August 2020

To the editor:

I’m the type of student that goes after a challenge.

School is something I take seriously, and I believe education should be an area where we push students to excel. Unfortunately, I didn’t receive that push and drive at my previous brick-and-mortar school. I had a goal of attending college but felt that none of my classes were helping me reach that goal. Then I found online school.

After enrolling at Insight School of Washington (ISWA) I could choose more rigorous classes and not have about the distractions and social pressures of high school. I learned to have discipline and structure in my day so I could finish my classes and achieve my goals. I never felt alone as there was plenty of support available through counseling and academic tutoring.

To the editor:

I wanted to reach out and first of all, say thank you for your continued dedication to our community and public safety education and we could not do what we do without you!

Second, as we are still working on minimizing the spread of COVID and maintaining responsible social distancing efforts in King County, our leadership has decided that an in-house event would not be safe to hold this year; therefore it saddens us to share with you that we have officially cancelled the 2020 Kids Day Event. We are looking into the possibility of having a virtual event in the fall and please look for details and updates to follow in the coming weeks.

Shauna Sheppard

King County District #2

To the Editor:

Thank you for publishing the letter in your fine newspaper from Richard Lunt, where he shared the sad story of neglected Salmon Creek in Burien.  It is ironic that a local stream, called Salmon Creek for a reason, it used to have Salmon in it, and its over one mile of wonderful green space, is ignored by Burien city leaders.   

Several years ago, our youngest boy completed his Eagle Scout project there, doing a stream survey and removing over 1,000 pounds of trash along this wonderful watershed.  His goal was to start the process to get salmon back into this stream. During his Eagle project, we learned that the end of the stream has a concrete barrier installed by the land owner to keep salmon out, and the Burien road that services the neighborhoods there has a culvert that also will keep salmon out.  

By Ken Robinson

Managing Editor

I have just watched a  powerful documentary about the campaign for presidency of the Philippines. The story, which takes place over a four-year period,  is about the solo candidate, Rodrigo Duterte, and the efforts of a brave woman journalist to reveal this man’s dangerous nature.

There are strong parallels to the Trump administration in terms of style. Duterte is a ‘strongman’ candidate whose platform is to rid the Philippines of drugs. He employs a thuggish security man named ‘Bato’ who directs crews of enforcers to root out drug dealers and users.

In the so-called war on drugs, Bato/Duterte’s men killed 27,000 people, leaving a bloody trail through the city of Manila.

By Brendan Kolding

The City Council's decision to eliminate officers, specialty units, and resources from the Seattle Police Department is alarming, irresponsible, and reckless.  The stated purpose for this action is that the reduction in SPD's budget will free-up funds for alternative means of responding to some of the circumstances that have long been handled by the police, and yet these imagined programs are not yet in place.  The councilmembers who claimed to favor increased staffing for SPD have done an about-face and are forcing the Department to lay-off its newest and most culturally-diverse officers at a time when jobseekers are facing a challenging market.  

Update7:15pm

The power has been restored

Original Post 4:15pm

A power outage that began around 4:10pm on Thursday has affected 3639 City Light customers in the White Center and Highland Park Neighborhoods.

The outage extends from 112th SW at the south up past SW Trenton to the north. West to East it extends from 26th SW to 8th SW with pockets extending to 4th SW.

The cause is under investigation but restoration was not expected before 11pm according to City Light.

You can check the status of the syste by visiting

Seattle City Light System Status

http://www.seattle.gov/light/sysstat/Default.asp