December 6, 2017 The Skanner Page 5 News Events & Announcements Community Calendar 2017 cont’d from pg 4 come and browse more than 50 vendors and bring the kids to visit Santa while you enjoy a latte. We will be having a pet food and blanket drive this year for Lucky Paws Rescue of Tacoma. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Station House 726, 427 N. Merdian, Puyallup. 2017 PATHWAY OF LIGHTS: This is a free holiday event for the whole family. Come stroll the glimmering Green Lake circuit, paths and docks which will be lit with thousands of twinkling candles. While you wonder through the magic of sparkling lights enjoy complimentary refreshments and live holiday mu- sic. Please bring a nonperishable food donation. 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., Green Lake Pathway. SATURDAY – MONDAY, DECEMBER 9 - 11 PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED COME TO THE AQUARIUM AND GET IN THE SPIRIT OF THE HOLI- DAYS: See Santa diving in the 120,000- gallon Window of Wash- ington Waters exhibit. Enjoy special holiday concerts featuring local Puget Sound groups. Saturday, Sunday and Monday at Noon and 3 p.m. Donations will be accepted to help fund Dream- Nights at the Seattle Aquarium. 1483 Alaskan Way. Northwest Tap Connection Northwest Tap Connection held their Fall Show “Da Freedum” Dec. 2 at the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Center at Rainier Beach High school. The two sold out shows were fundraisers for the NW Taps “Close the Gap” scholarship program which helps area youth afford classes at the school and also helps fund master classes with professional artists and participation in local and national dance festivals. Briefs cont’d from pg 4 photos with Santa are welcome. Seattle News Briefs Mayor Jenny Durkan: Addressing Race and Social Justice Disparities Must Be Focus of Seattle City Government At an event in Chinatown-International District last week, Mayor Jenny A. Durkan signed an Execu- tive Order affirming the City of Seattle’s commitment to the Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI). The Executive Order requires an extensive review of the City’s current implementation of the Race and Social Justice Initiative as well as recommendations for areas needing additional work. In addition, the action requires Department directors, personnel within the Office of the Mayor, and Mayor Durkan, to participate in implicit bias training. You can read the full Executive Order here. The City of Seattle launched the Race and Social Jus- tice Initiative in 2004, led by the Seattle Office for Civ- il Rights (SOCR), with the vision of achieving racial equity in the community and the mission of ending institutionalized racism in City government, promot- ing inclusion and full participation of all residents, and partnering with the community to achieve racial equity across Seattle. County Council Takes First Steps to Making County Code Gender- Neutral In 2016, County voters supported a change to King County’s “Constitution,” the King County Charter, replacing gender specific terms with gender neutral language. The Metropolitan King County Council today unanimously adopted the first step toward re- moving gendered terms wherever possible, thereby rendering the County Code gender-neutral. The charter amendment approved by the voters adjust identifications such as “Councilman” and “Chairman,” to gender-specific neutral terms such as “Councilmember” and “Chair.” A motion that was ad- opted as part of the charter amendment directed the clerk of the council to develop options for how to ap- ply gender-neutral references throughout the King County Code. Today’s ordinance was the first step to- ward achieving that goal. Gendered pronouns such as he, him, she, or her are replaced with the title of the actor in impacted sen- tences. One example would be replacing “he or she” and “his or her” with “the individual” and “the indi- vidual’s” respectively. The adopted ordinance is consistent with legisla- tion adopted at the state level in both 1983 and in 2007, which was sponsored by then-Senator Kohl-Welles, concerning the use of gender-neutral language in the Revised Code of Washington. This is the first revision of the County Code. The next steps will include the development regulations (surface water, roads, construction codes, zoning, etc.) and then the remainder of the Titles. Juvenile Justice, Addiction Treatment and Tax Reform Highlight King County’s Agenda for State Legislature Battling addiction, improving the treatment of ju- venile defenders, and providing tax equity top the agenda that King County will take to Olympia during the 2018 Session of the State Legislature. The Metro- politan King County Council today unanimously ap- proved the county’s Legislative Agenda, the roadmap the County will use in their discussions with mem- bers of the Legislature during the 60-Day session. Providing access to treatment for those suffering from mental illness and addiction remains one of the County’s highest priorities. The County is calling on the state to help provide mental health and addiction treatment on demand. The County is also asking for funds that will focus on stabilizing community be- havioral health rates as a step toward delivering bet- ter health outcomes. The Council is leading the effort toward improving the juvenile justice system and reducing the num- ber of children of color who are disproportionally represented in the system. For 2018, the County is asking for the ability of juvenile courts to use diver- sion funding pre-adjudication, an opportunity to aid youth prior to a verdict. King County will also focus on implementing policies that support rehabilitation and reduces recidivism. King County taxpayers are responsible for almost half of Washington’s revenue, but less than a quarter of that revenue comes back to the County. This imbal- ance is likely to grow as County homeowners are go- ing to be impacted by the state’s school funding plan adopted during the last legislative session. To miti- gate the state’s reliance on King County taxpayers, the County is calling for a more equitable tax system. To aid those on fixed incomes who are paying proper- ty taxes, the County wants the state to adjust qualify- ing income level on senior property tax exemption to a percentage of county median income as well as al- lowing an extension of the exemption to local levies. The 2018 Legislative Agenda also calls for: • Investment in infrastructure by addressing the un- derfunded county regional road system, • Increasing the affordable housing supply, • Strengthening state laws to deter hate-motivated criminal activity, • Support state policies that reduce carbon emis- sions and accelerate a transition to clean energy. The 2018 Session of the Washington state Legisla- TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12 ALZHEIMER’S CAFÉ: A unique opportunity for people living with dementia, their care partners, family and friends to enjoy com- panionship, good food, music and fun in a relaxed environment. Free. 2 p.m. – 4 p.m., Frye Art Museum, 804 Terry Ave. FRIDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15 – 16 HOLIDAY SALE – DRESS FOR SUCCESS SEATTLE: Sing by Friday or Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and grab those last-minute holi- day purchases. Dress for Success Seattle, 1118 5th Ave. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16 FUN WITH FROSTY: Frosty the Snowman at Country Village. Meet Frosty and his friends. Enjoy a magic show, participate in fun games and activities, make a winter craft project. This is a free event for children of all ages. Noon – 5 p.m., Country Village Shops, 23718 Bothell Everett Highway, Bothell. ture begins January 8. Facebook Global Director of Diversity to Speak in Tacoma The Race & Pedagogy Institute and African Ameri- can Studies Program at University of Puget Sound in- vite the public to a free event with Maxine Williams, “A Conversation on Diversity and the Tech Industry,” from 11 a.m.–12 noon on Wednesday, Dec. 13, in Whee- lock Student Center’s Rasmussen Rotunda. Williams, a Rhodes Scholar, lawyer, broadcast journalist, and Facebook’s current director of diversity will give a talk and take questions from the audience. Everyone is welcome. A link to directions and a map of campus is below. For four years Maxine Williams, global director of diversity for Facebook, has worked with her team to develop strategies to attract and support underrepre- sented people at the social media giant, which reaches a global community of more than 2 billion people. This summer Williams told Facebook’s newsroom readers that, “We aren’t where we’d like to be, but we’re encouraged” by the growth of underrepresent- ed employees at Facebook. Over the year the number of women on staff edged up, to 35 percent, as did His- panic (5 percent) and African American representa- tion (3 percent). Women now make up 27% of all new graduate hires in engineering and 21 percent of all new technical hires. She highlighted three programs Facebook is pursuing to ensure the company contin- ues to find, grow, and keep the best talent. The innova- tive programs impact hiring managers, unconscious bias, and learning opportunities for college students. Make The Skanner part of your daily routine