Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 12, December 2003

Copyright 2003 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article below in your research. Be sure to cite the Seattle Sun as your source.

Seattle Sun mixed briefs

Adopt a creek site

Creekside sites in Thornton Creek available for adoption now. Creek Site Stewards adopt and care for habitat plantings along a creek, monitor their sites, and have the opportunity to lead other volunteers at work parties on their sites. To volunteer, call Seattle Public Utilities at 684-4163 or e-mail bob.spencer@seattle.gov for further information. For details, visit the website www.cityofseattle.net/util/urbancreeks/.

FPA buys truck

Thanks to a grant from the City, the Fremont Public Association recently purchased a $100,000 Kenmore refrigerated truck and for the first time in 20 years of making food deliveries is now able to transport refrigerated food to local food banks. On Nov. 11, the FPA used the 24-foot-long truck to deliver more than 31,000 cups (3,888 half-gallons) of donated milk for poor families. Employees of software maker Adobe Systems in Fremont leveraged a corporate grant and matching funds and collected donations to provide the milk for the delivery. The FPA delivers more than 10 million pounds of donated food to local food banks. For more information, visit the FPA Web site at www.fremontpublic.org.

Comments due on Zoo plan

The Woodland Park Zoo's draft annual plan for 2004 is now available for public review. The plan, mandated by the operations and management agreement beteen the City and the Woodland Park Zoological Society, describes major program changes and capital improvements, as well as any planned changes in fees during the coming year. The plan can be found on the zoo Web site at www.zoo.org or inspected during regular zoo hours (9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.) at the Zoo Education Center near the south gate at N. 50th Street and Fremont Avenue N. Written comments may be submitted electronically, via the zoo Web site, or mailed to the zoo at 601 N 59th St., Seattle, WA 98103 (Attention: Mimi Haley Annual Plan Comments). Comments should be submitted by Nov. 28.

North Precinct 'Officer of Year' named

Seattle Police Officer Sjon Stevens was recently honored as the North Precinct "Officer of the Year" at the second annual Seattle Police Awards Banquet, held Oct. 30 at the Westin Hotel. The event included welcoming remarks from Mayor Greg Nickels and Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske and a keynote address by actor Tom Skerritt (who makes his home in Seattle). Stevens was one of several officers from throughout the city to receive awards.

According to a description provided by the Seattle Police Foundation, which put on the event, "Stevens was assigned to a special detail in an effort to address growing concerns about gang-related violence in North Seattle.

"Two gang-related shootings had left the residents uneasy and Officer Stevens and his partner set out to assist in solving these murders. The officers painstakingly developed witness contacts and spent countless hours identifying and tracking suspects, many of whom had left the country.

"Officer Stevens was able to locate and coordinate arrests and extradition of the suspects who fled the area. His outstanding work resulted in a tremendous reduction in gang activity, and violent acts in the North Seattle area. Officer Sjon Stevens represents one of the best investigative officers to the North Precinct."

Hale to expand

The Seattle Public School District is planning a $6.2 million, 19,300-square-foot expansion of Nathan Hale High School, which will include an auditorium with more than 400 seats, a partial "fly loft" back stage, a gallery lobby for exhibiting student artwork, and a new entryway. Construction will begin at the end of this school year with completion set for August 2005. Hale is the only public high school in the city without a full performing arts auditorium. "The addition will give Nathan Hale something our students have needed and deserved for many years," said Judith Peterson, the school's interim principal. "An amenity like this will allow our program to grow, and our students to develop greater skills."

Hale has been featured as a "Cool School" in Teen People magazine and in February 2000, its vocal jazz ensemble sang at Carnegie Hall in New York.

In other school news, Hale's student-run radio station was recently honored as the top high school radio station in New York City by the Village Voice. The station can be heard by listeners in the Big Apple, courtesy of the Internet.

Meridian students honored

A national conservation group recently honored students at the Meridian School in Wallingford as "Wilderness Heroes" during a school assembly. The children were recognized by the Campaign for America's Wilderness for their support of a wilderness proposal (S. 391/ H.R. 822) to preserve Wild Sky a tranquil stretch of unprotected land not far from Seattle. The measure is sponsored by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen.

Doug Scott, policy director of the Campaign for America's Wilderness, presented the award on Nov. 10 to Meridian students and their sponsor, third-grade teacher Ted Holmes. The Wilderness Heroes program highlights the work of ordinary people doing extraordinary things to protect the nation's public lands as part a year-long countdown to the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Wilderness Act.

The Meridian School is located at the Good Shepherd Center.

Billings students support troops

Students at Billings Middle School were dismayed to learn that U.S. troops returning from duty in Iraq were being housed in substandard living quarters and even had to buy their own toilet paper.

While they couldn't do much about the cramped barracks at Fort Stewart, Georgia, they could send along their best wishesand many rolls of toilet papers.

About 50 students from the private Green Lake middle school gathered at a Seattle UPS store on Nov. 11 to send the gift. "If we spend so much money on war and sending money overseas to help people afterward, we should help our own soldiers when they return from that war," says Amar Kroesen, a seventh grader.

Charity turns 3 years old

The Catharine Blaine Charity, a North Seattle-based nonprofit charity that provides computers to low-income children attending public school in grades K-12. On Dec. 6, The Catharine Blaine Charity, founded by Jeff Hammer, a resident of the Haller Lake neighborhood, will celebrate three years and has provided 40 computers to low-income children who attend public school. The charity is named after Catharine Blaine Seattle's first school teacher. The Catharine Blaine Charity accepts donations of new and used Apple Macintosh computer equipment, computer furniture, licensed educational software, financial donations, and volunteer assistance. For more information, call 367-8097 or visit www.catharineblaine.org.