March 2013

The latest Mensa member is a five-year old boy from the Gregory Heights neighborhood of Burien.

Wikipedia notes, “Mensa is the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardized, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test.”

Alex Schwieger is a first grader at Gregory Heights Elementary. He entered elementary school at age 4 last September.

According to his father, Bob Schwieger, Alex has been excelling at his educational requirements there.

“This prompted his Mom and I to have him tested and found out that his 135 IQ places him in the 99th percentile,” the proud father reports.

The West Seattle Herald and all the Robinson Newspapers (Highline Times/Des Moines News/SeaTac News, and Ballard News-Tribune) utilize an advanced commenting system called DISQUS that is found on many major websites around the world.

Commenting, as people who consume news on the internet know, can either be a very useful, informative and helpful addition to a story or can devolve into a litany of complaints or personal attacks. We moderate our comments very carefully and in general try to keep discussions civil and on topic.

DISQUS as a system is known for doing thoughtful updates to their functionality and they have now upgraded to the most recent version of the software. It's vastly improved over previous versions.

Here are some of the new features you now have access to:

• Fully real-time commenting that shows activity as it happens
• Improved social sharing to Twitter, Google+ or Facebook
• International language support

Delridge Produce Cooperative, the group that's been pushing to get some relief for the "food desert" along Delridge Way SW is changing their name as they move closer to creating a physical location. They are now the Delridge Grocery. In a note to followers they said, "Our steering committee believes that this name better represents what we will be selling (full range of grocery items) and reflects the community's vision of having a grocery store in Delridge."

They are also seeking new members to power the effort and are holding a Membership "Launch Lunch" event this month to get people to buy a membership, meet other future Delridge Grocery member/owners, share thoughts about the new store (opening June 2014), and... eat lunch. The event will also feature a raffle. That event is Saturday, March 23 from 11am to 1pm at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW and will be free.

They are asking those interested to RSVP on Facebook: http://bit.ly/dgmemberlaunch or by responding to via email to Delridge Produce Cooperative delridgeproducecoop@gmail.com .

When Susan Enfield took the job as Highline School District’s new superintendent in 2012, she started reaching out to staff and community to get a feel for the culture she was now charged with guiding into the future.

“One of the things I was struck by was … a deep sense of commitment and caring for the schools, (and) a lot of feeling sorry for our kids and their plight,” Enfield said, recalling her early days with the district while speaking to the White Center Chamber of Commerce on March 12.

“People would say, ‘We are so glad you are here but these students are so poor, and they speak other languages, and their parents have two jobs,’ and I got really good at nodding politely and smiling and then saying, ‘And there are children with those characteristics all over the country who are performing way better.’”

70 percent of Highline’s students are on free or reduced lunch, a barometer that Enfield said some (including herself) had become desensitized to. What that means, she said, is that 13,000 of Highline’s 18,000 students live in poverty.

When Susan Enfield took the job as Highline School District’s new superintendent in 2012, she started reaching out to staff and community to get a feel for the culture she was now charged with guiding into the future.

“One of the things I was struck by was … a deep sense of commitment and caring for the schools, (and) a lot of feeling sorry for our kids and their plight,” Enfield said, recalling her early days with the district while speaking to the White Center Chamber of Commerce on March 12.

“People would say, ‘We are so glad you are here but these students are so poor, and they speak other languages, and their parents have two jobs,’ and I got really good at nodding politely and smiling and then saying, ‘And there are children with those characteristics all over the country who are performing way better.’”

70 percent of Highline’s students are on free or reduced lunch, a barometer that Enfield said some (including herself) had become desensitized to. What that means, she said, is that 13,000 of Highline’s 18,000 students live in poverty.

Beard and Stache Fest

What: Throughout the month there will be a plethora of beard related festivities at our voting locations. You don’t have to have a face full of fur to participate in any of the month long events, we love the follicular challenged as well and our main goal is a have a good time, celebrate facial hair and most importantly make a difference. All donations benefit Treehouse, which is committed to improving the lives of kids living in foster care

$1 from every pint of Guinness sold tonight goes to Treehouse

Where: Old Pequliar (1722 NW Market St)

When: Friday, March 15, 2013 - All night

More info: http://www.beardandstachefest.com

Town hall with 36th Dist. Legislators

What: State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles and state Reps. Reuven Carlyle and Gael Tarleton, D-Seattle (36th Legislative District) gather for a town hall meeting to meet with constituents to discuss issues and answer their questions about the current legislative session.

Where: City University of Seattle (Vancouver/Calgary Room), 521 Wall St., Seattle

When: Saturday, March 16, 2013 - 11:00am - 12:30pm

Price: Free

By Cassandra Baker

12:15 a.m., May 9. 22nd block of NW 58th St

Video surveillance caught a woman breaking into an apartment building and stealing a computer hard drive and … a mop bucket. The suspect gained entry by breaking a key fob lock on the building, then entered the conference room and used the computer. When the suspect had finished, she broke the computer off of its wall mount and stole the hard drive. She then grabbed a mop bucket and fled the building.

The surveillance video showed that the crime occurred between 11:15 p.m. and 12:15 a.m. The suspect appeared to be a white female in her early 20s. No staff at the apartment building recognized her.

1:47 a.m., March 7. 52nd block of Ballard Ave NW

Dear Editor;

For the past three years, it has been an extraordinary honor to be President of the White Center Chamber of Commerce. The 14 members of the Chamber Board of Directors have been fantastic, and to the person, they are passionate and excited about the future of White Center. Proudly, they are also doing much of the community building needed in any community if it is to move forward.

Many of your readers see some of our many Chamber successes every day. Our five new “Welcome” signs in 50 languages, our new VisitWhiteCenter.com website, where over 200 White Center businesses are listed for free, and our dozens of colorful murals that grace walls throughout White Center that were previously graffiti sites.

King County Executive and West Seattle resident Dow Constantine kicked off his 2013 re-election campaign Thursday night, March 14, at the Hall of Fauntleroy in West Seattle.

Introducing him were King County Councilmembers Larry Gossett, & Joe McDermott. Supporters present included Dow's father and mother, John and Lois, and Dow's brother Blair.

Other politicians present were State Senator and Senator Majority Leader Ed Murray, new Port Commissioner Courtney Gregoire, the former governor's daughter, King County Sheriff John Urquhart, King County Assessor Lloyd Hara.

Also there, Tim Nuse, 34th District Democrats Executive Board Member of the Year, Pete Spaulding, active member of the West Seattle Food Bank board, Southwest Precinct Advisory Council, the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council and other community groups, and other politicos.

"I support Dow," said King County Sheriff Urquhart told the Highline Times. "I think he's been a great county executive, and he has been especially supportive to law enforcement and that's what matters to me."

Seattle Public Schools will host a series of five community meetings sharing information and seeking comments about updating the District’s current Strategic Plan, Excellence for All.

Public input will be considered in making an updated version of the plan.

The updated plan will then guide academic and operational priorities for the next three to five years and include ongoing benchmarking to measure the District’s performance.

The community meetings will be held:

· Monday, April 1, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Eckstein Middle School auditorium, 3003 N.E. 75th St. (Interpreters available in Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Amharic and Tigrigna)

· Tuesday, April 2, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Chief Sealth International High School auditorium, 2600 S.W. Thistle (Interpreters available in Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Chinese, Tagalog, Amharic)