 26-year-old Nina Pham, received a blood transfusion from an Ebola survivor.

Meanwhile, the CDC Is Reconsidering Allowing Any Hospital to Treat Ebola Patients: Director Thomas Frieden said his agency may consider requiring patients to be transferred to specialty centers, reports the New York Times.

And Officials Try to Calm Fears About Ebola’s Spread: It hasn’t developed (and is unlikely to develop) into a “super-pathogen,” says the Times, although it has acquired new mutations as it’s spread from person to person.

Officials Say Flu Season Started Early: Seems like half of our office has already had it (me included). Flu shots, people!