Public safety cuts are necessary
By Dow Constantine
How would cutting 100 Sheriff's deputies affect police response times? How would a reduction of 30 deputy prosecutors impact our ability to put criminal suspects on trial?
These are examples of the grim decisions facing King County citizens and lawmakers as we confront a $68 million budget deficit for 2009 and a possible $80 million deficit in 2010.
How did this problem come to be?
Steel Lake encouragement ate up the obstacles in a 13-4 defeat of Soundview in last Wednesday's District 10 Little League Majors (10-12 age) softball Tournament of Champions held at the Federal Way National Baseball Complex.
"The theme was E.A.T.
Let's imagine that you've been chosen as a speaker at your local high school's commencement ceremonies.
It's not so far-fetched, you've been the beneficiary of a few years of hard knocks, it's likely that you have developed some rules to live by.
So if you had to pare them down to just five choice pieces of advice, what would you offer to young people who will soon hit the mean streets with their whole lives ahead of them?
I asked a few people this question, some friends and family, and got some good responses.
Are there solutions to the Educational Crisis?
I might be surprising our readers, but I think that there are.
Let's first take a look at the miracle of Singapore. Singapore has a population that is close to that of Washington.
Singapore was forced out of the Malaysian Federation by 125-0 vote of the Federation's Parliament in 1965.
Ask the hardy nine and ten-year old kids at the Marine Hills Pool last weekend if the weather was too cold for swimming and you would probably be splashed in reply.
"It's not cold!
On June 9, two classes from Wildwood Elementary visited the West Hylebos Park and the historical Barker Cabin for their annual field trip. More than 50 students and their teachers attended the field trip, where they toured the newly restored Barker Cabin. The group also walked the new boardwalk at the park. Wildwood Teacher Sharon Melton accompanied the students.
A group of Virginia Mason patients from Federal Way have much to smile about after joining the clinic's group sessions for patients with diabetes. Prior to the sessions, each patient had blood work drawn as a benchmark to measure their improvement in controlling diabetes. The standard Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) blood test measures the percentage of glucose, or sugar, attached to red blood cells in the bloodstream.
"This particular group had terrible numbers," says Josie Silver, RN, CDE, who leads the group sessions.
Two Federal Way students received honors for their theatrical work during the last school year.
2,200 high school students, teachers and parents from across Washington state packed Benaroya Hall for the sixth annual 5th Avenue High School Musical Theatre Awards, sponsored by Wells Fargo.
The students screamed at the top of their lungs, jumped and cheered as the award recipients were announced in 21 different categories, ranging from Outstanding Overall Musical Production to Outstanding Program Design.
The high school theater nominees were dressed to kill and fi
Snohomish-based Periwinkle Rose employees and customers wore the company's signature sleepwear to help raise money for foster kids.
Federal Way resident Shawn Mercalde joined the team, which placed fourt at the event, for a second season.
The Pajama Bowl was held Sunday, June 1 at the Tech City Bowl in Kirkland and Acme Bowl in Tukwila.
Coming fourth out of almost 100 teams, Periwinkle Rose raised $2,341 for KidsDream of Snohomish County, an organization dedicated to helping foster children who often come from abused and neglected homes.
In all,
1. Federeal Way police were dispatched to investigate a case of malicious mischief called in to 911. According to the complainant, a witness spotted a unknown person breaking out the windows on a parked vehicle with a baseball bat. The vehicle was a black 1996 Ford. The registered owner is not known because the vehicle was recently sold to a new owner. The suspect spotted the witness and ran after him, threatening him and yelling at him. Federal Way officers attempted to search the area for the suspect but were unable to locate him. No other suspect information is listed in the report.
