The skanner., July 23, 2014, Page 3, Image 3

News
Veteran
Gaza Protest
continued from page 1
Genese said activists had come across the Bartons’ case as
part of a larger campaign against eviction they have waged
for about a year and a half.
As the activists set up a press conference, Genese says the
King County Sheriff decided in late June not to carry out
the eviction.
“Two days before we had the press conference, the sheriff
showed up and saw Barton and said, in good conscience I
can’t carry out the eviction today. Not in good conscience,”
Genese says.
“The sheriff’s action was the first bit of good luck we
have had in this fight.”
But he said Triangle upped their pressure on the authori-
ties by taking them to court.
It all came to a head last Thursday, Genese says, when
county officials told the activists they would carry out the
eviction; overnight, the activists organized a blockade.
By Friday morning, the Bartons’ front yard became the
scene of a tense standoff between activists, King County
Sheriffs, Seattle Police and the emergency technicians driv-
ing an ambulance called – without apparent explanation to
his wife or supporters — to take Byron Barton to the Veter-
ans Administration hospital.
Seattle City Councilor Kshama Sawant visited the scene,
expressed support for the couple, and witnessed the ambu-
lance showdown.
“Sheriffs showed up, police showed up — there was one
About 500 people gathered
near westlake Park in Seattle on
Saturday, July 19, to protest the
siege of Gaza. Protesters took to
the streets around the world.
Sunday was the deadliest day
of the Israeli bombardment of
the tiny region. uS President
Barack Obama called for an
“immediate ceasefire.”
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
By Friday morning, the Bartons’
front yard became the scene
of a tense standoff
point in which an ambulance was brought to take Byron
away,” Genese said.
“Byron obviously didn’t want to leave – they were taking
him against his will.
Kids
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in child well-being, and compares states on
16 measures in four different sections: Eco-
nomic well being; Education; Health; and
Family and Community.
The state rated best overall for child well
being was Massachusetts, followed by Ver-
mont ranked second and Iowa at third. At
the bottom of the overall rankings were
Mississippi at 50th, New Mexico at 49th
and Nevada 48th.
Washington ranked higher than Oregon
based on its stronger economy and better
results in the economy, education and fami-
ly and community categories. Oregon did
best in the child health section, ranking at
7th in the country. Washington also ranked
high in the child health section, ranking 9th.
The rankings look at measures that
research has identified as important to chil-
dren’s well-being and long-term chances for
success. Being born into poverty, for exam-
ple, is closely linked to a range of negative
outcomes for children.
“We know that kids who grow up in
poverty often have a low level of chronic
trauma in their lives,” Pfingst says. “It does-
n’t have to be true, but oftentimes it is true
that kids in very, very low-income or no-
income families don’t have adequate
nutrition or adequate healthcare. Their edu-
cation can suffer because of instability or
reflect the challenges families face today.
Washington’s tax system is the most regres-
sive in the country, she says, meaning the
poorest families pay more than their fair
share. Seattle’s decision to increase the min-
imum wage will benefit poor children, she
‘We know that kids who grow up in poverty often
have a low level of chronic trauma in their lives’
problems at home. All of those factors cre-
ate a kind of chronic stress in their lives that
is very, very difficult to recover from.”
Nationally, the report says children’s lives
have improved overall on a wide range of
measures since the foundation first pub-
lished the report 25 years ago. However, the
recession reversed that steady progress,
plunging more families into poverty, and
increasing the numbers of children whose
parents are unemployed.
Pfingst said government policies, many
created 40 years ago, should be updated to
said. That’s a start.
“Wage policy is one thing we can do,” she
says. “At the state level we can pass Earned
Income Tax Credit, which would be a big
boost to the finances of low-income work-
ing families. Right now it’s not funded. We
can also make sure all workers have access
to paid sick leave. We could increase our
subsidies for child care so that child care is
affordable, and we could expand the system
so everyone has access to it.”
Hunt offered a similar analysis, saying
Oregon’s families need more support if chil-
dren are to succeed.
“If we want people to be able to work and
support their families while not living in
poverty, that means we have to look at what
our minimum wage laws are and need to be,
and also what our tax structure is doing to
protect and support our lowest income
workers.”
The cost of childcare in Oregon is among
the highest in the nation, Hunt said. But the
state employment related daycare program,
which helps low-income families pay for
high quality daycare can’t meet the need.
“ We are not able to support as many fam-
ilies as are eligible for the program,” Hunt
says. “So the program fills and other people
are just out of luck. They want to stay in the
workforce. They want to make a livable
wage for their families. But they need help
with the simple thing of paying for quality
safe childcare.”
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Buses
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Vice Chair Joe McDermott, and Coun-
cilmembers Dave Upthegrove and Larry
Gossett released this statement after Mon-
day’s Council vote:
“We all want to keep buses running. Cut-
ting service will impact our communities –
and our economy. Yet we have an obligation
to live within our means; it’s what voters
told us to do in April.
“The legislation approved today was
developed in the spirit of compromise and
meets our need to better align costs with
revenues by authorizing 350,000 hours of
bus cuts. Despite some claims to the con-
trary, our economy is recovering – but
slowly. The latest revenue forecast con-
firmed that Metro’s financial situation has
not vastly improved. In fact, it’s slightly
worse.
“This legislation is not perfect. But we
h
m
have a bus system to run, and the people of
King County deserve some certainty about
whether their bus will continue to serve
them. It is time to move forward.”
“We listened to the community and
Councilmember Rod Dembowski, chair of
the Council’s Transportation, Economy and
Environment Committee.
Dembowski’s office said the ordinance
approved Monday implements only the
The transportation funding crisis was prompted
by voters’ defeat of Proposition 1 in April, which
would have created a county transportation
district to fund Metro and roads with a sales tax
and a hike on vehicle registration costs
today’s action is responsive to the concerns
that have been raised. I thank my colleagues
and Executive Constantine for their hard
work in forging today’s legislation,” said
service reductions originally proposed for
September of this year, with a focus on cut-
ting bus routes that are in the bottom 25
percent of productivity in accordance with
the County’s adopted Transit Service
Guidelines.
The adopted legislation also authorizes
188,000 hours of service to be cut in Febru-
ary 2015, but does not approve the specific
routes to be eliminated or revised.
The 188,000 hours would be adjusted
based upon the recommendation of an ad-
hoc committee created to review the July
and August economic forecasts and addi-
tional financial data from Metro Transit.
When the service reductions in February
are set, the County Executive would trans-
mit a service reduction ordinance for
consideration by the County Council.
The ordinance also calls for a report from
the County Executive by Sept. 30, 2014,
describing revenue and expense reduction
options available to avoid service reduc-
tions proposed for 2015.
July 23, 2014 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 3