2020 In Review: A Look Back At Washington's Top Stories

WASHINGTON — 2020 will likely be remembered as an extremely difficult year, not just for Washington, but for the country at large.

Between the pandemic, the resulting shutdowns and economic fallout, widespread civil unrest and mass protests against police brutality, and the confusion, fear and uncertainty surrounding the November General Election, the headlines almost never seemed right — often they were surreal, frightening, and there were times it seemed each day had more ahead, and worse.

It would be a lie to say all unpleasantness will die with 2020. While the vaccine is here, it will be months, perhaps most of the coming year, before the pandemic is over. Even after that, the process of rebuilding the economy will likely be long and difficult. The conversation about police and structural racism in America continues with no end in sight. We will have to keep going.

But while we're moving on and hoping for a better, safer 2021, it's important to look back at all the events that happened this past year to understand how they will shape our perspective going forward.

Here is a look at some of the most important stories Patch covered in Washington in 2020.

Washington reports first COVID-19 case, and first fatality

More than anything else, 2o20 will likely be defined by the coronavirus pandemic. For America, that pandemic started right here in Washington, which had the inauspicious distinction of being the state with the first-ever confirmed COVID-19 case, as well as the country's first death.

On Jan. 21, Snohomish County health officials confirmed they were treating a man in his 30s for the coronavirus. Later in the year, local doctors would cast doubt on the idea that the Snohomish County case was truly the first-ever case of the virus on U.S. soil, it was the first to be confirmed by medical professionals and widely reported.

Just weeks later, Washington also saw the first-ever reported death, when Seattle and King County health officials confirmed that a 50 year old King County man had died after testing positive for COVID-19.

At the time, there had only been 22 total cases of the virus in the entire country, but officials were already beginning to see warning signs that this would become a global pandemic.

By the end of March, they knew it, and Gov. Jay Inslee signed the emergency 'Stay Home, Stay Healthy' Order, banning social gatherings and shuttering many nonessential businesses for months.

Read more: Coronavirus Death Was King County Man; More Cases In WA Confirmed

Mass protests against police brutality, the CHOP is born and destroyed

Seattle, no stranger to civic action, was hit by a wave of protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

One of the largest early protests, on Saturday, May 30, saw protesters take over Interstate 5, several police vehicles lit on fire, and the mayor issuing an emergency curfew for downtown.

That protest was followed by a week of demonstrations in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, until June 8 when something unexpected happened: SPD abandoned their East Precinct, allowing protesters to claim several blocks of the neighborhood as the "Capitol Hill Occupied Protest" or CHOP.

The CHOP drew national attention, including the ire of President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General William Barr. The protest was seen more favorably by local leaders, many of whom listened to protest demands and committed to defunding the Seattle Police Department.

Eventually, following a pair of deadly shootings inside the CHOP, over 100 SPD officers stormed the zone and reclaimed the East Precinct. 31 people were arrested.

Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best announced her retirement shortly following the dissolution, in a response to proposed cuts to her department.

The CHOP may be gone, but protests against police brutality have continued in the months since, and tensions between police and community activists remain high. At one point, the Seattle Office of Police Accountability received more than 12,000 complaints of police conducts relating to the protests.

Read more: 12,000 Complaints Allege Police Misconduct At Seattle Protests

The November election ends, but controversy continues

By the time all the votes were tallied, incumbent Gov. Jay Inslee had defeated challenger Loren Culp by roughly 545,000 votes, well beyond a potential margin of error.

But instead of accepting the results, Culp took a page out of Donald Trump's book, and like the president has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to overturn the election results in his favor. His campaign's lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, is demanding an audit of voting machines, paper ballots and voting results in King, Clark, Thurston, Pierce, Kitsap, and Skagit counties. Notably, all 6 counties named in the suit heavily favored Inslee over Culp.

Secretary of State Kim Wyman has repeatedly dismissed Culp's claims of "irregularities" in vote totals, saying Culp and company have failed to present any evidence that the vote was tampered or altered with in any way. Culp claims some 800,000 ineligible voters cast their ballot in the election.

As for the presidential election, Washington's vote provided little of the drama seen in America's battleground states — the evergreen state has voted solidly blue for decades now, so their turn for Joe Biden was fairly predictable. But there was one surprising moment during the electoral vote that drew attention from across the country: terminally-ill Washington elector Jack Arends' plea to begin to continue rebuilding this country when he is gone.

"It will be up to others to do the hardest work of rebuilding our nation, as my health is failing," Arends said. "It was important for me to do this one thing I could do, while I still can."

Read more: Terminally Ill Elector: 'One Thing I Could Do While I Still Can'

Outbreaks in prisons, failed attempts at release

One often underappreciated aspect of this pandemic is how easily it can spread through prison populations. Near the beginning of the shutdown, activists lodged a petition seeking to release thousands of inmates considered most at risk for COVID-19 complications. The petition ultimately failed, however, after the state's highest court rejected their lawsuit.

Since the pandemic began, there have been a total of 4,407 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Washington's inmate population, and 6 fatalities.

Anti-incarceration advocates have won some battles through the year, however, even pushing King County Executive Dow Constantine to end youth detention in King County and phase out the King County Correctional Facility, a jail in downtown Seattle.

Read more: Washington Supreme Court Rejects Inmate Release Lawsuit

Pierce County narrowly avoids dissolving health department

A proposal to dissolve the Tacoma - Pierce County Health Department was narrowly defeated when in a surprise turn, the proposal's sponsor, Pierce County Councilmember Pam Roach, voted against her own plan at the last minute.

The county council had been set to vote on the proposal Dec. 15, and it seemed likely to pass until Monday, just one day before the vote, when Gov. Jay Inslee intervened, signing a proclamation putting a pause on all efforts to dissolve or dismantle existing health departments for the remainder of the pandemic.

Despite that, the council had strongly considered passing the resolution anyways, but after dozens of concerned community members flooded the meeting's public comment section, overwhelmingly opposing the dissolution, Roach ultimately chose to switch sides and cast her vote against the proposal.

Read more: Pierce County Will Not Dissolve Health Dept After Surprise Vote