January 23, 2019 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 5 News Events & Announcements Community Calendar 2018 cont’d from pg 4 ry of his death at the hands of the police, friends and family of Christopher Kalonji will gather to speak about Christopher’s life. The candle lighting ceremony and gathering will be from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., and participants will meet at Concord Elementary School, 3811 SE Concord Rd., Milwaukie. TUESDAY, JANUARY 29 PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED ECHOES OF THE PAST: Portland scholars and activists will con- nect Dr. King’s speech to matters of today. The panel discussion, “The Three Evils of Society: Racism, Poverty and Militarism,” will be held at Portland State University. Doors at 5:30 p.m., program starts at 6:30 p.m., PSU Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom, 3rd Floor, 1825 SW Broadway. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30 King March and Rally Thousands of people participated in the 37th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. March and Rally from Garfield High School to Westlake Park in Seattle Jan. 21. The event is one of the largest tributes to King on the West Coast. Briefs cont’d from pg 4 ences Building on Clark’s main campus. Dental hygiene students from Clark College will provide care under the direct supervision of licensed dental hygienist and dentists. Services will include cleanings, sealants, x-rays, sealants, doctor’s exams, fluoride, and select emergency treatments for chil- dren ages 4-17. Appointments can be scheduled by calling the Dental Hygiene Business Office at (360) 992-2158. Please note: Due to the current measles out- break in Clark County, the college is requesting that all patients and family members bring proof of their immunization and/or immunity to measles. This is the twelfth year that Clark’s Dental Hygiene has offered a free children’s dental health day. In addition to this event, the college’s Dental Hygiene students provide low-cost dental hygiene care to the community as part of their clinic practice. Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver, WA 98663. Driving directions and park- ing maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps. If you need accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event, contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at 360-992-2314 or 360-991-0901 (VP), or visit Penguin Union Building room 013 as soon as possible. Seattle News Briefs Durkan Issues Executive Order to Allow Federal Employees to Defer Their City of Seattle Utility Payments  As furloughed federal workers across the country and across Seattle continue to be hurt by President Donald Trump’s partial shutdown of the federal government, Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan issued a new Executive Order to help impacted federal em- ployees with their utility payments.   The partial shutdown began on December 22, 2018 and is now in its 32nd day. According to an analysis by Governing Magazine, the State of Washington has over 54,000 federal employees. Approximately 11,000 of them work in agencies currently without appro- priations and are being directly impacted by the shut- down by working without pay or being furloughed.   Nationally, it is estimated that 800,000 federal em- ployees across the country are working without pay or are currently on furlough.  Mayor Durkan’s Executive Order (EO) builds on existing City assistance programs. The EO directs Seattle City Light (SCL), Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), the City Budget Office (CBO), and the Human Services Department (HSD) to immediately develop a plan to offer deferral of utility bill payments to federal em- ployees and community members who have been negatively impacted by the federal government par- tial shutdown.   The four City departments will develop their plan for initial execution by Jan. 25. The program will in- clude a phone number for impacted residents to call for eligibility information and enrollment.   The shutdown continues to threaten our most vulnerable residents throughout Seattle, the Puget Sound, and Washington State. The shutdown is im- pacting nutrition assistance programs, TSA agents, federal grant programs, and earthquake monitoring capabilities in the Northwest.   Federal offices in and around Seattle where feder- al employees are either furloughed or are working without pay include:  NOAA’s Western Regional Center in Sand Point  NOAA’s Seattle Forecast Office  NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center & Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Montlake  NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Sand Point  The Federal Detention Center in SeaTac  U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington  Seattle Immigration Court   EPA’s Pacific Northwest Regional Office  Federal Trade Commission’s Northwest Regional Office  U.S. Coast Guard Base Seattle  TSA & FAA Employees at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport  HUD’s Seattle Regional Office  USGS Earthquake Hazards Seattle Field Office  Small Business Administration’s Seattle Office  Seattle’s IRS Service Center  The City of Seattle has several ongoing programs to ensure that residents are able to afford basic services such as water, sewer, garbage, and electricity. The City’s Utility Discount Program offers reductions on Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities bills to income eligible customers. Through Project Share, City of Seattle customers can set up individual pay- ment plans and deferrals during times of financial hardship. The program is funded by donations from City of Seattle customers.  Multiple Serious and Willful Asbestos Violations Result in Nearly $800,000 in Fines Improper and unsafe handling of asbestos at a Seat- tle area home-flipping site put workers and neighbors at risk, and has left two business owners and their companies facing numerous citations and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines from the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I). James Thorpe, Northlake Capital & Development, 3917 Densmore LLC, and Chris Walters have each been cited for 11 willful and serious violations. In to- tal, the fines for the four separate investigations add up to $789,200. L&I opened the inspection following a complaint from an alert neighbor living near the residential renovation project on Densmore Road in Lynnwood. WITS END OF RESIDENCY READINGS: Come celebrate the next generation of writers during our Writers in the Schools end-of-residency readings. See the brilliant results of our in- depth writer-in-residence program in local public high school students. This event will feature Benson High School students performing work they produced during their semester-long res- idency this fall. From 7-8 p.m., Broadway Books, 1714 NE Broad- way. Seattle Metro THURSDAY, JANUARY 24 UNJUST HOUSING RACISM IN HOMELESSNESS: A history of dis- criminatory housing practices means a disproportionate num- ber of people of color experience homelessness. Hear from pol- icy experts Linda Taylor, Housing Director of Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle,  Diane Sugimura, former Director of the Seattle Department of Planning and Development, and Colleen Echohawk,  Executive Director of the Chief Seattle Club.  Join the discussion to address these disparities for a more equita- ble Seattle. Light food and drinks provided, plus time for Q&A. 6 – 7:30 p.m., Northwest African American Museum, 2300 South Massachusetts St. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30 SWIPELESS IN SEATTLE - HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT A SMARTPHONE: Life without iPhones is possible, or at least, that’s what 13-year flip-phone veteran Michael Valeri says, and that an app-free life is not just possible, but can even be fulfilling. During this free general assembly presentation, Valeri offers tips and tricks on how to get by without Lyft, Uber, Car2Go, LimeBike, OneBu- sAway, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, GPS and all the rest. Free. From 6 -8 p.m., General Assembly Seattle, 1218 3rd Ave. Several workers were improperly removing exterior asbestos tiles from the home over a weekend. When a neighbor confronted Chris Walters, the man who said he was the homeowner, Walters promised to re- move the asbestos correctly. However, two neighbors took videos that showed the workers committing sev- eral violations. An extensive investigation by L&I revealed that Walters was actually part of a complex corporate partnership created to renovate and flip the resi- dence. The home was initially purchased by Seattle com- pany Northlake Capital & Development, owned by James Thorpe. Northlake is a real property company that primarily focuses on house flipping. After the purchase, Thorpe created 3917 Densmore LLC and es- tablished Walters, a Northlake employee, as the sole member of the new corporation, claiming that Wal- ters was the homeowner, and that he intended to live in the home. During parts of the investigation Walters and Thorpe shifted responsibility from LLC to LLC and from person to person. Eventually, L&I cited both men and the companies they oversee for the same vi- olations. The fines vary, primarily due to the number of workers each entity was responsible for. Thorpe and Northlake each received $214,100 in fines and Walters and 3917 Densmore each receive $180,500. The violations included using uncertified workers to remove asbestos; not using a certified asbestos su- pervisor; and not obtaining an asbestos good faith survey prior to beginning work. They were also cited for not using water and not keeping the shingles in- tact during removal (the workers were breaking the tiles with hammers).