988 – the new crisis phone and text line – goes live this weekend
Starting Saturday, people in a mental health or behavioral crisis can call or text 988, a three-digit national replacement for local suicide hotlines and other helplines. It’s the first step in a long process to improve crisis-response systems across the U.S. While questions have been raised about whether the hotlines are ready to go nationwide, operators in Washington state say they’ve been able to ramp up hiring and feel prepared for the launch. Continue reading at The Seattle Times. (Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times)
Worst backslide in global vaccinations ‘in a generation,’ U.N. says
The coronavirus pandemic coincided with the worst backslide in global vaccination coverage in a generation, according to new data from the United Nations. This came despite a historic effort to develop and distribute billions of coronavirus vaccines during the pandemic. The new data, released late Thursday by UNICEF and the World Health Organization, showed that average global childhood coverage for vaccines developed for 11 key diseases had fallen from 71 percent in 2019 to 68 percent in 2021, marking the first time in over 30 years that the metric had fallen. Continue reading at Washington Post. (Baz Ratner/Reuters)
Prosecutor issues decision on Tacoma police officer who drove through street-race crowd
A Tacoma police officer who drove his vehicle through a crowd of pedestrians Jan. 23, 2021 during an illegal street racing event won’t be charged with any crimes, Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mary Robnett told Tacoma Police Chief Avery Moore on Thursday. The man who apparently was run over in the incident is facing criminal charges. Continue reading at Tacoma News Tribune.
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