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A PRIL 17, 2012
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXV, N O . 28
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
YOUTH OF THE YEAR
CIA Has
The Most
Fake IDs
Legislative effort tries
to limit the practice
in law enforcement
See MATH on page 3
See FAKE ID on page 3
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
Steers, the district’s assessment
coordinator. More are still strug-
gling to meet the writing or
reading requirements.
“I would say 90 percent of
them are really trying,’’ she
said. ``They’re sweating bul-
lets.’’
The district has an assessment
intervention specialist at most
of its high schools and these stu-
dents are getting help, Seers
said, including getting extra
assistance from teachers and
taking special classes.
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A Washing-
ton Department of Licensing program that
supplied fake licenses for undercover offi-
cers issued the most fake IDs to the Central
Intelligence Agency and Defense Depart-
ment, the Kitsap Sun reported.
In response to a public records request, the
department last month showed the newspa-
per and public radio’s Northwest News Net-
work a list of agencies issued confidential
licenses since 2007. The CIA topped the list
with 288, followed by the Defense Depart-
ment with 198, then followed mostly by
police agencies in the state, such as the Kit-
sap County sheriff’s office and Bremerton
Police Department, the Kitsap Sun reported
Monday.
But, when the department released the list
Friday by email, it lumped together all fed-
eral law enforcement agencies without nam-
ing them, saying that’s classified.
``A lot of information that was compiled
should not have been discussed,’’ DOL
spokesman Brad Benfield said, citing a
nondisclosure agreement some DOL
employees signed with the U.S. govern-
ment.
“We simply can’t talk about it anymore
without further putting ourselves in legal
jeopardy,’’ Benfield said Monday.
The category of all federal law enforce-
ment agencies accounted for 595 licenses,
or 53 percent of the 1,121 issued.
The CIA refused to comment to the Kitsap
Sun. The Defense Department would ``not
characterize or otherwise discuss our partic-
ipation in this program,’’ spokesman Lt.
Col. Tom Crosson said.
“Naval Criminal Investigative Service
does use a few confidential licenses for
undercover purposes,’’ NCIS spokesman Ed
Buice said. ``Beyond that it would be coun-
terproductive for us to comment in any
greater detail.’’
The program was secret until the paper’s
public records request prompted the Depart-
ment of Licensing to request legislation to
Yerenia Urbina accepted the Youth Volunteers of the Year Award from Mothers for Police Accountability for the
organization Rainier Transit Justice Youth at the 16th Annual Paul Robeson Peace and Justice Awards Celebration
Saturday, April 13, at the Central Area Senior Center. The annual event honors people and organizations in the
community who exemplify the ideals of peace, justice and unity that Paul Robeson fought for.
Chaos Over Math Requirement
Thousands may not graduate because of newest standardized test
By Donna Gordon
Blankinship
Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) Thousands
of high school students in Wash-
ington’s Class of 2013 don’t
know yet if they will get a diplo-
ma later this spring because they
have not yet met the state’s
newest graduation requirement:
a math exam.
Most of their fellow seniors
have met their requirements:
77.5 percent of this year’s sen-
ior class have passed three
statewide tests, are in line to
earn all their credits, and are
ready to complete a senior proj-
ect and write a plan for what
they want to do after high
school. Those percentages look
good, considering Washington’s
on-time graduation rate has
hovered just below 80 percent
for the past few years.
But about 16,000 students
across the state don’t yet know
if they will need a cap and gown
in a couple of months.
The class of 2013 is the first
expected to pass either an alge-
INDEX
News .....................2,3,6
Calendar ....................2
Opinion .......................4
Bids/Classifieds............7
bra or geometry test to graduate,
although high school students
have been taking statewide
math exams for years.
About 8,000 students in the
class of 2013 have not yet ful-
filled the math testing require-
ment and another 4,300 have
not met any of the state testing
requirements for reading, writ-
ing or math. About 3,800 still
need to pass one or two tests.
Nearly 80 students in Seattle
Public Schools are in danger of
not graduating, just because of
the new math test, said Nancy
Judge Backs Law Over Mentally Ill
Doctors, not judges, should decide whether patients are released
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) A Pierce County
Superior Court judge is backing the current
state law on when the mentally ill should be
released from Western State Hospital in
Lakewood.
While reversing a March 13 ruling by a
court commissioner in a case concerning
two women committed to Western State
more than two dozen times, Judge Jerry
Costello said Friday he agrees that with the
state law that says doctors, not judges
should make commitment decisions, The
News Tribune reported in Saturday’s news-
paper.
Recently, both women were released
despite court orders to detain them.
One woman, 27, is a convicted sex
offender, and has been institutionalized in
various settings since the age of 14. The
hospital released her eight days after a court
order involuntarily committed her for 90
days. A day later, she assaulted staff mem-
bers at an assisted-living facility.
The other woman, 44, is prone to self-
mutilation, including stabbing herself in the
abdomen and swallowing razor blades. The
hospital released her in January, two months
before the expiration of a 180-day commit-
See LAW on page 3