A Covid pill, a set of debates, and the M's make a playoff push, this week

Bill Radke discusses the week's news with The Stranger's Rich Smith, Crosscut and KCTS 9's Beatriz Costa-Lima, and South Seattle Emerald and Converge Media's Mike Davis.

Hold your breath? Or don't. The Mariners are on the very cusp of making the MLB post-season, so this is our dedicated time to celebrate their success. Are you a Mariners fan? Has this season turned you into one?

In other news this week, the latest developments in this year’s elections took place this week as mayoral candidates Bruce Harrell and M. Lorena Gonzalez laid out their visions for the future of Seattle, debate style. The debate was centered on one issue that polls have proven to be the centerpiece of this year’s election: homelessness. What did we learn about each candidate’s approach to the issue? What differentiates their approach? Harrell emphasized the need for tailored outreach that meets the needs of people living outside a home, mentioning that he will pursue progressive tax revenue to help fund outreach and housing opportunities. Gonazlez emphasized her support for ending single family zoning and forced encampment sweeps. Both candidates have made a career working in city politics -- is their overlap in their experience dealing with homelessness at the city level? Are there any shared approaches between the two? Both candidates shared concerns about the efficacy of tiny homes, agreeing that those living in tiny house villages need a transition to more stable, permanent housing. What would change with Harrell vs Gonzalez? What’s realistic when looking at their plans of action? What should we know past their rhetoric? The city attorney debate took place Thursday evening. So what did we learn about Ann Davidson and Nicole Thomas-Kennedy from this debate (as well as some old tweets that made the rounds this week?)

This weekend the light rail will expand to three new stations: University Ave, Roosevelt, and Northgate. Sound Transit is finishing $52 million under its $1.9 billion budget to build from University of Washington Station (Husky Stadium) to Northgate. The top fare will be increasing slightly, if you’re making the commute from Northgate to Angle Lake, at $3.50. And people are excited -- in fact, there’s going to be a festival at the U-district station to celebrate, as well as a bridge naming ceremony in Northgate. What makes this so exciting? Yes, you’ll be able to get from Northgate to downtown faster than you would previously -- but what do these new stations mean for the neighborhoods, and the people living in them?

Last Wednesday the Washington Medical Commission voted to unanimously adopt a Covid-19 Misinformation Position Statement. That means the WMC can now discipline practitioners who “are found offering treatments and recommendations regarding COVID-19 that fall below standard of care as established by medical experts, federal authorities and legitimate medical research.” In other words, doctors who offer misinformation about the virus. They’re not the only Washington org to adopt this approach, earlier this month the Washington Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission (NCQAC) voted in favor of a similar position. And on a national level, YouTube has announced a similar crackdown on vaccine misinformation, including removing popular anti-vax influencers from their site. How big a deal is this? Are doctors a big source for vaccine misinformation? What about YouTube? Will this stop or slow down the spread of misinformation? Or just send people to other sources? In other COVID news - you may soon be able to take a pill to treat COVID symptoms. Drugmakers Pfizer, Merck and Roche say they’re anticipating late-stage trial results before the end of this year on experimental antiviral medication. These would be pills that could treat mild to moderate COVID cases. They wouldn’t help in every situation -- scientists say they’ll likely work best as an early treatment, not when you’re seriously ill. But pills are much easier (and cheaper) to produce than the antibody drugs that are currently used. Are there any downsides to these new drugs? Anything that has people worrying? If we still see low vaccination rates, will these pills be enough to get us back to some version of “normal”? Do you feel any more or less wary of a pill treatment for COVID vs the vaccine?

In more news this week, shots were fired during a little league football game at Judkins Park on Monday. The SPD’s brief on the shooting says that “One witness said the gunfire originated from someone inside a sedan that was stopped at an intersection just outside the park… a passenger got out of the vehicle and fired several rounds toward the park then sped off. Officers could not find any victims or suspects. It appeared no property was damaged.” According to The King County Prosecutor’s Office there was a 33% increase in gun violence in the first half of 2021, and a more than 60% increase in reported victims. Converge Media’s Omari Salisbury says that the Judkins Park shooting stood out because the CD Panthers team -- the group playing at the little league game - are an institution in the neighborhood. Salisbury told interim Police Chief Adrian Diaz that there has been a call for community members, and specifically Black men, to come to the park this Saturday to “provide a sense of safety and well-being and value and worth for these young children.” Diaz said he thought it was a fantastic idea -- “It’s what we need. We need community to be involved in this. We know that we can’t have police officers in every part of our city at all times when violence might occur, so we are counting on community to find ways that they can step up and be present and be visible and making sure that when they see potential levels of escalation of violence that they can help say, ‘no, this can’t be here, this cannot occur in the areas of our kids.” When the issue at hand is gun violence, should that be addressed by community members, instead of police officers? What can bringing the community together do to help that SPD can’t? If it’s not a police presence, what kind of support do Judkins Park community members need in the face of gun violence?

Now for everyone’s favorite subject: state redistricting. Every ten years we draw new lines across the state, and on Tuesday the (bipartisan) State Redistricting Commission released four proposed maps for the next decade's congressional and legislative district boundaries. Remind us: why is it important that our commission is bipartisan? And what are the proposed maps? Appointee April Sims’ map reflects growing density in Puget Sound and seeks to reduce the number of counties split by Congressional district; this map also strengthens tribal representation and underrepresented residents in King County’s District 9. Appointee Paul Graves’ map creates two majority-minority Congressional districts, and consolidates and redraws Districts 9 and 10 to reflect growing communities of color in south Puget Sound -- it also makes District 1 more of a swing district. Appointees Brady Pinero Walkinshaw and Joe Fain created the remaining maps, one which unifies the Yakama Nation reservation and one which largely holds with existing lines (respectively). What can we pull from this? Anything about how the maps will change politics? Will it stay the same? People generally celebrate our redistricting system, but is bipartisan better than nonpartisan redistricting? Is there a better way of doing this?

And lastly: what would you name a Washington State ferry? The state probably won't agree with it.