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F EBRUARY 13, 2013
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXV, N O . 19
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
SKATING FOR BOOKS
Students
Without
a Home
Federal law prompts
better reporting but
numbers still shock
By Sheridan Smalley
Special To The Skanner News
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
T
Luna Negra a jammer for the Throttle Rockets tries to break through Grave Danger’s blockers during a bout between
the 2 teams Saturday at Key Arena. During halftime of the event celebrity librarian Nancy Pearl read “Where the
Wild Things Are,” a book selected by the audience as part of a fundraiser for First Book Seattle.
Madigan PTSD Center Probed
Army doctor suspended, claims retaliation for whistleblowing
SEATTLE (AP) — A 15-year
veteran Army doctor has been
suspended for alleged problems
with patient care, but Dr. Russel
Hicks said the suspension is
retaliation for providing infor-
mation on Madigan Army Med-
ical Center’s troubled PTSD
diagnosis program to investiga-
tors.
The psychiatrist was suspend-
ed in January from his hospital
duties because he allegedly
practiced outside the scope of
his clinical privileges and did
not properly document patient
records. During an initial inves-
tigation that could last a month
or more, he must refrain from
any diagnosis, prescriptions,
charting or treatment, The Seat-
tle Times (http://is.gd/bOMX-
AX) reported Saturday.
Hicks, in a letter to Madigan’s
credential’s committee, said he
believes the actions were in
retaliation for information he
offered Army investigators who
last year examined diagnoses of
post-traumatic stress disorder at
the hospital.
Hicks shared the documents
detailing his suspension with
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.
``We are absolutely looking
into this and will be making an
inquiry with the Army,’’ said
Matt McAlvanah, a spokesman
for the democrat.
The Jan. 17 memorandum
sent to Hicks does not detail any
specifics about the allegations
against the doctor or how his
conduct posed a risk to patients.
Hicks, in his response to the
memorandum, said the suspen-
sion was the first time he was
informed of any problems with
his care, and that he was con-
cerned his removal from prac-
tice could disrupt the care of
some of his patients addicted to
painkillers.
Madigan officials, citing fed-
eral privacy laws that protect
employees, said they could not
comment on the decision to
temporarily remove Hicks from
practice. They said such actions
See PTSD on page 3
INDEX
News ........................2,4
Calendar ....................2
Opinion .......................3
Bids/Classifieds............3
he roster of homeless students in
Washington State’s K-12 schools
reached a whopping 27,390 during
the 2011-12 school year, according to the
state Office of Superintendent of Public
Instruction.
That’s up almost 5 percent from the year
before and more than 46 percent from 2007-
08, when the recession first slammed area
families.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Nathan Olson,
state schools communications manager.
“One student homeless is heartbreaking,
27,000 is heartbreaking times 27,000.”
The latest number is based on reports of
school-district representatives, who submit
the number of students who are homeless in
their districts to the superintendent’s office.
The higher figure stems partly from better
reporting, Olson said, because the superin-
tendent’s office is working to increase
awareness of issue and connect families to
available services.
In recent years, the economic downturn
has continued to take its toll.
According to the federal Stewart B. McK-
inney-Vento Homeless Education Assis-
tance Act, students are considered homeless
if they “lack a fixed, regular and adequate
nighttime residence.” This includes a broad
array of living arrangements: motels, hotels,
shelters, cars, public spaces, abandoned
buildings, trailer parks, bus or train stations,
substandard housing or any other “public or
private place not designed for or ordinarily
used as a regular sleeping accommodation
for human beings.”
“It’s really a poverty issue more than any-
thing,” said Dinah Ladd, who works on the
issue for Seattle Public Schools.
She says the ways poverty impacts kids’
lives are as varied as the number of stu-
dents—the housing market, lost jobs, sud-
den illness, greater severity of needs and
See STUDENTS on page 3
Pro-Gun Rally Draws Hundreds to Capitol
Olympia one of the few statehouses that does not restrict firearms
By Andrew Garber
The Seattle Times
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — For Rep.
David Taylor, a gun is like an article of
clothing. He wears it everywhere — even
on the floor of the state House of Represen-
tatives.
``I’ve carried for so long that it’s second
nature to me. It’s almost like, if for some
reason I don’t have it with me, I feel like
I’m missing my wallet,’’ said Taylor, a two-
term Republican from Moxee, Yakima
County.
What Taylor does is legal, and he’s not
alone. Other state lawmakers say they, too,
have carried concealed weapons on the
Capitol campus and on the floor. In fact,
Washington’s Capitol is one of the few in
the country with no restrictions on firearms.
It’s part of the culture in Olympia, some-
thing that’s seldom discussed, rarely criti-
cized and speaks volumes about the split
between those who oppose most curbs on
gun ownership and those pressing for gun-
control legislation this session.
Over the years, the state Legislature has
proved a friendly place for gun rights. A
See RALLY on page 3