August 2006

Two weeks ago, the West Seattle Herald ran a front-page article on teen health centers located in some Seattle middle and high schools. It also addressed Planned Parenthood and teens' asserted rights to confidential birth control and abortions without the consent or knowledge of their parents or legal guardians.

Many adults likely consider these clinics, which offer confidential health care related to reproduction to be both undermining to their authority and condoning of teen sex.

With a trend toward focusing on outdoor living more than plant collecting, theme gardening takes on a new life. The right palette of plants helps define the outdoor living style of your garden. The garden becomes a place in which to live, not just observe.

Mediterranean and Latin gardening styles have always put outdoor living first. Both are often fused into styles best described by "Californian" and "Southwestern" garden spaces.

School closures are over and everthing went the way we wanted. We can relax, right?

Wrong.

West Seattle's representative on the Seattle school board told reporter Rebekah Schilperoort (story, Page 1) that the hardest part of considering school closures was realizing that school communities "are really affected." Irene Stewart said the changes have not come to an end in West Seattle.

". . .

This is in response to the front page article in the July 19th edition and the subsequent letters to the editor in response to it. The privacy law in the State of Washington (whereas minors between the ages of 13 and 18 can get counseling and treatment for reproductive and mental health issues without parental consent) seems to be a very emotional issue.

I think it's ironic that Rebekah Schilperoort's article entitled "Parental consent not needed" was printed in the same edition (July 19, 2006) as a reader's letter to the editor complimenting Ms. Schilperoort for being "unbiased and informative" in her writing. I for one did not find the article to be unbiased at all. Informative? Perhaps, but obviously not its intended purpose.

If Ms.

Families have had access to expanded health services at the Madison Middle School Wellness Center for the past nine years.

Approximately 70 percent of our families enroll their child for the clinic each year. The consent form filled out by parents clearly indicates the services that are available at our clinic. We have a full time mental health counselor and a physician assistant three days a week.

All students are able to see the school nurse.

As a foster parent, I am grateful for the "reproductive" health services provided at the Madison Middle School Wellness Center.

My foster child is 15 years old and had not had a period in over six months. Ms. Richert, physician assistant at the wellness center, did a thorough work-up of the problem in a kind, respectful way. She kept both of us informed of options throughout the process.

The board of the Southwest Seattle Pony Baseball League and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our sponsors of the 2006 Southwest Seattle Pony Baseball League teams.

We have completed another successful season encompassing more than 160 players between the ages of 10 to 18 participating in our league.

Preceding the American Legion Grand Parade, the West Seattle Hi-Yu provided a continental breakfast for many of the parade participants. It was held at the Admiral Heights Assisted Living facility.

My name is Garry Lund and I am an estimator for Gary Merlino Construction, the firm that was awarded the contract to repave California Avenue in West Seattle.

I have lived in West Seattle since 1967 and have witnessed several near misses between cars and pedestrians at these two mid-block crosswalks.

I believe an in-pavement crosswalk lighting system will be the most effective system for the two mid-block crosswalks.