[WBHG News 24 – Seattle] – After a January 23 report from the Seattle Office of Police Accountability concluded Officer Daniel Auderer violated SPD’s professionalism and bias-based policing policies while discussing the death of Jaahnavi Kandula, including saying she had “limited value,” SPD leadership has recommended harsh discipline, up to termination.
On the night of January 23, 2023, Officer Kevin Dave was responding to a drug overdose call when he struck 23-year-old college student Jaahnavi Kandula in a marked crosswalk while driving 63 MPH, mortally wounding her. Dave stopped briefly, radioed he hit a pedestrian, and then continued to the cocaine overdose call.
Auderer, a drug recognition officer and vice-president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, was deployed to evaluate Dave for potential impairment. After conducting his investigation, a two-minute phone conversation with SPOG President Mike Solan was accidentally recorded on Auderer’s bodycam. A whistleblower within SPD found the video and reported it to his chain of command. The video was released to the public on September 11, 2023, sparking international outrage.
The recording only captured Auderer’s side of the conversation. After telling Solan, “She is dead,” he guffawed, then continued to mock Kandula, saying, “She had limited value,” and the city should “Just write a check – $11,000.”
One year to the day after the accident, OPA recommended sustaining the findings that Auderer “violated SPD’s professionalism and bias-based policing policies by laughing about Kandula’s death, describing her as having “limited value,” and making other disparaging remarks.”
OPA Director Gino Betts Jr. called the officer’s words “derogatory, disturbing, and inhumane.”
According to the Seattle Times, a Seattle Police Department Disciplinary Action Report has recommended punishment ranging from a 30-day suspension without pay up to termination. In a commanders’ disciplinary memo sent to Auderer, SPD leadership wrote, “Even crediting your explanation as true, that does not excuse the callousness of your comments.”
Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz will meet with Auderer on March 4, where he will be given a final opportunity to explain his conduct.
Kandula was a graduate student from India studying for her master’s degree at Northeastern University’s Seattle campus. Two days after the video release, the Indian Consulate in San Francisco called the video “troubling,” writing on Twitter (also known as X), “Recent reports including in media of the handling of Ms Jaahnavi Kandula’s death in a road accident in Seattle in January are deeply troubling. We have taken up the matter strongly with local authorities in Seattle & Washington State as well as senior officials in Washington DC.”
Recent reports including in media of the handling of Ms Jaahnavi Kandula’s death in a road accident in Seattle in January are deeply troubling. We have taken up the matter strongly with local authorities in Seattle & Washington State as well as senior officials in Washington DC
The U.S. State Department also issued a statement, calling the incident “disturbing.”
At the time of the accident, Dave was driving through a construction zone at 74 MPH with no siren. Kandula attempted to run but had less than one second to react, and an investigation found that Dave had slowed to 63 MPH at the moment of impact. A report released in June 2023 concluded, “Had Ofc. Dave been travelling [sic] 50 MPH or less as he approached the intersection and encountered [sic] and Ofc. DAVE and responded in the same manner; this collision would not have occurred.”
In August, when Auderer learned about the bodycam video, he asked OPA Director Betts Jr. for rapid adjudication. The optional disciplinary review enables a police officer to admit to minor to moderate policy violations and accept “reasonable discipline” without appeal, bypassing a formal OPA investigation. Betts Jr. denied the request, which SPOG decried.
With public outrage growing and a September 21 appeal by Seattle’s Community Police Commission to suspend Auderer indefinitely without pay, SPD administratively re-assigned him to desk duty.
Other statements made by Auderer have raised additional questions about the integrity of SPD’s accident investigation. In the same phone conversation with Solan, he said that Dave was driving no more than 50 MPH, and Kandula was thrown less than 50 feet. A secondary investigation found she was thrown 138 feet. The King County Prosecuting Attorney is considering criminal charges for Dave and has hired an outside consultant to conduct an independent investigation. An announcement is expected in the coming weeks.
Auderer is a 14-year veteran with SPD and no stranger to professional conduct investigations. Since May 2014, he’s been investigated 30 times by the OPA, referred to supervisory reprimand or guidance 11 times, and had allegations of unprofessional conduct sustained three times. His prior actions have cost the City almost $2 million in settlement payments.
SPOG has maintained its defense of its vice president, repeatedly stating that Auderer and Solan were engaged in “gallows humor” and declared, “The video captures only one side of the conversation. There is much more detail and nuance that has not been made public yet… SPOG has full confidence that the civilian led [sic] police accountability system known as the Office of Police Accountability / OPA will conduct a thorough and fair investigation.”
During the civilian-led investigation, Solan was called as the only witness. He has since accused the OPA of “union discrimination,” “intimidation,” and conducting a “fishing expedition” after being asked to meet with investigators for a second time to clarify his earlier testimony.
In his first statement to OPA on September 12, Solan told investigators, “It’s how police are,” adding, “Sometimes officers use sarcasm and humor to overcome emotional hurdles, which can be very burdensome.”
Solan claimed that he only agreed to meet with the OPA a second time after being warned he could face dismissal.
Kandula’s family, who lives in India, has not filed a lawsuit against the city. Northeastern University announced they would issue an honorary master’s degree later this week.
[SEATTLE, Wash.] – (MTN) Brett Allen Forsell, 48, was released from King County Jail late on Wednesday without being criminally charged or having to post bond after the Seattle Police Department failed to file their findings of fact with King County Prosecutors for any alleged crime within the Constitutionally required 72 hours.
King County Prosecutors were expecting to receive the required paperwork from the SPD, but the paperwork was never submitted.
Within the Bill of Rights, the Fifth Amendment states, “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury.” Two Supreme Court of the United States rulings, McNabb v. United States (1943) and Mallory v. United States (1957), created what many call the “72 hours rule.”
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 5(a) states that defendants must be brought before the court “without delay,” which is defined as 48 to 72 hours. No time on Saturday, Sunday, or holidays counts toward the requirement to file charing papers with the court, and exceptions can be made if a judge isn’t available. In Washington, Rule 3.2.1 states, “Unless an information or indictment is filed or the affected person consents in writing or on the record in open court, an accused shall not be detained in jail or subjected to conditions of release for more than 72 hours.”
Forsell denies he threatened Jayapal, brandished a weapon, or made racist comments. SPD claims that a follow-up investigation supports the man’s version of events, but the investigation continues. Seattle Police did not respond at press time on why there was a discrepancy in the arresting officer’s report and the follow-up investigation.
The Seattle Police Department requested an extreme risk protection order be filed against Forsell, which will require him to give up all firearms prior to a review, typically 14 days after the court authorizes the protection order. Forsell’s weapons will be returned if the court determines that he isn’t an extreme risk. If Forsell does not show up for the hearing or the court determines he is an extreme risk, the order is automatically extended to one year.
Forsell admitted to police that he had been driving past Jayapal’s house multiple times over the week before his arrest, yelling obscenities and taunts.
King County Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Casey McNerthey released a statement.
“The recent incident outside Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s Seattle home is disturbing and unacceptable. In a time of increased political violence, security concerns against any elected official should be taken seriously.”
“The suspect’s alleged language and actions, coupled with his possession of a concealed weapon, deserve the full attention of the justice system. Presently, the investigation is ongoing, and our office is working with police investigators to make sure we understand the full extent of the suspect’s actions to build the strongest case possible.”
On July 9, Seattle police reported they were called to Jayapal’s home after multiple reports of a person driving by her home and yelling obscene and racist statements. A neighbor also called 911 reporting that someone may have fired a “pellet gun,” displaying a weapon.
Forsell was arrested in the middle of the street, possessing a handgun within his waistband. A witness told investigators they heard Forsell yelling, “Go back to India,” and “I’m going to kill you,” driving by the congressperson’s house three times.
Jayapal is the first Indian-American woman elected to the House of Representatives and heads the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
[SEATTLE, Wash.] – (MTN) Brett Allen Forsell, 48, is being held in King County Jail until he can make $500,000 bail, for brandishing a handgun and making racist death threats outside the home of United States Congressperson Pramila Jayapal (WA-D).
Rep. Jayapal’s office released a statement about the incident on her website.
“Congresswoman Jayapal confirms that incidents occurred at her Seattle home on Saturday night when she was present. The Congresswoman and her family are safe and appreciate the many calls and good wishes she is receiving from constituents. She is very grateful for the swift and professional response from the Seattle Police Department, the US Capitol Police, and the FBI investigators who are working together diligently on the investigation, and ensuring that she and her family stay safe. Because this is an ongoing investigation, she will not be commenting further at this time.”
Seattle police reported they were called to Jayapal’s home on Saturday reporting a person was driving by the home, and yelling obscene and racist statements. A neighbor also called 911 reporting that someone may have fired a “pellet gun,” displaying a weapon.
Forsell was arrested in the middle of the street, possessing a handgun with it in his waistband. A witness told investigators they heard Forsell yelling, “Go back to India,” and “I’m going to kill you,” driving by the congressperson’s house three times.
Prosecutors asked for an emergency restraining order, but the motion was denied. The judge overseeing the initial hearing said there was “probable cause” for additional hate crime charges.
Jayapal is the first Indian-American woman elected to the House of Representatives and heads the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
The FBI and the United States Secret Service are also investigating. Formal charges are expected to be filed on Wednesday.
[SEATTLE, Wash.] – (MTN) After weeks of testimony, the jury considering the evidence presented during the Charleena Lyles inquest concluded after 20 hours of deliberation, Seattle Police Officers used “reasonable force” and were left with no other options beyond lethal force.
Lyle’s grandfather exploded in anger after the verdict was read, and was escorted from the courtroom.
The jurors had to use the legal standard for evaluating user of force police conduct that existed in 2017, which required the finding of “malice” or “evil intent.” In 2019, Washington state law was changed to remove the requirement. Jurors were asked to consider more than 100 questions, including if the officers’ actions were done with “malice.”
On June 17, 2017, Charleena Lyles called 911 to report a burglary. Seattle Police officers had been to her apartment two weeks earlier and knew she was in a mental health crisis. Jason Anderson and Steven McNew were the responding officers and neither had less-lethal options with them. Officer Anderson had stopped carrying his department-provided taser a few days earlier and McNew was not certified to carry one.
Officers enter the apartment, and despite knowing that Lyles was having mental health issues, did not ask her to put away some knives that were on the kitchen counter. During the interaction, the inquest determined that Lyles had grabbed one of the knives and would not comply with the officers’ orders. The inquest found that Lyles threatened Anderson and McNew with deadly force, leaving them no other option due to the tight quarters of the apartment, and not carrying less-lethal weapons. They fired their service weapons seven times, striking Lyles, who was pregnant, multiple times. Lyles died at the scene and her death was witnessed by two of her four children.
In 2018, Office Anderson was suspended for two days after a Seattle Office of Police Accountability investigation determined he had violated department policy but not having his taser. The OPA finds determined that the incident may have turned out differently if Anderson had a less-lethal option available.
Lyles’s family filed a $10 million lawsuit against the city of Seattle in 2020. The lawsuit was dismissed, but reinstated on appeal in 2021. The case was set to go to trial in February, but the family and the City of Seattle reached a $3.5 million settlement in November 2021.
King County Prosecutor Dan Sattenberg said that his office would review the evidence presented during the inquest and make a final determination on whether criminal charges will be filed. Because the pre-2019 standard of proving “malice” or “evil intent” is a requirement to secure a conviction, it is unlikely criminal charges will move forward.
[KIRKLAND, Wash.] – MTN On February 26, 2020, in the Totem Lake Fred Meyer parking lot in Kirkland, FBI agents moved in and arrested neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division leader Cameron Brandon Shea of Redmond, Washington, on a warrant for four felonies. Shea, who worked in the Seattle suburb grocery store, was arrested with four coconspirators on various charges. On the surface, Atomwaffen appears to be an internally created extremist group that identifies with the policies of Nazi Germany. In reality, the group has ties to the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM), and former Washington state residents Kaleb James Cole and Aiden Bruce Umbaugh likely received military training in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The trail that led three Washingtonians to connect with Russian neo-Nazi terrorist leaders follows a twisted path that begins in the mind of a 14-year-old American in 1966. The road winds through a global white nationalist movement with roots in St. Petersburg, Russia, leading to the creation of Iron March by a Russian national who used the pseudonym of Alexander Slavros, and amplified by Brandon Clint Russell. In late 2015, the Atomwaffen division in the United States was born, and a few months later, Cole created the Washington Divison of Atomwaffen in the suburbs of Seattle. Among those who created a deeper connection to the terrorist organization RIM? The founder of the white power Traditionalist Worker Party and Iron Dome, Matthew Heimbach.
Russell, a dual citizen of The Bahamas and the United States, was openly radicalized in his teens. He engaged in the online forum Iron March, where he quickly grew credibility among the neo-Nazi movement. Despite his beliefs being public and his direct ties to five radicalized far-right organizations, Russell was able to enlist in the Florida National Guard. A 2017 double homicide investigation in Tampa, Florida, revealed Russell’s connections and the discovery of bomb-making materials, radioactive isotopes, and neo-Nazi propaganda.
Russell was never charged with the murder of his roommates, both members of Atomwaffen. He was arrested on federal charges and, in September 2017, pled guilty to possessing an unregistered destructive device and illegally storing explosives. Within Russell’s orbit was John Cameron Denton, one of the earliest members of Atomwaffen. Between 2016 and 2017 and likely before his arrest, Russell passed leadership to the neo-Nazi group to him.
Heimbach was influenced by the ramblings of cult leader Charles Manson and his admirer James Mason. Mason is considered the Godfather of fascist terrorism in North America. Among white nationalists, the 1992 book The Seige is a manifesto for creating a global race war to establish white nationalist rule. Mason’s writings call for the creation of autonomous neo-Nazi terror cells and the destruction of the United States government.
Mason’s radicalization started when he was 14 and joined the American Nazi Party (ANP) in the 1960s. After the founder of the ANP was assassinated in 1967, Mason wandered for several years before joining the National Socialist Liberation Front. In 1982 Mason started writing letters to Manson disciples Sandra Good and Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme. The pair were imprisoned for participating in the grizzly Manson Family murder spree in 1969, leaving seven dead. Good and Fromme introduced Mason to Manson through correspondence, and Manson, from his prison cell, formed the Universal Order movement with Mason in 1982.
Mason had started writing a series of essays in 1980 for a self-published monthly newsletter called The Seige. From 1980 to 1986, Mason praised Manson and professed that the cult leader would be the ideal person to mold a new Nazi leadership in a post-race-fueled civil war America. Michael Moynihan (not to be confused with the American journalist) was a reader of The Seige, and in 1992 he edited and published the writings as a book called The Seige: The Collective Writings of James Mason. In 2003, the Black Sun Press republished the book under a new name, The Seige. and added a foreword written by Mason.
Around the same time The Seige was being prepared for publication Stanislav Vorobyev formed RIM in St. Petersburg, Russia. The ultranationalist organization embraces neo-Nazi ideology, wants to restore Russia to its pre-1917 borders, eliminate those not of ethno-Russian blood and re-establish rule by the Russian Orthodox Church and white nationalists with bloodlines to the tsarist Romanovs.
RIM didn’t draw much attention in post-Soviet collapsed Russia until 2007 when Vorobyev formed the Rezerv Paramilitary Club (RPC). In Russia, paramilitary clubs are legal and controlled by the Voluntary Society for Cooperation with the Army, Aviation, and Navy (DOSAAF). DOSAAF was created in the 1950s by the Soviet Union to promote a healthy lifestyle and teach the history of Russian military glory. The RPC formed a paramilitary training camp at an abandoned Soviet-era military base in St. Petersburg with the blessing of the Kremlin.
In 2012 with support from then Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev, RIM formed the New Force political party. The platform softened its extremist message to become more palatable to the Russian public. It claimed to support “democratic values” but called for restricting immigration to ethnic Russians and holding undocumented immigrants in slave labor camps. In 2013 working with other Russian-based neo-Nazi groups, RIM went public, organizing an anti-immigration protest in Voronezh, Russia.
In late 2013 as Ukraine made its intentions of pulling away from the Kremlin known, Vorobyev wrote, “The stability of anti-Russian regimes on all the territory inhabited by the Russian ethnos” is the greatest threat to the “Russian national survival.” Working with pro-Russian figures in Ukraine, members of RIM were involved in destabilizing the Kyiv government and fomenting Euromaidan counterprotests that led to dozens of deaths.
On February 28, 2014, the day after the Russian military occupied the Crimea Peninsula, members of RIM flew with the Russian military to Sevastopol. Among the passengers were Vorobyev and Nikolay Trushchalov, the head of external affairs for RIM. In March, four members of RIM met with neo-Nazi pro-Russian separatist leaders in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
After the meeting in Donetsk, RIM coordinated with other ultranationalist and pro-Nazi organizations in Russia, including Rodina. It held a demonstration in Moscow to support ethnic Russians living in Ukraine. In a cynical twist, Russian organizations aligned with Nazi ideology led protests accusing the legitimate government in Kyiv of Nazi atrocities.
Around the same time, the RPC received its new name, the Russian Imperial Legion, and started training mercenaries to fight against Ukraine. RIM actively recruited military veterans and provided two weeks of combat training, sending squad-sized groups into separatist-controlled Ukraine through humanitarian corridors. RIM mercenaries reported directly into the Russian 1st and 2nd Army Corps of the Donetsk (DNR) and Luhansk People’s Republics (LNR). Vorobyev and Trushchalov worked with Russian military veteran and Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agent Igor Girkin (who goes by the alias Igor Strelkov). Girkin is accused of being directly responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which killed 298 when a Boeing 777-200ER was shot down on the Ukraine-Russia border. Girkin was the first commander of the 1st Army Corps of the DNR and had up to 300 RIM-provided mercenaries of the Imperial Legion under his command.
The troops led by Girkin were accused of committing dozens of atrocities against Ukrainians and Ukrainian soldiers. Even today, Girkin on Telegram rails against prisoner of war exchanges done by the Russian Federation in Ukraine and reminds his followers that if he was still in charge of the DNR 1st Army Corps, he would take no prisoners.
In the fall of 2014, Girkin was forced to flee to Russia after a series of military failures in the Donbas, refusal to comply with the directives of the Kremlin and the negative publicity from the downing of Flight 17. The FSB started a purge of Girkin-aligned leaders in the 1st Army Corps due to their ideology being out of alignment with Moscow’s goals. But among white nationalists and neo-Nazis, the credibility of RIM and the Imperial Legion grew, gaining international attention on Telegram, the dark web, and the Russian Facebook clone VKontakte.
Although overt racism and white nationalism were pushed just under the surface in American society starting in the late 1970s, the ideology and its purveyors didn’t fade away. The Internet, economic dissatisfaction caused by the Great Recession of 2008, and the election of Barack Obama and his “liberal agenda” caused the movement to rise back to the surface. Hate groups found the Internet was the perfect place to share their message, radicalize people in their youth, and recruit members to their ranks. The organizations weaponized the First Amendment to support their cause while amplifying their messages through the use of marketing agencies, troll farms, and automated bots. Social media companies and web host providers were slow to respond.
Among those to embrace this newfound acceptance was Heimbach, the co-founder of the Traditionalist Worker Party. In 2011, he joined the Youth for Western Civilization (YFWC) club at Towson University in Maryland. Like Mason and Russell, Heimbach’s radicalization started in his teens, and like RIM founder Vorobyev in Russia, he earned a degree in history. In 2012 Heimbach wrote in the YFWC blog, “No longer will the homosexual, Muslim, and black supremacist groups be allowed to hijack our campus. [We are] preparing to take our campus back, all we need is the help of people like you to make it happen.”
For the administration of Towson University, the blog posts and campus vandalism with the messages of “white pride” and “white guilt is over” scrawled on sidewalks and buildings was a bridge too far. In the spring of 2012, the university dissolved the YFWC chapter. Undeterred, Heimbach created the White Student Union and invited Jared Taylor, the creator of the ultranationalist faux think tank American Renaissance, to speak at the university. Taylor was so impressed by Heimbach’s radical views on race that he took him under his wing.
In 2013 Taylor invited Heimbach to speak at the American Renaissance conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Another featured speaker was neo-Nazi Richard Spencer, a speaker, and organizer of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. Taylor’s session was called “Report from the Trenches.” At the conference, Heimbach asked Paul Ramsey, “Where do we create our ethnostate?”
Ramsey replied, “We need to Balkanize and create our own homeland. We have a right to exist.”
With white nationalist movements moving to the open in the United States and Russia and politicians in both countries embracing the ideology, the twin paths a world apart were on a collision course.
In 2015 the International Conservative Forum of Russia was held in St. Petersburg with support from the Russian government. The conference was organized by Rodina and RIM, attracting leaders and influencers of white nationalist organizations from Germany, Italy, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the United States. Among the attendees from the United States was Taylor of American Renaissance. Also in attendance was Russell, who had already laid the foundation to create Atomwaffen.
Russell began spreading his ultranationalist message online in 2011 when he was 16 years old, creating the neo-Nazi organization Iron March in 2013. In 2015 while in St. Petersburg, he met with Taylor of American Renaissance and the leaders of the Nordic Resistance Movement of Sweden, the National Action group of Germany, CasPound of Italy, and Golden Dawn of Greece. In October of 2015, Russell announced the creation of Atomwaffen in Florida.
Shortly after the same conference and Taylor’s return to the United States, his pupil Heimbach formed Iron Dome. The new organization was created in parallel with the Traditionalist Worker Party, but aligned with the call of direct action and terror cell-based ultranationalism. Iron Dome would eventually merge with Atomwaffen.
Matthew Heimbach’s Traditional Worker Party of the United States and the Russia Imperial Movement show unity between the two groups in this Facebook graphic
Members of the Nordic Resistance Movement who attended the Russian forum in 2015 returned to St. Petersburg in 2016 and received combat training from RIM. From November 2016 to January 2017, Nordic Resistance Movement members Anton Thulin, Viktor Melin, and a third coconspirator executed three terrorist attacks in Gothenburg, Sweden. The trio targeted a coffee shop and two asylum homes for refugees. In the third incident, the bomb failed to detonate. The three were tried and found guilty of the attacks and sentenced to 8-1/2 years in prison.
At the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Heimbach met members of the Atomwaffen Division and moved the Traditionalist Workers Party further right, fully embracing anti-Semtisim and white nationalism. According to ProPublica and the Southern Poverty Law Center, Heimbach wrote on Discord after Charlottesville, “The Jews will use their guns to try to stop us, but also their pigs and courts to try to break our spirits.” In the same post, he referred to people of the white race as victims of the “Zionist Occupation Government” – repeating the antisemitic conspiracy that a Jewish deep state international conspiracy runs the United States government. Heimbach was enamored with Atomwaffen, calling the group “our friends.”
After Charlottesville, RIM’s Western European representative Stanislav Shevchuk traveled to the United States to establish connections between RIM and far-right extremist white nationalist groups. Heimbach had become a regular on American news programs, interviewed by the mainstream media where he was given an open platform to share his white nationalist views. Due to Heimbach’s public profile in the United States and his connections to Taylor, Mason, Spencer, and his embrace of Atomwaffen, Shevchuk asked to meet with the white nationalist figure. Despite being a highly visible voice for white nationalism in the United States, behind the curtain, he held little influence. The real power brokers in Atomwaffen were Cole, Shea, Russell, and Denton, who was the leader of Atomwaffen in the United States.
Matthew Heimbach (left) and Stanislav Shevchuk (right) hold the flag of the Russia Imperial Movement in front of the White House in 2017
Heimbach gave Shevchuk a guided tour of Washington D.C., where they displayed the RIM nationalist flag outside the White House. They also visited Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and posed in front of a statue of Robert E. Lee with a Confederate flag and the RIM nationalistic flag of black, yellow, and white.
While Heimbach was the bearded smiling face of white nationalism and anti-Semitism, Cole, Shea, Russell, and Denton were moving ahead with a far more violent plan influenced by Mason. In 2016, Cole founded the Washington chapter of Atomwaffen in the shadow of Seattle.
Although Seattle and Portland, Oregon are perceived to be liberal strongholds, both cities lie in what was once the Oregon Territory which passed increasingly aggressive anti-immigration legislation. On June 18, 1844, the Oregon Territory Provisional Government passed a law that Blacks attempting to settle in the territory would be publicly whipped with 39 lashes every six months.
On September 27, 1850, the United States Congress passed the Donation Land Claim Act, which made it illegal for anyone other than whites, or whites of mixed race with indigenous peoples, to settle in the Oregon Territory. The law designated that any white male United States citizen eighteen years or older could claim a 320-acre parcel of land free of charge in parts of modern-day Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming.
More than 160 years later, hate groups, white nationalist organizations, anti-Semites, and neo-Nazis thrive just out of view. The Proud Boys, III%, Patriot Front, and Patriot Prayer operate in the open and actively recruit members online and among the antivaccination and antigovernment communities.
Overt racism, anti-Black, and anti-immigration legislation and violence continued in the Pacific Northwest for more than a century, the echoes continuing to impact immigration patterns within the United States. The 2020 United Census showed that people who identify as Black make up 1% of Idaho, 2% of Oregon, and 4.3% of Washington – 13.4% of people in the United States identify as Black. For Atomwaffen, Western Washington was a fertile ground to recruit new members who grew up in a monocultural environment and saw everything wrong in the world shimmering in the Seattle skyline.
Cole’s life was ordinary before becoming an Atomwaffen Divison leader. He grew up in Everett, spent time in Bellingham, and eventually moved to Arlington. By 2015 he was already deeply radicalized and held neo-Nazi beliefs. Members of Atomwaffen practiced firing guns in the forests north of Seattle. In 2018 Cole and Aiden Bruce-Umbaugh, of Olympia, Washington embarked on a one-month trip to Germany, Poland, Ukraine, and allegedly Russia, where they had a purpose.
During that trip, Cole and Bruce-Umbaugh allegedly traveled to St. Petersburg and received combat training from RIM. The pair slipped into Russia through Ukraine using a green corridor in the Donbas. After completing Imperial Legion training, the pair traveled back through Ukraine, entered Poland, and visited the Nazi Concentration Camp Auschwitz. A picture was taken on the train tracks that lead to the extermination camp, Bruce-Umbagh with a thumbs up and Cole pointing to the sky. Cole wasn’t flashing a number one but referencing the extermination of ethnic Jews at the death camp and the ash and smoke rising from the incinerators.
Aiden Bruce-Umbaugh (left) and Kaleb James Cole (right) pose outside the main entrance at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland after recently completing combat training in Russia
The training in firearms, explosives, moving as a squad, and terrorist tactics were taken back to Washington state. At an abandoned cement factory in Concrete, members of Atomwaffen attended “hate camps” to train in guerilla and urban warfare and fire automatic weapons. Cole, despite never being in the United States military or having received any military training of public record, also set up a second “hate camp” in the Nevada desert near Death Valley.
Cole was also behind the editing and design of propaganda, posters, and slick recruiting videos. The scenes from “Devil’s Tower,” as the locals called the graffiti-covered ruins, closely resemble the videos made by Russian-proxy troops from Chechnya. The soldiers in those videos are called the “Chechen TikTok unit” and create numerous videos of fighters shooting wildly at nothing and staging raids of empty buildings.
Atomwaffen members holding the organization’s flag during weapons training in Concrete, Washington
In 2018, neo-Nazi posters began appearing at churches, government offices, and public areas in Kirkland, Redmond, and Bellevue. The posters and propaganda appeared across the region for almost two years. The content was never connected back to Atomwaffen, but the designs of some of the materials were similar. Emboldened by the sign campaign, Patriot Front also distributed materials in the suburban areas east of Seattle.
A 2018 investigation by ProPublica found Atomwaffen had cells in 23 states and was growing in influence and violence. By 2019 federal, state, county, and local authorities were increasingly concerned by Atomwaffen’s actions and rhetoric. Domestic terrorist experts believed that the language was moving from suggesting there should be a race war to purge the United States to discussing direct action. On September 26, 2019, a King County judge granted the Seattle Police Department’s request to issue an extreme risk protection order on Cole. In October, authorities seized five military-style rifles, three handguns, gun parts, and ammunition at Cole’s residence in Arlington.
Cole had an opportunity to have his guns returned at a hearing a couple of weeks later but instead fled to Montgomery, Texas, where he found refuge with Denton. The extreme risk protection order was automatically extended for a year because Cole defaulted by not attending the hearing. Because of Cole’s propaganda abilities and combat training, Denton allegedly made Cole the Texas leader of Atomwaffen. His tenure would be very short-lived, as Shea had already made a mistake and allowed an FBI informant to infiltrate the group.
Graphic design work by Kaleb James Cole threatened the press, featured Nazi symbols, Charles Manson, and scenes of open revolution
Only days after arriving in Texas, Cole was involved in a November 4, 2019, traffic stop in the west Texas town of Post, with Bruce-Umbaugh in the passenger seat. Police found marijuana, concentrated THC, an AR-15, two AK-47s, a 9mm pistol, and 1,500 rounds of ammunition. The extreme risk protection order on Cole was flagged during the stop, but Bruce-Umbaugh claimed that the drugs and guns were his. Cole was behind the wheel of the blue Ford Focus with Washington plates, and despite this glaring discrepancy, Bruce-Umbaugh was arrested, and Cole was released.
A month later, the mistake was identified, and a warrant was issued for Cole’s arrest for unlawful possession of a firearm with bail set at $20,000. Bruce-Umbaugh was unable to post bond for his release and languished in a west Texas jail cell, where authorities confronted him about a nascent Atomwaffen plot.
In November 2019, Shea had unknowingly contacted an FBI informant and invited the agent to join a budding operation to threaten journalists across the country. His goal was to “erode the media/states air of legitimacy by showing people they have names and addresses, and hopefully embolden others to act.” The informant worked with Shea on his plans and through conversations exposed other Atomwaffen members, including Cole, now hiding in the outskirts of Houston. An undercover agent visited Cole in January 2020, and in a sworn statement claimed the newly minted Atomwaffen Division leader of Texas was wearing a Klu Klux Klan robe.
Later that same month, Atomwaffen threatened a Seattle TV news reporter, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League Pacific Northwest Chapter, and attempted to threaten a Florida reporter. In the Florida incident, the flyers were affixed to the wrong home.
On February 26, 2020, the group was unraveled by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. Operation Erste Saule arrested five members of Atomwaffen in four states. John Cameron Denton and Kaleb J. Cole were arrested in Texas. Cameron Brandon Shea was arrested in Kirkland, Washington, as he walked into a Fred Meyer grocery store to start his work shift. Also arrested were John Garza of Arizona and Tyler “Taylor” Parker-Dipeppe of Florida.
Bruce-Umbaugh was also federally charged while he was still sitting in a west Texas jail cell. On February 3, 2020, he pled guilty to federal charges of possession of firearms and ammunition by a prohibited person.
Three months after Operation Erste Saule and the FBI investigation revealing the military training of Atomwaffen members in St. Petersburg, Russia, the United States Department of State designated the Russia Imperial Movement and members of its leadership as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. It was the first time the United States government had declared a white supremacist group a terrorist organization.
On April 6, 2020, Vorobyev, Nikolayevich, and Denis Garijev were designated as terrorists “for providing training for acts of terrorism that threaten the national security and foreign policy of the United States and being leaders of such a group.”
In September of the same year, National Counterterrorism Center Director Christopher Miller confirmed that United States members of the “extreme right” had traveled to Russia for military training. Testifying before Congress with FBI Director Chris Wray, Miller reported Americans have traveled to Russia to train with RIM and the Imperial Legion. He added that the relationship between extremists in the United States and RIM had remained casual and had not organized into cross-nation terrorism. Miller did not list the names of the organizations or individuals that had trained with the Imperial Legion during his testimony.
The Russian Federation does not consider RIM a terrorist organization. A Kremlin spokesperson defended the group and its military training of foreign fighters declaring, “We are also not going to prohibit foreigners from coming to visit their barracks or receive training. That is its purpose.”
Like many countries that identify as being formed by people with white ancestry, Ukraine has its own problem with neo-Nazi ideology. A lot of digital ink has been spilled about the history of the Azov Battalion and its founding members identifying with white supremacism and Nazi beliefs. While white nationalist extremists founded the Azov Battalion in 2014, the military unit slowly shifted its political alignment and views during the last six years. The early ranks were mostly filled with Russian-speaking residents of eastern Ukraine and were funded partly by Jewish businessperson and billionaire Ihor Kolomoyskyi. The group was colloquially called “The Men In Black” to counter Russia’s “little green men.”
Before the war in Ukraine, members of Atomwaffen were still within the ranks of the Azov Battalion. The battalion ejected the extremists from its ranks in 2020, including those with Atomwaffen.
When the Russia-Ukraine War started on February 24, Russian propaganda had turned the Azovs into mythical monsters while ignoring the thousands of ultranationalist neo-Nazis being trained and deployed to Ukraine under the watchful eye of DOSAAF. It used the group as justification to invade Ukraine for “denazification.” Despite the legends, the Azov Regiment had fewer than 3,000 troops, including Israeli foreign volunteers within the ranks. In May 2022, new insignia for the unit was introduced, wiping the last hints of its white nationalist founding.
While the Kremlin and the social media accounts it backs push a denazification agenda in Ukraine, it is estimated that several thousand members of the Imperial Legion are fighting in Ukraine, concentrated in Izyum and the Donbas. In an ironic twist, ultranationalist mercenaries with the Imperial Legion fought in Mariupol, likely against the Azov Battalion, to “denazify” Ukraine.
In Izyum, Ukraine, two mercenaries with Russian Private Military Company Wagner Group pose outside the destroyed hospital in the city center. The person on the left is trained by the Imperial Legion and wearing a Nazi-inspired patch.
While the alleged atrocities of Azov are mostly limited to memes, propaganda, and disinformation, an internal report of the German Federal Intelligence Service BND claims that the Imperial Legion engages in destroying cultural icons that don’t align with the Russian Orthodox Church and tortures and executes Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Unlike Russia, all 50 states ban private militias that are involved in extremist activity or move their presence into the public domain. Despite these regulations, enforcement is almost non-existent. It is estimated there are almost 300 private militias operating in the United States. They represent a fertile ground for recruitment to fight in Ukraine with Russian extremist organizations and Private Military Companies such as the Wagner Group. For those that survive, they bring back that experience, which can be applied to future domestic terrorism.
Kaleb James Cole was convicted of conspiracy, three counts of mailing threatening communications, and one count of interfering with a federally protected activity. On January 11, Cole was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison. Cole has been labeled a terrorist by Canada.
Cameron Brandon Shea pled guilty to one count of conspiring to commit three offenses against the United States: interference with federally-protected activities because of religion and one count of interfering with a federally protected activity because of religion. On April 25, Shea was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison.
Aiden Bruce-Umbaugh pled guilty to possessing firearms and ammunition by a prohibited person. On April 28, 2020, he was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. While awaiting his sentencing in jail, he bragged to other inmates about his photo at Auschwitz and openly told others he was a Nazi.
John Cameron Denton was convicted of conspiracy and a hate crime for “swatting” over 130 people. Denton participated in a conspiracy that conducted swatting attacks between October 2018 and February 2019. Swatting is a harassment tactic that involves deceiving emergency dispatchers into believing that a person or persons are in imminent danger of death or bodily harm and causing the dispatchers to send police and emergency services to an unwitting third party’s address. Denton chose his targets motivated by racial hatred. On May 4, 2021, Denton was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison.
Johnny Roman Garza pled guilty to conspiracy to mail threatening communications, to commit stalking, and to interfere with federally protected activities. On September 8, 2020, he was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison.
Tyler “Taylor” Parker-Dipeppe pled guilty to conspiracy to mail threatening communications, to commit stalking, and to interfere with federally protected activities. Taylor, who is transgender, uses he/him pronouns and goes by the name Tyler, was abused by his biological father and stepfather growing up. Growing up in Egg Harbor, New Jersey, he was so severely bullied in school for identifying as male, that he brought a lawsuit against the school and was paid a $50,000 settlement. Parker-Dipeppe fell into Atomwaffen when he was 15 or 16, and found a family within the group while hiding he is transgender.
As the only person in the Florida Atomwaffen cell that owned a car, he and another member drove to St. Petersburg, Florida to affix threatening posters on a journalist’s home, but went to the wrong house. After making the threat, Parker-Dipeppe confessed to his mother what had happened and was afraid the group would learn he is transgender. He confessed his LGBTQIA status to Shea in Washington state and was kicked out of Atomwaffen.
On September 8, 2020, United States District Judge John Coughenour sentenced Parker-Dipeppe to time served, saying he struggled with sentencing but given his history, “enough is enough.” Parker-Dipeppe is now married and employed, and fears that he will be targeted for violence in the future.
Brandon Clint Russell pled guilty to one count of possessing an unregistered destructive device and one count of unlawful storage of explosive material. On January 9, 2018, he was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison. While awaiting sentencing in jail, Russell tried to send bomb-making information to members of Atomwaffen. He wrote in one letter, “I don’t care how long you put me in jail, your Honor, … as soon as I get out, I will go right back to fight for my White Race and my America!” Russell will be eligible for release in January 2023.
Matthew Heimbach’s life and connections with the white nationalist movement fell apart in 2017. On March 2, 2016, Heimbach was caught on camera harassing and shoving a Black woman at a Donald Trump rally in Louisville, Kentucky. As the incident unfolded, then-candidate Trump yelled, “get her out!” On May 17, 2017, Heimbach was charged with misdemeanor harassment. Heimbach called the charges “politically motivated” and said he “acted pursuant to the directives and requests of Donald J. Trump.” On July 20, 2017, Heimbach cut a plea deal. He was fined $145 and sentenced to 90 days in jail for second-degree disorderly conduct. The sentence was suspended through a deferred adjudication agreement that required Heimbach not to get in further legal trouble for the next two years.
On March 14, 2018, Heimbach was arrested again for two counts of domestic violence assault against his wife, Jessica Parrott, and his father-in-law Matt Parrott. Ms. Parrott believed that Heimbach was having an affair, so she and her father set up a sting operation to confirm her suspicions. Her suspicion was well placed, but to the pair’s surprise, Heimbach was having an affair with his mother-in-law. Heimbach allegedly choked his father-in-law until he lost consciousness. Ms. Parrott told police that Heimbach “demanded that I tell the cops to leave,” kicked a wall, grabbed her face, and threw me face-first into a bed.” Despite violating his deferred adjudication agreement and being charged with two domestic violence assaults, bail was set for $1,000.
On May 16, 2018, Heimbach was sentenced to 37 days in jail for violating his 2017 plea agreement. In a June 2018 hearing, the Parrotts did not want to pursue charges. After the 2018 domestic violence incident, the Traditionalist Worker Party, which Heimbach founded with Parrott, collapsed.
The neo-Nazi and white nationalist movements have rejected Heimbach, labeling him a traitor, informant, and a communist. In 2020, he stated he was done with identifying with white nationalism.
Heimbach was named a defendant in Sines v. Kessler in October 2017 due to the violence that erupted at the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally. Heimbach was found liable for civil conspiracy and ordered to pay $500,000 in punitive damages.
James Mason still writes about Charles Manson, calls for violence against Jews, and his support of neo-Nazi ideals. He is currently considered the leader of Atomwaffen, an allegation he denies. Mason claims that Atomwaffen collapsed in 2020 after the arrests of key leaders.
Mason has a significant criminal record including a 1992 guilty plea of “illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented materials” after two police raids in 1988 and 1991 found child pornography in his home. He was fined $500. In 1994 Mason was arrested again and charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Mason, who was 42 years old at the time, had threatened his Latina 16-year-old ex-girlfriend and her mother with a gun. He was sentenced to 36 months in prison.
Jared Taylor continues to lead the faux think tank American Renaissance. Taylor doesn’t view Jews as a threat to a new order. He severed his ties with Heimbach as he became more radicalized by RIM and Atomwaffen. In 2017, Taylor had a front-row VIP seat at the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Taylor is banned from traveling to 26 European Union nations that comprise the Schengen Area.
Richard Spencer’s life also fell apart in 2017. Spencer planned to hold a neo-Nazi march in Whitefish, Montana, in January 2017. Congressional Representative Ryan Zinke, Senator Steve Daines, Senator Jon Tester, Montana Governor Steve Bullock, and Montana Attorney General Tim Fox condemned the planned event. The community of Whitefish rallied to create a counterprotest, and the march never happened. Spencer became a pariah in Montana and was forced to move to an apartment in Virginia.
In 2014 while doing a speaking tour in Hungary, Spencer enraged Prime Minister Viktor Orban so much, that the right-wing leader pressed through legislation that banned Spencer – the Polish government passed a similar measure. In 2018 Spencer was detained in Iceland trying to enter Sweden and was forced to return to the United States due to his ban on travel in the Schengen Area.
Also, in 2018, his Russian-born wife filed for divorce, accusing him of being abusive in their marriage. Audio recordings and text messages sent to Nina Kouprianova threatened to break her nose and encouraged her to commit suicide.
Spencer was threatened with jail time in June 2020, owing more than $60,000 to the guardian ad litem assigned to defend the interests of the two children he had with his ex-wife. He was also named a defendant in Sines v. Kessler in October 2017 and ordered to pay $500,000 in punitive damages.
Stanislav Shevchuk was sanctioned by the United States Department of Treasury on June 15, 2022, for reaching out to individuals in the United States for the purpose of identifying racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists to support fundraising, training, and recruitment.
Russia Imperialist Movement – RIM does not support Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime. Still, they see his policies and the war in Ukraine as a means to move their white nationalistic plan forward. It is believed several thousand mercenaries are part of the Imperial Legion fighting in Ukraine, the Central African Republic, Lybia, and Syria. The Imperialist Movement maintains Russian sanction training centers in St. Petersburg and Moscow (both in Russia). It is believed the Imperial Legion assists in training contract volunteers of the Russian army and forced conscripts of the DNR and LNR north of Izyum, Ukraine. Imperial Legion fighters report directly to the Russian armed forces command structure and work cooperatively with the Russian Federation Armed Forces, DNR, and LNR separatists. They continue to train foreign fighters in combat and terrorist tactics worldwide with the blessing of the Kremlin.
[SEATTLE, Wash] – MTN Off-duty Seattle Police Department SWAT officers went to the Children’s and Family Justice Center in Seattle, where an inquest into the 2017 shooting death of Charleena Lyles is being held, for a “security check” after one of the officers told his sergeant he was “afraid” after a confrontation with Lyles’s family on June 22.
On Wednesday, after an emotional day of testimony that included graphic pictures and videos of Lyles after Seattle Police shot her, the officers walked through a hallway where Lyles’s family was seated. There was a verbal confrontation, and one of the officers was called a “coward.” The officer called his sergeant, saying he was afraid for his safety after the incident. On Friday, off-duty SWAT officers went to the courthouse where the inquest was being held unannounced. Seattle police do not have jurisdiction over the Children’s and Family Justice Center, which the King County Sheriff’s Department handles.
King County Sheriff Sgt. Jim Donner, responsible for the courthouse’s security, told the Seattle Times the security check was “surprising.” Surveillance cameras recorded the Wednesday incident. It did not show that any threats were issued to the officer or other actions that would have reasonably put him in fear.
After reviewing the surveillance video on Monday, Inquest Administrator Michael Spearman called the response “excessive” and chastised the Seattle Police Department. Spearmen told the department to “avoid” the Lyles family.
During an interview on KIRO 97.3, The Lyles family accused the Seattle police of using intimidation tactics by sending members of the SWAT team to the courthouse.
On June 18, 2017, Lyles, who was expecting her fifth child, called 911 to report a burglary at her apartment. Lyles was known by the Seatle Police Department and known to have mental health issues. She was in a mental health crisis when police arrived, and the two officers accused Lyles of lunging at them with a knife. They fired seven shots, with several striking Lyles.
In the line of fire were at least two of Lyles’s children, two toddlers. An infant was in a crib in a bedroom down the hallway. One of the children ran out to the body of their mother seconds after she was shot and laid her head on her body. In audio recordings, the two officers expressed shock there were others in the apartment, and that the children could have been in the line of fire.
The conduct of the Seattle Police and their description of events was called into question, but Washington state law at the time required proof that a law enforcement officer acted with “malice” or “evil intent” to bring charges for alleged excessive use of force incidents. Legal experts have called it an impossible standard for decades. Before a change in Washington law in 2019, the state was considered one of the most difficult places to charge law enforcement officers for criminal misconduct in the line of duty.
In 2019 the law in Washington state changed, removing the malice and evil intent standard, making it possible to prosecute officers for use of force misconduct. Four officers, one in Auburn and three in Tacoma, are awaiting trials on various charges. In the Auburn case, police officer Jeff Nelson is awaiting trial for second-degree murder and first-degree assault in the shooting death of Jesse Sarey, who was also having a mental health crisis. Tacoma Police officers Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins face second-degree murder charges, and officer Timothy Rankine faces first-degree manslaughter charges for the 2020 in-custody death of Manny “Manuel” Ellis.
The Lyles sued the city of Seatle for wrongful death in 2020, and a civil trial was scheduled for February 2022. In November 2021, the city of Seattle reached a $3.5 million settlement with the family.
Legal experts say that the two Seattle Police officers that shot Lyles could face criminal charges, depending on the finding of facts from the ongoing inquest. However, because Lyles was shot and killed in 2017, charges would have to be weighed against the old standard of malice or evil intent.
Knowledge is the best tool to fight against fear. A wise person chooses to be informed so they can make sound decisions. To join the fight against COVID misinformation, you can share this update through your social media platform of choice.These words have never been more important for today’s update.
[KING COUNTY, Wash.] – (MTN) The big story today is not local or even in the United States. It is the U.K. where a new variant of Delta is starting to establish itself and on the European continent where new Covid-19 cases are climbing again. With the holiday travel season just weeks away the timing of this new European surge is very troubling. Our view is a new surge is coming this winter, and if you want to skip ahead you can move to the National Update to read more.
Closer to home, new cases drifted downward in Washington especially east of the Cascades while hospitalizations remain plateaued.
State officials said some people who were fired or quit because of the vaccine mandate will probably qualify for unemployment benefits.
We have additional information on the Kirkland Fire Department and the status of 16 employees who were not fully vaccinated by October 18.
New Covid-19 cases were reported at Lake Hills Elementary in the Bellevue School District and Kamiakin Middle School in Lake Washington.
King County Sheriff employees were told to keep working “until further notice” even if they have not submitted their vaccination information. The number of Seattle Police Department officers seeking exemptions dropped further today. Seattle Public Schools reported over 99% of teachers and 100% of school principals are fully vaccinated or were granted exemptions. A small group of protesters gathered outside of Seattle City Light but for now, no one has been fired.
Former Washington State University Nick Rolovich has hired an attorney who announced on Twitter he is planning to sue for wrongful termination.
While some TV and radio personalities wrung their hands over police cuts that mostly didn’t materialize, none of them are addressing the 350 employees released by the Department of Corrections. They did however focus on a Washington State Patrol sergeant who issued a farewell in a viral video.
Access to parts of the capitol complex in Olympia is restricted to vaccinated people only through January 10, and some legislatures are very mad. On the subject of legislatures, Senator Doug Ericksen who in October 2020 demanded a special session to cut the state budget by $4 billion and furlough thousands of employees, called for Jay Inslee to resign due to state employee job cuts.
Nationally, the FDA authorized booster shots for Moderna and Johnson and Johnson and approved a mix-and-match approach to boosters. Approval of the Pfizer vaccine is expected in the next couple of weeks, and the Biden Administration has already purchased 28 million doses. Finally, multiple news agencies reported tonight the FDA is seriously considering booster shots for people 40 and over.
We are now adjusting the 14 day moving average new Covid-19 case rate to account for population. This update provides a better view of how vaccination rates are impacting community spread. The new case rate is 230% higher in the least vaccinated counties versus the most vaccinated.
Percent of Total Population Fully Vaccinated
Total Population in Group
Average 14-Day New Case Rate
60.00% or above (5 counties)
2,659,450
216.4
50.00% to 59.99% (16 counties)
4,098,600
362.5
40.00% to 49.99% (10 counties)
860,525
441.7
30.30% to 39.99% (8 counties)
158,300
497.2
14-Day New Covid-19 Cases per 100K average by Vaccination Rate, Adjusted for Population
Through October 19, Washington’s statewide 14-day rolling average dropped slightly to 325.7 Covid-19 cases per 100K.
Ferry County (1,314.8) and Garfield County (1,303.4) continue to be hot spots, otherwise, cases in Eastern Washington are declining rapidly.
Only two counties, Chelan and Grant, have a new case rate between 600.0 to 799.9 per 100K residents, and both are in the low 600s.
Counties between 400.0 and 599.9 include Asotin, Columbia, Cowlitz, Douglas, Franklin, Grays Harbor, Klickitat, Lewis, Lincoln, Mason, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Skagit, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla, and Yakima.
New cases by age group were statistically unchanged, while hospitalizations increased for people 65 to 79 years old.
Age Group
7-Day Case Rate
7-Day Hospitalization Rate
Ages 0-11
146.1
1.0
Ages 12-19
160.5
1.9
Ages 20-34
144.6
3.7
Ages 35-49
161.6
9.3
Ages 50-64
119.0
12.6
Ages 65-79
94.1
17.1 (up)
Ages 80+
92.0
30.4
7-day case rate and 7-day hospitalization rate is per 100K within the age group – the target for 7-day case rate is <25.0, but there are other factors such as vaccination rates within the age groups, how many total tests within the 7-day period, and the positivity rate within each age group
The USA Today COVID Tracker reported 88 deaths on Tuesday. However, that number includes the weekend and Monday.
Some people who quit or were fired over vaccine mandate may qualify for state unemployment benefits
“The laws surrounding when someone is qualified to receive benefits are going to be intricate and complex,” said Scott Michael, legal services coordination manager at the Employment Security Department, during a meeting of the Unemployment Insurance Advisory Committee last month. “Each case always has to be decided on its own merits. Small differences in facts, in timing, in what was said, what was intended can lead to very different outcomes.”
Workers who requested a medical or religious exemption, had it granted, and were refused accommodation, will likely qualify for state unemployment benefits. The lack of accommodation despite recognizing their need for exemption creates a “good cause” for them to quit their position. However, a person filing for unemployment would need to show that they tried to negotiate with their employer in good faith and had their request rejected.
The minimum unemployment benefit in Washington is $285 a week, and the maximum is $929. The amount of weekly benefit is based on prior income. Individuals who made $10,000 a month or more for the six months before claiming unemployment would qualify for the state maximum. With the end of federal benefits on September 6, a person could claim unemployment for 26 weeks.
Individuals fired or who quit over principle, medical freedom, or refusing to get vaccinated likely have no recourse.
Unvaccinated King County Sheriff Office employees told to work “until further notice”
The King County Sheriff Office (KCSO) has not provided data on how many deputies are vaccinated because of a previous agreement made with the county to extend the vaccination deadline to December 2.
In an October 4 memo sent to the 1,100 KCSO employees were advised if they had not shown proof of vaccination by October 18, they should keep reporting to work “until further notice.”
The same memo also said that employees who had not provided proof of vaccination or requested accommodation would get a letter of pending separation around October 20.
402, 292, 200, 103, 93 SPD officers seeking exemptions
Yesterday the Seattle Police Department reported 103 employees sought medical or religious exemptions, and another six were facing termination after not getting vaccinated by October 18. The Seattle Times reported 93 commissioned officers are seeking exemptions.
The department has the budget to support almost 300 or more commissioned officers. Factoring the pending Loudermill hearings for the six who decided not to get vaccinated, the City has 1,037 available cops. If all 93 exemption requests are rejected, the department will lose 9% of the current force.
KOMO reported there “could be impacts to service” per SPD. The dire predictions of moving the department to emergency staffing conditions did not come to pass.
Former WSU coach Nick Rolovich to sue for wrongful termination
Nick Rolovich is going to sue Washington State University for “unjust and unlawful” termination, according to a statement released by the attorney representing the former WSU football coach.
In the statement posted on Twitter, the unnamed attorney claims that WSU Athletic Director Pat Chun had planned to fire Rolovich “since at least April.”
Just received this from an attorney representing Nick Rolovich, who plans to sue #WashingtonState for illegal termination. Accuses AD Pat Chun of “discriminatory and vindictive behavior.” pic.twitter.com/KTOnIchKXD
The letter claims that Rolovich has “sincerely held religious beliefs” and Chun was dishonest, discriminatory, and vindictive.
Rolovich was the subject of rampant speculation for months as he played a public relations cat and mouse game over his vaccination status. Rolovich told USA Today he was filing an exemption request based on religious grounds with little more than a week left before the state-mandated deadline.
Editor’s Note: We continue to believe this is just public relations theater. Our prediction is Rolovich will receive an out-of-court settlement for an undisclosed sum with a gag order for all parties. In the end, this will be a loss for Washington state taxpayers.
Access to state capitol House and Senate buildings restricted to vaccinated only through January 10
Under a new rule adopted by a House committee last month, legislatures and employees needed to provide proof of vaccination by October 18 to access the House facilities through January 10.
Robinson clarified that the figure applies only to full-time staff with SPS, including teachers, principals, and management staff. Full-time employees with SPS account for 7,283 of its more than 12,000 total employees. The rest are hourly and seasonal personnel.
Robinson indicated 205 employees were granted religious or medical exemptions. Teachers were “over 99% compliance” along with 100% of school principals. Malcontent News estimates 30 to 35 full-time teachers are facing termination based on the data provided by Robinson and the staffing numbers in SPS before the October 18 deadline.
A small group protests outside of Seattle City Light over vaccine mandate
“They are not saying I am fired, to be clear, but what they are saying is to no longer have contact with anybody here,” said Jeremy Rowan, a City Light employee for nearly 20 years.
Seattle City Light has approximately 1,690 employees. City officials reported 1,573 workers were fully vaccinated, and another 84 have requested religious or medical exceptions that are under consideration. Based on the data provided, Malcontent News estimates 30 to 35 people are facing termination.
Despite fearmongering from Turning Point USA, the City indicates they do not expect any service-related issues.
What happens when a grid loses power and there’s not enough workers to get it running?
DOC Secretary Cheryl Strange did not provide data on how many correctional officers or supervisors were released but stated the terminations included medical staff, cooks, maintenance workers, and officers.
Strange said the prisons are safe as they were during and before the pandemic.
“We have not seen a significant impact to staff, or those in our care and custody, any uptick in injury or fights,” said Strange.
Editor’s Note: The DOC has been underfunded and short-staffed for years, partially due to Washington voters refusing to pass measures that would offer badly needed prison reform and provide adequate funding. Issues of improper staffing levels, low morale, assaults on inmates and employees, and poorly trained staff are well documented. Even if the vaccine-related terminations have not created “a significant impact to staff, or those in our care and custody,” this statement ignores the continuing issues in Washington state prisons.
Editor’s Note 2: We find it disingenuous that news personalities such as Brandi Kruse, Jason Rantz, and Dori Monson have amplified unrealized fears of a law and order disaster due to the vaccine mandate while not once mentioning corrections officers. The United States prison system is steeped in racism, inequity, and ineffectiveness. Almost 60% of Washington state inmates have a serious mental illness when they are incarcerated, setting up DOC staff and inmates for repeated failure. The United States has the largest prison population both per capita and in total numbers on the planet.
In final radio message farewell, former WSP Sergeant Kirk Schnider contradicts the number of job cuts
In a radio transmission on October 18, Washington State Patrol Sergeant Kirk Schnider stated, “due to my personal choices to take a moral stand for medical freedom and personal choice. I will be signing out for the last time today after nearly 17 years in service to the state of Washington.”
In his broadcast, Schnider accused the media and WSP officials of downplaying their role and the impact on the department due to vaccination-related separations.
“We all know in this district on the 19th there will be 51 of the 75 troopers available and only 7 of the 11 sergeants.”
Taking a "moral stance for medical freedom & personal choice," this 17-year veteran of the WA State Patrol tearfully says goodbye, forced out by @GovInslee's vaccine mandate. His wife is the dispatch operator (15-year veteran) & is also out.
The WSP reported in a press release that a total of 67 commissioned officers, six sergeants, and one captain were terminated for choosing to refuse vaccination. Schnider is one of the six sergeants to leave WSP.
Fiscal conservatives from the Senate Freedom Caucus call for resignation of Governor Jay Inslee due to vaccine mandate
Yesterday, members of the Washington State Freedom Caucus called for Governor Jay Inslee to resign due to vaccine-mandate-related staff cuts, according to a report in Clark County Today.
“This mass-termination event is the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” said state Senator Doug Ericksen (Ferndale-R). “Never have we witnessed a failure of leadership in this state as we have seen under Gov. Jay Inslee. For nearly 600 days, he has used COVID emergency powers to establish autocratic rule, refusing to call the Legislature into special session, and shutting the people out.”
“Inslee has done significant damage to the credibility of state government and has eroded the public’s trust. Now he is firing thousands of public employees without regard to the harm it will cause. This effort to punish can only be seen as the willful act of a failed governor. Inslee has failed miserably. We don’t take this lightly. But the only thing that can allow our state to heal and move forward is for Jay Inslee to resign.”
A total of 1,887 employees were terminated statewide on October 18, with the only apparent significant disruption impacting Washington State Ferries.
The state Freedom Caucus includes Ericksen, Phil Fortunato (Auburn-R), Jim McCune (Graham-R), and Mike Padden (Spokane Valley-R). The group proposed a “stimulus plan” during the same month that would take federal COVID relief tax dollars to eliminate day use fees at state parks, cut state camping fees, cut hunting and fishing license fees, and create a “school choice” voucher program.
Travel Advisories
Due to increased acute care hospitalizations, we’re maintaining our recreational travel advisory to the East Hospital Region, including Adams, Asotin, Ferry, Garfield, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Wahkiakum, and Whitman counties. Acute care and ICU capacity remain limited, and the ratio of Covid-19 patients to other hospital patients is exceptionally high. Please reconsider nonessential travel plans to these counties.
We are walking back that our travel advisory for the East Hospital Region will likely last through the remainder of 2021. Current data is somewhat encouraging, and we believe the situation could improve significantly in the next four weeks.
We strongly advise against all nonessential travel to Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Hospital resources in these regions are constrained, and you may receive inadequate care in Alaska, Idaho, and Montana if you experience a serious medical emergency.
We are not adding a travel advisory for the Northwest Hospital Region, which includes Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, and Mason counties but don’t recommend engaging in risky recreational behavior on the Olympic Peninsula. Although hospitals are very constrained, the region is adjacent to the Puget Sound and West Hospital Regions, which have adequate resources.
Thank you
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The FDA has limited the Moderna booster to persons over 64-years old, 18 to 64 years old and immunocompromised, and persons who work in occupations where they are frequently exposed to Covid-19.
Data from Moderna indicated that a low dose provided the same immunity as a regular dose, so the FDA guidelines specify a half dose for booster injections.
Booster shots for Jassen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine approved by the FDA
“Earlier analyses from the FDA and CDC safety surveillance systems suggest an increased risk of a serious and rare type of blood clot in combination with low blood platelets following administration of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. This serious condition is called thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS). People who developed TTS after receiving the vaccine had symptoms that began about one to two weeks after vaccination. Reporting of TTS has been highest in females ages 18 through 49 years. In addition, safety surveillance suggests an increased risk of a specific serious neurological disorder called Guillain Barré syndrome, within 42 days following receipt of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine.“
Mix and Match of Covid-19 booster shots approved by the FDA
In a third decision, the FDA approved mix and match Covid-19 booster shots. A clinical trial data from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases involving more than 1,500 people showed that mixing and matching provided a positive immune response. Additionally, data indicated that millions of Americans were already combining vaccination boosters on their own.
The mix and match authorization will help innoculate vulnerable communities such as nursing home residents faster while enabling individual choice.
As an example, a woman who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and is currently taking birth control could get a Pfizer or Moderna booster as an alternative.
“Today’s actions demonstrate our commitment to public health in proactively fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D. “As the pandemic continues to impact the country, science has shown that vaccination continues to be the safest and most effective way to prevent COVID-19, including the most serious consequences of the disease, such as hospitalization and death. The available data suggest waning immunity in some populations who are fully vaccinated. The availability of these authorized boosters is important for continued protection against COVID-19 disease.”
Reports the FDA is considering expanding Pfizer and Moderna booster shots to people 40 and older
Multiple news outlets are reporting that the FDA may recommend expanding Covid-19 booster shots for people who received the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna more than six months ago and are over 39-years old.
“I believe it will happen,” the source familiar with the plan told CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen. There is “growing concern within the FDA” that US data is beginning to show more hospitalizations among people under age 65 who have been fully vaccinated, the source said.
Multiple outlets citing the same source indicated that government officials are becoming concerned about growing breakthrough cases among middle-aged Americans.
Editor’s Note:Malcontent News usually does not share or report on stories from “undisclosed sources.” We believe there is veracity to these reports due to global events and growing concern over the Delta Plus AY.4.2 variant that includes additional spike mutations A222V and Y145H.
Approval of Pfizer vaccine for 5 to 11 year olds expected to be approved “in a couple of weeks”
The White House said on Wednesday that it is ready to quickly roll out COVID-19 vaccines for kids ages 5 to 11 if the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for that age group is authorized by the Food and Drug Administration and recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Should the FDA and CDC authorize the vaccine, we will be ready to get shots in arms,” said White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients during a news briefing Wednesday morning.
The FDA independent advisory committee is scheduled to discuss and likely vote on October 26, while the CDC independent advisory committee meets on November 2 and 3.
The recommendation the FDA and CDC will consider is two doses that are one-third of the volume of an adult dose, spaced three weeks apart. It would take an additional two weeks for the vaccine to reach peak effectiveness.
King County, Washington is reporting over 87.6% of age eligible residents are vaccinated with at least one dose. The highest rates of positivity are in areas with low vaccination rates statewide. The FDA has provided full approval of the Pfizer vaccine for anyone 16 and over and EUA approval for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
COVID vaccines are free for anyone over 12 years old, and no appointment is necessary at most locations. Lyft and Hopelink provide free transportation, and KinderCare, the Learning Care Group, and the YMCA offer free childcare during vaccination appointments or recuperation.
According to the DoH COVID Dashboard, 91% of all staffed acute care beds are occupied, and 15.6% of patients have Covid-19. Statewide, hospitals have the staff to support approximately 610 additional acute care patients.
ICUs are at 85.6% of capacity statewide, with 25.0% of ICU patients fighting Covid-19 – an estimated 299 patients with 52% on ventilators. The state has the staff to support approximately 170 additional ICU patients.
On Monday, the 7-day rolling average hospital admission rate for new COVID patients was 108. The Department of Health reported 1,106 Covid-19 patients statewide on October 19, with 155 requiring ventilators. The patient count is between 1,080 and 1,160 for the 10th day in a row.
Hospital readiness is slowly improving, including in the East Hospital Region. The declining number of acute care patients with Covid-19 is a leading indicator that ICU capacity will begin to improve by early November.
Hospital status by region – ICU Occupancy should be below 80%, ICU COVID Patients should be below 20%, Acute Care Occupancy should be below 80%, and Acute Care COVID Patients should be below 10%
– Bell Elementary (3*) – Blackwell Elementary (2*) – Carson Elementary (3*) – Einstein (1*) – Eastlake High (3*) – Finn Hill Middle School (3*) – Inglewood Middle School (1*) – Juanita Elementary (5*) – Juanita High School (4*) – Kamiakin Middle School (3*) – Kirk Elementary (1*) – Kirkland Middle School (1*) – Lakeview Elementary (5*) – Lake Washington High School (4*) – Mead Elementary (2*) – Northstar Middle (1*) – Redmond Elementary (1*) – Redmond Middle School (2*) – Redmond High School (2*) – Rosa Parks Elementary (2*) – Rose Hill Middle School (1*) – Timberline Middle School (6*) – Twain Elementary (2*)
None
Northshore
YELLOW
– Arrowhead Elementary (1) – Bothell High School (36**) – Canyon Creek Elementary (9) – Canyon Park Middle School (21) – Cottage Lake Elementary (4) – Crystal Springs Elementary (21) – East Ridge Elementary (1) – Frank Love Elementary (34) – Hollywood Hills Elementary (34) – Inglemoor High School (6) – Kenmore Elementary (8) – Kenmore Middle School (41**) – Kokanee Elementary (10) – Leota Middle School (1) – Lockwood Elementary (17) – Maywood Hills Elementary (1) – Moorlands Elementary (2) – North Creek High School (8) – Northshore Middle School (22) – Ruby Bridge Elementary (7) – Secondary Academy for Success (3) – Shelton View Elementary (3) – Skyview Middle School (3) – Sunrise Elementary (1) – Timbercrest Middle School (18) – Wellington Elementary (16) – Westhill Elementary (5) – Woodin Elementary (15) – Woodinville High School (3) – Woodmoor Elementary (3)
Local Districts Scorecard – * indicates positive cases only ** indicates 5 or more confirmed positive cases
We redefined the school district statuses. Information for classroom and building closures has been a challenge to obtain, both for closures and reopening. We are adopting moving any school with more than ten active COVID cases reported into the red, and we’ve adjusted the third column to reflect this change.
The Bellevue School District reported one confirmed Covid-19 case at Lake Hills Elementary.
We received a parent confirmed report of three new Covid-19 cases at Kamiakin Middle School with 14 additional quarantines.
We continued to encourage parents to request improved daily data reporting from the Lake Washington School District.
Correction:On Tuesday, October 19, the daily summary for the Covid-19 update included a typographical error reporting nine confirmed COVID cases at Bellevue High School in the Northshore School District. The nine confirmed cases are at Bothell High School in the Northshore School District. We have corrected the daily summary and apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
Kirkland-Bellevue-Woodinville
Upated Kirkland Fire Department vaccination numbers
As of 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday, 100 of 116 City of Kirkland firefighters had provided proof of vaccination, according to Joy Johnston, Interim Communications Program Manager with the City of Seattle. To date, no firefighters have quit, retired, or been terminated due to the vaccine mandate.
Ms. Johnston reported that one firefighter is completing their vaccinations, and the remaining 15 have requested exemptions on either medical or religious grounds. Eight exceptions have been approved, and the remaining seven are under consideration.
The City reported that there is no reduction in service levels for the community.
National Round-Up
Johns Hopkins University Cumulative Case Tracker reports 81,238 new cases and 2,357 deaths nationwide on Wednesday.
Our view – anyone unvaccinated has a future date with the next Covid-19 surge
On March 12, 2020 I wrote an essay that went viral on the situation in Kirkland, Washington, and made predictions on what would happen in the coming weeks across the United States. Unfortunately, those predictions became true.
I became deeply concerned about the Delta variant during the early days of July 2021 and just days after a collective declaration of victory over Covid-19. A combination of a nation that returned to normal too fast, low national vaccination rates, and air travel created a surge in new cases that rivaled January 2021. I noticed that outspoken critics of Covid-19 mitigation efforts were suddenly appealing for their constituents to get vaccinated, including Sean Hannity of Fox News, Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, among others. The change of tone was jarring to me. Privately I told those close to me, “they know something.”
By mid-July, I was wearing a mask again. Two weeks later, I sounded the alarm a new surge had arrived in the United States. I wanted to be wrong. Delta AY.1 raged across the United States and continues to in Alaska, Idaho. Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming. As the temperatures dropped with the arrival of fall, Delta cases are predictably spiking in Minnesota and Vermont.
Regrettably, I am predicting the next surge, and I now believe another wave is coming in January or February 2022. I am not the only person that is expressing concern over the Delta AY.4.2 variant. Katelyn Jetelina M.D. expressed worry about Delta A.4 on October 17 and warned that the United States could follow the same path as the U.K.
My concern over Delta Plus AY.4.2 has increased significantly
In the United Kingdom, Delta Plus AY.4.2 with additional spike mutations A222V and Y145H has grown to represent 6% of new infections at the end of September, and the number of cases with the mutated Delta variant is continuing to increase, according to British health officials.
Researchers are still studying the significance of Delta Plus, but early data indicates it is more transmissible than the Delta AY.1 and AY.2 variants, which currently make up most of the Covid-19 cases on the planet. Delta has an R0 of 6.0 among a completely unvaccinated population – equal to smallpox. Delta Plus has an estimated R0 of 6.6. That’s just enough of a difference to help it spread.
Delta Plus is not more deadly than Delta, but it does appear to make people sicker. Additionally, it does not appear to be anymore vaccine-resistant than Delta, but data out of the UK is showing us that both natural and vaccine immunity waves after six to eight months.
While new cases and hospitalizations are surging, the death rate in the U.K. has remained low, especially among the fully vaccinated. We have seen similar data out of Israel and right here in the United States. Most of the available vaccines remain highly effective at mitigating hospitalizations and severe COVID.
We don’t know if the worst surge for Covid-19 in Russia is Delta Plus, but for the first time since experiencing the first COVID case, 1,000 Russians are dying a day.
Earlier this week, the Russian government ordered anyone over 60 to stay home for four months. Today, Dictator President Vladimir Putin told the Cabinet backed the Cabinet’s proposal to declare a non-working week and keep Russian workers away from their offices.
Only 32% of Russians are vaccinated because of their deep devotion and love distrust of the Russian government. Ironically, in trying to sow global discord about the safety of vaccines from Western Europe and North American pharmaceutical companies to drive sales of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, the disinformation campaign spread into Russia. Worse, the Sputnik V vaccine has performed poorly, only reinforcing distrust among the Russian people.
Several regions, or Oblasts, have implemented vaccine mandates, and many have already restricted large events, restaurants, and bars.
The same week we wrote about our concern that Covid-19 cases were rising again in the U.K. Putin went into quarantine after several people within his inner circle tested positive for COVID. Putin claims he was vaccinated with the Sputnik V vaccine in March. When he went into quarantine, a Kremlin spokesperson claimed that the people infected and Putin had recently received boosters.
Across Europe, new Covid-19 cases have increased for three weeks in a row. We don’t know if the Delta or the Delta Plus variant is driving the increase outside the U.K.
Holiday travel season is almost here and the borders between Canada and Mexico are opening at the same time
A new, more transmissible variant in the U.K., growing cases across Europe, and the land borders between the United States and Mexico reopening on November 8. Travel restrictions are ending just in time for the holidays. With the Delta surge winding down in the United States, a new sense of “we won” is spreading again. Over the next 2-1/2 months, travelers will hit the road and go on vacation.
November 25, Thanksgiving
November 29 – December 6, Hanukkah
December 24, Christmas Eve
December 25, Christmas Day
December 26, Kwanzaa
December 31, New Years Eve
January 1, New Years Day
January 4, 5, 6 and 7, Orthodox Christmas
Two years away from family, recreational travel to Canada and Mexico is available again, and holiday travelers will create an environment ripe for spreading a new variant, especially among the unvaccinated.
Assessment
I believe many issues are coming together to create a perfect storm at the end of the year. The United States is weary of Covid-19 everything. Former President Donald Trump oversold Operation Warp Speed and the vaccine program as a one-and-done shot that would provide protection forever. Coronaviruses include MERS, SARS, SAR-CoV-2, and the common cold. Coronaviruses are “slippery” by nature. That is, they mutate rather quickly compared to other viral diseases such as poliovirus. Many people feel there has been a bait and switch on what the vaccines would deliver.
Last year, we told our readers and viewers that it was very likely the Covid-19 vaccines would be similar to flu vaccines requiring a yearly dose to fight new mutations. We also told our readers that the vaccination cycle would not mirror the flu vaccine but would be more closely aligned to when people congregated indoors. In the warmer latitudes, vaccination programs would occur in the spring as people get ready to move to air conditioning. In the colder latitudes, vaccinations would come in the fall before people moved back to indoor activity.
Delta Plus has a beachhead in the U.K. and is almost certainly spreading across Europe – at a slow pace – but spreading. A combination of holiday travel, continued vaccine hesitancy, and more indoor activity due to cold weather will drive another surge that will start as the 2021 holiday season is winding down.
The impact will be tempered in the Southwestern United States and the Gulf Coast because moderate temperatures drive more outdoor activity. We have a tremendous amount of evidence that Covid-19 spreads indoors at a much higher rate than outdoors.
In the Northeast, the Great Lake states, the Midwest, the Rocky Mountain states, and low vaccinated areas of the Pacific Northwest, Delta Plus will find new hosts among the unvaccinated, the elderly, and immunocompromised. There will be no will among the government or the populous for any meaningful countermeasures.
How Bad
If all things remain as they are today, I believe we will see significant hot spots versus a national wave like we just witnessed. States like Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming may not get much reprieve from their current Delta-fueled surge. The isolation that winter brings to Alaska will probably benefit the state.
The upcoming surge will genuinely be a pandemic of the unvaccinated. In Washington state, counties such as Stevens, Whitman, Franklin, Lewis, Benton, Yakima, and Grant will be ripe for another significant event. Spokane County will likely feel pressure from neighboring Idaho again.
Wildcards
Five wildcards could soften the next surge. The first is vaccination among children from 5 to 11 years old. Regrettably, we will likely see another urban versus rural divide. This fall, we gathered reliable data showing children remain largely asymptomatic carriers who brought Covid-19 into their households. Over 140,000 American children have become orphans due to COVID, and the number is growing. The more young children fully vaccinated, the more we can stamp down the surge.
The next wildcard is the anti-viral drug molnupiravir. If the FDA approves the Merck/Ridgeback Biotherapeutics drug before the end of the year, if production and distribution can ramp up, if it is effective as it has been in Phase 3 testing, and if the current disinformation campaign against molnupiravir doesn’t create widespread mistrust, it could change the game.
The third wildcard is how many people get booster shots and if the FDA approves boosters for people as young as 40. If the FDA decides to expand booster shots before Veterans Day, consider that your “they know something.”
The next wildcard is severe weather. If the United States has widespread severe weather over the holidays that cripples air travel for an extended period, it could help slow the spread. Airlines are already stretched thin after laying off and forcing 25% to 30% of pilots into early retirement during 2020.
The final wildcard is Influenza. Flu was stopped in its tracks in 2020 because masks are highly effective at slowing the transmission, many schools systems were virtual, most people skipped the holidays, and mask wear was high. Flu can cut both ways this coming winter. A significant surge of flu could unintentionally cause isolation slowing down the spread of Covid-19.
It also could have the opposite effect. People sick with COVID could dismiss it as a cold or flu, take a handful of DayQuil and forge ahead with their day.
10 things you can do to help
If you’re not vaccinated, get vaccinated. Everyone has a future dance with Covid-19. There is overwhelming evidence that vaccination reduces your chance of getting infected and dramatically lowers your chance of hospitalization and death.
If you are eligible for a booster shot, get a booster and do it as quickly as possible.
if you have children from 12 to 15, get them vaccinated if they aren’t already.
If vaccination for 5 to 11 year olds is approved, get them vaccinated as quickly as possible. If the Pfizer vaccine becomes available on November 8 and your child is vaccinated on the same day, they won’t have full immunity until December 13.
If you travel over the holidays, consider not travel by air, and avoid crowded indoor spaces. If you will be with family members and you don’t know their vaccination status wear a mask. If you have family members who are at high risk of severe COVID, wear a mask.
If you travel to areas with low vaccination rates wear a mask, confrontations be damned.
Learn and memorize the different symtoms between Influenza and Covid-19.
Consider buying two at home rapid tests for each family member now to have on hand.
If you or someone in your household becomes sick with COVID like symptoms, stay home.
Get your influenza vaccine.
Final thought
I will close with the same final thought I had in July 2021. I have never wanted this badly to be wrong, and I hope I am.
State Updates
Due to the overwhelming amount of local news, we will not do a state update today. The situation in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming can best be described as lousy, terrible, dire, and getting worse, in that order.
Knowledge is the best tool to fight against fear. A wise person chooses to be informed so they can make sound decisions. To join the fight against COVID misinformation, you can share this update through your social media platform of choice.
Editor’s Note, October 20, 2021, 12:02 p.m.:The daily summary for the Covid-19 update included a typographical error reporting nine confirmed COVID cases at Bellevue High School in the Northshore School District. The nine confirmed cases are at Bothell High School in the Northshore School District. The detailed school report does accurately reflected this information. We have corrected the daily summary and apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
[KING COUNTY, Wash.] – (MTN) One day after the state vaccine mandate took hold, it was largely business as usual across Washington as new cases continued to drop and hospitalizations hit a plateau.
Vaccination rates unsurprisingly skyrocketed across the state, with some counties experiencing a near 2% increase. On Monday, 6.75 million Washingtonians lived where at least 50% of the total population is vaccinated.
In King County, 82.2.% of residents 12 and older are fully vaccinated, and in Kirkland, 83.7%.
The Washington State Office of Financial Management reported 1,887 state employees were fired for refusing to provide proof of vaccination. Terminations include 358 Washington State Department of Transportation employees and 127 civilian and commissioned officers with the Washington State Patrol.
The Seattle Police Department reported six officers refused to get vaccinated, while the Seattle Fire Department said 11 firefighters were terminated. A small group of protesters marched to Seattle City Hall and left the boots and shoes of fired police and firefighters in the lobby.
In Redmond, where people protested in support of approximately 20 firefighters, five people were fired for not getting vaccinated and two more retired.
The number of new Covid-19 cases dropped in the Bellevue School District while growing in Lake Washington. Juanita Elementary and Lakeview Elementary both reported five confirmed active cases on Monday. In the Northshore School District, Bothell High School remains a hot spot with nine confirmed COVID cases.
Officials in the Edmonds School District decided to close Madrona K – 8 after dozens of confirmed Covid-19 cases swept through the school over the last ten days. The school is planning to reopen on November 1.
City officials in Kirkland reported 86% of Kirkland firefighters are fully vaccinated, with the status of 16 employees unknown tonight. The vaccination rate is one of the lowest for a fire department in the region.
The Lake Washington School District reported 97.5% of the staff was fully vaccinated on October 18, and just over 100 had requested exemptions.
Among all of this good news is some concerning data out of the U.K. A variant discovered in July 2021 that is unofficially called Delta Plus is starting to take hold as the island nation deals with a surge that won’t go away. The version of Delta Plus has mutated further since July. The World Health Organization has not labeled this as a virus of interest, and the new case growth is only incremental at this time.
Neal Cavuto of Fox News and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tested positive for Covid-19. Both are vaccinated and reported they were only mildly sick.
Union Pacific and GE announced they are implementing vaccine mandU.S. for U.S. employees, impacting approximately 91,000 workers.
The Washington State Department of Health released updated vaccination data. Twenty-one counties representing 6.75 million people have more than 50% of their total population fully vaccinated. Steven County continues to have the lowest vaccination rate but broke over the 30% mark in the most recent data.
There is a significant decline in new and active Covid-19 infections when a county is 60% fully vaccinated and a further decline above 70%. There remains a considerable gap in the number of new cases between the least and most vaccinated counties, but the gap is closing as overall vaccination rates increase.
Percent of Total Population Fully Vaccinated
Average 14-Day New Case Rate (unadjusted)
60.00% or above (5 counties))
230.9
50.00% to 59.99% (16 counties)
401.7
40.00% to 49.99% (10 counties)
455.7
30.30% to 39.99% (8 counties)
706.2
14-Day New Covid-19 Cases per 100K average by Vaccination Rate, Not Adjusted for Population
Through October 18, Washington’s statewide 14-day rolling average dropped to 330.8 Covid-19 cases per 100K. The 7 day rolling average has declined to 136.3 per 100K, providing the strongest indicator yet Washington state is on the other side of the Delta variant surge.
Ferry County (1,365.4) and Garfield County (1,303.4) remain above 1,000 and are hot spots that do not represent the situation in most of the state. The county with the third-highest rate, Grant, is seeing 600 fewer cases per 100K residents!
No counties are reporting a new case rate between 800 and 999.99.
Counties in the 600.0 to 799.9 per 100K range include Chelan, Columbia, Grant, Klickitat, Pend Oreille, and Stevens.
New cases were statistically unchanged, while hospitalizations were up for adolescents between 12 and 19 and down for geriatric patients over 64.
Age Group
7-Day Case Rate
7-Day Hospitalization Rate
Ages 0-11
149.4
0.8
Ages 12-19
164.4
2.1 (up)
Ages 20-34
147.1
3.6
Ages 35-49
157.7
8.8
Ages 50-64
116.5
12.0
Ages 65-79
92.7
15.9 (down)
Ages 80+
91.7
30.4 (down)
7-day case rate and 7-day hospitalization rate is per 100K within the age group – the target for 7-day case rate is <25.0, but there are other factors such as vaccination rates within the age groups, how many total tests within the 7-day period, and the positivity rate within each age group
The USA Today COVID Tracker has not updated the number of deaths in Washington state since Friday.
1,887 Washington state employees fired, quit, or retired due to the vaccine mandate
The remaining 2,887 employees are either completing their vaccinations, awaiting a decision on an exemption request, planning to retire by December 31, or are facing termination. For employees who have an exemption request rejected, a majority have the option to move forward with getting vaccinated after a negotiated deal with multiple unions.
The OFM will provide another update on October 25.
Washington State Patrol reports 127 employees terminated
On Monday evening, the Washington State Patrol issued a statement that 127 individuals had “separated employment due to the mandate.” Of the 127 employees, 74 are commissioned officers, including six sergeants and one captain.
The WSP reported that the cuts among the 2,200 member force with 1,000 commissioned officers were across the state and not concentrated in one area.
The 1,887 statewide employee terminations include the 127 WSP separations.
Please find attached and below a press release on the personnel impacts associated with the vaccine mandate. pic.twitter.com/RKchILNU3F
Washington State Department of Transportation terminates 358 employees
In a report by Chris Sullivan of MyNorthwest, a total of 402 Washington State Department (WSDOT) of Transportation ended their employment yesterday – about 6%. Among the 402 who left WSDOT, 358 were fired for not requesting an exemption or refusing to provide proof of vaccination. Among the 358 fired, 121 worked for Washington State Ferries (WSF), and 157 worked in maintenance.
WSDOT employs over 6,400 employees even after the cuts, about 10% of the total state workforce.
The other 44 employees who left WSDOT retired or have taken the option to retire by December 31. The 1,887 statewide employee terminations include the 358 WSDOT separations.
Seattle Police Department reports 6 officers facing termination and 103 request exemptions
The Seattle Police Department reported as of midnight, all but six Seattle Police Department employees have submitted their COVID-19 vaccination forms or are involved in an accommodation process, per city mandate.
For those six employees, the separation process has begun. That legal process includes a mandatory Loudermill hearing which will be scheduled in the next few weeks.
Additionally, 103 sworn and civilian SPD employees submitted requests for either a medical or religious exemption. Those employees are currently suspended without pay but can use their accrued time balances. According to a statement on the Seattle Police Blotter, when and whether they will be allowed to return to work will be determined in the coming weeks.
Over the weekend, SPD made plans to go on a modified stage 4 plan, their highest level reserved for major natural disasters or civil unrest. The last time the department moved to a stage 4 deployment was July 1, when CHOP was swept on Capitol Hill.
Officials now say they are considering staffing levels and making adjustments, including moving officers from the “Community Response Group” to patrol duty. It remains possible that detectives or other non-sworn officers could be activated for patrol duty. For now, that seems unlikely.
7 Redmond Firefighters leave over vaccine mandate
According to a report by Patch, Redmond’s Fire Department lost seven members after Washington’s deadline arrived to meet the Covid-19 vaccine mandate.
A spokesperson for the city told Patch 89 percent of the fire department’s 150 uniformed employees were fully vaccinated by the deadline. Six people have been placed on leave until they reach full vaccination status on Nov. 1. Separations were underway Tuesday for five firefighters who chose not to comply and two more who opted to retire, the city said.
Terminated Seattle firefighters leave boots and shoes at City Hall
A small and somber group of firefighters and their supporters went to Seattle City Hall to leave their boots and shoes behind. On Monday night, only 11 firefighters had not provided their vaccination information or asked for accommodation.
The unmasked group quietly entered City Hall, where they stayed in the lobby, and arranged their boots on a set of risers adjacent to a water feature. One person in a dress uniform placed a copy of the separation letter between the boots.
Providence Health Care reports 97% of employees vaccinated in Spokane Stevens counties
Providence Health Care reported 97% of its staff at hospitals and clinics in Spokane and Stevens Counties have complied with Governor Jay Inslee’s vaccine mandate. This means a large majority of Providence caregivers have either been vaccinated or received a medical or religious exemption.
Of their care facilities, Providence St. Joseph Care Center reported a 100% compliance rate alongside Providence Emilie Court Assisted Living Center’s 97% rate.
Travel Advisories
Due to increased acute care hospitalizations, we’re maintaining our recreational travel advisory to the East Hospital Region, including Adams, Asotin, Ferry, Garfield, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Wahkiakum, and Whitman counties. Acute care and ICU capacity remain limited, and the ratio of Covid-19 patients to other hospital patients is exceptionally high. Please reconsider nonessential travel plans to these counties.
With the announcement that Spokane officials have requested additional federal resources to support local hospitals, the travel advisory will likely continue through the 2021 holiday season.
We strongly advise against all nonessential travel to Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Hospital resources in these regions are constrained, and you may receive inadequate care in Alaska, Idaho, and Montana if you experience a serious medical emergency.
We are not adding a travel advisory for the Northwest Hospital Region, which includes Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, and Mason counties but don’t recommend engaging in risky recreational behavior on the Olympic Peninsula. Although hospitals are very constrained, the region is adjacent to the Puget Sound and West Hospital Regions, which have adequate resources.
Thank you
Thank you to our new subscribers and those of you who have made one-time contributions. On behalf of the entire team, thank you for helping us keep the lights on!
No promotional consideration has been given, or requested from the n95 project or any manufacturer of masks
Vaccination
Number of fully vaccinated climbs in Washington, King County, and Kirkland
On Tuesday, the Washington State Department of Health reported that 72% of Washingtonians 12 and older are now fully vaccinated, and 78.1% have received at least one dose. The increasing vaccination rate has had a positive impact compared to the case and hospitalization rates in Alaska and Idaho.
King County Health reported 82.2% of residents 12 and older are fully vaccinated, and 87.6% have received at least one dose. In Kirkland, 83.7% of eligible residents are fully vaccinated, and 89.0% have received at least one dose.
The vaccination rates in Kirkland are lower than Bellevue, Redmond, and Woodinville but higher than Bothell and Kenmore.
King County, Washington is reporting over 87.6% of age eligible residents are vaccinated with at least one dose. The highest rates of positivity are in areas with low vaccination rates statewide. The FDA has provided full approval of the Pfizer vaccine for anyone 16 and over and EUA approval for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
COVID vaccines are free for anyone over 12 years old, and no appointment is necessary at most locations. Lyft and Hopelink provide free transportation, and KinderCare, the Learning Care Group, and the YMCA offer free childcare during vaccination appointments or recuperation.
According to the DoH COVID Dashboard, 92% of all staffed acute care beds are occupied, and 15.6% of patients have Covid-19. Statewide, hospitals have the staff to support approximately 602 additional acute care patients.
ICUs are at 85.5% of capacity statewide, with 25.0% of ICU patients fighting Covid-19 – an estimated 298 patients with 57% on ventilators. The state has the staff to support approximately 143 additional ICU patients.
On Monday, the 7-day rolling average hospital admission rate for new COVID patients increased to 110. The Department of Health reported 1,110 Covid-19 patients statewide on October 18, with 170 requiring ventilators. The number continues to trend downward but bounced between 1,086 and 1,159 over the last nine days, indicating a new plateau may be forming.
Hospital readiness by region was mixed. The East Region improved while the West and North Central regions added more overall patients.
Hospital status by region – ICU Occupancy should be below 80%, ICU COVID Patients should be below 20%, Acute Care Occupancy should be below 80%, and Acute Care COVID Patients should be below 10%
– Bell Elementary (3*) – Blackwell Elementary (2*) – Carson Elementary (3*) – Einstein (1*) – Eastlake High (3*) – Finn Hill Middle School (3*) – Inglewood Middle School (1*) – Juanita Elementary (5*) – Juanita High School (4*) – Kirk Elementary (1*) – Kirkland Middle School (1*) – Lakeview Elementary (5*) – Lake Washington High School (4*) – Mead Elementary (2*) – Northstar Middle (1*) – Redmond Elementary (1*) – Redmond Middle School (2*) – Redmond High School (2*) – Rosa Parks Elementary (2*) – Rose Hill Middle School (1*) – Timberline Middle School (6*) – Twain Elementary (2*)
None
Northshore
YELLOW
– Arrowhead Elementary (1) – Bothell High School (32**) – Canyon Creek Elementary (11) – Canyon Park Middle School (30) – Cottage Lake Elementary (5) – Crystal Springs Elementary (20) – East Ridge Elementary (3) – Frank Love Elementary (22) – Hollywood Hills Elementary (58) – Inglemoor High School (7) – Kenmore Elementary (12) – Kenmore Middle School (41**) – Kokanee Elementary (3) – Leota Middle School (4) – Lockwood Elementary (28) – Maywood Hills Elementary (4) – Moorlands Elementary (5) – North Creek High School (9) – Northshore Middle School (20) – Ruby Bridge Elementary (7) – Secondary Academy for Success (6) – Shelton View Elementary (4) – Skyview Middle School (16) – Sunrise Elementary (1) – Timbercrest Middle School (18) – Wellington Elementary (16) – Westhill Elementary (10) – Woodin Elementary (22) – Woodinville High School (12) – Woodmoor Elementary (12)
Local Districts Scorecard – * indicates positive cases only ** indicates 5 or more confirmed positive cases
We redefined the school district statuses. Information for classroom and building closures has been a challenge to obtain, both for closures and reopening. We are adopting moving any school with more than ten active COVID cases reported into the red, and we’ve adjusted the third column to reflect this change.
The Bellevue School District had improved over the weekend, with fewer schools reporting cases.
In the Lake Washington School District, Juanita Elementary and Lakeview Elementary reported five confirmed Covid-19 cases between students and faculty, and Timberline Middle School reported six. This is the first time since school started that Kamiakin Middle School is not on the report.
The Northshore School District also improved over the weekend. Bothell High School reports nine confirmed COVID cases between students and staff, and Kenmore Middle reported six.
We continued to encourage parents to request improved daily data reporting from the Lake Washington School District.
Madrona K – 8 in Edmond School District moves to virtual learning with dozens COVID positive
“In the last ten days, there were 26 COVID-19 cases at Madrona K-8. Of the 591 enrolled students, 236 are at home because of classroom closures,” Dr. Gustavo Beladeras, Superintendent of the Edmonds School District, reported.” Of those students, 135 are quarantined as they were direct close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases.”
This is the largest reported Covid-19 outbreak in a Puget Sound region public school.
Kirkland-Bellevue-Woodinville
86% of Kirkland Firefighters Fully Vaccinated
As of 10:30 a.m. on Monday, 100 City of Kirkland firefighters had provided proof of vaccination, according to Joy Johnston, Interim Communications Program Manager with the City of Seattle. The city has 116 firefighters.
Employees would have had until the end of the day on Monday to provide their documentation. City officials did not have information on the status of the remaining 16 firefighters and if they had applied for a medical or religious exemption, were planning to resign, or facing termination.
The Kirkland Fire Department was the first in the nation to deal with a Covid-19 outbreak when a superspreader event tore through Lifecare Center. The employees at Station 25 wrote the book on interacting with COVID patients and took it upon themselves to wear PPE before any national guidance was issued. The crew became concerned at the high volume of calls from Lifecare Center and observing patients with symptoms that did not mirror the flu or pneumonia.
At one point, 30 Kirkland firefighters were quarantined due to Covid-19 exposure.
The Kirkland Police Department and City of Kirkland employees were not required to get vaccinated by September 18.
Lake Washington School District reports 97.5% of staff are fully vaccinated
The district reported they terminated employment with a “small number” of people who did not provide proof of vaccination or request an exemption.
National Round-Up
Johns Hopkins University Cumulative Case Tracker reports 116,553 new cases and 1,879 deaths nationwide on Tuesday.
New COVID variant in the UK is fueling a new surge and is causing growing concern
You may remember over the summer hearing about the Delta Plus variant that faded into obscurity along with Gamma and Mu. A surge of new Covid-19 cases due to misstepU.K. the U.K. public response may be driven by a new mutation of Delta Plus that has made it more transmissible.
The new variant called AY.4.2 appears to have mutations that have increased its survivability while looking for a new host. Early data indicates it is more transmissible than Delta, which bluntly put is bad news. However, the difference is not like between the Alpha variant and Delta, but incremental.
According to a report by the BBC, Professor Francois Balloux, director of University College London’s Genetics Institute, said: “It is potentially a marginally more infectious strain.
“It’s nothing compared with what we saw with Alpha and Delta, which were something like 50 to 60 percent more transmissible. So we are talking about something quite subtle here, and that is currently under investigation.
“It is likely to be up to 10 percent more transmissible.
CuU.K.tly, U.K. officials are seeing more incidents of Delta Plus, but not enough to raise alarms. For now, the World Health Organization has not labeled the mutation a variant of interest. There is also no indication that this new version of Delta Plus is more vaccine-resistant than the current Delta strain.
Fox News host Neal Cavuto tests positive for Covid-19
According to a report by the Associated Press, Fox News Channel anchor Neil Cavuto tested positive for COVID-19, which he said was surprising but made him grateful that he was vaccinated.
Cavuto, who learned of the test results after Monday’s episode of “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” wasn’t on the air Tuesday.
“While I’m somewhat stunned by this news, doctors tell me I’m lucky as well. Had I not been vaccinated, and with all my medical issues, this would be a far more dire situation,” Cavuto said in a statement released by Fox News.
Cavuto had cancer in the 1980s, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1997, and had open-heart surgery in 2016. Multiple sclerosis makes Cavuto immunocompromised.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas test positive for Covid-19
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has tested positive for COVID-19, a spokeswoman for the department announced Tuesday, as reported by Yahoo News.
Mayorkas, who is fully vaccinated, is said to be experiencing mild symptoms.
“Secretary Mayorkas tested positive this morning for the COVID-19 virus after taking a test as part of routine pre-travel protocols,” Marsha Espinosa, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, said in a statement. “Secretary Mayorkas is experiencing only mild congestion.”
Espinosa said that contact tracing is underway.
Union Pacific railroad announced vaccine mandate for 31,000 employees resulting in multiple lawsuits
Three unions representing workers at Union Pacific Corp filed lawsuits agaU.S. the U.S. railroad operator’s move to make vaccines mandatory for its 31,000 employees under a deadline imposed by the Biden administration for federal contractors.
Union Pacific asked a judge to “have any dispute over the mandate resolved through the various dispute resolution procedures outlined in the Railway Labor Act.”
The lawsuits were U.S.d in U.S. District Court in Northern Illinois.
GE announces vaccine mandate impacting 60,000 employees
General Electric will require its nearlU.S.,000 U.S. employees to get vaccinated against Covid-19, according to a report by WFTS.
The move was reportedly made to comply with President Biden’s executive order, which requires federal contractors to be vaccinated.
Employees must show proof of vaccination or be cleared for a medical or religious exemption by December 8.
State Updates
Due to the overwhelming amount of local news, we will not do a state update today. The situation in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming can best be described as lousy, terrible, dire, and getting worse, in that order.
Knowledge is the best tool to fight against fear. A wise person chooses to be informed so they can make sound decisions. To join the fight against COVID misinformation, you can share this update through your social media platform of choice.
[KING COUNTY, Wash.] – (MTN) Washington won’t know how many state employees, firefighters, law enforcement officers, health care providers, and teachers got vaccinated until November, but the predictions of a vaccine mandate caused employment apocalypse appears to be untrue.
Multiple local, county, and state agencies, police and fire, and universities reported 91% to 99% vaccination rates across the state. Approved exemption rates ranged from 1% to 7%, although an approved exemption may not ultimately lead to approved accommodations.
The last available data from the City of Kirkland indicated 70% of firefighters were vaccinated on October 5, a similar vaccination number statewide for all employees and closely mirrored the public vaccination rate at that time.
Thurston County Superior Court rejected a last-ditch attempt by dozens of state workers to block the state vaccine mandate. At the same time, Spokane firefighters filed a fresh lawsuit against the City, Mayor Nadine Woodward, and Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer for wrongful termination.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan reported between providing proof of vaccination and approved exemption requests, more than 99% of city employees, including the fire and police departments, met today’s deadline. Only 16 firefighters and 24 police officers provided no documentation. Another 99 police officers have approved exemptions but have been denied accommodations. Those officers will not be automatically terminated. Up to 123 officers could face a “Loudermill Hearing” in the coming weeks, where their ultimate employment status will be decided.
Over the weekend, it was announced SPD would operate on a modified phase 4 emergency schedule of six 12 hour shifts for all officers. That was walked back today, with city officials indicating the department might operate on a modified phase 3 emergency schedule if it is required.
Multiple hospital systems reported vaccination rates from 95% to 99% across the state. One rural hospital in Moses Lake reported being walloped by an “exodus” of non-clinical facing employees today.
About 100 anti-vaccination mandate protesters with Waking Up Washington gathered outside Seattle City Hall for two hours of speeches and then marching through downtown. Some held Nazi-themed signs, and at least one speaker called for civil war.
The Seattle Police Department tweeted that the Seattle Office of Police Accountability had been notified about on-duty SPD officers waving a Gadsden flag from a cruiser and others honking and giving thumbs up in a show of support to anti-vaccination mandate protesters.
Washington State University football coach Nick Rolovich had his last-minute religious exemption rejected by a WSU review board and was fired with cause, along with four assistant coaches.
Seattle Public Schools expects 25% of student bus routes to remain cut for the foreseeable future due to existing staffing shortages made worse by vaccination mandate. The Washington State Department of Transportation also expects ferry service to operate on revised schedules but doesn’t foresee additional cuts to service.
We maintain our recreational travel advisories for Eastern Washington and our nonessential travel advisories for Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.
Washington State Update for October 18, 2021
Washington state Covid-19 update
As of 5:30 p.m. today, the state of Washington has not updated the COVID-19 dashboard. To support an 8 p.m. press time, we will publish today without updating cases and hospital status.
Thurston County judge denies last ditch attempt to block statewide vaccine mandate
In Thurston County Superior Court, a prosecutor argued that the vaccine mandate implemented by Washington overstepped the bounds of law and should be blocked. Superior Court Judge Carol Murphy disagreed with that point of view. However, she did not rule on the merits of the mandate.
“Even if the individual plaintiffs show that individual instances in which the proclamation and the resulting actions may be unjust, the plaintiffs have not met their burden to show that is unjust in all applications,” Judge Murphy said.
25 Spokane firefighters file wrongful termination lawsuit over vaccine mandate
Court documents show 25 firefighters filed a lawsuit against the city of Spokane, Mayor Nadine Woodward, and city Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer, according to a report by KREM.
According to documents, the firefighters sued for wrongful termination for failing to get vaccinated before the October 18 mandate. This is the second lawsuit filed by Spokane firefighters related to the mandate.
The COVID-19 vaccine mandate proclamation was issued by Washington Governor Jay Inslee on September 27, 2021. The declaration stated that all healthcare, education, and state employees must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18, or they could be terminated.
Less that 200 City of Seattle employees ignore deadline to comply with vaccination mandate
For the City of Seattle, 94% of all employees provided proof of vaccination, 5% formally requested an exemption, and approximately 150 had not responded. For exemption seekers, if the city denies a request, many unions negotiated to provide the option to get vaccinated after October 18. Final numbers won’t be available until early November.
Among the fire department, 93% are fully vaccinated, 6% have requested exemptions, and 16 employees have not submitted any information. The Seattle Fire Department union also negotiated for employees to get vaccinated after October 18 if an exemption request is rejected.
The Seattle Police Department reported 91% of all employees were vaccinated, with 7% requesting exemptions and 24 refusing to submit any data. The Seattle Police Officer Guild and union president Mike Solan declined to negotiate with six other unions, potentially leaving officers with little recourse if their exemption requests are rejected.
An “unofficial” website claiming not to be associated with the Seattle Police Officer Guild, while using common language from union president Mike Solan, advised officers not to provide their vaccination status information before October 18. On Sunday, 130 officers had not provided any information. Jason Rantz and Mike Solan were accusing the Mayor’s office of “spin” this afternoon.
According to Rantz, 99 officers have approved exemption, but the city is unwilling to make accommodations. However, the talk radio entertainer indicated that the Seattle Police Officer Guild could continue negotiating with the city in good faith.
If you will forgive us for our spin, Rantz’s attempt to portray 24 officers being terminated as making “this city even more unsafe…with escalating violent crime and sky-high 911 response times“ reads like spin to us.
The City of Seattle has indicated that SPD could be on a modified Phase 3 plan tomorrow if required.
University of Washington Medicine Reports 99.2% vaccinated as deadline arrives
“This last week, we lost almost our entire materials management department … specifically to the mandate,” said Dr. Andrea Carter, chief medical officer for 50-bed Samaritan Healthcare in Moses Lake.
Materials management handles ordering supply, such as personal protective equipment, for staff. Before that, Carter added, the hospital lost seven workers to the mandate. “We rely fairly heavily on staffing agencies where we’re at. We don’t have a huge pool of staff, otherwise. And with the cost of those staffing agency contracts, that is hurting us a little bit,” Carter said.
Washington State Hospital Association anticipates 95% to 98% of all medical workers to provide proof of vaccination by today
Ms. Sauer also indicated she expects 95% to 98% of all impacted hospital workers to be vaccinated by today’s deadline and thinks the number could be even higher. Management at the various facilities across Washington doesn’t expect the numbers to be even, with rural hospitals in Eastern Washington expected to see more impact from today’s mandate.
Final numbers aren’t expected until early November. If results from other hospital systems are an indication, likely, at least some people refusing to get vaccinated will ultimately decide to take action that preserves their job.
About 100 protesters gather at Seattle City Hall and march against the vaccine mandate
Approximately 100 protesters gathered outside of Seattle City Hall at noon today to protest against the state vaccine mandate. About a dozen children were among the adults taking part in a “stay out of school” initiative.
The protest was peaceful, while speakers shared disinformation and conspiracy theories. At least one speaker who claimed to be a US Army veteran called for civil war. Several protesters held signs comparing the vaccine mandate to Nazi atrocities.
An anti-vaccine mandate protester with Waking Up Washington speaking at Seattle City Hall holding a sign making Nazi comparisons – photo credit Christina Val
Around 2:30 p.m., the group took the streets of Seattle, while Turning Point USA firebrand Katie Daviscourt attempted to lead the group to march in the street against traffic, telling people, “we have the numbers.”
Most in the group were disinterested in blocking traffic, although marchers briefly blocked an ambulance downtown.
There was not an active counterprotester presence, but the marchers were jeered for their Nazi-themed signs, including several people who claimed to be Jewish and expressing outrage at the comparison.
Seattle Police Department refers reports of officers supporting anti-vaccine mandate protest and waving Gadsden flags to OPA
During today’s anti-vaccine mandate protest, at least two marked and one unmarked City of Seattle Police vehicles with uniformed officers circled City Hall, honking and giving thumbs up. Another vehicle with uniformed officers was witnessed waving a “don’t tread on me” Gadsden flag associated with anti-government movements.
Multiple citizens complained to the Seattle Police Department and on social media, resulting in a surprisingly swift response from the department over Twitter.
“The official position of SPD is vaccines save lives. If you believe you’ve witnessed inappropriate behavior by officers and have add’l info, please contact @SeattleOPA. We’ve forwarded this, and another incident involving the use of the Gadsden flag on police vehicles, to OPA.”
Seattle Police tweet about multiple incidents involving uniformed SPD officers engaging in anti-vaccine mandate protest on duty
Nick Rolovich and four assistant coaches fired by Washington State University
Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich has been fired for cause after refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine and being noncompliant with both state and university policies, the university announced Monday evening, according to CBS Sports. Rolovich sought, and appears to have been denied, a religious exemption from those mandates, which required employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 18 if they wished to continue working.
Additionally, four Washington State assistant coaches were terminated: Ricky Logo (defensive tackles), John Richardson (assistant head coach, cornerbacks), Craig Stutzmann (co-offensive coordinator, quarterbacks), and Mark Weber (offensive line).
Defensive coordinator Jake Dickert will serve as the team’s interim coach.
“This is a disheartening day for our football program. Our priority has been and will continue to be the health and well-being of the young men on our team,” said athletic director Pat Chun in a statement. “The leadership on our football team is filled with young men of character, selflessness, and resiliency, and we are confident these same attributes will help guide this program as we move forward.”
Rolovich was the highest-paid public employee in Washington state, making approximately $3.3 million a year as the head coach of the Washington State University Cougars. Rolovich was the coach for barely a season, despite serving for two years, including the Covid-19 shortened 2020 season, and for seven games in 2021.
It has not been reported if Rolovich will continue to draw part or all of his 2021 salary despite the termination with cause.
142 City of Seattle school bus routes cut – 25% of all transportation
With a combination of existing recruiting issues before the start of the 2021 school season, pay well below the low-income level in Seattle, and loss of drivers due to the vaccine mandate, parents, were left scrambling to fund school transportation for 6,700 students.
KING 5 reported students who will continue to receive uninterrupted bus service include those receiving special education services including transportation, students experiencing homelessness and foster students, students with a 504 plan that includes transportation services, schools that serve historically underserved students, and schools at interim sites.
KIRO 97.3 FM Geen and Ursula reported the starting salary with the company that the city contracts with to transport pupils, First Student, offers starting pay of $24 an hour – about $31,000 a year. A family of four living in Seattle that earns less than $72,000 a year was considered low income in 2017. That number has only gotten worse in the last four years.
Seattle Public Schools and First Student indicated the route cuts would be indefinite until more drivers could be hired. According to Gee and Ursula this morning, the city is considering options with King County Metro.
Travel Advisories
Due to increased acute care hospitalizations, we’re maintaining our recreational travel advisory to the East Hospital Region, including Adams, Asotin, Ferry, Garfield, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Wahkiakum, and Whitman counties. Acute care and ICU capacity remain limited, and the ratio of Covid-19 patients to other hospital patients is exceptionally high. Please reconsider nonessential travel plans to these counties.
With the announcement that Spokane officials have requested additional federal resources to support local hospitals, the travel advisory will likely continue through the 2021 holiday season.
We strongly advise against all nonessential travel to Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Hospital resources in these regions are constrained, and you may receive inadequate care in Alaska, Idaho, and Montana if you experience a serious medical emergency.
We are not adding a travel advisory for the Northwest Hospital Region, which includes Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, and Mason counties but don’t recommend engaging in risky recreational behavior on the Olympic Peninsula. Although hospitals are very constrained, the region is adjacent to the Puget Sound and West Hospital Regions, with adequate resources.
Thank you
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Vaccination
No update
King County, Washington is reporting over 87.3% of age eligible residents are vaccinated with at least one dose. The highest rates of positivity are in areas with low vaccination rates statewide. The FDA has provided full approval of the Pfizer vaccine for anyone 16 and over and EUA approval for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
COVID vaccines are free for anyone over 12 years old, and no appointment is necessary at most locations. Lyft and Hopelink provide free transportation, and KinderCare, the Learning Care Group, and the YMCA offer free childcare during vaccination appointments or recuperation.
Knowledge is the best tool to fight against fear. A wise person chooses to be informed so they can make sound decisions. To join the fight against COVID misinformation, you can share this update through your social media platform of choice.
[KING COUNTY, Wash.] – (MTN) It should come as no surprise with the Washington vaccine mandate impacting state employees, teachers, and health care workers on Monday, there is an incredible amount of local news.
New Covid-19 cases in Washington continued to decline while Eastern Washington continues to hold back progress for the rest of the state. In Spokane, officials requested a 20 person Department of Defense strike team to support overwhelmed hospitals. In an ironic twist, 11 Republican State Senators signed a letter urging Governor Jay Inslee to deploy National Guard troops to rural Washington hospitals battered by Covid-19 patients. Several of the signatories have actively worked against mask and vaccination mandates.
The Seattle Police Department will be operating at blackwatch plaid modified phase 4 rules on Monday, with 130 officers still not sharing their vaccination status with the department. In related news, a federal judge tossed a lawsuit against Governor Jay Inslee and the vaccine mandate on Friday.
University Washington Medicine (UMC) announced that hospitals will be open to visitors again starting October 19, but you’ll need to prove you are vaccinated or have a negative COVID test to go into Harborview Medical Center.
Locally up to 20 Redmond firefighters are facing termination and 12 learned their previously accepted religious exemptions were rejected. On Friday up to 200 Boeing employees and their supporters protested in Everett after the defense contractor announced they were implementing a vaccine mandate.
If you have Covid-19 and you’re seeking monoclonal antibody treatment you’re in luck with two facilities in Kirkland offering the therapeutic.
There was a single COVID case reported at Bennett Elementary School in the Bellevue School District on Friday.
The State Trooper that died of Covid-19 wasn’t vaccinated according to his family, and they are appealing to everyone to stop politicizing his death.
Out in Pullman, Cougar fans are wondering if Nick Rolovich has coached his last game.
On the Kitsap Peninsula, Vice Admiral Bill Galanis told more than 15,000 civilian naval workers to get vaccinated or they’ll no longer work for the U.S. Navy. A Clark County physician assistant had his license revoked after spreading Covid-19 misinformation for more than a year. Another nurse in Washington is under investigation after she appeared on the Stew Peters show and made wild accusations on air.
Yakima and Spokane are getting new mass Covid-19 testing sites starting Monday and Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital is now offering monoclonal antibody treatments.
A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel unanimously recommended booster shots for all recipients of the Johson & Johnson vaccine, and further recommend that the viral-vector vaccine require two-doses. The FDA also announced that a panel won’t review the antiviral molnupiravir until November 30, indicating the drug likely won’t be approved in 2021.
A worker at CVS accidentally gave a 17-year old six-times the recommended dose of the Pfizer vaccine while another worker at Walgreens accidentally gave an adult dose of the Pfizer vaccine to a 4 and 5-year-old.
The CDC released travel guidelines for the 2021 holiday season and visiting grandma is a go, as long as everyone is vaccinated or wears a mask. On the topic of masks, if you’re still using a cloth one, it’s time to throw it away and use disposable surgical or N95 masks instead.
Cam Newton’s agent let everyone know that he is now vaccinated and call me crazy, but I’m just not a big Geno Smith fan.
The number of people vaccinated in Clallam County was adjusted downward, pushing the county just under 60%. This change is reflected in our daily chart, and we expect Clallam County to be back over 60% on Tuesday when the vaccination data is updated.
The lowest vaccinated counties have 387% more new cases of Covid-19 than the most vaccinated. Only one of the least vaccinated counties is in the western half of the state.
Percent of Total Population Fully Vaccinated
Average 14-Day New Case Rate (unadjusted)
60.00% or above (4)
194.4 (down)
50.00% to 59.99% (13 counties)
431.4
40.00% to 49.99% (12 counties)
478.0 (down)
29.90% to 39.99% (8 counties)
753.1
14-Day New Covid-19 Cases per 100K average by Vaccination Rate, Not Adjusted for Population
Through October 14, Washington’s statewide 14-day rolling average dropped slightly to 349.4 Covid-19 cases per 100K – statistically unchanged from Thursday.
Ferry County (1,393.3) and Garfield County (1,390.6) still have new case rates above 1,000. They are now significant outliers compared to the rest of the state.
For the first time since August 17, not a single county is reporting new case rates between 800 and 999.9. In Eastern Washington, a combination of rising vaccination rates in many counties and the Delta variant running out of new hosts is driving case numbers downward.
Counties in the 600.0 to 799.9 per 100K range include Chelan, Columbia, Klickitat, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, and Stevens.
New cases were statistically unchanged, while hospitalizations were up for ages 35 to 49.
Age Group
7-Day Case Rate
7-Day Hospitalization Rate
Ages 0-11
150.7
1.2
Ages 12-19
169.2
1.3
Ages 20-34
153.7
4.0
Ages 35-49
157.2
8.5 (up)
Ages 50-64
118.7
12.1
Ages 65-79
86.7
19.3
Ages 80+
85.5
35.9
7-day case rate and 7-day hospitalization rate is per 100K within the age group – the target for 7-day case rate is <25.0, but there are other factors such as vaccination rates within the age groups, how many total tests within the 7-day period, and the positivity rate within each age group
Seattle Police Department will operate on modified phase 4 rules starting Monday
Seattle officials announced that SPD officers would be operating on 12-hour shifts six days a week starting Monday as they try to determine how many officers are vaccinated. On Thursday, officials reported 84% of SPD employees had provided proof of vaccination status. The number dropped to 82% on Friday with no explanation.
An “unofficial” website claiming not to be associated with the Seattle Police Officer Guild, while using common language from union president Mike Solan, advised officers not to provide their vaccination status information before October 18. In early September, it was implied approximately 200 officers would not provide their vaccination status until the deadline.
“For some reason, this mayor is refusing that, which I think is unreasonable and is void of common sense,” said Solan.
The mayor’s office responded to Solan’s request in a statement to KING 5, saying, “COVID-19 is currently the number one cause of death for our first responders. Throughout the pandemic, we have seen dozens of firefighters and officers exposed, with some hospitalized even with testing and PPE. This deadly disease puts our families, children, co-workers, and the community at risk, so Mayor Durkan sincerely hopes that anyone at risk of leaving the City or at departments statewide will make the decision to stay by getting vaccinated.”
The department has 1,043 commissioned officers. If the current number holds, 187 will be suspended after Monday. Earlier this week, on the Dori Monson Show, Solan hinted the number of officers refusing to get vaccinated was around 50. Officers were informed they will not be automatically fired but will need to appear at a “Loudermill hearing.”
The Seattle Times and Forbes reported during the summer of 2020, the average SPD officer made $153,000 a year in salary. The figure did not include benefits, pension, or government employee discount benefits. The pay in Seattle is more than double what the average officer makes nationwide.
Solan is not alone in defying vaccination orders among the police officers represented by a union. Chicago Police Union president John Catanzara took a similar position in a video earlier this week and communicated the same early numbers, claiming 50% of the force will walk off the job. According to the best available data provided by Chicago officials, over 70% of the CPD is already fully vaccinated.
Federal judge tosses lawsuit attempting to block Washington state vaccine mandate
In a widely expected decision by federal court watchers, Judge Barbara J. Rothstein, a Carter Administration nominee, rejected a lawsuit by more than 100 municipal, county, and state employees attempting to block the Washington state employee vaccine mandate.
#BREAKING We successfully defended Governor Inslee’s vaccine policy that ensures a safe and health work environment for all state employees. Federal Judge Barbara J. Rothstein denied an attempt to halt Gov. Inslee’s vaccine mandate.
Nationally, federal lawsuits have been filed in 39 different states, with two resulting in temporary stays. The first was specific to New York employees seeking religious exemptions, and the second was among a handful of United Airlines employees who were suspended without pay. The legality of vaccine mandates at a state level has been litigated for 119 years in federal court. The United States Supreme Court ruled in 1905 in the case Jacobson vs. Massachusetts that municipalities, counties, and states had the right to make and mandate public health decisions.
Up to 20 City of Redmond firefighters face termination
Anywhere from 12 to 20 Redmond firefighters face termination on Monday as they continue to battle the looming vaccination mandate. Several employees who previously received religious exemptions had them rejected by the city upon further review.
Many people seeking a religious exemption have cited their anti-abortion beliefs as their foundation of “deeply held religious beliefs.” The mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna were tested using clonal human fetal kidney cells (HEK293), and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is produced using the same cells.
While committees accepted many exemption requests initially, the position has become problematic among medical providers. In Washington state, firefighters, some police officers, and all patient-facing healthcare workers are required to have the MMR, Hepatitis B, Varicella, and if over 50 years old, Zoster vaccines. All of these vaccines use HEK293 in their development, testing, or production. Workers who had no previous religious belief against these vaccines are having their exemption requests rejected.
Waking Up Washington plans an anti-vaccine mandate protest (again) in Seattle for Monday
Palmer Davis of Waking Up Washington is calling for another Seattle area protest against the vaccination mandate on Monday at noon in front of Seattle City Hall. The organization previously called for a protest at Swedish Hospital and Harborview Medical Center, where Ms. Davis advocated online for trying to enter Harborview. That protest never materialized and the organization never made a statement or released photos of the event.
Given the vaccine mandate starts on the 18th and a number of state workers have already accepted they are losing their jobs, it is more likely someone will show up.
In ironic twist, state GOP urges Governor Jay Inslee to deploy National Guard to fight Covid-19
On October 8, 11 Washington state Senators signed a letter requesting Governor Jay Inslee deploy the National Guard to aid overwhelmed rural county hospitals. The letter was signed by Senate Minority Leader John Braun (R-Centralia), Senator Jeff Wilson (R-Longview), and retiring Senator Ann Rivers (R-La Center).
For several months, the state seemed content to focus on providing access to the vaccine. But in mid-May, we saw a change in the federal guidance on wearing masks and distancing, and the state followed suit. Suddenly, Washington employers had more control over their own safety standards than they’d had in over a year. It didn’t last long. Barely a week later, on May 21, the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) issued new guidance that puts employers in the position of becoming the “vaccine police.”
During the 2021 legislative session, Republicans introduced legislation to prevent discrimination based on vaccination status in places of public accommodation. Although leaders of the Democrat majority didn’t support our proposal, they at least recognized it would be a mistake to go the other direction and pursue a vaccine-passport policy.
When Braun penned the op-ed in June, the Alpha variant of Covid-19 was in statewide decline, and almost all Covid-19 related restrictions ended on June 30. By early September, hospitals in Yakima, Walla Walla, and Richland were on the edge of moving to crisis standards of care due to an overwhelming number of Covid-19 cases.
In May of this year, he joined Senator Braun against Washington L&I mask requirements. The Reflector reported Braun and Wilson reminded constituents that private businesses have the right to make their own rules for customers. It mirrors State Health Secretary Umair Shah’s plea for Washingtonians to “respect the rules of the room.”
The statewide mask mandate was lifted in late June 2021.
The question about deploying the National Guard came up repeatedly since August when the Delta surge started in Washington. Other states that deployed the National Guard found it had a devastating impact, removing medical personnel already working at hospitals and causing worse staffing issues. Additionally, the Washington State National Guard is already deployed to other states assisting in their failed Covid-19 response and dealing with hurricane and disaster response.
Washington state opening mass Covid-19 testing sites in Yakima and Spokane
Weeks after being announced, two new mass Covid-19 testing sites will be opening in Yakima and Spokane.
The site will be open five days a week, Sunday through Thursday. Officials report it will take two to three days to receive test results. People are encouraged to preregister for testing. A drive-up option is available.
According to local officials, a second Spokane location will be opening soon, but no details were provided.
Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital offering monoclonal antibody treatments
Yakima Valley Memorial now has access to monoclonal antibody treatments for eligible Covid-19 patients, according to NBC KNDO and KNDU. Monoclonal antibodies are an experimental treatment with emergency approval from the FDA.
Chief Medical Officer at YVM, Dr. Marty Brueggemann, said while the treatment is new, it shows a lot of promise.
“Its not the end all, be all, but it is an important tool and it does show promise and certainly once you get covid if we can save a few admissions and people having to go through that then hey that’s the goal here,” Dr. Brueggemann said.
Monoclonal antibodies are meant for people with mild to moderate covid-19 symptoms and are most effective when used before the seventh day of symptoms. Individuals can contact the hospital for more information, and the therapy is free for qualified patients.
Approximately 200 Boeing workers and supporters protest looming vaccine mandate
Waving signs like “coercion is not consent” and “stop the mandate,” some 200 Boeing employees and others protested on Friday over the defense contractor and planemaker vaccine requirement for employees.
“It’s an experimental drug given under a pseudo-emergency,” he added.
Another worker, an assembly mechanic, said: “This is America. We don’t just do what we’re told because one person says to.”
In March of 2020, workers protested against the company demanding the Everett plant be closed after an employee died of Covid-19 and citing unsafe work conditions. Boeing suspended operations for 14 days after union pressure.
The Pfizer vaccine is fully approved by the FDA for individuals 16 years and older in the United States and other nations. The Moderna vaccine is under review for full FDA approval, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is expected to be submitted by the end of the year.
Shipyards’ commander to workers – get vaccinated or you’ll no longer work for the U.S. Navy
Vice Admiral Bill Galanis sent an “all-hands” email, including more than 15,000 naval shipyard workers in Washington state to get vaccinated or face termination. Workers have until November 8 to submit an exemption request on religious or medical grounds.
The Kitsap Sun reported Vice Admiral Galanis wrote, “We are moving quickly toward a workforce where vaccinations are a condition of employment,” said Vice Adm. Bill Galinis. “Frankly, if you are not vaccinated, you will not work for the U.S. Navy.”
The all-hands email, shared by employees of Naval Sea Systems Command to the Kitsap Sun, marks the Navy’s position, in following the executive order issued by President Joe Biden, for the 15,000-member workforce at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, as well as those at shipyards in Hawaii, Maine, and Virginia. Galinis cast Covid-19 as not just a health risk but one that “directly impacts the readiness of our Fleet and our workforce.”
Union officials were disappointed in the email, hoping to bargain with the U.S. Navy for additional accommodations. Shipyard leaders indicated up to 35% of the staff could resign, but so far, nationally, none of these dire predictions have come true.
The U.S. Navy is the largest employer in Kitsap County, including 20,000 civilians and 11,000 U.S. navy personnel.
Clark County anti-vaccination and anti-mask physician assistant license suspended
On August 19, the state of Washington announced they would be cracking down on medical professionals who promote Covid-19 disinformation, and a Clark County physician assistant is the first to be censured.
An investigation into the practice of Scott Miller began in August 2021 and ended with his license revoked by the Washington Medical Commission (WMC). The commission found accusations against Miller had merit and suspended his license to practice medicine due to treatment for patients falling below the standard of care. Accusations against Miller included:
Starting a public camaign promoting ivermectin as a Covid-19 cure
Prescribing ivermectin to at least one patient without providing an adequate examination
Interfering with the care of hospitalized patients
Engaging in a hostile and threatening campaign against both hospitals and individual physicians regarding Covid-19 treatment
Lying on his licensing application and denying he was already under investigation by the state of California
Miller is aligned with the group Waking Up Washington, led and organized by Palmer Davis, one of the principal creators of Covid-19 misinformation in the Pacific Northwest. In 2020, he was promoting hydroxychloroquine as a cure. He was one of the leaders claiming Covid-19 was circulating in the United States in 2019 and promoting Vitamin D and C along with melatonin as capable of stopping viral replication in human cells.
Miller, who runs Miller Family Pediatrics in Washougal, Washington, spoke at a Camas School Board Meeting in May of 2021 against mask mandates and promoted ivermectin as a “cure.”
“I don’t know anybody that’s died (from COVID-19),” Miller said. “I’ve treated 350 COVID patients. Do you know there’s treatment? … I treat people every day. I had 90 COVID patients come into my clinic last month.” Miller then went on to call the school board “pure evil.”
The Camas-Washougal Post Record reported Miller falsely claimed ivermectin, a drug used to treat parasites in animals, as well as vitamin D and vitamin C were cures for the novel coronavirus that has killed nearly 720,000 Americans since March 2020. The European Medicines Agency and the United States Food and Drug Administration have both said the available data “does not support the drug’s use for Covid-19 outside of well-designed clinical trials.” Likewise, the World Health Organization has warned against using ivermectin for COVID-19. In February, the drug’s manufacturer, Merck & Co., Inc., stated it has found ivermectin has “no scientific basis for a potential therapeutic effect against Covid-19” as well as “a concerning lack of safety data in the majority of studies.”
Washington state nurse under ethics investigation after her appearance on the Stew Peters Show
State officials are investigating nurse Corrine Lund after her appearance on the Stew Peters Show, part of Mojo 5.0, a “Libertarian Talk Radio” network, claiming she is a hospital supervisor who has witnessed misconduct where she worked.
State trooper who died of Covid-19 was unvaccinated according to family
The family of fallen Washington state Trooper Eric Gunderson released a statement that Gunderson was not anti-vaccination but didn’t believe he needed to get vaccinated.
“Eric was a young man. At 38, he was in the peak physical condition necessary to perform his duties as a member of the Washington State Patrol S.W.A.T. team,” the statement said, in part. “He thought — we all thought — that Covid was something that happened to someone else. He was not in a high risk group.”
According to the family and the Washington State Patrol, Gunderson contracted Covid-19 during a business trip to Orlando, Florida, during the height of the Delta variant surge in the Sunshine state.
“He contracted the virus while traveling for work this summer, a trip planned before the dangers of the Delta variant were fully understood, when many travel restrictions had been reduced, and there was a sense that Covid was in decline,” the statement said. “After he returned from his trip, he became very sick, very quickly. He was hospitalized and died some six weeks later.
To say that the comments on social media attached to this story are awful would be an understatement. Regardless of your views on vaccination, a husband and father of two died unnecessarily.
His family wrote, “His death is a tragedy. It is not a symbol.”
The most up-to-date numbers available indicated 91.5% of all commissioned Washington State Patrol officers and 93% of WSP employees are fully vaccinated.
Speculation about Nick Rolovich future employment status is rampant
The highest-paid state employee in Washington, Nick Rolovich, has been playing peek-a-boo with state officials and the press over his vaccination status. Last week Rolovich, who has a record of 4-6 leading the Cougars at press time (each win has cost Washington taxpayers $1.65 million), stated to USA Today he was seeking a religious exemption.
Over 95% of staff and 98% of students at WSU Pullman are fully vaccinated or have an approved exemption.
Harborview Medical Center will require all visitors to show proof of vaccination or negative Covid-19 test for entry
Harborview Medical Center will allow visitors into the hospital beginning October 19, with new protocols in place. Starting Tuesday, all inpatient visitors over the age of 12 and individuals over the age of 18 accompanying an adult outpatient must show proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test collected within the past three days.
Visitors will be allowed at all four UW Medicine facilities starting Tuesday but will be limited to one or two people depending on the hospital, patient, and what department is treating the patient.
UW Medicine indicated the proof of vaccination or negative test policy would be rolled out at the remaining facilities in the coming weeks.
Travel Advisories
Due to increased acute care hospitalizations, we’re maintaining our recreational travel advisory to the East Hospital Region, including Adams, Asotin, Ferry, Garfield, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Wahkiakum, and Whitman counties. Acute care and ICU capacity remain limited, and the ratio of Covid-19 patients to other hospital patients is exceptionally high. Please reconsider nonessential travel plans to these counties.
With the announcement that Spokane officials have requested additional federal resources to support local hospitals, the travel advisory will likely continue through the 2021 holiday season.
We strongly advise against all nonessential travel to Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Hospital resources in these regions are constrained, and you may receive inadequate care in Alaska, Idaho, and Montana if you experience a serious medical emergency.
We are not adding a travel advisory for the Northwest Hospital Region, which includes Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, and Mason counties but don’t recommend engaging in risky recreational behavior on the Olympic Peninsula. Although hospitals are very constrained, the region is adjacent to the Puget Sound and West Hospital Regions, which have adequate resources.
Thank you
Thank you to our new subscribers and those of you who have made one-time contributions. On behalf of the entire team, thank you for helping us keep the lights on!
No promotional consideration has been given, or requested from the n95 project or any manufacturer of masks
Vaccination
FDA panel recommended booster for all Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients and changing to a two-dose regime
On Friday, an influential Food and Drug Administration advisory committee said the agency should authorize boosters of Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot Covid-19 vaccine to the more than 15 million Americans who have already received the initial dose.
CNBC reported a unanimous vote – by the agency’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee – is a critical step before the U.S. can begin giving second shots to J&J recipients. Some of them have said they are anxious to get the additional protection. Studies have shown one dose of J&J’s vaccine to be comparatively less effective than the two-dose messenger RNA vaccines made by Pfizer–BioNTech and Moderna.
The panel recommended the boosters to everyone 18 and over who’s already received J&J’s first shot at least two months after the initial dose. Many committee members said it should be considered a two-dose vaccine, much like Moderna and Pfizer’s.
King County, Washington is reporting over 87.3% of age eligible residents are vaccinated with at least one dose. The highest rates of positivity are in areas with low vaccination rates statewide. The FDA has provided full approval of the Pfizer vaccine for anyone 16 and over and EUA approval for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
COVID vaccines are free for anyone over 12 years old, and no appointment is necessary at most locations. Lyft and Hopelink provide free transportation, and KinderCare, the Learning Care Group, and the YMCA offer free childcare during vaccination appointments or recuperation.
According to the DoH COVID Dashboard, 91% of all staffed acute care beds are occupied, and 16.3% of patients have Covid-19. Statewide, hospitals have the staff to support approximately 616 additional acute care patients. ICUs are at 86.7% of capacity statewide, with 26.0% of ICU patients fighting Covid-19 – an estimated 311 patients with 51% on ventilators. The state has the staff to support approximately 157 additional ICU patients.
On Friday, the 7-day rolling average hospital admission rate for new COVID patients increased slightly to 94. The Department of Health reported 1,115 Covid-19 patients statewide on October 14, with 159 requiring ventilators.
Every hospital region showed improvement this week. The East and Northwest Hospital Regions remain highly stressed. Earlier this week, 19% of all hospitalized Covid-19 patients in Washington were in Spokane County medical facilities.
Hospital status by region – ICU Occupancy should be below 80%, ICU COVID Patients should be below 20%, Acute Care Occupancy should be below 80%, and Acute Care COVID Patients should be below 10%
Sacred Heart Medical Center received a Department of Defense “strike team” of 20 healthcare workers to provide additional support. For months, the hospital has been overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients and recently started seeing more patients from Idaho seeking medical treatment.
– Bell Elementary (4*) – Blackwell Elementary (1*) – Carson Elementary (2*) – Dickinson/Explorer Elementary (1*) – Eastlake High (3*) – Finn Hill Middle School (4*) – Franklin Elementary (1*) – Frost Elementary (2*) – ICS (1*) – Inglewood Middle School (2*) – Juanita Elementary (3*) – Juanita High School (4*) – Kamiakin Middle School (2*) – Keller Elementary (1*) – Kirkland Middle School (1*) – Lakeview Elementary (4*) – Lake Washington High School (2*) – Mead Elementary (2*) – Muir Elementary (1*) – Northstar Middle (1*) – Redmond Elementary (2*) – Redmond Middle School (1*) – Redmond High School (2*) – Rosa Parks Elementary (3*) – Rose Hill Middle School (1*) – Timberline Middle School (2*) – Twain Elementary (1* – see notes)
None
Northshore
YELLOW
– Arrowhead Elementary (3) – Bothell High School (29**) – Canyon Creek Elementary (10) – Canyon Park Middle School (14) – Cottage Lake Elementary (1) – Crystal Springs Elementary (29) – East Ridge Elementary (2) – Frank Love Elementary (16) – Hollywood Hills Elementary (69) – Inglemoor High School (2) – Innovation Lab High School (2) – Kenmore Elementary (8) – Kenmore Middle School (31) – Kokanee Elementary (13) – Leota Middle School (4) – Lockwood Elementary (27**) – Maywood Hills Elementary (6) – Moorlands Elementary (3) – North Creek High School (8) – Northshore Middle School (7) – Ruby Bridge Elementary (4) – Secondary Academy for Success (6) – Shelton View Elementary (7) – Skyview Middle School (11) – Sunrise Elementary (7) – Timbercrest Middle School (9) – Wellington Elementary (30) – Westhill Elementary (12) – Woodin Elementary (24) – Woodinville High School (13) – Woodmoor Elementary (15)
Local Districts Scorecard – * indicates positive cases only ** indicates 5 or more confirmed positive cases
We redefined the school district statuses. Information for classroom and building closures has been a challenge to obtain, both for closures and reopening. We are adopting moving any school with more than 10 active COVID cases reported into the red, and we’ve adjusted the third column to reflect this change.
Bennett Elementary School in the Bellevue School District reported a single confirmed Covid-19 case on Friday.
We have a parent confirmed report of a single Covid-19 case at Mark Twain Elementary School in the Lake Washington School District.
We continued to encourage parents to request improved daily data reporting from the Lake Washington School District.
Kirkland-Bellevue-Woodinville
Monoclonal antibody treatment available in Kirkland
EvergreenHealth in Kirkland offers monoclonal antibody treatment to qualified people who have tested positive for Covid-19 and are experiencing mild or moderate symptoms that don’t require hospitalization or oxygen therapy.
Covid-19 vaccination clinic at Microsoft campus in Redmond to close October 29
Although not exactly in the local coverage area, the Covid-19 vaccination clinic run by EvergreenHealth at the Microsoft Campus will close on October 29.
EvergreenHealth sees increase in Covid-19 patients at Kirkland hospital
EvergreenHealth reported on October 11, 39 Covid-19 patients were being treated at the Kirkland hospital, up significantly from last week and a jump of 4 patients overnight.
On October 10, the hospital reported caring for 35 COVID patients, and 75% were unvaccinated. Seven patients were in the ICU, with one requiring a ventilator.
EvergreenHealth was the epicenter for the first Covid-19 superspreader event in the United States when dozens of patients at Life Care Center in Kirkland were sickened with the virus in February and March 2020. The facility was fined $611,000 in April 2020 due to management inaction and a failed attempt to cover up the outbreak.
National Round-Up
Johns Hopkins University Cumulative Case Tracker reports 116,962 new cases and 2,191 deaths nationwide on Saturday, October 16. The CDC reported that new cases and hospitalizations were down last weeks while the number of people getting vaccinated increased. The number of people testing positive for Covid-19 dropped to 5.7%. Although still elevated, test positivity below 5% indicates adequate community testing and a lack of community spread.
CDC issues new Covid-19 guidelines for 2021 American holiday season
The guidelines recommend wearing a well-fitting mask over your mouth and nose if you’re not fully vaccinated or when indoors in a public setting. The organization also recommends avoiding crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation and if you start to feel sick before or during your travels, stay home.
It is also recommended to reconsider visiting people who have a weakened immune system regardless of vaccination status and getting tested for Covid-19 before going to large gatherings to assure you’re not an asymptomatic carrier.
On the subject of masks and Covid-19
If you’re using a cloth mask to protect others from Covid-19, experts recommend you stop using them, according to a report in CNBC and backed by a study out of Yale and Stanford University.
In an August study currently under peer review, a group of researchers from universities including Yale and Stanford found that surgical masks are 95% effective at filtering out virus particles — compared to just 37% for cloth masks.
That held true even after the surgical masks were washed with soap and water ten times, though the CDC and the FDA both say you shouldn’t reuse disposable surgical masks under any circumstances.
Public health officials in European countries like France, Germany, and Austria are currently urging people to wear medical or surgical masks instead of homemade cloth masks — but it’s not quite as simple as tossing out your cloth masks and buying a replacement stockpile of disposables.
Cloth masks were recommended during the beginning of the pandemic as “better than nothing” because surgical and N-95 masks were scarce. Now that the supply chain has stabilized for the medical community and residents alike, the available masks offer a better solution when properly used.
Emergency Use Authorization approval of molnupiravir in 2021 is unlikely
The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it would ask its outside experts to meet on November 30 to scrutinize Merck’s antiviral pill that showed strong promise in its ability to treat Covid-19.
The meeting means U.S. regulators almost certainly won’t issue a decision on the drug until December, signaling that the agency will conduct a detailed review of the experimental treatment’s safety and effectiveness. The panelists are likely to vote on whether Merck’s drug should be approved, though the FDA is not required to follow their advice.
“We believe that, in this instance, a public discussion of these data with the agency’s advisory committee will help ensure a clear understanding of the scientific data and information that the FDA is evaluating,” said Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni, director of FDA’s drug center.
The oral therapeutic was under development by Emory University before the Covid-19 outbreak as an antiviral treatment for Influenza and Ebola. Researchers from Emory University reached out to the Trump Administration in 2019 seeking additional funding to move the drug into human testing and received no response. They approached the administration again in February 2020 as a potential treatment for Covid-19, but officials declined to fund additional research. Emory university sold the drug to Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics in the summer of 2020.
In Phase 3 testing, the drug reduced hospitalizations and deaths among Covid-19 patients by 48%. The drug companies did not report the observed side effects in applying for the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). However, they did indicate that more patients in the placebo group reported side effects. Phase 3 testing of molnupiravir is still ongoing.
The drug has already come under withering fire from conspiracy theorists and at least one U.S. senator claiming the antiviral is just rebranded ivermectin.
The chemical composition of ivermectin and molnupiravir and how they work in the human body is documented and publicly available. The molecular structure and how the drugs work within the human body are entirely different. Organizations like America’s Frontline Doctors and the FLCCC have enriched themselves by pushing ivermectin and overcharging for telemedicine appointments.
On Covid-19 disinformation promoter Tucker Carlson’s show run on Fox News, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) said, “Now they are all hopping on board this Merck molnupiravir peer review,” Johnson said of the establishment experts. “The doctor groups I’m dealing with, they call it money-piravir. [Merck] patented ivermectin. They’ve been trash–talking ivermectin in favor now of this drug that will be like $700 a dose versus ivermectin cost about $0.06 or $0.07 a pill,” he said.
The lowest price Malcontent News could find for ivermectin was at QFC through GoodRx, at $1.50 per pill. The list price is $7.10 per pill, with a 20 pill dose costing $142.
A four-pill regime of molnupiravir is estimated to cost around $710, significantly cheaper than a four-injection course of monoclonal antibodies, which costs $2,100. All of this math ignores the average hospital stay for Covid-19 costs $17,064 in the United States, and the cost of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is $10 a dose, and the mRNA Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are $15 a dose.
In contrast, monoclonal antibodies are credited with reducing hospitalizations in Florida by 10% to 25%. This isn’t to diminish the impact of the therapy. However, medical professionals can only administer monoclonal antibodies requiring either intravenous therapy or four injections over 30 minutes.
CVS worker accidentally injects woman with 6X the proper dose of the Pfizer vaccine
Walgreens worker accidentally vaccinates 4 and 5 year old for Covid-19 instead of Influenza
CNN reported a Walgreens in Evansville, Indiana, accidentally vaccinated Alexandra and Joshua Price’s 4 and 5-year-old children with the COVID-19 vaccine instead of a vaccine for Influenza on October 5. The Pfizer vaccine isn’t approved by the Food and Drug Administration for children under 12.
“Walgreens called me to say there was a mix-up, we did not receive the flu shot,” Alexandra Price told the local news outlet. “And I’m like well what did we get? And he was like we got the Covid-19 shot … And instantly I was like, ‘Well what does this mean for my kids?’”
Mr. and Ms. Price reported they are fully vaccinated. After the initial accident, they requested Walgreens provide vaccination cards for their children to indicate they had already received their first dose, but Walgreens balked.
Walgreens officials confirmed the children received a full adult dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, three times the amount that the Food and Drug Administration is currently considering approving.
“The children have experienced a number of adverse effects since receiving the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Fever, body aches, cough, headaches, and nausea are among the symptoms the children are experiencing,” according to a statement released by the Prices’ attorney, Dan Tuley. “The 4- and 5-year-old are also under treatment of a pediatric cardiologist for tachycardia and elevated blood pressure, respectively.”
After a follow-up appointment Tuesday, Alexandra said that Lucas has improved, but Sophia has worsened. “Her blood pressure is in the 98th percentile, and she continues to have no energy.”
Cam Newton reportedly gets vaccinated for 14 million reasons
According to the team, former New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton was released before the start of the 2021 regular season due to not adapting to the Patriots’ system or refusing to get vaccinated, according to his supporters. the NFL Network reported today that Newton has had a change of heart and is now vaccinated and looking to play again.
Whether Newton’s vaccination status was an issue in August is moot, but it likely would be a point of concern for any NFL team that is considering adding him to the roster. The three-time Pro Bowler, Super Bowl Champion, and one-time MVP had a significant shoulder injury in 2016 that reduced his on-field capabilities.
Maybe the Seahawks would consider him instead of Geno Smith?
State Updates
Due to the overwhelming amount of local news, we will not do a state update today. The situation in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming can best be described as lousy, terrible, dire, and getting worse, in that order.
Misinformation
Can President Joe Biden, or any President for that matter, order the dishonorable discharge of U.S. servicemembers?
No.
That fact hasn’t stopped the spread of a meme claiming President Biden has ordered the dishonorable discharge of 46% of the U.S. armed forces. First, as far back as August 2021, almost 90% of the 1.4 million active duty troops in the U.S. military were fully vaccinated, had the first dose of vaccine, or were scheduled to get vaccinated, according to the Pentagon. That shoots down the 46% number out of the gate.
Reservists and National Guard troops have until June 2022 to get vaccinated, further shredding the claim.
The disinformation was started by blogger Sandra Rose, who told USA TODAY she is “not a trained journalist” and that readers view her blog for “entertainment and gossip,” not news. She declined to comment further.
A review of her blog indicates she has dipped her toe into Covid-19 misinformation, but it does not appear that she actively spreads disinformation.
Journalists, activists, and researchers defending the First Amendment
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