News from and about King County… from COVID-19 updates to community news affecting our daily lives.

Dear Friends:

Today’s e-news includes information on a recent van donation to the Valley Cities, announcements from the governor, a pause on Johnson and Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, new trials on updated Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center’s reopening, a new Community Investment Committee in King County, upcoming information session for veterans, Link light rail update, health updates, and more.


Washington Trivia

A former CEO and Chairman of Wells Fargo grew up in Enumclaw. Who is he?

(Answer is at the bottom).




Valley Cities Van Donation

Due to COVID-19, opportunities to meet with the 2020 recipients of surplus King County vans have been limited, but I enjoyed my visit with Valley Cities Marketing and Volunteer Manager Sundeep Malhi. Since I sponsored the original legislation establishing this program in 1995, the King County Van Donation Program has done its best to provide mobility for those in our community who need it most.



With Valley Cities Marketing and Volunteer Manager Sundeep Malhi.


Governor’s Announcements

All Washingtonians 16 and up will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccine on April 15

Starting Thursday, April 15th, all Washingtonians 16 and older will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Combined with sustained mask usage, physical distancing and adhering to reopening guidance, increasing vaccination rates in all counties will hopefully help in preventing a rise in COVID-19 case numbers.

Three counties to rollback to Phase 2

Yesterday, April 12th, Gov. Jay Inslee announced three counties (Pierce, Cowlitz, Whitman) are rolling back to Phase 2 effective Friday, April 16th, as these counties did not meet the metrics to remain in Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan. This comes after the governor announced updates to the criteria last week, which states that a county must fail both metrics for case counts and hospitalizations to move down one phase. Under the previous plan, a county only needed to fail one metric to move back a phase. Read more here.




US recommends 'pause' for J&J COVID vaccine after 6 blood clot reports

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended a pause in using the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate six reported cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in combination with low levels of blood platelets in individuals after receiving the J&J vaccine.

The six reported cases involved women between the ages of 18 and 48, with one death and one hospitalized. Dr. Peter Marks, Director of the FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, noted that these cases have usually occurred about a week after vaccination and no later than 3 weeks after vaccination. Read more in the KING 5 news article here.

What to watch for if you got the Johnson & Johnson COVID shot?
More than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been given in the U.S., with the overwhelming majority having mild or no side effects. According to Dr. Anne Schuchat, CDC Principal Deputy Director, the risk is very low at this time for those who got the J&J vaccine more than a month ago, but people who recently got the vaccine should be aware to look for any symptoms like severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after receiving the J&J shot.


Seattle home to new trial to test updated Moderna vaccine

Seattle is one of four cities taking part in a new Phase One clinical trial for an updated Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, which has been slightly changed to better protect against the coronavirus variant first found in South Africa. The trial, which aims to get a first look at the safety and efficacy of this version of the vaccine, is taking place at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute as well as in Atlanta, Nashville and Cincinnati. Read more in the KOMO news article here.


Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center opens under limited capacity

Yesterday, April 12th, the King County Aquatic Center began operating under limited capacity. The competition pool is now open for team practices and recreational lap swims. The dive tank and recreational pool will open at a later date, as there is ongoing maintenance affecting these pools. Due to occupancy restrictions, online reservations are strongly recommended for recreation lap swims. Read more here or call 206-477-4444 for questions.




King County seeks community members to serve on a new Community Investment Committee

King County is seeking residents of the East Federal Way, Skyway/West Hill, North Highline/White Center, East Renton Plateau and Fairwood areas to serve on the new King County Urban Unincorporated Community Investment Committee and lead a participatory budgeting process in each of these communities. The deadline to apply has been extended to Friday, April 16th, at 11:59 p.m. For more information and to apply to serve on this committee, visit https://kingcounty.gov/urbanchoices.


Veteran Exclusive Information Session

WorkSource Auburn and King County Vets 4 Hire are sponsoring a virtual information session for veterans on Thursday, April 15th, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. No prior registration is required to attend the information session. Interested participants may use the information below to join the event:

Microsoft Teams meeting
Online: Select here to join the meeting
Call in (audio only): +1 425-653-6586
Phone Conference ID: 832 944 459#

If you are using your mobile device, please download the Microsoft Teams app from your app store. For questions related to attending this event, please email Jordan Saunders at jsaunders@esd.wa.gov


Northgate Link light rail extension will open October 2

Last week, Sound Transit announced that the Northgate Link light rail extension will open to passenger service on October 2nd, Saturday, and will offer riders reliable trips of only 14 minutes between Northgate and downtown Seattle. In addition to the elevated station at Northgate, trains will stop at new underground stations serving Seattle’s U District and Roosevelt neighborhoods. Read more here.


King County COVID Vaccination Update

As of today, there are 916,820 residents who received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 559,937 residents who are fully vaccinated in King County, bringing the total of all administered doses to 1,422,035. For more information, visit the King County COVID Vaccination Dashboard here.



Vaccine Locator: To find COVID-19 vaccine appointments, visit Vaccine Locator.

For eligible South King County residents: Public Health – Seattle and King County has high-volume vaccinations sites in Auburn and Kent. Register here.

Register by phone: Call King County Public Health Call Center at 206-477-3977 or Washington COVID-19 Assistance Hotline at 1-800-525-0127, then press #.

For veterans: Call 1-800-698-2411 and press 8 for COVID information or visit www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine.

For more information, visit Getting vaccinated in King County.


King County Case Update
Today, Seattle – King County Public Health reported 87 new positive cases, bringing the total in King County to 91,802. In addition, Public Health reported 2 new deaths, bringing the total in the county to 1,485.









Stay In. Stay Healthy. Stay Strong.

Pete von Reichbauer
King County Councilmember




Washington trivia answer:

Born in Enumclaw in 1943, Richard Marco Kovacevich, was the former CEO and chairman of Wells Fargo and Company. Prior to his banking career, he excelled at both academics and athletics at Stanford University. He played baseball while earning a degree in Industrial Engineering. He was known to be a star pitcher and considered a career as a professional baseball player, but a shoulder injury halted this plan, so he instead pursued a graduate degree in Business Administration. He once told a classmate that he would never go into banking.

Richard’s first job out of graduate school was with General Mills in Minnesota as a planning and division general manager. He later joined Citicorp and became the head of regional retail banking and expanded Citibank into other areas such as mortgages. He then joined Norwest Bank and instituted new strategies as president and eventually as COO and chairman. The higher revenues and innovations led to the purchase of many other banks such as Wells Fargo. After the merger, he was given the positions of president and CEO, and was later elected chairman. In 2003, he received the American Banker’s Banker of the Year award, and eventually retired in 2010.



Compiled by Cyndee Navarro of my office.


To unsubscribe or update your preferences, click here.
1. Enter your email address and click confirm.
2. Select the subscription/s you want to unsubscribe from and click submit.