Hawkeye
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Oil spill causes state of emergency By Nico Francois
CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & GRAPHICS EDITOR
As the November election for the Mayor and City Attorney General of Seattle fast approaches, candidates are preparing to garner as many votes as possible within the coming weeks. The two candidates running for city of Seattle Mayor are former Council President Bruce Harrell and current Council President Lorena González, whose distinct core political views have revealed themselves in the heat of the election. Harrell, who is currently in the lead, is opposed to defunding the police, hoping to hire more police officers but reform the way in which they are trained. González has used her platform to strongly advocate for increased labor protection and immigrant families. As the time leading up to the election comes to a close, political divisions between the two candidates have NICO FRANCOIS | HAWKEYE become increasingly visible. Meanwhile, running for the City Attorney General position are Anne Davison and Nicole Thomas Kennedy. While Davison previously ran for the city council and lieutenant governor positions, and Kennedy worked as a public defender for King County, but it would be the first time for both candidates in the city attorney position if elected. Throughout their campaign process, both candidates have emphasized their interest in improving public safety. Davison would like to focus on providing interventions for suspects who have cycled through the justice system repeatedly. She hopes that, with the right kind of support, those in the justice system can transition into everyday life as efficiently as possible. On the other hand, Kennedy is known as an abolitionist, and wants to focus on changing the criminal justice system on a fundamental level. However, in recent months, KOMO News unearthed multiple social media posts from Kennedy that some say might make her unfit for the job. H
More money for struggling schools
COMPILED BY NICO FRANCOIS
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts in Washington state have received a record amount of funds in order to support students returning to school. The U.S. department of education has issued roughly $2.6 billion worth of aid to the state of Washington, with funds intended to be spent on educational items such as student laptops, as well as expenditures involving the hiring of more nurses and school counselors. Although school districts are given a certain amount of leeway in terms of how they wish to spend their aid money, state officials have suggested that districts purchase items that will grant students immediNICO FRANCOIS | HAWKEYE ate aid instead of investing in long-term projects such as the construction of new school buildings. Despite the amount of money that has already been allocated to schools for COVID-19 relief funds, many districts have expressed concern that the funds given will not be enough to carry students and schools throughout the full remainder of the pandemic. As a result of this, the U.S. Department of Education has set aside additional money in order to aid schools within the state, but has held back in hopes that districts will provide more transparent plans to the public concerning the plans for how the relief funds will be spent. While plans from most schools are still vague, a majority of the districts in the state have expressed that their top priority during the pandemic is to aid all students living in poverty. H
OCTOBER 2021 | 5
• the update •
A lot happens in a month. From fashion to finance, we are constantly bombarded by headlines from around the world. Here are the Hawkeye’s picks for what you need to know. stories by nico francois graphics by nico francois
Taliban begins re-issuing passports
International
The Taliban has announced that the issuing of passports and national identification cards to citizens within Afghanistan is set to continue, after two months of suspension when the capital of Kabul was taken control of during August. Hundreds gathered at the Kabul passport office after this announcement, hoping to leave the country after failed attempts to flee initially in the summer. Thousands of passports are set to be issued each day as over 100,000 identification applications are currently pending, with the Taliban employing women to process travel documents for any female wishing to receive a passport, further enforcing based on biological sex. H
Indonesia opens plastic museum
International
To highlight the ongoing aquatic environmental crisis across the globe, activists in Indonesia have created a museum within the country entirely made of plastic. The museum, set up within the city of Grelk and composed of over 10,000 items of plastic waste collected from polluted waters, was designed to spread a message to the public about the damages caused by single-use plastic products. The issue with the usage and dumping of single-use plastics into the ocean is largely prevalent in Indonesia, as the country is one of the four countries responsible for roughly half of the plastic found within the oceans, along with China, Vietnam and the Philippines. H
Oil spill causes state of emergency
National
In response to a major oil spill close to Huntington Beach on Oct. 2, California has declared a state of emergency for Orange County after over 125,000 gallons of oil spilled and spread into the Pacific Ocean. Through further investigation, it was discovered that the oil spill was caused by a torn underwater pipeline, and although the exact cause had yet to be confirmed, the damage is suspected to have been dealt by a ship’s anchor hitting the pipe. The spill was not reported until nearly after it had occurred, leaving authorities scrambling to clean up the oil posing a serious public health threat, as well as endangering the biodiversity of the water. H
Ferry trips cut due to staff shortages
State
The Washington state ferry system is facing historic staffing shortages as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to mass cancelations in ferries, impacting the lives of Washington civilians. The mass staff shortage has come as a result of crew members either contracting COVID-19 and quarantining, or receiving vaccinations, which all state ferry employees are required to do by Oct. 18, as per Gov. Jay Inslee’s statewide vaccination mandate. With only about 600 out of 1,800 crew members having submitted vaccination verification as of Sept. 16, the state ferry system is in danger of losing even more employees, and with increased difficulty training new staff due to the pandemic, and Washington ferry riders can expect increased travel delays in the coming months. H
Downtown buses now head to trains
Local
With the recent opening of the Northgate Link light rail to riders on Oct. 2, King County Metro is altering bus routes in order to better meet the needs of passengers while simultaneously accommodating for the opening of the new light rail stations in Northgate, Roosevelt and the University District. King County Metro has made smooth and convenient transfers their top priority while altering routes, and 27 bus routes have been changed in order to better assist passengers in accessing medical centers and offices within Seattle. As a result of these changes, 18 King County bus routes will be abolished and replaced with six new routes, many of which involve transfers at one of the new light rail stations. H
