In the Media

This week the King County Council voted to change how we vote in King County.

Here’s a hint: they want election years to be divisible by two.

King County has approved a charter amendment that would move the generally non-partisan county elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years. This would allow them to coincide with bigger elections — like the vote for president or governor.

Voters will decide whether the amendment happens this November.

As Crosscut State Politics Reporter Joseph O’Sullivan explains, this would mean a larger turnout of voters.

In 2021’s county executive race between Dow Constantine and Joe Nguyen, the turnout was roughly 573,000 voters. In contrast, the prosecuting attorney’s election in 2018 had a turnout of 968,000 voters.

But that larger number means a wider diversity of voters as well, and those extra voters usually lean more progressive.

“If you have a younger, less affluent electorate participating in local elections, you'd assume that would open up space for issues that might not be heard as much in a low turnout electorate,” explained Western Washington University Political Science Professor Todd Donovan.

U.S. regulators told COVID-19 vaccine makers Thursday that any booster shots tweaked for the fall will have to add protection against the newest omicron relatives.

The Food and Drug Administration said the original vaccines would be used for anyone still getting their first series of shots. But with immunity waning and the super-contagious omicron family of variants getting better at dodging protection, the FDA decided boosters intended for fall needed an update.

The recipe: Combination shots that add protection against the omicron relatives named BA.4 and BA.5 to the original vaccine. Those mutants together now account for just over half of new U.S. infections.

It’s still a gamble as there’s no way to know if an omicron relative still will be a threat as cold weather approaches or if a newer mutant will take its place. And the current Pfizer and Moderna vaccines still offer strong protection against COVID-19′s worst outcomes as long as people have gotten already recommended boosters.

After it lost people two years ago, only one city within Washington state saw a larger population increase than Bellingham last year, according to new estimates released Wednesday by the Office of Financial Management.

Whatcom County, also, was among the fastest growing in the state. Bellingham grew by an estimated 4,050 people between April 1, 2021, and April 1, 2022, the state reported, surging 4.5% to 93,910 people. That comes a year after the state estimated the city’s population dropped by 1,622 people (1.8%) in its 2021 estimates. The only city to grow more than Bellingham last year? Seattle, which saw its estimate climb by 20,100 people, but that only represented a 2.7% growth.

A big part of the reason for Bellingham’s growth, according to an OFM news release Wednesday, June 29, announcing the release of the 2022 estimates, was the return of Western Washington University students to campus after COVID-19 forced them to return home in the spring of 2020. Bellingham still grew by 2.7% (2,428 people) in the two years since the 2020 estimates, which represents the sixth-highest growth rate during that period among the state’s cities with populations of at least 75,000 people.

Canada’s inflation rate has hit 7.7%, which will undoubtedly spur more sharp interest rate increases by the Bank of Canada in coming months.

For its part, the federal government seems willing to stand aside and not provoke a conflict with the central bank — even if higher interest rates help trigger a recession.

At the same time, there’s a growing recognition that fiscal policy — including government borrowing and spending — influences current inflation and expectations about future inflation.

Belatedly, even the Trudeau government seems to recognize this dynamic.

In a recent speech, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland highlighted the government’s commitment to reduce federal spending growth, which, combined with a tax revenue windfall thanks partly to inflation, is reducing Ottawa’s projected budget deficit.

Certainly, if Ottawa reduces spending growth while taking in more tax revenue, the growth of “total demand” (essentially, the demand for all goods and services in the economy) should slow, which in turn should reduce demand-side pressures on future inflation.

Guest opinion written by WWU Professor Emeritus in the College of Business and Economics Steven Globerman.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling Thursday to curb the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate power plant greenhouse gas emissions means that — at least for now — such efforts will be undertaken by state governments.

Gov. Jay Inslee slammed the court’s decision in news conference, condemning it as a “stunning reversal of environmental law” that “took a wrecking ball to the ability of the federal government to restrain pollution.” 

Inslee said Washington must redouble its efforts to fight climate change and reduce pollution in the absence of federal action. 

“We are sounding the alarm and we’re proud of what we’ve done, but this decision makes it clear that we’ll have to accelerate our efforts when it comes to climate change and pollution,” he said. 

In Washington, state laws now in place seek to phase out the use of fossil fuels in power production, increase the use of low or zero-carbon motor fuels and develop a cap-and-invest program to reduce greenhouse gas pollution over time.

The number of new coronavirus cases rose by 18% in the last week, with more than 4.1 million cases reported globally, according to the World Health Organization.

The U.N. health agency said in its latest weekly report on the pandemic that the worldwide number of deaths remained relatively similar to the week before, at about 8,500. COVID-related deaths increased in three regions: the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Americas.

The biggest weekly rise in new COVID-19 cases was seen in the Middle East, where they increased by 47%, according to the report released late Wednesday. Infections rose by about 32% in Europe and Southeast Asia, and by about 14% in the Americas, WHO said.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said cases were on the rise in 110 countries, mostly driven by the omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5.

“This pandemic is changing, but it’s not over,” Tedros said this week during a press briefing. He said the ability to track COVID-19′s genetic evolution was “under threat” as countries relaxed surveillance and genetic sequencing efforts, warning that would make it more difficult to catch emerging and potentially dangerous new variants.

The Wild Buffalo House of Music knows what it’s doing. For more than 20 years, the venue has held on to its unofficial status as the “premier music venue and dance club in Bellingham,” regularly packing out shows with hundreds of young patrons and generating a considerable buzz around upcoming performances, despite the challenge of consistently appealing to a demographic that — in a college town like Bellingham — is ever-changing.

To combat the transient nature of the city and avoid losing relatability with the community, Wild Buffalo marketing director Zack Fijal created the Street Team — a promotional marketing squad uniting a diverse range of individuals with varying tastes in music to lend insight to the venue on which artists and genres are particularly popular amid their peers.

For many members, the Street Team serves as a way to meet new people and engage with live music on the side while attending Western Washington University, resulting in a steady ebb and flow of teammates. But for others, like 23-year-old Zubeid Janif who joined the team in 2019, a spot on the Street Team was the beginning of a full-time career in the music industry.

As schools and communities scramble to find more ways to support the well-being of youth amid a pandemic-fueled mental health crisis, some think part of the answer lies with students helping other students.

The basic idea behind these peer support programs is straightforward: They rely on students trained to offer a listening ear to those who reach out, provide direct mentorship and guidance, or spot struggling students and help connect them with an adult or professional resources.

Many people — especially students — want to see more licensed mental health experts in schools, but finding enough trained professionals takes time and money. While peer support systems aren’t meant to replace trained adults, they can be the first line of early intervention and empowerment — though experts point out that research on their effectiveness remains limited.  

There’s a wide range of peer-based support methods, including mentorship programs designed to keep kids going to school and achieving academically and peer leadership programs aimed at specific problems like substance misuse and suicide prevention. 

Washington state health officials used their time at a Wednesday news briefing to emphasize the importance of COVID-19 vaccines for children and staying safe over the holiday weekend and summer months.

Michele Roberts, assistant secretary for prevention and health with the Department of Health, told reporters that statewide, nearly 75% of those 5 and older are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

“Now the focus shifts to young children,” she said, “and I’m really excited to share that we have vaccination in our communities happening for kids that are under age 5. Vaccination is now recommended for everyone, ages 6 months and older.”

She said that as of June 27 more than 7,000 children in the state ages 6 months through 4 years had started their vaccination series, one week after vaccination began for the group.

However, she noted, “when it comes to kids ages 5 to 11, less than a third of that group has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This is a big concern for us.”

Congregation Beth Israel is partnering with Village Books to present author Diane Sue, who will discuss her new book, “Remarkable Resilience: The Life and Legacy of Noémi Bán Beyond the Holocaust,” in person at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 6 at Congregation Beth Israel.

The book is written in Bán’s voice by one of her closest friends and preserves Bán’s messages of hope and healing. The author will be joined by Bán’s son, Dr. Steven Bán, and by Ray Wolpow, professor emeritus and former director of the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes against Humanity at Western Washington University. Masks will be required by all at this event. The event is free, but registration is advised. More information about the author and the book is at villagebooks.com/event.