Specials & Shorts

Washingtonians have a new tool to help stay a step ahead of damaging and life-threatening earthquakes. Launched in May, ShakeAlert is an earthquake early warning system that appears as an alert on mobile phones, giving the public valuable time to find shelter when an earthquake could be minutes or seconds away. Harold Tobin, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and professor of Earth and space sciences at the University of Washington, explains more. Video by Chris Barnes

Seattle has had only three 100-degree days since record keeping began in 1894. But over the weekend, the Emerald City doubled that number with three consecutive days of triple-digit heat. Videographer Ian Devier filmed how some Seattleites chose to keep cool during Monday's record-baking high temperature of 108.

Seattle-area drag queens struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic as closed venues and restricted in-person performances impacted their livelihoods. This Pride Month, LGBTQ advocacy group Peer Seattle joins forces with gay variety show Bacon Strip for a celebratory virtual drag show. Producer Randy Eng has this sneak peek at "I Will Survive - Pride Show," featuring a delightfully zany cast, some of whom share how the pandemic has personally impacted their lives. Catch "I Will Survive - Pride Show" online on June 19th at 8pm.

The Northwest African American Museum (NAAM), in cooperation with the Museum of Flight and in partnership with Seattle Central College and the University of Puget Sound Race & Pedagogy Institute, held a drive-in movie night featuring Spike Lee's 1992 film "Malcolm X." Moviegoers, many of them multi-generational families, filled the Museum of Flight parking lot for a safe, educational, and fun-filled night at the movies. It's the first of a series of drive-in events to be held throughout King County in the coming months. 

The City of Seattle has partnered with Chief Seattle Club to open the Kings Inn hotel-based shelter in Belltown. The shelter will serve unhoused American Indian and Alaskan Native people. Chief Seattle Club will operate the hotel, provide case management, housing navigation, and culturally appropriate services designed to support individuals on their path to permanent housing. The City of Seattle is using one-time federal funding to lease the entire 66-room hotel as a shelter for 12 months, which includes one month for ramp-up and one month for ramp-down.

Per the 2020 Point-In-Time Count, American Indian/Alaska Native peoples are disproportionately represented in King County homelessness, accounting for 27 percent of the unsheltered homeless community, yet only one percent of residents. 

Speakers include: 

Deputy Mayor Casey Sixkiller, City of Seattle

Derrick Belgarde, Chief Seattle Club

Seattle's newest mass COVID-19 vaccination site at Lumen Field Event Center opens on Saturday, March 13. Once up to full capacity, it will be able to deliver 150,000 vaccines per week and be the largest civilian-led vaccination site in the country. Watch the full press conference.

Mayor Jenny A. Durkan joins other city and county leaders and health care and community partners at the new Community Testing and Vaccination Clinic in Rainier Beach to announce the next phase of the City's expanded vaccination effort. Watch the press conference.

New public art that connects with the city and state's emotional and historic journey related to the AIDS epidemic was recently debuted in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. The AMP: AIDS Memorial Pathway is a Seattle-based public arts installation located in the plaza above the Capitol Hill Link Light Rail Station and also on the adjacent corner of Cal Anderson Park. "We're Already Here" are sculptures shaped like protest signs, with messages that evoke historic moments of public convergence, and they are arranged in groupings of three tableaus. Video by Vincent Pierce

Over the past year, the demand for food assistance has risen 100% or more. The Washington Army National Guard has joined the fight to alleviate food insecurity by supporting county emergency managers and organizations. Since being activated, volunteers from the Guard have helped to package, distribute, and deliver more than 78 million pounds of food at food banks and distribution sites across the state. Peek inside the Ballard Food Bank, a beneficiary of this effort. For more about the Ballard Food Bank, watch this CityStream segment.

Seattle joins cities around the country in remembering American lives lost to COVID with the ringing of the Kobe Bell at Seattle Center. Community members who have been directly impacted by the loss of life ring take a turn at ringing the bell for 40 times each, reflecting on the roughly 4,000 lives lost in Washington State and the 400,000 lives lost to date in the United States. The event at Seattle Center corresponds to a similar bell-ringing ceremony in Washington, D.C., led by President-elect Joe Biden.

Bell Ringers include:

Benjamin Erickson, Seattle-Kobe Sister City Association

Esther Lucero, Seattle Indian Health Board

Dr. Ben Danielson, former Senior Medical Director at Odessa Brown Children's Clinic (OBCC) in Seattle

Jennifer Sarriugarte: Infection Prevention and Mitigation Consultant, Seattle Center

Virginia Ramos: Sea Mar Community Health Centers

Located on Portage Bay adjacent to the University of Washington, Seattle's newest park offers views of the University Bridge and I-5's Ship Canal Bridge. Fritz Hedges Waterway Park, named after longtime Seattle Parks and Recreation employee Fredrick "Fritz" Hedges, provides water access for hand-carried boats, shoreline restoration, open lawn space for passive recreation. Interpretive elements are planned that will tie into one of two historical narratives - the use of the Portage Bay Trail by Native Americans and more recent maritime history.

"The sacrifice they made for the citizens of Seattle wasn't theirs alone, but also (their families)." On Friday, the Seattle Fire Department honored and remembered firefighters that protected the community during the the 2020 Annual Seattle Fallen Firefighter Memorial. Among the honored was Seattle Fire Lt. Jay G. Weeler, who passed away in March from a line-of-duty illness.  Watch the full ceremony here. 

How do you social distance when you are a dancer? Whim W'Him Contemporary Dance Group believes they've found a solution. While staged performances are filmed and played online, live appearances are popping up around the Seattle area. The outdoor performances are choreographed dances in motion, performed on the move over a mile's distance through various parks in the greater Seattle area. If you've been craving in-person arts, this could be your chance.

This year marks the 75^th anniversary of the atomic bombings of the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The victims have been honored here in Seattle every year since 1984 through the annual remembrance From Hiroshima to Hope. The anti-nuclear weapons and anti-violence event normally draws hundreds of people to the shores of Green Lake on Aug. 6^th, where floating lanterns are used to pay tribute to victims and remember loved ones. But due to the pandemic, the in-person From Hiroshima to Hope event has been canceled. Instead, organizers are encouraging participants to make their own lanterns and display at home and post pictures.

Trey Lamont, owner of Jerk Shack Caribbean restaurant in Belltown, wants to expand to a South Seattle neighborhood to better serve the Black community. More than just a restaurant, his vision is to build community and create jobs with health insurance, college tuition assistance, and child care stipends. 

"There's a great demand for this testing." Since their launch on June 5, the City of Seattle's two free COVID-19 testing sites in Sodo and North Seattle have tested more than 50,000 people since opening. Administering the test takes between two to three minutes, with a swab poke in both nostrils - results average a 72-hour turnaround. Testing by appointment is desired, but not a requirement. For more information, including site locations, health insurance requirements, and availability, visit the City of Seattle's website.

"I don't want another family to go through this." It's been nearly 10 years since the police shooting death of John T. Williams. A woodcarver like his brother, Rick Williams, along with his son Eagleson Williams, was carving a totem pole at the CHOP (Capitol Hill Organized Protest) until it was cleared on July 1. Williams spent many days at the CHOP carving, supporting protestors, and sharing his story.

"We are not the class of COVID-19, we are the class of courage." Accepting a diploma in front of classmates, family, and friends is a rite of passage for graduating high school seniors. But the COVID-19 pandemic has changed in-person commencements for the class of 2020. In June, thousands of Seattle Public School seniors celebrated their educational accomplishments with online graduation ceremonies. 

There's a surge in need for blood donations as local hospitals return to business as usual. To keep everyone safe while filling an essential need, Bloodworks Northwest is finding new locations for their blood drives. One of these new sites is a pop-up donation center in the Paramount Theatre's historic lobby. John Yeager tells us about the dire need to get as many donations as possible by July 4th. The pop-up blood drive at Seattle's Paramount Theatre is by appointment only Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday through July.

When COVID-19 hit the region, nobody knew what Pride Month would look like. But finding new ways - and new reasons - to connect, celebrate, organize, and thrive is a task well suited to Seattle's LGBTQ+ community. Video by Vincent Pierce

Across Seattle, from Ballard to Columbia City, local artists paint colorful murals and words of encouragement on businesses boarded up during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Seattle Channel General Manager Shannon Gee was inducted into the Silver Circle of the Northwest Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) on June 6, 2020. The award recognizes Gee’s 25-plus years of lasting contributions to the television industry, which include a succession of award-winning documentaries featuring culturally diverse community-driven content.

Learn more: https://take21.seattlechannel.org/2020/06/08/seattle-channel-general-manager-shannon-gee-inducted-into-natas-silver-circle/

This short video was produced in 2018 to screen at the Rainier Beach Town Hall of September 27, 2018.

The Rainier Beach community came together for a town hall to promote the Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS) initiative occurring in all six of Rainier Beach schools. The regularly occurring Rainier Beach Town Hall Meetings are opportunities for Rainier Beach stakeholders and residents to learn what is going on in Rainier Beach and to share ideas for addressing the critical issues impacting the community. This video gives an overview of how the PBIS framework is structured and gives a history of the initiative, which began in 2013.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit Seattle, live music venues had to close their doors without knowing when or if they'd be able to open back up. Andy Palmer, Booking Manager at Nectar Lounge, gives us a backstage pass to what they and many other struggling music venues are doing to connect audiences with live virtual performances. Special thanks to Rob Miller at Boundless Northwest for providing concert and live stream set up footage.

Holding signs reading "Black Lives Matter" and "American music is Black Music," more than 100 people participated in the Arts March for Racial Justice and Equity protest to speak out against racism and police brutality on June 2. The demonstration was organized by professionals in the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera, and the event also put a spotlight on the need for greater Black representation in the arts.