State offers ways to check your eligibility as COVID vaccine lottery drawings begin
Prep for Washington state’s first COVID-19 vaccine lottery drawings this week has frustrated some residents who have not been able to confirm their status to make sure they are in the running. While offering assurances that the state has residents’ COVID vaccination data on file, the state Department of Health on Monday also offered new tips on how to check your status. Those seeking further information on eligibility can call the state’s vaccination hot line, 833-VAX-HELP, or go to its vaccination lottery website at walottery.com/vaccination. Continue reading at The News Tribune.

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Pandemic didn’t clean our dirty air — CO2 levels are highest they’ve been in 63 years
Since 1958, samples of the air have been collected atop a barren volcano in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to track atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the northern hemisphere. Now, 63 years later, those levels have peaked, despite a more than year-long pandemic that halted much of the human activity responsible for emitting the greenhouse gas. Continue reading at The Bellingham Herald. (Susan Cobb)

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Families divided by border closure, watch reopening plans
Gov. Jay Inslee sent a letter to the secretary of state and secretary of Homeland Security, asking them to reopen the U.S.- Canada Border. The border has been closed for 15 months during the pandemic to slow the spread of COVID-19. Cynthia Boyd, of Auburn, is paying close attention to the potential reopening. Her parents live in Vancouver, B.C. Continue reading at KIRO 7.

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