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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2013)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM M ARCH 20, 2013 S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON V OLUME XXXV, N O . 24 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 College Bound Scholars KIDS DAY Program offers full college tuition for low-income students By Simon Thwaits Special To The Skanner News E PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Quincy, 3, works on a collage during Kid’s Day at the Northwest African American Museum. The museum celebrated its fifth birthday March 16 with a variety of activities for children and their parents including touring the galleries, creating art and enjoying a performance be the Ugandan Orphans Choir. State Picks Pot Consultant Firm Massachusetts-based firm Botec Analysis will advise on new law By Gene Johnson The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Washing- ton State has tentatively chosen a Massachusetts-based firm led by a University of California, Los Angeles, professor to be its official marijuana consultant. Botec Analysis Corp. is based in Cambridge, and has evaluat- ed government programs and provided consulting relating to drug abuse, crime and public health. Losing bidders for the contract can protest the award, but if it stands, Botec will advise Washington state offi- cials as they develop rules for the state’s new industry in legal, taxed marijuana. The Washington State Liquor Control Board scheduled an announcement on the award of the contract for Tuesday morn- ing, but it sent an email to losing bidders Monday letting them know who won. A copy of the email was provided to The Associated Press. Botec is headed by Mark Kleiman, a professor of public INDEX News .....................2,3,6 Calendar ....................2 Opinion .......................4 Bids/Classifieds............7 policy at UCLA. Kleiman declined to comment Monday afternoon, saying he did not want to pre-empt the board’s public announcement. Washington and Colorado last year became the first states to pass laws legalizing the recre- ational use of marijuana and set- ting up systems of state-licensed growers, processors and retail stores where adults over 21 can walk in and buy up to an ounce of heavily taxed cannabis. Sales are expected to begin at the end of the year at the earliest. The votes left state officials with a daunting task: figuring out how to build a huge pot industry from scratch. The state’s Liquor Control Board must determine how many growers and stores there should be, how much pot should be produced, how it should be packaged, and how it should be tested to ensure people don’t get sick. The board is doing a lot of its own research, with buttoned-up bureaucrats traveling to grow See POT on page 3 ligible seventh and eighth graders are being urged by prominent local edu- cation figures and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn to sign up for the College Bound Scholarship Program, which will provide full tuition for college. The College Bound program gives low- income students the opportunity to go to college and learn the skills needed for jobs of the future – but students must sign up for the program by June 30 of their eighth grade year. “You get your college tuition paid for,” said McGinn at a press conference earlier this month at the University of Washington. “We want to make sure 100 percent of our eligible eighth graders in Seattle enroll in the scholarship.” “It’s expected that by 2018, 67 percent of jobs in Washington State are going to require postsecondary education,” said Karen Tollenaar Demorest of the Alliance for Education, a fundraising and advocacy group that works with Seattle Public Schools. Families are eligible for the program if they meet one of four family income requirements: their annual income falls below a certain level (a simple table to determine this is available online at wsac.wa.gov), the student is eligible for the federal free or reduced lunch program, the family currently receives basic food/Tempo- rary Assistance for Needy Families benefits, or the student is currently in foster care or is a dependent of the state. The College Bound Scholarship is offered through the Washington Student Achieve- ment Council, a state agency founded in 2012. It also works on other education issues and provides resources for students to learn about preparing and paying for col- lege. “The main thing is, families who are eligi- See COLLEGE on page 3 Drone Regulation Dies in Legislature Defense industry scuttles effort despite widespread support By Manuel Valdes The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Despite having sup- port from Democrats, Republicans, civil lib- erties advocates and those concerned over government intrusion, a measure regulating the use and purchases of drones by state agencies and local municipalities died in Olympia without getting a vote from any chamber. Lawmakers said there wasn’t enough time: At the House, the grappling over gun background checks ate up the clock before a voting deadline. In the Senate, a chair said proposed changes to the bill weren’t ready in time to clear his committee. But the bill also saw opposition from one of the most influential players in Olympia: The Boeing Co. The aerospace manufactur- er, one of the largest employers in the state, argued the bill would hurt future jobs in the growing unmanned aerial vehicle industry. “In our view, WA state House Bill 1771 did not provide a sufficiently thorough and thoughtful framework. Further, we believe that as the technology matures, best prac- tices and new understanding will emerge, See DRONES on page 3
