Frightening coronavirus variants have found footing in the U.S. Experts caution that the worst may still be yet to come. Super Bowl watch parties could be the next superspreader event. This is, without question, not the time to let one’s guard down. And yet, the COVID-19 picture in America at this moment in time is vastly improved from what it was just a few weeks ago.
- PUB DATE: 2/5/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Intelligencer - Metered Site

VIDEO: Josh Powell killed himself and his two young sons in an explosion at his home Feb. 5, 2012, more than two years after Powell's wife Susan vanished under suspicious circumstances. The explosion shook the normally quiet cul-de-sac neighborhood where Powell had been living just moments after a caseworker had brought his two young sons, Charles, 7, and Braden, 5, there for a supervised visit.
- PUB DATE: 2/5/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 Seattle

Thousands of customers in the Bellevue area were affected by a Lumen (formerly CenturyLink) landline 911 system outage Friday morning. The outage was reported on the Bellevue Fire Department’s Twitter account at 6:39 a.m. The outage affected as many as 32,000 homes in Bellevue. Those who could not get through by dialing 911 were given a 10-digit number to reach emergency services.
- PUB DATE: 2/5/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KIRO-TV CBS 7 Seattle

Washington state is averaging about 28,000 COVID-19 vaccinations a day, and as of this week, more than 728,000 vaccine doses have been administered statewide. During a Thursday news conference, Gov. Jay Inslee said the average is twice number the state has been doing two weeks ago. Department of Health Secretary Umair Shah said that the state continues to make progress to get closer to the set goal of 45,000 vaccines a day.
- PUB DATE: 2/5/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KIRO-TV CBS 7 Seattle

The Spokane Fire Department is finding new ways to connect with families during COVID. They've recently launched a new webpage to teach young kids about fire safety. It's like a virtual classroom, with icons and avatars for kids to click on. Jamie McIntyre, with the Spokane Fire Department, says fire fighters really value that one-on-one connection they can have with the community.
- PUB DATE: 2/4/2021 5:27:30 PM - SOURCE: KHQ-TV NBC 6 Spokane