Washington's indoor mask mandate is over. Here's how Seattle is feeling about it.
For the last couple of years, your get-out-the-door routine probably involved checking to see if you had your keys, your wallet, and a face mask.
Patterned fabric masks, masks with slogans; surgical masks with vibrant colors — they've been ever-present health and fashion accessories.
But on Saturday, March 12, Washington’s indoor mask mandate officially lifted, ending the requirement for masks in places like schools, movie theaters, and museums.
KUOW headed out around Seattle to talk to people about how they’re navigating post-mask-mandate life.
Special thanks KUOW's Zaki Hamid, Eilis O'Neil, and Sarah Leibovitz.
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Libby Denkmann
Host, Soundside
Libby Denkmann joined KUOW in December 2021 as the host of the midday show Soundside. She’s a native Pacific Northwesterner who grew up in Redmond, graduated from the University of Washington, and covered local news as a producer and reporter with KIRO Radio.
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Alec Cowan
Producer, Soundside
Alec Cowan is a producer for Soundside. His interests have brought many eclectic stories to the program, and his segments gravitate toward history, technology, arts and culture, and the environment. He's proud to be KUOW's unofficial "boat guy."
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Zaki Barak Hamid
Director of Community Engagement
Zaki leads the Community Engagement department, whose main goal is to facilitate connections between the various communities of the Puget Sound area and the content division, so that KUOW's news coverage is more holistic and informed by listeners' needs. His favorite programs include initiatives that facilitate understanding between people who might disagree with each other, such as StoryCorp's One Small Step.
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Eilís O'Neill
Reporter
Eilís (eye-LEASH) fell in love with radio as a 14-year-old high school intern at KUOW. Since then, she’s wandered the world recording people’s stories and telling them on the air.
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Sarah Leibovitz
Supervising Producer, Soundside
Sarah joined KUOW in 2019 as senior producer on The Record. She is now Supervising KUOW’s new noon time show, Soundside. Prior to working at KUOW, Sarah was lead producer at the Seattle podcast production company Larj Media, and a teaching artist with Path with Art.
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Noel Gasca
Producer, Soundside
Noel is a producer for KUOW’s midday show Soundside. Prior to joining Soundside, Noel worked as an online editor/producer with KUOW’s web team. She’s also a proud graduate of KUOW’s RadioActive program.
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