November 2008

West Seattle students could see some major changes in the Washington's standardized student assessment testing with the recent election of Randy Dorn as the state's superintendent of public instruction.

Dorn, a former state lawmaker, teacher and principal emphasized a desire to replace the Washington Assessment of Student Learning for an alternative standardized test during his campaign.

"Schools should be about hope, opportunity and opening doors for all students," said Dorn.

The nonprofit Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle and King County says requests for emergency grocery bags is up over 25 percent over last year, while donations to the program have remained essentially static.

As the holiday season approaches, it is unclear whether there will be enough food available to meet the needs of our most vulnerable neighbors.

King County Sheriff's Detective Joe Gagliardi told participants in a gang awareness seminar that the problem in King County is growing, but there is hope.

"We are not Los Angeles," he said.

State Sen. Joe McDermott concluded his two-class, non-partisan seminar on the 2008 election process and while personally satisfied with election night's Obama-mania, he made an effort to give a balanced take on events.

The first class was held a week prior to the elections, the second a week after. And while his re-election bid was unopposed, there were surprises and confusion to aspects of the state and national races. During the first class, McDermott tackled Washington State's complicated caucus and primary system.

A 55-year-old Beach Drive resident was arrested for DUI, assault on an officer, refusal to stop, and reckless driving after she nearly crushed an officer in an attempt to drive off from the Luna Park parking lot. Following arrest, she spent the remainder of the evening banging her head against the cell bars, crying and howling.

Hooray for alert citizens who called 911 to report suspicious activity in North Admiral last week.

Thank you for your editorial emphasizing the importance of patronizing our community of West Seattle merchants (Nov. 5).

As West Seattleites, we are so fortunate to have a variety of shopping, dining and service options in our neighborhood; everything from mom and pops that have remained constant for decades, to independent stores, to larger, national chains. Yet this healthy mix of merchants should not be taken for granted. In these uncertain economic times, it is crucial more than ever to spend our dollars close to home.

Patsy Cline is one of the most revered and most admired singers in the history of country music, in any genre for that matter. Her legacy is her subtle style of melding blues, country and heartache into beautiful music.

In the play Always...

More than half of all kindergartners in our state are entering school without the social, emotional, physical and cognitive skills they need to be successful.

After more than two decades of controversy and construction, the third runway at Sea-Tac International Airport is set to open for commercial airline flights on Thursday, Nov. 20.

With the delays, costs for the 150-ft-wide, 17-inch thick, 8,500-foot runway ballooned to $1.2 billion.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and acting Federal Aviation Administration administrator Robert Sturgell are scheduled to fly in to join Gov. Chris Gregoire and other dignitaries for an invitation-only ceremony around 3 p.m. Nov.

The Highline area will receive three new light rail stations, funds for Burien's transit center, a rebuilt Tukwila commuter station and expanded express bus service as a result of the passage of Sound Transit's Proposition One on the Nov. 4 ballet.

"This is a vote of generosity for the next generation," declared King County Chairwoman Julia Patterson.

Patterson noted that a similar mass transit proposition was turned down by voters in 1968.