Washington airports to receive $39.7M in federal grants, free college: can Washington keep that promise during a recession, and more from this week’s Seattle in the Spotlight.

Washington Airports to Receive $39.7 Million in Federal Grants

KING 5 | KING5 Staff | April 30

https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/washington-airports-to-receive-397-million-in-federal-grants/281-951622c0-e71a-4601-8184-151fd60d2563

“The Federal Aviation Administration will award more than $39.7 million in grants to airports across Washington state. Sea-Tac International Airport will receive more than $9.75 million in grant funding, and Paine Field in Everett will receive $2.3 million. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced the funding Thursday as part of the $1.187 billion in airport safety and infrastructure grants awarded to 439 airports across the country. The total grants include $731 million in Airport Improvement Program grants and $455 million in Supplemental Discretionary grants.”

Free College: Can Washington Keep That Promise during a Recession

Seattle Times | Katherine Long | April 30

https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/free-college-can-washington-keep-that-promise-during-a-recession/

“Last spring, Washington lawmakers made national headlines when they passed an innovative plan to pay some or all of the tuition bill for low- to middle-income students and adults returning to college…But now, a global pandemic threatens to wreak havoc on state and local budgets. Can the city and state still keep those college promises? Officials say they have to.”

UW Researches Working on ‘Flashlight-Like’ Device to Destroy Viruses and Bacteria on Surfaces

GeekWire | Monica Nickelsburg | April 28

https://www.geekwire.com/2020/seattle-researchers-report-initial-results-first-us-swab-send-covid-19-surveillance-program/

“Early results from a first-of-its-kind at-home testing program for COVID-19, analyzing more than 4,000 nasal samples sent in from across the Seattle region, have found the proportion of the disease to be lower than in medical testing programs, but still enough to potentially “represent thousands of unrecognized infections in the community. The approach, known as “swab and send,” is being held up as a potential model to help enable the widespread testing programs that health officials say will be critical as the country seeks to reopen businesses and start to return to some semblance of normal life in the months ahead. Researchers from the greater Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network (SCAN) said Friday afternoon that their best estimate from the first 18 days of results puts the community prevalence of COVID-19 at 24 cases per 10,000 people, or 0.24%, for the initial study period between March 23 and April 9. The prevalence declined toward the end of the testing period.”