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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 2017)
November 22, 2017 The Skanner Page 5 News Events & Announcements Community Calendar 2017 cont’d from pg 4 A PLACE TO CALL HOME: Join facilitator Cristina Palacios in a conversation that will ask you to share your own experiences with housing and explore the ways that we value – and discount – home as a basic human right. 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m., Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods, 4815 NE 7th Ave. Seattle Metro THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23 PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED JOIN US FOR A COMMUNITY THANKSGIVING DINNER: A free com- munity Thanksgiving dinner is open to the public. Reservations are helpful as seating and food are limited. Please call to RSVP, (206) 725-2780. Volunteers are also needed from 6 a.m. – 3 p.m. The Thanksgiving meal is served from noon to 2 p.m., Southside Church of Christ, 12200 59th Ave S. S FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24 The Photos of Al Smith Al “Butch” Smith Jr. Stands by a blow up of one of his fathers images of Seattle’s jazz scene at the Museum of History and Industry. The museum is presenting a retrospective of Smith’s work, entitled “Seattle on the Spot: The Photographs of Al Smith.” The exhibit runs through June 17. Briefs cont’d from pg 4 All Electric Transportation Revolution More than two years ago, Volkswagen was caught systematically cheating Clean Air Act protections across the country, allowing diesel vehicles to emit up to 40 times more smog forming pollution than legally allowed, putting public health and the environment at risk. As part of a historic settlement with the fed- eral government, Washington is receiving $112.7 mil- lion from VW to spend on environmental mitigation actions. Governor Inslee designated the Washington Department of Ecology as the “beneficiary agency” of the money, authorizing it to develop and submit for approval a plan on how to spend the money. On Nov. 16, the Department of Ecology issued its draft Volkswagen Mitigation Plan for public com- ment. According to the settlement, the money can be used for a variety of projects, including installing electric vehicle charging stations and updating state owned fleets, like public buses. Up to 15 percent of the funds can be spent on the pur- chase and installation of electric vehicle charging sta- tions. The Ecology proposal dedicates the full fifteen percent to EV charging stations. Washington could add between 169 and 338 additional fast charging stations. This would significantly add to the charging stations already available on the “West Coast Electric Highway.” With the remaining 85 percent, the state could pur- chase brand new all-electric buses to replace outdat- ed, dirty diesel buses currently on the road. While natural gas and diesel buses produce over 120,000 kilos of GHG emissions annually, all-electric buses produce no tailpipe emissions. With 85 percent, Washington could purchase about 119 electric buses to replace existing diesel buses. This would eliminate 201,110 tons of carbon dioxide and 18,890 kilos of diesel particulate matter from the air over their lifecycle. “And if that’s not enough,” said Speight, “because of the decreased maintenance and fuel costs of electric buses, this would save tran- sit authorities across the state about $20 million over 12 years of use.” These savings would allow agencies to invest in more electric buses over time. The public can contact Ecology and submit com- ments online at http://ac.ecology.commentinput. com/?id=er7j6. Comments will be accepted online from 10 a.m., Nov. 16 through 9 a.m., Dec. 19. Mayor Burgess Announces Plan to Restructure Seattle Police Department Off-Duty Employment Mayor Tim Burgess this week announced a plan to restructure the way Seattle Police Department (SPD) handles off-duty employment for its officers and Parking Enforcement Officers (PEOs). This an- nouncement follows a Sept. 27 Executive Order from Mayor Burgess requiring off-duty police work be reg- ulated and managed by the City of Seattle, rather than private companies and the police union. A new internal office at the Seattle Police Depart- ment will oversee the practice of off-duty employ- ment. That office will be staffed by civilians and overseen by the Chief of Police or one of her assistant chiefs. Potential employers will be fully vetted before they will be allowed to connect with officers who are seeking off-duty employment, and assignments will be made by civilian staff only (not officers). While full implementation of this plan will take some time, the Seattle Police Department will oper- ate under an interim in-house management solution while drafting policy to implement the permanent program. The SPD’s policy to support a permanent program will be drafted by the end of January 2018. That step will be followed by the hiring, office set-up, and software purchasing necessary to implement the permanent program, which will launch by August 1, 2018. This new approach to regulating and managing off-duty work for SPD employees is designed to be fair for employers and employees and to provide full transparency and accountability. Mayor Burgess Calls for Renewal of Seattle Preschool Levy Following Successful Evaluation This week, the City of Seattle released an evaluation of the Seattle Preschool Program’s second year. The annual report, conducted by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) and the Uni- versity of Washington, found improved classroom quality and teacher interactions. It also found pos- itive gains for children in vocabulary, literacy, and math. The analysis released today shows that when com- pared to the early years of other successful preschool programs across the country, the Seattle Preschool Program achieved similar or higher average scores in emotional support and classroom organization than Boston (assessed in 2009), New Jersey (2013), and Tulsa (2009). The evaluation further found that the majority of Seattle Preschool Program participants are from low- and middle-income families, reinforcing the City’s commitment to providing affordable early education options for all children. Low income children, children of color, and dual language learners made the biggest gains in the Se- attle Preschool Program, according to the study—spe- cifically in vocabulary, literacy, and math. The Seattle Preschool Program also achieved year over year gains in assessments that measure class- MY MACY’S HOLIDAY PARADE: Macy’s is proud to announce that its 27th Annual My Macy’s Holiday Parade will take place the day after Thanksgiving. The parade steps off promptly at 9 a.m. and last about an hour. The parade starts at 7th Ave. & Pine St. and goes through the streets of downtown Seattle. WESTLAKE HOLIDAY TREE LIGHTING: The seasonal sights and sounds will begin around 4:30 p.m. with the lighting of the Westlake holiday tree and the Macy’s shining holiday star fol- lowed by a fireworks display lighting up the downtown sky! 4:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. Westlake Park, 401 Pine St. TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY AT ALDERBROOK: Kick off the hol- iday season with Santa arriving via our Lady Alderbrook to fireworks, cocoa, dancing, caroling and more than 10 miles of lights. 4 p.m. – 8 p.m., Union City Market, 5101 E. State Route, 106 Suite B., Union. WASHINGTON STATE PARKS OFFERS FREE DAY: Recreation and outdoor enthusiast have another chance to get out and enjoy the State Parks for free! On this day, day use visitors will NOT need a Discovery Pass for your vehicle to access any of the State Parks. 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Washington State Parks. SATURDAY NOVEMBER 25 GARDEN D’LIGHTS AT THE BELLEVUE BOTANICAL GARDEN: Garden d’Lights features over a half million sparkling lights formed into the whimsical shapes of plants, flowers, birds, animals and cas- cading waterfalls. Cost is $5 per person 11 and older. Children under 10 years old are free. 4:30 p.m. – 9 p.m., Bellevue Botani- cal Garden, 1200 Main St., Bellevue. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1 CITY OF LAKEWOOD TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY AND PARADE: Santa will arrive in a fire truck and children will have an op- portunity to sit on Santa’s lap, sing Christmas carols, enjoy free crafts and entertainment. Festivities start at 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., Lakewood City Hall, 600 Main St. SW, Lakweood. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2 SNOHOMISH COUNTY DEMENTIA FAMILY CAREGIVER CONFER- ENCE: This free conference is designed to provide tools and en- couragement for family caregivers caring for loved ones with dementia. Registration is required (visit http://www.cvent. com/). 9:30 a.m. – 2:45 p.m., Everett Community College, 2000 Tower St., Everett. GINGERBREAD HOUSE: Make and decorate your own gingerbread house. All supplies provided, while they last. All ages welcome, children 6 and under must be accompanied an adult. Tickets will be distributed Friday December 1 at 10 a.m. Summit Library, 5107 112th St. E., Tacoma. room quality and adult-child interactions, while dou- bling the size of the program and adding 18 new SPP classrooms, bringing the total to 32. As Seattle con- tinues to expand its preschool offerings in the future, the priority will continue to be a commitment to qual- ity and continuous improvement. Approved by voters in 2014, the Seattle Preschool Program is a pilot program currently serving more than 1,000 children. Seattle Preschool Program providers receive funding from the City, intensive coaching and training for their teachers, and access to teacher education and facility improvement funds to offer high-quality early learning opportunities for Seattle’s four-year-olds and eligible three-year-olds. The Seattle Preschool Program entered the third year of its four-year pilot phase this fall.
