Week in Review: Covid, Edmonds, and Seattleites on Twitter

Bill Radke discusses the week’s news with Crosscut’s Hannah Weinberger, Publicola’s Erica Barnett, and Everett Herald’s Isabella Breda.

This week, Dr. Anthony Facui said the United States is no longer in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, King County cases and hospitalizations saw a significant increase over the last seven days. Are things better or worse than they were last week?

It was reported by the Seattle Office of the Inspector General that the Office of Police Accountability regularly disregarded complaints about officers not wearing masks when they were required. Why was there no discipline for unmasked cops?

Seattle ranks second out of 112 U.S. metro areas when it comes to the amount of people who use Twitter, according to recent data from the research firm Nielsen. Why do we use it a lot?

It would be it illegal for unhoused people to “occupy public property overnight” if they refuse services, like overnight shelter, if a new proposed ordinance by the Edmonds City Council president were to pass. Why?

Also in Edmonds news, the Washington Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed a state Court of Appeals opinion that the city of Edmonds ordinance regarding safe gun storage is pre-empted by state law. What does this mean for Seattle and others?

King County Metro plans to remove its existing fare boxes, which accept cash, tickets, and ORCA transit passes, and replace them with a cash-free payment system. What are the pros and cons?