While COVID-19’s devastating toll has taken center stage over the past year, another health crisis has quietly raged on. Nationally, opioid overdoses have accelerated amid the pandemic’s daily life disruptions. In Washington state, overdose deaths increased by 38% in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period the previous year, according to the…
Musician Marina Christopher had her 2020 all planned. In January, she was in New York City playing bass with a touring group. She had other stops scheduled and was ready to drop in at a favorite spot, Vito’s in Seattle, for another gig. But, 2020 had other plans for the Mountlake Terrace-born-and-raised artist. She has not let…
Making music in the time of COVID has called for inordinate creativity. Social distancing restrictions have made life especially difficult for performing artists whose life work—and livelihoods—normally depend on gathering crowds of people in ways that are severely restricted, if not totally out of the question, in these unprecedented circumstances. Notwithstanding the above challenges, Sarah…
When she was 15, Nhu Nguyen came with her family to the Northwest from Vietnam, settling first in South Seattle then moving to Edmonds, where she attended Edmonds-Woodway High School and Edmonds College. Now, at 22, she’s a University of Washington senior, majoring in public and global health — a relevant education in an era…
How do you keep moving your business or organization forward when the going gets tough? Five local managers from a range of organizations came together Tuesday for a one-hour webinar sponsored by Edmonds College. The goal: To share how the coronavirus-related restrictions moved them to put on their thinking caps and try new things to…
When the coronavirus lockdown began, Larry Clarke of Mountlake Terrace looked at his Oldskool Juice Co. inventory of freshly squeezed juices in dismay. His usual outlets — hotels and restaurants — were closed. “I didn’t have distribution deals with grocery stores and I was thinking, how do I liquidate $10,000 of fresh product? I was…
Artist Cheryl King was just about to launch a new clothing line featuring her paintings of wildlife, “and then the lockdown hit,” she said, adding a bit ruefully, “at least my product doesn’t rot.” As one door closed, another opened. The company making her clothing pivoted to face masks and wanted to decorate with her…
Staying home wIth an active 3 1/2-year-old boy, and having exhausted the usual entertainments in a pandemic such as virtual playdates and Cosmic Kids yoga classes, what’s a family to do when there’s still plenty of energy to burn? “My husband, Alan, and I got a legit bouncy house for our son Abraham. We put…
