Hey Hey, it’s Wednesday. I have just returned from an excellent adventure up to Guemes Island, and I cannot recommend a getaway— to the socially distant wonderland that is the outdoors—highly enough. Specifically, somewhere the night sky is illuminated by the stars and not city lights, and where the air is free of the sound of sirens—crazy how we get so used to hearing them.
The pandemic has brought to light a lot of different things for me — and apparently for The Stranger writer Charles Mudede, too. In a piece published this week, Mudede brings up one particular Seattle law that seems out of touch with our current reality. It makes the consumption or possession of alcohol outside illegal, and that doesn’t make sense — especially now. Mudede’s case is three-fold: The risk of catching COVID-19 is lower outdoors, this law invites more police encounters at a time of historic police-community tensions, and “The economic situation of our struggling bars would be much improved if they could sell booze to people who want to drink openly while walking down a street, or sit in a nearby park.”
All valid points in my opinion.
Keep scrolling for the headlines plus this week’s local business shoutouts. You can send your shoutout by replying to this email and I’ll pare down the responses and include them in next Wednesday’s newsletter.
—Grace at The Evergrey