King County

Citing low wages and COVID risk, King County and the City of Seattle will grant $7 million in one-time payments to child care workers. The money comes from a $5 million allocation from the county’s Best Start for Kids levy and $2.4 million from the city’s JumpStart tax to aid child care workers. The amount of individual payments will depend on the number of qualified applicants.

Health officials in Washington state say a case of the monkeypox virus has been confirmed in the Seattle area. On Friday the state Department of Health and Public Health — Seattle & King County confirmed the infection in a King County man who recently traveled to a country where other monkeypox cases had been identified. The man wasn’t hospitalized and is recovering at home.

Members of the Muckleshoot Tribe joined officials from King County this week to celebrate completion of an important levee removal project east of Auburn, Wash. The massive Lones Levee was built in 1959.

King County Judge Susan Mahoney resigned from her position as chief presiding judge at King County District Court in late February and is under investigation for allegedly using a racial slur, a development that has rippled through legal circles for weeks and raised questions about electoral plans. Judge Matthew York has replaced Mahoney as chief presiding judge.

After years of protest, moratoriums and delays, King County has granted approval for an asphalt plant to be built in Renton on the banks of the Cedar River. The county ruled Thursday that the project, which has been fiercely opposed by neighbors and environmental groups, “does not pose a probable significant adverse impact to the environment,” as long as the company takes mitigation measures.

King County Executive Dow Constantine has announced three candidates to be the county’s next top law enforcement officer, including the county’s interim sheriff. The Seattle Times reports the finalists are King County interim Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall; Charles Kimble, chief of police in Killeen, Texas; and Reginald Moorman, a major in the Atlanta Police Department.

The City of Kirkland and King County are being sued over the county’s plan to convert a Kirkland hotel to a permanent supportive housing site for people experiencing long-term homelessness.

The King County Board of Health has voted to repeal its decades-old mandatory helmet law for bicycle riders, saying data shows enforcement has been both minimal and disproportionate toward people of color and those experiencing homelessness.

King County will no longer require COVID vaccination checks to enter restaurants, bars, theaters and gyms beginning March 1. Businesses, however, will be free to impose their own vaccination requirements if they choose, but there will be no countywide requirement.

The omicron variant of the coronavirus has pushed case counts to new levels. This has many people on edge, with some facing new testing requirements as they return to work or school – and many just wanting peace of mind.