In the Media

A waterway in the San Juan Islands has officially been renamed to honor one of Washington’s first Indigenous elected officials.

The little-known strait of water — about a half-mile wide and 2 miles long between Orcas and Shaw islands — is now named Cayou Channel.

Previously, the channel was named Harney Channel, after Gen. William Harney, who almost started the “Pig War” and was also responsible for the slaying of Indigenous people and an enslaved woman.

Now, the channel honors Henry Cayou, who was an Orcas Island county commissioner for 29 years. Cayou was a commercial fisherman and lived his entire life on Orcas Island, from 1869 to 1959.

President Biden signed an executive order Friday that takes incremental steps to preserve abortion access — but he underscored that it would take political change to restore the rights removed when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

At least nine states have banned abortion so far — including Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin. A dozen more states are expected to prohibit or restrict the procedure in the coming weeks.

"I'm asking the Justice Department that, much like they did in the Civil Rights era, to do everything in their power to protect these women seeking to invoke their rights," Biden said at the White House on Friday.

The executive order pledges to ensure the safety of abortion patients and providers, including setting up mobile clinics near the borders of states restricting abortion access. It also seeks to convene private, pro bono lawyers to offer support to people crossing state lines to get an abortion.

Another part of the order directs the secretary of Health and Human Services to issue a report in the next 30 days outlining additional actions to protect medication abortion, expand access on emergency contraception and IUDs, and increase public education around reproductive rights.

Nearly 300,000 children under 5 have received COVID-19 shots in the two weeks since they became available, a slower pace than for older groups. But the White House says that was expected for the eligible U.S. population of about 18 million kids.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was to publish initial data on shots for the age group later Thursday, reflecting doses administered since regulators authorized them on June 18. The first vaccinations didn’t begin until several days later because the doses had to be shipped to doctors’ offices and pharmacies.

U.S. officials had long predicted that the pace of vaccinating the youngest kids would be slower than for older groups. They expect most shots to take place at pediatricians’ offices.

Many parents may be more comfortable getting the vaccine for their kids at their regular doctors, White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha told The Associated Press last month. He predicted the pace of vaccination would be far slower than it was for older populations.

Western Washington University's Department of Theatre and Dance and Bellingham TheatreWorks are producing the fun-for-all-ages jukebox musical hit “Pump Boys and Dinettes” this summer. Performances will be in the Port of Bellingham’s Fishermen’s Pavilion in Zuanich Point Park beginning Friday, July 8.

Under the direction of Western Theatre Arts alumna Billie Wildrick, the playful country-western musical is set in a dockside diner, highlighting the uniqueness of Bellingham’s maritime heritage, while using the environment of the pavilion to reinforce the setting of the play.

Wildrick leads an ensemble of local and regional performers and musicians — including other Western alumni Lauren Brigolin, Ian Bivins, Marie Wildfield and Kharma Stambaugh, and a cadre of current Western students.

Arrive early to get beer, wine or non-alcoholic drinks from Boundary Bay Brewery’s on-site bar, grab a seat and enjoy some pre-show music while taking in the view. Doors open at 6:50 p.m.; the show starts at 7:30 p.m.

Surprise! Pie will be served at intermission. Masks will be optional during these performances. Western students get in free on opening night with student ID. Performances continue every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through July. Tickets are available online or at the door. Contact Bellingham TheatreWorks for more details at bellinghamtheatreworks.org. 

This fall, the community can expect three new members to join the Seattle School Board during public meetings, all much younger than the average board member. In fact, they have yet to graduate from high school. 

For the first time, Seattle Public Schools will have students sitting on the board as nonvoting members beginning in September. It’s part of an ongoing effort to include student voices in the decision-making process. The three high schoolers were introduced to the board in late June, and they’ll serve during the next school year.

Although student board members won’t be able to vote, they can ask questions of the staff and share their ideas on agenda items. 

“For me, I’ve been in SPS since kindergarten and had quite the journey through thick and thin,” said Luna Crone-Baron, a student board member and an incoming junior at The Center School. “I was excited and wanted to take this on — and I felt I needed to take this on because I saw an absolute need for this kind of position.”

All youth under 18 can now ride free on Skagit Transit. 

The Youth Ride Free Program launched on June 20 and is described as a program to help youth “get to work to educational programs, to the libraries and museums,” applying to the transit system’s fixed-route and paratransit services. 

In March, the Washington Legislature approved a transportation package titled Move Ahead Washington. Part of the package is a $3 billion transit package to roll out over the next 16 years. But the transit support grants embedded in the $3 billion package have strings attached — only agencies who make youth transit free by Oct. 1 will have access to the support grants.  

Brad Windler, the planning and outreach supervisor at Skagit Transit, said the transit agency is expecting to see $1.3 million annually in support grants. 

Right now, youth just need to tell the bus driver their age to qualify. In August, those 15 and older will need to use Skagit Transit’s fare system Umo. Youth can pick up a free Umo Youth card at the Skagit Station customer service office or mail in an application.  

More than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, when Dr. Anthony Fauci tested positive for the coronavirus, his federal agency announced that he would “continue to work from his home.”

So did U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who announced on Twitter that after testing positive, “I plan to work remotely.” And so did San Francisco Mayor London Breed, whose office announced she would conduct meetings from home after testing positive.

As vaccines and new treatments have eased some of the alarm around a COVID-19 diagnosis, continuing to work — but from home — has become a familiar practice among professionals who can do their jobs remotely. Fauci was vaccinated and boosted and said he was experiencing mild symptoms, like other officials who said they would stay on the job from home.

Physicians caution, however, that rest is an important part of weathering a COVID-19 infection. Plugging away from home is better than putting others at risk of getting infected, but it can still strain the immune system, worsening the toll of a COVID infection, experts say.

Most Americans say their lives are at least approaching pre-pandemic normalcy, according to a recent study.

While 12% of adults think their life is the same as it was before the pandemic, 54% think their lives are somewhat the same, according to the poll, published Tuesday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and The SCAN Foundation.

A smaller proportion, 34%, think that their lives are not the same.

The poll was conducted in mid-May, when, as now, hospitalizations were rising nationally.

According to the survey, a slim majority of 51% of Americans think that getting a COVID-19 vaccine is essential for them, while 39% think that nearly all people need to receive the vaccine before things can go back to the way they were.

Fifty percent of Americans think that the availability of effective treatments for COVID-19 is essential for participating in public life. Only 22% think that wearing masks in public indoor places is essential to going back to pre-pandemic life, while 20% think regular testing is essential.

Pharmacists can prescribe the leading COVID-19 pill directly to patients under a new U.S. policy announced Wednesday that’s intended to expand use of Pfizer’s drug Paxlovid.

The Food and Drug Administration said pharmacists can begin screening patients to see if they are eligible for Paxlovid and then prescribe the medication, which has been shown to curb the worst effects of COVID-19. Previously only physicians could prescribe the antiviral drug.

The announcement comes as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are rising again, though they remain near their lowest levels since the coronavirus outbreak began in 2020.

Biden administration officials have expressed frustration that several hundred Americans continue to die of COVID-19 daily, despite the availability of vaccines and treatments.

Administration officials have been working for months to increase access to Paxlovid, opening thousands of sites where patients who test positive can fill a prescription for Paxlovid. The FDA change will make thousands more pharmacies eligible to quickly prescribe and dispense the pill, which must be used early to be effective.

New rules proposed by the Biden administration on Wednesday would make it easier for borrowers to get their federal student debt forgiven through several existing programs.

The action is intended to overhaul relief programs that have been criticized for their burdensome paperwork requirements and long processing times. It builds on the administration’s efforts to expand targeted debt cancellation for certain borrowers while President Joe Biden considers broader student debt forgiveness.

“We are committed to fixing a broken system,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement. “If a borrower qualifies for student loan relief, it shouldn’t take mountains of paperwork or a law degree to obtain it.”

The proposal would reshape a debt forgiveness process for students whose colleges deceive them, along with other programs for borrowers who are disabled and those with careers in public service.