February 2006

West Seattle High School's 4-period day being re-examined

Rebekah Schilperoort

After 12 years as a school standard, the four-period day at West Seattle High School is being formally questioned for its effectiveness through a district audit.

Last week, about 50 concerned parents, faculty and school district representatives met in the West Seattle High Library to discuss the relevance of the structure.

Each class is 85 minutes long with a four-period day, and students complete a traditional year curriculum in one semester.

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Famed Otto Lang dies at 98

Otto Lang, a West Seattle legend of skiing, movie and TV production, books and photography, died at his Admiral District home Jan. 30 at age 98.

Lang was born in 1908 in Bosnia and grew up near Sarajevo. His mother was Croatian but his father was Austrian. Back then, Bosnia was part of the Hapsburg Empire.

Young Otto and his father attended the 1914 Sarajevo visit of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. That was when the archduke was assassinated, the event which touched off World War I.

After the war, the Lang family moved to Salzburg, Austria.

Neighborhood
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Backlog of transportation projects waits in budget line

Streetcars are more feasible for West Seattle than light rail, said Grace Crunican, director of the Seattle Department of Transportation.

Crunican, who lives in the Admiral District, made her comment at a King County Council roundtable discussion about transportation issues at the Aerospace Machinists Industrial District Lodge in South Park. About 125 people attended.

A new high-occupancy vehicle ramp is planned from the elevated Spokane Street Viaduct down to Fourth Avenue South, Crunican said.

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Legislative Roll Call

Y = Yes N = No E = Excused NV = Not Voting

Changing the Primary Election Date

By a vote of 37 to 11 on Feb. 1, the Senate approved SB 6236. The bill would change the primary date to the 3rd Tuesday in August (currently the state primary election is held either the third Tuesday in September or the seventh Tuesday before the general election, whichever is earlier).

Neighborhood
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Options for children in emergencies

I'm not the only one, am I? It was only recently that I realized I should think in advance about exactly where I would take my kids in a medical emergency. Of course I'd thought about where the closest hospitals are, but it hadn't occurred to me that there might be major differences among emergency rooms.

Thankfully, this realization was not brought on by a crisis but by a wonderful resource, The City Parent Handbook, by Kathy Bishop and Julia Whitehead.

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