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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2013)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM N OVEMBER 13, 2013 S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON V OLUME XXXVI, N O . 6 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 HONORING VETERANS Schools Improve Slowly Melinda Gates gives U.S. education a C- plus grade OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BY LAWRENCE JACKSON By Donna Gordon Blankinship The Associated Press President Barack Obama greets Richard Overton, with Earlene Love-Karo, in the Blue Room of the White House, Nov. 11. Overton,107 years old and the oldest living World War II veteran, attended the Veteran’s Day Breakfast at the White House. State Moves to Extend Boeing Tax Breaks Washington lawmakers woo aerospace giant with financial incentives By Mike Baker Associated Press OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington lawmakers moved swiftly Saturday to extend aero- space tax breaks in a bid to sat- isfy Boeing Co. and win the manufacturing work that will come with the company’s new 777X production. The Legislature gave final approval to extend the tax incentives — worth a total pro- jected value of $9 billion — all the way to 2040. Lawmakers then adjourned their three-day session without taking up a transportation package that Gov. Jay Inslee had sought. Legislators from both parties touted the importance of the Boeing jobs, especially for the long-term. Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom, a Democ- rat who leads a largely Republi- can caucus, said the company has had an enormous impact on the state over the years and said the bill was a way to make sure it continues. ``It’s an incredible opportuni- INDEX News .....................2,3,6 Calendar ....................2 Opinion .......................4 A&E ..........................2,8 Bids/Classifieds............7 ty that we can keep this going for the next generation,’’ Tom said. Even though the tax breaks weren’t set to expire for several more years, Inslee called the Legislature back to Olympia this week for a special session dedicated to the Boeing bills. Along with the tax package, lawmakers voted to spend mil- lions of dollars on worker-train- ing programs and an effort to aid permitting for large aero- space manufacturing sites. Inslee said the bills were nec- essary in order to win the manu- facturing work that will come with Boeing’s new 777X pro- duction. He praised the biparti- san work that went into the package and said the deal will reverse the outflow of aerospace jobs from the state. ``This is an unprecedented guarantee that multiple genera- tions of aircraft will be built here right here in the state of Washington,’’ Inslee said. Democratic Sen. Bob Hasegawa was one of the two See BOEING on page 3 SEATTLE (AP) — Melinda Gates, one of the most influential women in American education, said this week she gives the U.S. public school system a C-plus, but adds there are spots of improvement that give her optimism for the future. Gates said she bases her assessment on international comparisons of student achievement and on the fact that only a frac- tion of American high school students are ready for college when they complete their studies. “I see pockets of improvements. The neat thing about the pockets of improvements is they’re getting larger all the time and they’re across the nation,’’ she told The Associated Press during an interview this week in her Seattle office overlooking the Space Needle at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Those pockets are growing in places like New Orleans and in Florida, New York, New Orleans and Colorado, Gates added, because districts are talking to each other and sharing their best practices. For the past decade, the Gates Foundation has studied education, influenced public policy and spent billions of dollars toward improving student outcomes by supporting education reform and demanding better results. Since 2000, the foundation has spent about $5 billion on education grants and scholarships. Their focus has influenced the national agenda, as the U.S. Department of Educa- tion has pushed for similar reforms such as adoption of the national academic standards known as the common core, as well as insisting on improvement in state teacher- evaluation systems. The foundation has given some states money and assistance to prepare their appli- cations for federal grant programs and some top officials in Washington, D.C., are for- See GATES on page 3 Gonzaga Gives Students Probation for Guns The pair say they used a handgun to scare off a transient intruder SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Gonzaga University has agreed to review its weapons policy as two students who used a pistol to drive an intruder from their apartment appeal their probation for having guns in their university-owned accommodation. ``As a Jesuit institution dedicated to thoughtful evaluation of complex social issues,’’ Gonzaga will use the incident to re- examine its policy, President Thayne McCulloh said in a weekend statement. The university informed the students, Erik Fagan, 21, and Daniel McIntosh, 23, over the weekend they were on probation and could be suspended or expelled for any more violations of the Spokane university’s code of conduct, The Spokesman-Review reported. Gonzaga should consider student safety above all else, said their lawyer, Dean Chuang. ``We’re glad that it didn’t have to end in tragedy for them to consider changing the policy there,’’ Chuang said. ``Our boys were armed and stopped a home invasion here.’’ A homeless man came to their door Oct. 24 demanding money and trying to force his way inside. See GONZAGA on page 3
