WWW . THESKANNER . COM
J ULY 4, 2012
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXIV, N O . 27
25
CENTS
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Have a Safe Fourth
C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
LUNCHTIME!
Health
Act
Upheld
Democrats celebrate
health care ruling,
continue with reforms
PHOTO BY JULIE KEEFE
By Rachel La Corte
The Associated Press
John James and Ghetai Scott, monitors with the Seattle Human Services Department’s Summer Food Service Program
pass out nutritious meals to kids, June 26 at the Jefferson Community Center at the kick off event for the free summer
meal program for kids. The U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded program is open to children at over 100 sites
across the city. For a complete list of sites and hours for the Summer Food Service Program, please call 206-386-1140
or visit www.seattle.gov/summerfood.
D-Day Launched for Plastic Bags
Controversial ban kicks off with widescale reusable bag giveaways
Single-use plastic carryout
bags became a thing of the past
on Sunday, July 1, but Seattle
shoppers can quickly make the
transition to reusable bags
thanks to several local stores
that will be giving them away
for free.
Seattle Public Utilities (SPU)
is partnering with several Seat-
tle retailers, including all 16
Safeway stores, to give away
more than 32,000 free reusable
bags to shoppers — half from
Safeway, half from SPU —
while supplies last. Bags will be
given to shoppers first-come,
first-served beginning Sunday,
the first day of the plastic bag
ban.
“We’re already seeing lots of
shoppers using reusable bags
and are pleased to see support
for this effort from so many
Seattle retailers,” said City
Councilmember Mike O’Brien,
who spearheaded the plastic
grocery bag ban legislation.
“The switch from plastic to
reusable bags means that 16
fewer shipping containers — or
8 railroad cars — of garbage
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will be shipped to the landfill
every year.”
Other stores partnering with
SPU to give free bags to cus-
tomers include Hing Dong Mar-
ket
in
the
Chinatown
International District, Kress
IGA Downtown and the Crown
Hill and Aurora Grocery Out-
lets. Free bags will not be avail-
able until Sunday.
Leading up to the July 1 ban,
SPU mailed 10,000 notices to
retailers and made nearly 500
in-person and phone contacts
with Seattle stores to help them
prepare for the ban on light-
weight, single-use plastic carry-
out bags. SPU has also prepared
flyers in 15 languages, includ-
ing English, with information
about the bag ban. They are
available along with other infor-
mation about the plastic bag ban
at www.seattle.gov/plasticbag-
ban.
The bag ban ordinance, which
was unanimously approved by
the Seattle City Council in
December 2011, prohibits all
Seattle retail stores from provid-
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Democrats in
Washington state celebrated Thursday’s
U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding
President Barack Obama’s health care over-
haul, and key officials said the state is on
track to continue implementing reforms.
In a 5-4 ruling, the court upheld virtually
all of the law, including the contentious
individual insurance requirement.
Washington state Insurance Commission-
er Mike Kreidler said that the months of
uncertainty over what the ruling would be
had been ``one of those dark clouds that
hung over our heads.’’
Kreidler said state officials had been
``proceeding at full speed’’ and called the
ruling ``vindication’’ of the work the state
has already done.
``We feel a lot of relief,’’ he said.
Gov. Chris Gregoire called it a historic
decision ``that will allow Washington to
continue as a leader in providing access to
quality, affordable health care to its resi-
dents.’’
While several reforms are currently in
place in the state, several benefits and pro-
grams won’t take effect until 2014, includ-
ing an expansion of Medicaid for 328,000
low-income adults who don’t have children,
and the ban preventing insurance companies
from denying people coverage if they’re
sick.
Online insurance exchanges are key to the
federal health care law, and in March, Gre-
goire signed into law a bill setting rules for
insurers preparing for the state’s online
insurance exchange set to go live on Jan. 1,
2014.
Kreidler said the state has made signifi-
cant progress on readying the state for the
full implementation of the law, but said
there’s still a lot of work to do.
``There’s a heavy workload in front of us
leading up to 2014,’’ he said. Kreidler said
See BAGS on page 4
See ACT on page 2
King County Kicks Off River Safety
New signs, mailer part of County effort to keep river users safe this
T
he promise of long summer days in
the Pacific Northwest might have res-
idents thinking about heading out for
a quick swim or raft trip – but it definitely
has King County health and safety officials
raising awareness about river safety.
Even though the air is warmer, the rivers
are still cold and the King County Depart-
ment of Natural Resources and Parks, Pub-
lic Health – Seattle & King County, and
King County Sheriff’s Office are urging
recreationalists to exercise caution around
open water.
Public health and safety officials this
week are kicking into high gear a campaign
to heighten awareness of river dangers and
what people can do to help prevent drown-
ings. A mailer that urges life jacket use and
provides other river safety information –
including resources for affordable and dis-
counted lifejackets — will be sent to more
than 30,000 addresses within about one mile
of major King County river recreation areas.
And new signage is being installed at
riverside recreation areas. The yellow signs
– reading: “Warning, River is Dangerous” –
are going up at more than a dozen popular
river put-in locations on King County Parks
See SAFETY on page 4