Hello, my name is Machel Spence and my daughter is a second-grader at Pathfinder K-8 School.
For the past week I have been working with Pathfinder to put in place a protocol of sorts for children with peanut/nut allergies.
The YMCA of Greater Seattle has been a volunteer-driven agency since its founding in 1876. We could not serve our communities as we do without the support of thousands of volunteers who give so generously at the YMCA each year.
Last week, the YMCA honored its Volunteers of the Year from 2006 at the YMCA's annual meeting at Benaroya Hall. These volunteers stand out from their peers because of their dedication and passion for service, and for the value they have added to the YMCA with their time and talent.
We as a region have a chance this fall to expand our regional light rail system by up to 60 miles and give commuters even more alternatives to sitting in traffic on our overcrowded freeways. The proposed Sound Transit 2 package enhances the rail transit system we're building today. This is work the region should have approved back in the 1960s and 1970s.
West Seattle is fondly remembering Charlie Chong, the diminutive Admiral district resident who led a West Seattle uprising against the city's 1994 "urban village" vision of the future, was elected to the Seattle City Council, and made three runs at mayor.
Chong died April 26 of post-operative complications unrelated to surgery. He was 80.
Chief Sealth High School can now be called a "world school" since receiving approval to host the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, rigorous college prep curriculum for 11th- and 12th-graders.
Operated by a nonprofit educational foundation, the program was created as a common university entrance credential with an international focus on diversity and culture.
Students who complete the full two-year program starting this fall would be eligible to enter colleges and universities across the country with sophomore standing, including at the University of Washington.
A little more than two months on the job, West Seattle High's new principal Bruce Bivins has had his hands full with staff and student needs, a budget deadline and issues surrounding the school's block schedule system.
But his biggest charge as principal is to ensure everyone works together on a common direction and vision for the school and the students, Bivins said.
"The bottom line is that students and students' work has to be at the center of every conversation," he said.
It hasn't been easy for people trying to get something to eat at the old West Seattle Food Bank. Often about 20 families patiently stood in line on the sidewalk, sometimes in the rain, with cars full of prying eyes on nearby Fauntleroy Way.
But at the new West Seattle Food Bank and Community Service Center, which opened this week, people needing food will have an indoor waiting area with chairs, restrooms, and a corner devoted to children.
There's also space in the new waiting area for staff to help people appIy for job training or food stamps.
Studies to determine the feasibility of bringing light rail to West Seattle and Ballard will be included in the "Roads and Transit" plan that will be put to voters in the autumn.
The Sound Transit board of directors accepted the study proposals and made them part of a whole package of transportation projects the agency will ask voters to approve next fall.
A city inspector interrupted workers who were installing a new cell phone tower without a permit April 24 atop the same Alki apartment building where two other cellular phone companies applied to expand their own communications equipment.
Workers for the wireless broadband company Clearwire were able to install some rooftop equipment before neighbors alerted the Seattle Department of Planning and Development.
"It appeared that an antenna was put up," said Alan Justad, department spokesman.
Thanks to an appropriation of the Washington Legislature, a neighborhood center at High Point is within $2.5 million of the $10 million having enough money to build an 18,500 square-foot building.
The Legislature included $2 million for the construction of a neighborhood center in West Seattle in the budget for the next biennium.
The High Point Neighborhood Center will house services for families including multilingual programs and activities to enhance families and to promote self-reliance.
