Month: March 2020

I love nautical charts.  They give me a sense of confidence, imply adventure, and are packed with information describing the environment both above and below the water.  Wrecks, rocks, currents, tides, harbors, channels – even magnetic deviation – it is all there to help a sailor get safely from one port to another.   I even have some as artwork! As I boat on the Sound (with both charts AND GPS), I often think about what it would be like to sail in uncharted waters.  To have been with the first native people or early explorers venturing into and around the Salish Sea for the first time. How do you proceed into waters that are unknown and uncertain? I think all of us can relate much more closely these days with…

As we all try to process the COVID-19 outbreak, we are being inundated with numbers. One of the most impressive websites is the interactive map made provided by Johns Hopkins University (https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html). I watch the number of our residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 very closely (as of today, 83 positive cases out of 1,695 tested).  Less than 5% of those tested in Pierce County are currently returning positive results.  Yet the number of residents being tested is increasing – including a new drive-up testing site at the Tacoma Dome opening this weekend – so the number of positives will continue to move up. These numbers are important for us to understand the outbreak and help give our Pierce County team and our community perspective.  But, we must remember…

You may have heard that Vice President Pence stopped by Camp Murray on Thursday. I was very thankful for the opportunity last night to meet with the Vice President and CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield directly about our situation, our needs and our concerns regarding COVID-19.  I’m grateful the Vice President came not bearing gifts but thousands of PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) supplies - our first responders need it. In preparation for my meeting with the Vice President, I connected with local fire, police, healthcare, public health officials, and our DEM team.  My comments to both Vice President Pence and Dr. Redfield were based on those frontline needs and concerns. Specifically, I shared the need to update the protocols for ensuring first responders and medical staff are safe to continue…