[OLYMPIA, Wash.] – (MTN) Governor Jay Inslee announced that the outdoor mask mandate would end on Feb. 18 and that it is, “no longer a matter of if, but when,” for the end of the indoor mandate.
The outdoor mask mandate was implemented on Sept. 13, as hospitalizations for the delta variant peaked in Washington. The requirement applied to large outdoor events with 500 or more people. Enforcement of the outdoor mask requirement was close to non-existent, with Lumen Field full of maskless fans through the fall and early winter, cheering for the Seattle Seahawks.
Data has shown that COVID transmission rates are significantly lower in outdoor settings and areas with excellent air circulation.
The statewide indoor mask mandate, that was brought back on Aug. 19 still stands. Gov. Inslee said that he was taking a wait-and-see approach, and would revisit ending the indoor mask mandate as early as next week. California, Illinois, New York, and Oregon have ended or announced they are ending indoor mask mandates this week.
Washington repealed almost all COVID restrictions on Jun. 30 as hospitals emptied of COVID patients and the statewide vaccination rate for residents 16 and over approached 70%. Less than two months later the state was facing record hospitalizations due to the more transmissible and virulent Delta variant, just as school was restarting.
Washington never fully exited the delta wave when the first omicron case was detected on Nov. 29. More than a half-dozen high school wrestling matches on Dec. 4 in Pierce and Thurston Counties became super spreader events. New cases of omicron exploded from the Canada border to the Columbia River flooding Western Washington hospitals during the last week of December. The combination of holiday travelers and lower vaccination rates in Eastern Washington created a secondary wave in January.
New COVID cases are declining across the state and hospitalizations have peaked on both sides of the Cascades. Despite the improvement, there are still over 1,700 COVID patients in Washington hospitals according to the Washington State Hospital Association.
With the hospital situation improving, the statewide pause of “non-urgent” surgical procedures announced last month, will come to an end on Feb. 17. When Gov. Inslee announced the 28-day pause on Jan. 20, many hospitals had already taken the extraordinary measure independently.
At the peak of the omicron wave, Washington medical facilities were brought to the brink of collapse. The darkest days were during the week of Jan. 16. In an unprecedented move during the COVID pandemic, a handful of patients were transferred by aircraft out of Western Washington to Eastern Washington and Montana hospitals. On Jan. 19, the demand for hospital beds was outstripping all available resources.
To avoid moving the state to crisis standards of care, the Washington Medical Coordination Center (WMCC) implemented a protocol called guaranteed-acceptance hospital rotation. During guaranteed-acceptance hospital rotation, larger regional hospitals took turns taking accepting transfer patients and finding some way to care for them. By Jan. 23, the peak of the crisis had passed, and the protocol was ended.
The WMCC, which operates out of Harborview Medical Center, provides assistance to hospitals that need to move patients when the institution has exhausted all other options.
In Idaho, new COVID cases peaked earlier this week with test positivity reaching 34%. Southern Idaho has been operating under crisis standards of care for almost a month, and some patients from the Boise area have been arriving in Eastern Washington hospitals. Historically Alaska, Idaho, Eastern Oregon, and Western Montana have relied on Washington hospitals to take in critically ill patients and specialized cases.
The positivity rate for COVID tests in Washington has dropped to 18%, according to the University of Washington Virology Lab. So-called stealth omicron has been detected in Washington, but there has not been an increase in cases.
Virologists believe that between the statewide vaccination rate and how transmissible the Omicron variant is, many residents have some degree of immunity. The United States Centers for Disease Control is not supportive of repealing mask mandates because nationally new case rates remain extremely high, with over 110,000 hospitalized COVID patients.
[LACEY, Wash.] – (MTN) Parked outside an empty auto repair shop in Lacey, a banner and a handmade sign declares COVID testing is available provided by OnPoint Testing. The company has 36 test sites in the Western United States, four in Washington and three in Oregon. Reviews complain about “free” tests requiring cash-only payments, unsanitary practices, delayed, inaccurate, or missing results. The owners of OnPoint went to great lengths to obscure their connections back to a Texas company that sells new and used credit card process equipment, and a “lab” connected to a strip mall in San Bruno, California.
A review of the OnPoint Testing website provided no information on the company, the owners, nor a privacy or HIPAA policy. Attempts to make connections to OnPoint to any lab, NPI, or CLIA were initially fruitless.
Searching locations and reviews on Yelp yielded another phone number for the company, attached to a testing location in San Bruno, California. The test site is located in a small strip mall on 650 El Camino Real, shared with Confidence Auto Rental and Sales. A call to the used car dealership went to voicemail and there was no return call. Google and Yelp indicate the dealership is still in business, but its URL, confidenceautos.com, redirects to ASNCars.
Yelp reviews are littered with complaints about OnPoint COVID-19 Testing and connect to a different phone number than listed on the company’s website
The phone number for OnPoint on Yelp did connect to customer service for the company and was answered after a brief hold.
Additional searching found a website for OnPoint Lab in Sugarland, Texas. This led researchers down another dead end. OnPoint Lab does offer COVID testing but is more focused on DNA and urine collection. A search on Open Corporates indicates the lab has been open since 2014. A call to their phone number was answered promptly. The person who answered indicated they had no connection to OnPoint COVID-19 testing.
Equipped with a repeating name, and with OnPoint COVID-19 Testing claiming they have an authorized lab, a review of CDC-approved labs yielded a result. OnPoint Testing CLIA number is 05D2244336 and the address for the facility is the same address as the testing site in San Bruno, California – 650 El Camino Real. The phone number for the lab is different from the 800 number listed on the OnPoint website, and the 650 number listed on Yelp.
OnPoint Testing CDC-approved lab, operating under a waiver due to COVID protocols created by the 2020 CARES ACT, is listed at being inside this building after a CDC CLIA lab search
Calling the phone number associated with ATOWN LAB and US Health Laboratories went to voicemail for ATOWN LABS. In what was another apparent dead end, there is no connection back to OnPoint COVID-19 Testing, ATOWN LAB, or US Health Laboratories, beyond a shared phone number in the CDC CLIA database.
LabProspects, based out of North Carolina, is a web portal where companies can connect with approved medical labs for services. The company is not affiliated with any COVID testing or any of the people or companies listed in this story.
Running out of options, researchers took three final steps. A search on ICANN indicated that the domain for OnPoint COVID-19 Testing was registered in February 2021 with GoDaddy by a company or agent from Texas. Using Open Corporates, there was a company incorporated in Delaware in March 2021 using the name OnPoint Testing, Inc. A final search on LinkedIn for OnPoint Testing provided a new lead. Sherif Mohamed lists himself as the Co-Founder of Onpoint Testing, in San Bruno, California. The start date of the role on his bio is March 2021. Mohamed also lists himself as the Founder and CEO of Shoperr, DigitalShopper Global, and CardMachineOutlet.com. Although he lists Onpoint Testing in San Bruno, his profile on LinkedIn indicates he is in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. That provided an additional connection to the ICANN data, and where the website for OnPoint COVID-19 is registered.
Sherif Mohamed lists himself as the CEO and co-founder of Onpoint Testing in San Bruno, California
A social search on Twitter found Mohamed and his lightly used personal account, with retweets from CardMachineOutlet. Through Mohamed’s account, the multiple retweets of Card Machine Outlet on Twitter have the same logo found on LinkedIn and indicate the company is located in Richardson, Texas.
A Sherif Mohamed is also listed as the owner of EZ Clinical Labs in New Jersey. The Instagram page has been deleted and the Facebook page has been inactive since August 2021. The website for the company lists three COVID test locations in New Jersey. The phone number is active and a person did answer the phone. Like OnPoint COVID-19 Testing, the website does not have a posted privacy or HIPAA policy, doesn’t list a CLIA number, or provides information on who owns the lab. Malcontent News cannot verify that the Sherif Mohamed associated with EZ Clinical Labs is the same Sherif Mohamed who is the CEO of OnPoint Testing.
A search for Shoperr listed two addresses. One in San Mateo, California, and another at 740 E. Campbell Road, Richardson, Texas. Malcontent News does not claim that Shoperr is associated with OnPoint COVID-19 testing.
A search for Digital Shopper Global led to a dead website. The search also linked to an abysmal Better Business Bureau rating of the company and multiple allegations of fraud. The address listed was 740 E. Campell Road, Richardson, Texas, but with a different suite number from Shoperr.
That left a final option, Card Machine Outlet. The company website lists an address of 740 E. Campell Road, Richardson, Texas, with a different suite number as Digital Shopper Global. Like Digital Shopper Global, Card Machine Outlet has a one-star BBB rating with multiple claims of fraud. Open Corporate shows CardMachineOutlet.com, LLC was dissolved by the State of Texas on August 22, 2021, due to “tax forfeiture.” A search on the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts website indicated that as of January 27, the company remained “involuntary ended.” The Comptroller site also listed a business address as 2435 North Central Expressway, Suite 440, Richardson, Texas, 75080. the contact us page for CardMachineOutlet lists both addresses connected to the company. A call to the number indicates the company is still operating.
To this point, all of the evidence that connects Mohamed to OnPoint COVID-19 Testing appears circumstantial, beyond the LinkedIn profile indicating that he is the CEO and co-founder. Searches for OnPoint led down multiple dead-ends with loose connections back to Mohamed, including OnPoint Logistics, and the CDC CLIA Lab in San Bruno, California.
Job listing for a Medical Assistant in Lacey, Washington listed by CardMachineOutlet.com on LinkedIn, January 27, 2022
The same job is listed on Indeed and ZipRecruiter, under CardMachineOutlet.com.
Job Description:
Onpoint testing is looking to hire a full-time/part-time MA!
Your job responsibilities will include: – Nose swabs -Mouth Swabs -Patient intake -Patient checkout
We are purely a COVID testing site.
Company Description
CardMachineOutlet.com is the nation leader in credit card equipment and processing service
job description listed on Ziprecruiter for a medical assistant in lacey, washington working for creditcardoutlet.com
The job posting lists 4207 Pacific Ave SE as the address for the testing location. The picture of the mobile van used for testing on the OnPoint COVID-19 Testing website shows the vehicle located at the Pacific Ave SE address and matches the building.
Google is full of reviews complaining the test location was closed despite having an appointment, delayed test results, or receiving no results at all. People who got tested were required to pay $69 in cash. OnPoint COVID-19 Testing states on its website the company does not accept insurance or gets government reimbursement. A number of consumer complaints mention SDI Labs.
OnPoint COVID-19 Testing location in Lacey, Washington on Pacific Ave SE
SDI Labs, Inc. CLIA number is 05D0642622 listed to an address in La Mirada, California. On April 10, 2020, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval under the Emergency Use Authorization Act for the company to evaluate COVID test samples. The individual who requested the waiver was Ozman Modiuddin, CEO of Specialty Diagnostic (SDI) Laboratories.
OnPoint COVID-19 testing had images of sample test results showing SDI Labs, Inc., as the provider, but since removed them. The company has been in business since 1987, and a review of records found a single Better Business Bureau complaint not related to COVID testing. There is nothing that indicates that Modiuddin is connected to Mohamed or any of his current or previous business enterprises. Mohiuddin, nor SDI Labs have come up in any other research on other COVID testing facilities or processing labs beyond some companies sharing a registered agent. That wouldn’t be unusual and is not proof of any impropriety.
An archived image from Google that use to be on the OnPoint COVID-19 Testing website for the SeaTac Airport location in Washington. Multiple people have complained about SDI Labs in review, but there is no evidence that SDI Labs has a direct relationship with OnPoint COVID-19 Labs or its alias CardMachineOutlet
The Thurston County government website lists OnPoint as a testing location. Magen Johnson, Public Information Specialist with Thurston County, indicated the list is not an endorsement of any test provider by the county. The document is meant to be a resource for community members to be aware of possible testing locations. Johnson indicated that there would be a review of the information about OnPoint COVID-19 Testing.
Consumers have been advised to avoid mobile pop-up clinics. With so many people seeking COVID tests, desperation can take over for people who need testing for travel, work, or to visit family. People should carefully consider where they get a COVID test, and the requirements they put in place to get tested.
[OLYMPIA, Wash.] – (MTN) The Washington State Department of Health (WSDoH), in partnership with the UW Medicine Virology Laboratory, has confirmed a total of three cases of omicron variant in Thurston County, Pierce County, and King County. The patients range in age from 20 to 39, two men, one woman.
The patients are:
a man in his thirties from Thurston County,
a man in his twenties from Pierce County, and
a woman in her twenties from King County.
Confirmation came in midday Saturday, and officials were still in the process of notifying the patients.
The WSDoH did not have information on their condition, travel history, or vaccination status. The samples were collected using PCR tests between Nov. 29 and Dec. 1 and were submitted for genomic sequencing.
Sequencing has been prioritized for anyone with travel history or close contact with a confirmed case.
“We knew that it was a matter of time before omicron was sequenced in our state and so we were anticipating this very news,” said Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, Secretary of Health. “We strongly urge people to get vaccinated and get their boosters as soon as possible to maximize their level of protection from any variant.”
“Even with a highly mutated virus-like omicron, we are not going back to square one of the pandemic,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer, Public Health – Seattle & King County. “Omicron may pose new challenges that we will need to respond to, but compared to the early days of the pandemic, we know much more about COVID-19, and we’re better prepared for it. We know layered protections work together to maximally reduce risk, and that will continue to be the case for delta and for omicron if that becomes a dominant strain circulating in our community.”
“We suspected that the omicron variant was circulating in our region, and now our laboratory has confirmed the first three cases in Washington state by viral genome sequencing in the last 24 hours. Throughout the pandemic, it’s been a huge team effort by the UW Medicine Virology Laboratory, requiring development and implementation of several diagnostic and sequencing assays to detect and confirm the variety of COVID-19 variants that have surfaced in Washington state,” said Dr. Geoffrey Baird, chair of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at UW School of Medicine. To date, the laboratory has tested approximately 3.8 million COVID-19 samples.
A study about the transmissibility of the omicron variant was released from a multinational group of researchers on Friday. The study, which has not been peer-reviewed, indicated that omicron is two times to three times more transmissible than the prevalent delta variant. Researchers estimate that the Rt, called, “r-naught,” is R12 to R17, which is equivalent to measles. The Rt for delta is R6.0 and for the AY.4.2 delta variant is R6.6.
Another study released on Thursday indicated that people relying on disease acquired immunity are up to 240% more likely to be infected from the omicron variant versus the beta or delta variants.
The CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna stated their vaccines would remain highly effective at preventing severe COVID and hospitalizations. Researchers are still one to two weeks away from preliminary information on if there will be significant vaccine escape with the omicron variant.
Public health officials are recommended for the unvaccinated to get vaccinated and for the 2.2 million Washingtonians eligible for a booster to get one. Washington state continues to have an indoor mask mandate.
Individuals who are experiencing COVID-like symptoms or have a known close contact should get tested. If you have traveled or know you had close contact with a traveler and get a positive test result from a home test, you should follow up with a PCR test to aid in tracking the spread of the omicron COVID variant.
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.
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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.
Activists question tactics in hotel raid over the weekend
WARNING: This report shows scenes of protest and police action against children. Viewer discretion is advised.
[OLYMPIA] – (Malcontent News) On the surface, the story is altruistic, and the visuals awful. Following in the footsteps of activists in Tacoma, an organization calling itself Oly Housing paid for 17 rooms on Saturday to place unhomed persons at a Red Lion Hotel in Olympia, Washington. Just as in Tacoma, the plan was to pay for one night and demand that city and county officials continue to pay for the rooms. On Sunday evening, a massive police response met activists where families, including small children, were removed by SWAT officers who threw flash-bang grenades into hotel rooms. As time has gone by, a clearer picture has emerged, raising questions from all sides.
On Saturday, activists engaged with some of the local unhomed in the downtown Olympia area to have them occupy the rooms. Thirty-three people, including children, agreed to accept the offer. Being unhomed is a challenge any time of the year, but rain, cold, harassment, and rats have made the encampments in Olympia untenable.
As checkout time came and went on Sunday, the property appeared calm. Protesters made demands for better sanitary facilities at encampments, permanent government housing solutions for those making less than $26,200 a year, for Thurston County to use available FEMA dollars to continue paying for the hotel rooms, and an end to sweeping homeless encampments. In a report from the Olympian, about a dozen people were sitting in the hotel’s lobby looking at their phones and reading magazines.
By the time sunset arrived, something had gone wrong. At about 6 PM, hotel staff called the police, reporting they had locked themselves in a basement room, were in fear for their safety, and armed protesters had taken over the lobby. There were unconfirmed reports of blacked-out windows and mattresses used for barricades. At 6:30 PM, Capitol Way in Olympia was closed, and SWAT teams rolled in with a heavy police presence. Law enforcement swept the hotel floor by floor, deploying multiple flash-bang grenades and making seven arrests. Video from the scene showed a woman with her two children, one swaddled in blankets, leaving the hotel under police guard while activists taunted officers.
On Monday, a press conference about the events wavered between reality and absurdity. Officials initially danced around the police tactics questions until finally admitting the use of “a couple” of devices to clear the hotel. Eyewitness reports, including reporters on the scene, reported more than a “couple” of blasts coming from inside the hotel. The statements of blacked-out windows and mattress barricades didn’t materialize in the conference either (nor were they denied).
What has emerged in the 48-hours since the raid is universal outrage. Local advocates for the unhomed are outraged over the tactics of Oly Housing. Supporters of Oly Housing are outraged over what they perceive as a false narrative aligned with the police and mainstream media and a lack of focus on tactics. Some of the unhomed are outraged, feeling they were used and weren’t fully informed of the legal jeopardy they could face. City and county officials are frustrated because the FEMA dollars for emergency housing were just made available by the new Biden Administration, in place for less than two weeks, and they were already in the process of applying for the money.
Right-wing groups are outraged at the perception of “Antifa” (an ideology and philosophy, not an organization) going unchecked and police not responding with enough violence against protesters. Many are questioning the police response to unhomed persons taking over a hotel, in contrast to the police response on January 6, when about 100 right-wing protesters stormed the broke through a gate, assaulted a state police recruit on live television, and stormed to the front door of the governor’s mansion. No one has been arrested in that incident despite overwhelming evidence of multiple crimes.
Long time Thurston County area advocate Renata Rollins lamented the fallout in a Facebook post. In her post, she called out activists within Housing Oly who were arrested on Sunday being represented by private attornies, while public defenders represented the unhomed. Working for over a decade in housing, she pointed out that Olympia had ended sweeps of homeless encampment like those done in Seattle and Bellingham two years ago, and the county already provides trash dumpsters and sanitary stations at the encampments. Trash pickup and dumpsters are not offered to the unhomed in cities like Seattle. While recognizing not enough is being done she wrote, “The group’s demands made no sense. They read like they were copy-pasted from some other community’s struggle because whoever penned them had no concept or context for what’s actually going on in Olympia and Thurston County.“
In contrast, activists engaged in direct action believe that not enough is being done to support the unhomed, which has grown in 2020 due to COVID and living in conditions that only further spread the disease. They believe the government establishment serves corporate America and the wealthy and views the unhomed as disposable. Representative of the political horseshoe formed versus a straight line, some within the direct action groups believe that only the use of force will change the system.
Established activists in the South Sound have expressed growing frustration with direct action groups’ tactics in January. A protest led by outside groups in Tacoma over a police cruiser driving through a group of people earlier in the month led to broken windows and graffiti in a Black neighborhood. In that incident, local activists blamed outsiders from Seattle, Olympia, and Portland for the damage.
The challenges facing the unhomed are undeniable. The failures to address homelessness at federal, state, county, and local levels should not be thrown at local activists’ feet. Further north in King County, enough private and public funds are spent addressing houselessness to solve the problem, with little effect. The connections of addiction and mental illness to homelessness are undeniable. Despite campaign promises from the Trump Administration to address the opioid epidemic, 34-million Americans abuse or are addicted to dangerous drugs. King County just experienced its highest number of overdose deaths ever. Washington state continues to be one of the worst states in the country for mental health treatment.
What is reality is that most of the 33 people who occupied hotel rooms on Saturday night are back out on the street, living in squalid conditions with minimal support.
[OLYMPIA] (Malcontent News) – Chris Guenzler was arraigned today in Thurston County superior court on assault, first-degree while armed with a deadly weapon. Guenzler entered a plea of not guilty through attorney Angela Colaitua. Judge Carol Murphy kept bail at $50,000 for the single charge.
On December 5, 2020, Guenzler attended an anti-mask and “stop the steal” protest in Olympia, Washington, which turned violent. During a brawl between protesters and counter-protesters, protesters fired paintball guns, deployed bear mace, and struck people with flagpoles. During this incident, Guenzler drew a pistol and fired a single shot into the crowd, grazing a person. Protesters from both sides made an audible gasp, while others hid behind cars.
Guenzler’s social media footprint shows strong alignment to the Trump campaign and far-right organizations. He is a graduate of Port Orchard High School, and according to his social media profile, he attended Kitsap High School for some time. His profile shows an affinity to sexualized content, guns, Trump, and white supremacy.
The next court date is January 6, 2021, with a trial date of February 16, 2020.
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