Tag Archives: seattle

BIPOC, Editorial, Health and Lifestyle, Local, National, Weather

Malcontentment Happy Hour: December 21, 2020

Video

Our live webcast from the Seattle Anarchist Jurisdiction

The show from December 17, 2020, featured guest host, Jennifer Smith.

  • Record high, record rain, and snow?
  • Uneven enforcement of Cal Anderson Park closure results in 7 arrests with one injury at Cal Anderson Park
  • Two new strains of COVID-19 in U.K. and South Africa, U.S. holds off on a travel ban, and vaccination delays
  • Seattle Police Department destroys Mutual Aid supplies including food, clothing, and bedding during Cal Anderson Park homeless sweep
  • A $900B stimulus deal is signed by the House and Senate and goes to Trump’s desk
  • The name of the team Atlanta Braves becomes a political issue
  • “Behind the Pole,” Cal Anderson Park homeless sweep
Breaking News, Local, Weather

Intense cold front could bring burst of lowland snow

UPDATED – official high at KSEA was 59 degrees.

[KIRKLAND] (Malcontent News) – After setting an official record high of 59 degrees on December 21, an intense cold front could bring a brief but intense burst of snow into the Puget Sound Lowlands. The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Advisory for a storm system dumping one to two inches of rain through the afternoon into the lowlands. Areas of poor drainage and clogged storm drains could create pockets of urban stream and street-level flooding.  

At 3:00 PM, it was 55 degrees with heavy rain at Seatac Airport, while less than 100 miles to the north, it was 34 degrees with heavy snow in Bellingham. A cold front moving from the north will bring dramatically colder air, and a Converge Zone is expected to form in the next couple of hours. Forecast models indicate that temperatures could drop 20 degrees in two to three hours.

The challenge of forecasting a Convergence Zone is determining its exact location. Colliding winds moving north and south through Puget Sound are left with nowhere else to go but up, creating bands of intense precipitation that can be just 10 miles wide. Areas in these zones can see heavy rain or snow, with calm conditions a few miles away. Typically these zones appear on the King-Snohomish County line. Original forecast models had the zone forming north of Everett today, but current models and weather radar indicate it could develop much further south. 

Areas that get heavy snow could see 1 to 3 inches of accumulation, which will likely melt quickly because surface temperatures are too warm. The intense snowfall could create short term travel problems with reduced visibility and slippery spots on less-traveled roads. Today’s weather system is very similar to storms that moved through the area on November 13, 2003, and November 27, 2006. The November 27 system crippled the Seattle area, turning highways and roads into parking lots filled with abandoned cars. 

Local

Seattle Police arrest 7 at Cal Anderson Park while park closure goes largely ignored

A day after the Seattle Police Department provided security for City Parks to clear a homeless encampment in Cal Anderson, dozens played soccer, tennis, skateboarded, and walked dogs through the closed park. Much of the yellow tape surrounding the park had been taken down or passed under, while area residents walked past large red “Park Temporarily Closed” signs. On Sunday, all that changed when Seattle Police confronted a group of black-clad soccer players, arresting seven.

According to the Seattle Police Blotter, SPD received complaints about people in the park at 4:30 PM. Officers confronted a group playing soccer clad in black. Officers claim an individual spit at them, and during the arrest, six more were arrested for trying to de-arrest the individual. Multiple videos shot from different angles do not support SPD’s version of the story. Independent journalists captured videos of two other people being thrown onto the ground by Seattle Police. In one video, an officer comes from behind, grabs the hood on the sweatshirt, and pulls a man to the ground. In another video, another person is knocked down, striking their head on a pole.

That individual laid unresponsive on the ground for 15 minutes before an ambulance arrived, despite pleas to provide medical assistance. They were rushed to an awaiting ambulance by the Seattle Fire Department, and their condition is unknown at this time. Seattle Police state that the incident was an unrelated medical emergency. This is the third timed SPD has claimed a protester injury is an unrelated medical emergency in so many weeks.

Seattle Police left the scene by 6:30 PM, and there were already others playing soccer and walking dogs within Cal Anderson Park.

BIPOC, Editorial, Health and Lifestyle, Local, National

Malcontentment Happy Hour: December 17, 2020

Video

Our live webcast from the Seattle Anarchist Jurisdiction

The show from December 17, 2020, featured guest host, Jennifer Smith.

  • Cal Anderson Park, “we got nowhere else to go”
  • Jaguar Private Security and threats received
  • Seattle Police “Use of Force” draft documents open for public review
  • Anti-mask is not pro-freedom
  • State vaccine allocation reduced by 40%
  • The radicalization of Forest Machala
  • Chief Wahoo is no more
Local

32 trash bags and 51 shelter referrals after Cal Anderson Park sweep

[SEATTLE] (Malcontent News) – At 7:34 AM on Friday, the LRAD announcements started that the unhomed and activists had 15 minutes to leave Cal Anderson Park. At day’s end, all that remained were 24 arrests, 32 clear trashbags of personal belongings, and at the most, 12 people place into semi-permanent or permanent housing. As darkness and cold rain fell over the park, SPD officers sat in cruisers parked on the ballfields with the park ironically barricaded by yellow tape. 

According to Sgt. Randy Huserik, Seattle Police Public Information Officer, Seattle Police’s role on Friday was “to provide security for Seattle Parks Department employees.” During the 17 minutes between the first LRAD announcement to vacate the park and officers moving in, SPD declared a tent with resources for the unhomed was available on Broadway Avenue. When people went to the location, no tent or city employees were present.

In the minutes after the sweep, Malcontent News cameras walked through the cleared encampment and found no one checking belongings. At 8:59 AM, a convoy of city vehicles and garbage trucks arrived. Eleven minutes later, park employees started moving through the shattered compound. Ninety minutes after that, dump trucks and backhoes were pulverizing belongings and tents. The city should have saved items, including undamaged plastic furniture, tables, and bicycles, that witnesses saw thrown away. City officials indicated that 32 clear plastic bags of personal belongings were available to be claimed by their owners. 

According to KOMO, a local ABC affiliate, 51 people who were unhomed at Cal Anderson Park were “referred” to possible housing solutions in the days leading to the raid. In the same report, the city stated eight received referrals to tiny homes or hotels, 6 to youth or young adult shelters, 32 more to hotels, and one went back to Olympia. The city could not provide information on the other three placement referrals. At the most, 12 received referrals for semi-permanent or permanent housing or secured their own solution based on that information. Youth and young adult shelters only provide temporary placement. Hotel vouchers aren’t permanent placements and typically last only for days. The disposition of the person who went back to Olympia is unknown. 

The reality, as has been the case after other homeless sweeps, most of those removed will be back on the streets in the weeks to come. In another report on KOMO last night, the station asked their viewers if they thought the homeless would return to Cal Anderson Park. Ninety-five percent responded, “yes.”

Breaking News, Local, National

Seattle Police Arrest 21 in early morning sweep of Cal Anderson Park

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[SEATTLE] (Malcontent News) – Seattle Police Department, supported by King County Sheriff, executed a homeless sweep of Cal Anderson Park this morning, arresting 21. As the first glint of daylight appeared over cold and wet Cal Anderson, Seattle Police arrived at 7:34 AM. Using an LRAD, SPD made multiple announcements that people within the park had 15 minutes to vacate or face potential arrest. By early afternoon the park was clear, and Seattle Parks was well on its way to removing the encampment.

Activists had built a network of barricades over the weekend and steadily reinforced them over the week. On Wednesday, Seattle Police had planned to do a sweep but at the last minute changed direction. Later in the morning, Ada Yeager filed a temporary restraining order request with the federal court, looking to block the sweep. On Wednesday afternoon, activists took over an empty home on Denny, close to the northeast corner of Cal Anderson. On Thursday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Richard Jones denied the TRO.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”13″ gal_title=”Cal Anderson Park Homeless Sweep – December 18″]

Overnight on Thursday, there were two attacks on the homeless encampment. A person threw an explosive device at a parked vehicle in an incident described as a targeted attack. Seattle Police described the incident as arson. There were multiple reports of either fireworks or a flaming arrow shot into the encampment, with no reported injuries.

Seattle police describe the fire bombing of a car as arson.

On Friday morning, black-clad protesters again started to gather in anticipation of the sweep. Seattle Police made multiple announcements for people to vacate the park or face arrest and stated a tent was available on Broadway Avenue for the unhomed to get support and information. At 7:52 AM, SPD moved in from multiple directions, with bike officers coming from the north and combined resources from the south. Simultaneous, a SWAT team raided the abandoned house on Denny.

Many expected strong resistance from the contingent of protesters and the estimated 30 to 50 homeless within the encampment. An opposition that never materialized. Seattle Police swept through quickly, tearing through the barricades on three sides. By 8:25 AM, the park was mostly quiet, beyond the King County Sheriff Department helicopter overhead.

In Thursday’s court hearing, city officials assured the federal court it had a plan for gathering and returning personal property after the sweep, per the Seattle Times. City representatives indicated they would only throw-away items that were damaged, wet, or soiled. Judge Jones expressed concern, indicating accurately that in December, everything is wet in Seattle. At 9:10 AM, a convoy of vehicles arrived, including multiple garbage trucks. It soon became apparent as workers tore down tents without doing any documentation that nothing would be spared.

During the raid, witnesses reported seeing Seattle Police destroying food, clothing, and medical supplies at mutual aid tents set up on 11th Ave, and breaking glass could be heard. There appeared to be no effort to document or collect any personal belongings by officials. By late morning, another convoy of heavy construction equipment arrived. Backhoes started chewed through tents, sleeping materials, furniture, and bikes, tossing them into the back of awaiting dump trucks.

Questions have arisen about police conduct, with a citizen video provided to Malcontent News. In the video, SPD placed an individual in a chokehold during an arrest. In the video, citizens plead with SPD to stopping choking the suspect. Despite Seattle Police claiming there was a tent with resources for the unhomed on Broadway Ave, no tent or representative was there. In talking to the incident PIO, they indicated they did not know what resources were available.

Through public and private investment, the city of Seattle spends over $1 billion a year on homelessness. Despite a decade long effort, Seattle now has the third-largest homeless population in the United States.

Local

Seattle Police and protesters locked in stalemate at Cal Anderson Park

[SEATTLE] (Malcontent News) – Seattle Police appeared to be a no-show for a planned homeless encampment sweep at Cal Anderson Park, as the rain started to fall on a cold December afternoon. Activists built an elaborate series of barricades around the central part of Cal Anderson Park, encompassing the Shelter House and blocking sections of 11th Ave and Nagle Place. Protesters took inspiration from Red House on Mississippi in Portland with their ongoing action to prevent the homeless sweep.

Notices went up over the weekend of an impending sweep of the homeless encampment at Cal Anderson Park.

As dawn rose over Seattle, spirits were high as mutual aid fed the unhomed and activists. Someone set off a firework in the early morning hours, creating tension in the encampment. At 7:35 AM, Seattle Police arrived at the northeast corner of the park, and another column of vehicles drove on the south side. Activists have caches of rocks, broken bricks staged in several areas, and shields ready at entry and exit points.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”11″ gal_title=”Cal Anderson Stalemate December 16″]

As some of the unhomed started to pack, the occupants awaited the siege, which never came. Around 8:30 AM, a tent burst into flames outside of the barricades. One individual told Malcontent News the tent caught on fire by accident due to a firework. In contrast, another individual said the tent was lit on fire on purpose by its owner because they didn’t want Seattle Police taking their belongings. Within minutes all that remained was a smoldering pile, as activists brought buckets of water to extinguish the flames.

By late morning there was an air of boredom, as many started to say aloud they did not think that the sweep would happen. A group of people dressed in black bloc threw rocks at a couple of individuals filming from Broadway Ave. In another area in Cal Anderson Park, activists continued to reinforce the barricades, while people brought clothing, food, and hot coffee to mutual aid. With this backdrop, people that live in the neighborhood worked out, walked dogs, and met each other as if nothing was happening just 100 feet away.

Protesters also broke into the Shelter House, using a battering ram to break through welded steel plates and, in one case, through the wall of the building itself. Seattle Parks had welded the doors shut and surrounded the Shelter House with fencing earlier this year to keep the homeless and activists serving the community out. The closing of the Shelter House has been a contention point with homeless advocates, mutual aid, and people in the neighborhood. After access was blocked and water and electricity turned off, two doors were ripped off of bathrooms and the fence cut. Seattle Parks replaced one door and welded steel plating over the other opening. We interviewed three different people who lived on Capitol Hill, and all of them stated that the closing of the Shelter House and blocking of mutual aid made no sense.

raw video feed from cal Anderson park – December 15, 2020

As the activity at the Shelter House continued, news helicopters hovered overhead. A single-engine aircraft also buzzed Cal Anderson Park at a very low altitude, and moments later, the King County Sheriff helicopter hovered low doing tight circles.

The fortifications are on a similar scale to what activists built around Red House on Mississippi. There was speculation by many that Seattle Police and Seattle Parks are reevaluating the situations and weighing their options. The homeless crisis has gotten steadily worse in Seattle over the last decade despite an estimated $1 billion a year spent addressing the problem. Many government officials and homeless advocates are concerned that the situation will worsen if Congress does not act to extend the CARES Act or create a new stimulus package before the end of the year.

BIPOC, National

Right-Wing election violence accelerates across the United States

Video

From Malcontentment Happy Hour, December 14, 2020

Washington D.C., Portland, Sacramento, Olympia, and Lexington see a violence-marred weekend

From Washington D.C., to Louisville, to Seattle, to Sacramento, to Portland, political violence rocked the United States.

Health and Lifestyle, Local

Hospitals in Everett and Kirkland reaching maximum ICU capacity

North King County and Snohomish County hospitals are nearing maximum ICU capacity, and a few have already hit that point. In Kirkland, Washington, the first significant outbreak site in the United States, Evergreen Hospital is currently at 90% ICU usage. Further north in Everett, Washington, Providence Hospital ICU is at 100% capacity.

In contrast, Seattle and Bellevue are reporting more available beds, but a worsening situation. Seattle is at 70% utilization while Overlake Hospital in Bellevue is at 64%. The utilization number at Overlake doesn’t tell a complete picture. The facility has a staffing crisis due to a low number of available specialists and many nurses sick with COVID. Traveling nurses are making as much as $10,000 a week to work at hospitals in COVID hotspots. Nurses are offered such high pay due to the dire need, long hours, and overall risk of infection. In Seattle, Harborview Medical Center has more patients with COVID than at any time since the pandemic started.

Area capacity to treat patients is reaching a critical breaking point. Seattle only has 121 ICU beds available as of this writing, based on a seven-day rolling average. With almost 1,100 patients in Washington hospitals with COVID, the governor’s office predicted that a “better case” scenario would be 2,000 hospitalized by the end of the year.

The central issue isn’t available hospital beds, but the staff to support sick patients. A COVID patient in ICU requires an extensive care team of three to four people per patient. Hospitals are optimized from a staff and revenue standpoint to operate at 60% to 80% capacity. The excess capacity is available for short term surges due to accidents, natural or humanmade disasters. To sustain above 80%, hospitals need additional staffing, which isn’t widely available.

Earlier today, the United States reached another grim milestone. Officials reported 3,054 COVID deaths, the most single-day fatalities in the United States since the pandemic started.

The New York Times, US Department of Health and Human Services, and The COVID Tracking Project provided some of this article’s data.

Rebecca Herman-Kerwin contributed to this story.