See below for today's COVID-19 information. Please forward as widely as you would like.
I want to hear from you, contact me anytime.

It's week two of our Mukilteo Spirit Week! Tonight is lights on for essential workers... put some extra lights in your windows in their honor tonight.

Our Mukilteans of May 6, 2020 are our teachers!

I have a few stories to share about great teachers, as nominated by parents and students.

"My son's preschool teacher Anna Williams has been doing amazing things keeping the kids engaged!"
"Ms. Reed at Fairmount is a really great teacher."
Melissa Mawet, a third grade teacher at Columbia got several nominations! As parents said, "She’s wonderful, so kind, engaged, and amazing at keeping the kids enthusiastic and engaged. Let me know if you want more details. I’d be happy to say more nice things about her!" and, "She zoom calls her students every day!! She calls us on the phone and LOVES our kids." Another parent said, "I think Mrs. Mawet has reached out to us almost daily since the school closure. She even had an individual 30 minute Zoom with my kiddo over her spring break. The kindness she has shown has brought me to tears many times. She is a gem!"

Mr. Lombardo at Fairmount Elementary: "He is my son's 3rd grade teacher. He has been so amazing during this time and very encouraging to all the kids. Every assignment my son turns in, he makes sure to write him a little note after grading it about how great he's doing and always has some encouraging words on how to improve for the next assignment. I'm very impressed with this man."

Mr. Melby- "hands down! He's been very supportive through this whole thing & before!"
"My boys' teachers at Columbia are amazing. Mr. Melby and Miss Fetherston. I couldn’t ask for better teachers for my boys during this distance leaning. They are so responsive and really focused on making sure the kids feel included and are always available for any correspondence from the parents and the kids. My boys love how the weekly Zoom meetings are more for fun than curriculum, it allows them to keep the relationships with their teacher and peers and know they are all experiencing this crazy time together!"

ECEAP (early childhood education) teachers are doing an amazing job with zoom lives with the children. One parent highlighted Mukilteo ECEAP teacher Anna Garcia as being absolutely amazing.

Elysia Perez at Northshore Christian Academy: "She’s a Mukilteo mom and an amazing kindergarten teacher."

Some Serene Lake teachers, Mrs. Dolan and Ms. Ng.

and, finally: "ALL teachers right now. They are all working above and beyond for our kids."

This is teacher appreciation week and we want to celebrate it in Mukilteo. You'll see more teachers highlighted tomorrow! Take the time to email your kids' teachers, or maybe search out a teacher you remember from school and contact them. Some of my favorites are somehow still at Kamiak, and their emails are easy to find!

Do you know someone who deserves to be the Mukiltean of the Day? Nominate them!

We are joining the City of Lynnwood in celebrating Bike Month from a Distance, through Bike2Health BINGO!

To download your BINGO card and learn more visit: Lynnwood Bike2Health. Bike2Health Bingo works great for bicyclists of all ages! One of the squares is to ride in the rain. You've got a chance today, take a few minutes to feel the rain in your face, and prove you can do it! And then, get out in the sun this weekend on your bike!

Remember to post photos on social media using the tag #Bike2Health. Let’s ride together, apart!

This language from the Governor's proclamation has some clarity around reopening:

Re-opening these low-risk activities may occur when participants are able to fully comply with the industry-specific requirements that will be issued as soon as possible but no later than May 15, 2020, which, at a minimum, will require compliance with the social distancing and hygiene requirements indicated by the Washington State Department of Health:
 Landscaping and lawn care
 Vehicle and vessel sales
 Pet walking
 Retail (curb-side pick-up orders only)
 Car washes
The big take-away is that those businesses listed are not supposed to open until the state guidance is issued...

Phase 2 is expected to begin on June 1, with Phase 3 following on June 22 and Phase 4 on July 16 (all at the earliest, if indicators on the state's dashboard are good.

The Governor also announced three Advisory Groups for the Safe Start process, focusing on economic recovery, public health and social supports.

The Snohomish Health District (SHD) has a new blog poston the topic of COVID-19’s impact on wellness. The following resources are shared:

• Care Crisis Line: 800-584-3578 or 425-258-4357
Care Crisis Chat: www.imhurting.org
• Disaster Distress Helpline: Call 1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746.
The Disaster Distress Helpline provides crisis counseling and support for anyone in the U.S. experiencing distress or other behavioral health concerns related to any natural or human-caused disaster, including public health emergencies.
• The Trevor Project: Call 1-866-488-7386 or text START to 678678. A national 24-hour, toll free confidential suicide hotline for LGBTQ youth.
• Trans Lifeline: Dial 877-565-8860 for U.S. and 877-330-6366 for Canada. Trans Lifeline’s Hotline is a peer support service run by trans people, for trans and questioning callers.
• Dial 2-1-1: If you need assistance finding food, paying for housing bills, accessing free childcare, or other essential services, visit 211.org or dial 211 to speak to someone who can help.
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: For survivors who need support, call 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-799-7233 for TTY, or if you’re unable to speak safely, you can log onto thehotline.org or text LOVEIS to 22522.
• Caregiver Help Desk: Call 855-227-3640. The Caregiver Action Network's Care Support Team is staffed by caregiving experts, available 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET (11 a.m. to 10 p.m. local).

CareerConnect@Home is a month-long Career Exploration opportunity for students to learn about real jobs and industries in Washington.
With school closure, not only are students at risk of missing out on their regular English and math instruction, but they’re also left without critical career exploration programs that expose students to new industries, job functions, and career pathways.

Each day a different company or organization will talk about their work, and discuss how they prepared for their current job.
Every day in May at 3:30 there is a one hour session. All content will be recorded and available for later watching. These sessions will have fresh, WA-specific content geared specifically to our state’s students.
The amount of news and discussion on COVID-19 is overwhelming and scary. CareerConnect@Home allows students to imagine themselves in their future, post-pandemic career. Content will help reinforce the importance of current coursework by connecting core subject content to essential workplace skills and knowledge.
Programming is student-centered: Agendas and content will be developed for a grade 7 to 12 audience. Employers will receive coaching and assistance from former teachers to develop their content to ensure it is engaging and relevant for students. Students will be able to interact with employer hosts via Instagram (@Career.Connect.at.Home)
Programming is secure: Students will access the sessions each day via live YouTube link. Only employer hosts will have access to the audio and video stream, which will be secured by unique login credentials for each day’s session.

Learn more, including how to login and watch, here.

I know people are wondering, and we don't have details yet, but here is a big picture summary of our process to fill Councilmember Rohrbough's seat, after her departure on May 20.

You can watch the meeting when we did this last, on January 13, 2014, on the City website, at this link.

The basic process is:
1. Online Application with a due date after May 20 sometime. Candidates must be over 18 and reside in the City of Mukilteo.
2. Online Zoom interviews via a public meeting with the Council sometime after May 25, or into early June.
3. Council discussion and voting, probably at the same meeting. Appointment is effective immeditately for the rest of the term, ending on December 31, 2021. The selected candidate can run for office in 2021, but it is not a requirement to apply.

This is all subject to change, but is likely the way things will work.

Washington State Department of Transportation (DOT) has developed a new online dashboard to share travel trend information amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The dashboard is updated daily.

I-5 data for Snohomish County shows a 42% reduction in traffic over the last week (4/27/20-5/3/20) compared to the 2019 baseline, indicating a significant decline in travel following the Governor’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy order.

As some of us think about starting up and going back to work, you might be looking for child care options. Both the YMCA and Boys and Girls Club have options.
The YMCA is offering free child care for those who are emergency workers and financial assistance for anyone in need. They have two sites available; Columbia Elementary and Lake Stickney. Registration is limited. They are accepting registrations for summer camp as well.

The Mukilteo Boys and Girls club is open and available for childcare. They are open for summer camps, but space is limited. To register and secure your spot for 2020 summer camp, contact the Mukilteo Boys and Girls club directly or email unit director Kim Gaffney (kgaffney@bgcsc.org).

The #ReadTheWorld initiative of WHO, UNICEF and the International Publishers Association partnership created a beautifully-illustrated storybook, aimed at 6-11 year-olds, which explains how children can protect themselves, their families and friends from coronavirus and how to manage difficult emotions when confronted with a new and rapidly changing reality.
To celebrate the launch of “My Hero is You, How kids can fight COVID-19!”, well-known artist, Howard Donald, gives the first public reading in support of the #ReadTheWorld initiative of WHO, UNICEF and the International Publishers Association. Follow this link to watch the reading.

Lighthouse Park, Edgewater Beach and 92nd Street Park will reopened on May 5. Bathrooms are open only at Lighthouse Park 7am-7pm. Playgrounds remain closed.

Trails and sidewalks continue to be open for your physical activity! Please respect physical distance of six feet.

All City Facilities closure: City operations will continue via primarily phone, email and online. The public is encouraged to call (425) 263-8000 for assistance with City services or visit our website at www.mukilteowa.gov. Government services are not slated to reopen until Phase 3 of the new reopening plan, which is mid-June at the earliest.

Remember the non-emergency number at (425) 407-3999 or email cv19violations@mukilteowa.gov. If you have an emergency, call 911. (But don't call with questions about the Governor's order and what's open or not). You can also report violations or questions about violations to the State via this link.

For more information on city facilities, see this link.

Current case count is 51 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases identified in Mukilteo, with no deaths amongst those cases, and 43 individuals who are recovered. This count has been at 51 since April 20th. Data from today, May 5, marks one more individual recovered.
County case counts are available at this link, updated each weekday at 2pm.