December 2011

By Kyle Howard, Photos By Kurt Howard

The Foster Bulldogs visited the Kennedy Catholic Lancers Tuesday Dec. 13 for a battle over first place in the Seamount League. Both teams were tied for first with a 2-0 record in conference play. The Lancers came out of the gate strong and gained a 10 point lead by the end of the first half. Foster kept chipping away at the lead but Kennedy Catholic would respond with points of their own. The Lancers lead should have been a larger margin but poor free throw shooting throughout the game cost them a lot of potential points.

Please click the image above for more.

In the third quarter things got a little bit sloppy for both teams with bad passing and shots. The Lancers turned the ball over seven times and the Bulldogs nine times in the quarter. Kennedy was still able to push their lead with great rebounding and getting second chance points in the paint while Foster had to settle for outside shots due to Kennedy’s big men playing good defense in the middle. Kennedy Catholic out scored Foster 42-25 in the second half with the final score 82-56. With the Lancers victory they now stand alone in first place.

By Anne-Marije Rook

Superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield announced today that she won't seek nor accept the permanent position of superintendent when her contract ends in June.

"This was not an easy decision for me to make given my commitment to Seattle and to our students," she said in a statement. "I wish the school board well in their search for a new superintendent, and will work with the new appointee to ensure a smooth transition for our staff, students and families. It is my sincere hope that the board will continue to build on our successes to date and continue the momentum we have built. I believe strongly that losing this momentum would be a disservice to our students and staff."

Dr. Enfield was appointed Interim Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools in March and in her announcement today, Enfield celebrated the progress of the last 10 months.

"I am incredibly proud of the work our students, teachers, principals and staff have accomplished over the past 10 months. Seattle is fortunate to have such a team of dedicated educational professionals. The progress we have made is significant," she said.

Superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield announced today that she won't seek nor accept the permanent position of superintendent when her contract ends in June.

"This was not an easy decision for me to make given my commitment to Seattle and to our students," she said in a statement. "I wish the school board well in their search for a new superintendent, and will work with the new appointee to ensure a smooth transition for our staff, students and families. It is my sincere hope that the board will continue to build on our successes to date and continue the momentum we have built. I believe strongly that losing this momentum would be a disservice to our students and staff."

Dr. Enfield was appointed Interim Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools in March and in her announcement today, Enfield celebrated the progress of the last 10 months.

"I am incredibly proud of the work our students, teachers, principals and staff have accomplished over the past 10 months. Seattle is fortunate to have such a team of dedicated educational professionals. The progress we have made is significant," she said.

press release:
Between Monday, December 19 and Tuesday, January 3, some Metro routes will operate on reduced schedules, and there will be two Monday holidays when Metro operates Sunday service.

Some Metro bus routes have reduced service during the University of Washington winter break or during the week between Christmas and the New Year, when ridership is typically lower than usual.

Metro will operate its Sunday schedule on the following holidays:
• Sunday, Dec. 25 – Christmas
• Monday, Dec 26 – Christmas holiday observed
• Sunday, Jan. 1 – New Year’s Day
• Monday, Jan. 2 – New Year’s holiday observed

The 'When no UW' schedule will be in effect the week of Dec 19-23, and from Dec 27-30.

Metro's reduced weekday schedule will be in effect:
• Tuesday-Friday, Dec. 27-30
• Monday, Jan. 16 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day

On days with reduced weekday schedules, some commuter and school-oriented routes do not operate, and other routes have individual trips canceled. The reduced weekday schedule features more bus service than on weekends, but somewhat less service than on normal weekdays.

U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan and Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez presented the findings of their investigation of SPD in a press conference on Dec. 16, reprimanding the department for excessive use of force and a lack of oversight and training to deter such instances.

“We find there is reasonable cause to believe that the Seattle Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of using unnecessary and excessive force in violation of the United States Constitution,” Durkan said. “This finding includes violations committed both by the policing itself in the use of force, but also by the lack of policies and supervision.”

“There are significant deficiencies in oversight, policies and training on how to use force, when to use force and particularly, how and when to use impact weapons (such as batons and flashlights),” she said.

Durkan said the investigation included extensive reviews of incident records, SPD video footage and thousands of interviews with SPD employees and Seattle citizens.

On Dec. 20, Highline Medical Center (HMC) will merge their Tukwila Specialty Campus emergency room (ER) into the recently expanded ER at their main campus in Burien, according to Highline CEO Mark Benedum.

The other functions of the Tukwila campus will stay put, including rehabilitation and psychiatry departments, he said.

In a letter to the community, Benedum wrote, “Merging our two ERs into one state-of-the-art facility will enable us to continue to provide high-quality care, while eliminating costly duplication of services.”

In 2010, the Burien ER was expanded from 7,000 square feet to 24,000, exam rooms jumped from 18 to 34, and they improved incoming ambulance capacity, Benedum said.

“It was built to be large enough to handle the need on both campuses, so it was built to be able to grow into it,” he said.

For Tukwila, Benedum said HMC has partnered with HealthPoint to put an urgent care facility in place of the ER. The urgent care facility is expected to open in early February. Healthpoint has plans to move the facility to the Tukwila Village development in two to three years.

press release:
The contractor working on the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has been able to reduce the number of overnight closures due to favorable progress on construction, and thus minimize impacts on drivers.

Previously the plans required the closure of the structure’s westbound travel lanes just west of I-5 for six nights. However, the closures planned for tonight (Friday) and Monday and Tuesday of next week have been canceled, and in addition to last night’s closure, there will be only two more closures needed, as follows:

Wednesday, December 21: 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next morning (Thursday, December 22)
Thursday, December 22: 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next morning (Friday, December 23)

These closures are needed to prepare for the upcoming shift of westbound traffic off of the existing structure and onto the newly built adjacent structure.

SDOT will continue to keep the public informed if this work schedule requires any changes.

Additional project details can be found at www.seattle.gov/spokane.

The Seattle Police Department has posted their 2010 Use of Force report and it notes that it was up only slightly, 2.6% but that complaints rose 30%. That number is lower than the national average, by "nearly one third" for metropolitan police departments the document states.

From the report:
Major findings in the Report are, as follows:
• Use of force incidents were up by 2.6% in 2010, when compared with 2009, but are down by more than one-third when compared with 2006.
• Seattle Police Department Officers use force infrequently. Only 0.12% of all interactions between officers and community members in 2010 resulted in use of force by officers, about the same as in 2009 and 2008, and down from the levels in 2007 and 2006.
• Based upon total arrests (the types of situations where force is most likely to be used), the use of force rate was 2.46%, up from 2.39% in 2009, but down from 2.59% in 2008.
• Most of the force applied by Seattle Police Department officers consists of the use of their own bodies. Hands/arms/elbows and feet/legs/knees constituted 82% of the force used by officers in 2010, up from 78% in 2009 and 75% in 2008.

The Sound Transit Board of Directors adopted their 2012 budget on Thursday, Dec 15, which includes $2 million for the study of a high-capacity Ballard-to-Downtown streetcar line.

Seattle's elected leaders welcomed the Sound Transit board's vote.

"This is an important step forward for expanding high capacity transit in Seattle that makes sense for our regional network. We thank the Sound Transit Board and staff for supporting efforts to accelerate planning for the Ballard-Downtown Corridor by several years," said Mayor Mike McGinn, a Sound Transit Board Member, in a statement. "With this vote behind us, we can get to work developing an inter-local agreement between Sound Transit and the city of Seattle that will ensure our joint planning effort meets both the city's and the region's high-capacity transit needs."

Sound Transit and the city of Seattle will work early next year to craft an inter-local agreement before the planning work begins using these funds.

The published agenda for the Highline School District’s Dec. 14 board meeting set aside 20 minutes for comments regarding outgoing board president Sili Savusa.

But after more than an hour, the tributes to Savusa were still pouring in from grateful people throughout the region.

Typical were the comments from White Center Heights principal David Darling, who noted how well Savusa is known in the community.

“You know where she stands,” Darling declared. “She has been a strong advocate for social justice and equity, children and families. The school board needed her.”

Angelica Alvarez, who was elected to succeed Savusa as board president, told Savusa, “I’ve been privileged and honored to ride your coattails.” Alvarez said at regional conferences she receives respect because people say, “you’re with Sili.” Alvarez is also heading up the search for a new superintendent. A selection is expected to be made this spring.

Besides comments from fellow board members, Highline administrators and district teachers, representatives from regional organizations Savusa has been involved with added their praise.