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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 2013)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM J ANUARY 16, 2013 S EATTLE , W ASHIGTON V OLUME XXXV, N O . 15 25 CENTS For The Skanner news alerts Text "NEWS" to 503-715-0890 or scan this QR code C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW S TA N D U P New Police Panel PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Mayor appoints Community Police Commission Julie Weitz and Teri McClain joined hundreds of people at the StandUp Washington - March and Rally Against Gun Violence On Sunday Jan. 13. Participants marched from Westlake Park to Seattle Center Mural Amphitheater to remember the teachers and children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and demand the state legislature and Governor do something to curb gun violence in Washington. Seattle Preps for Climate Change Parts of Interbay, Georgetown, South Park, West Seattle may flood SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle officials predict that parts of the city will be under water as the shoreline creeps higher due to global climate change. City agencies are calculating the local effects of climate change and how to respond and adapt to protect people and infrastructure, The Seattle Times reported. Agencies were preparing for more intense heat, protecting the new downtown sea wall under construction and calculat- ing the number of pump stations and outfalls that would be under water, as they anticipate sea- level rise caused by heat-trap- ping greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere by humans. Calculations by the Washing- ton Climate Impacts Group and the Washington Department of Ecology published in 2008 pre- dict a sea-level rise in Seattle of six inches by 2050. Less-likely scenarios are sea-level rises of three inches on the low end and 22 inches on the high end, the Times reported. INDEX News ........................2,4 Calendar ....................2 Opinion .......................3 Bids/Classifieds............3 A green ribbon commission has come up with recommenda- tions to respond to climate changes. City council members have scheduled a news conference Monday to unveil a map show- ing neighborhoods of Seattle, including parts of Interbay, Georgetown, South Park, West Seattle, Harbor Island and Gold- en Gardens, that are likely to be flooded by rising sea levels. ``We did this map to under- stand impacts on our infrastruc- ture,’’ Paul Fleming, manager of climate and sustainability for Seattle Public Utilities, told the Times. ``In the big picture, this isn’t just about sea-level rise. It’s about drinking water, urban flooding, and how we design new projects.’’ Seattle’s water supply is in the central Cascade Mountains, so it won’t be infiltrated by seawater creeping toward groundwater. But as the sea creeps upward, water supply, drainage and wastewater infrastructure possi- bly could be affected by every- See CLIMATE on page 3 SEATTLE - Mayor Mike McGinn this week announced his appointments to the new Community Police Commission. The new panel is intended to become a partnership between the police department, its officers, community members and public officials. “Public safety relies on public trust and engagement,” said McGinn. “That’s why I proposed the creation of a Community Police Commission as part of our agreement with the Department of Justice to implement reforms in the Seattle Police Department.” The members of the Commission include Rev. Harriet Walden, co-founder of Mothers for Police Accountability; Rev. Aaron Williams, Mount Zion Baptist Church, sen- ior pastor; and Marcel Purnell, Youth Undo- ing Institutional Racism, among many others. McGuinn says the role of the Commission is to support the development of reforms, establishment of police priorities and mech- anisms to promote community confidence in the Seattle Police Department. The Commission’s 15 members are appointed by the Mayor and are subject to City Council confirmation. The agreement requires that one member from the Seattle Police Officers Guild and one member from the Seattle Police Man- agement Association sit on the Commission. The remaining 13 members were selected from applicants who reside or work in Seat- tle and include residents from each of the five geographic police precincts. “I thank all the members of this new com- mission for volunteering their time and experience to help build trust in our police force by working to develop reforms and engage the larger Seattle community,” McGinn said this week. The co-chairs of the Community Police Commission are Lisa Daugaard and Diane Narasaki. Claudia D’Allegri, Sea Mar Community Health Centers, vice president of Behavioral See POLICE on page 3 Flu Now ‘Widespread’ in Washington Six people have died of the flu so far this season, including a child By Doug Esser The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Fever, cough and headache caused by the flu are now wide- spread in Washington, the state Department of Health said Friday. Previously the flu had been at a regional level. It was upgraded in a new report, meaning the flu is in more than half of the communities in the state, said spokesman Donn Moyer. Widespread flu is not unusual, but the activity appears to be increasing and could be worse than the previous two seasons, which were considered mild, Moyer said. ``We get to widespread flu activity in our state almost every season,’’ Moyer said. The activity seems to be a little early. It typically peaks in January and February. ``We’re ramping up,’’ Moyer said. Six people have died of the flu so far this season, including one child, all in Western Washington. There were 18 flu deaths in 2011-2012 and 36 the previous year. The most state deaths were 98 in the swine flu season of 2009-2010. ``Every one of these deaths is tragic, espe- See FLU on page 3
