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M ARCH 20, 2013
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXV, N O . 24
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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
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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