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Archives for December 2018

17th annual Polar Bear Plunge set for Jan. 1 at Matthews Beach

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Start off the New Year with a splash!

Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Meadowbrook Community Center Advisory Council are co-sponsoring the 17th annual Polar Bear Plunge at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019 at Matthews Beach, 9300 51st Ave. NE. Registration begins at 10 a.m., and the plunge starts at noon sharp.

A 2019 Commemorative Badge of Courage will be given to all heroic Polar Bear participants who immerse themselves neck-deep in the water. The patch will show the world that participants braved the frigid waters.

Warming refreshments will be served. While people wait for the plunge to kick off, there will be a variety of food trucks available, games, a photo booth, music, and a t-shirt/sweatshirt vendor.

As in previous years, younger polar bears and anyone else who needs a little more room can take part in the Polar Cub Club part of the event immediately preceding the main plunge. For the truly hearty, double-dipping is allowed.

Seattle Parks and Recreation offers a few tips for enjoying a fun, safe swim:

  • Make the plunge even more special by dressing up in a costume!
  • Come early, and carpool or take the bus (you can plan your trip at http://tripplanner.kingcounty.gov/).
  • If you have heart problems or other serious medical concerns, we recommend that you consult your healthcare professional before taking the Polar Bear Plunge. If you can’t go in the water, come and watch!
  • Don’t drink alcohol–it doesn’t warm you up, and it accelerates hypothermia.
  • Stay in the water for no longer than 15 minutes—you lose body heat 25 times faster in water than in air.
  • Keep your outer clothing on until you’re ready to get in the water. After the plunge, remove wet clothing before getting into dry clothes.

The Polar Bear Plunge was the first official event of its kind in the Seattle area and has inspired other, similar events throughout the region. Janet Wilson, Aquatic Center Coordinator at Meadowbrook Pool, started the event on Jan. 1, 2003. About 300 people participated in that first Polar Bear Plunge, and since then the attendance has soared to more than 1,900 brave bears. Follow the Facebook event here for updates.

 

Free admission to the Volunteer Park Conservatory Dec. 24 though Feb. 28

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Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) and The Friends of the Conservatory (FOC) are pleased to announce that the Volunteer Park Conservatory will waive all admission fees Dec. 24, 2018 though the end of February, 2019.

Free admission to the Conservatory during this time period is made possible by a generous donation from the Bennett-Shear family – a gift from the children to celebrate their parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. Son Emmett Shear said, “We grew up walking to the Conservatory during my whole childhood, and I know my parents want everyone to be able to enjoy this beauty and peace. In their honor, I’m excited to be able to invite people to come for free to the Conservatory again.” (The Conservatory had been a free experience until 2013)

SPR and FOC encourage everyone, especially those who have never visited before, as well as school groups planning field trips, to take advantage of this opportunity to discover the Conservatory at no cost.

The Conservatory’s Poinsettia and Holiday Train Display will be up and running through January 1, 2019, and the FOC offers free docent tours by appointment Tuesdays through Sundays (except the first Saturday of the month). To schedule a tour, please email foc@volunteerparkconservatory.org.

The Conservatory’s regular hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (closed on Mondays except for the upcoming holidays). The Conservatory will be open on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Regular admission will be reinstated on March 1, 2019. Adults $4; Youth $2; Kids under age 12 are always free.

Many thanks to the Bennett-Shear Family for making the Conservatory accessible to all during this holiday season.

Questions? Please contact Khue Tran, FOC Executive Administrator, at Khue.Tran@volunteerparkconservatory.org.

Region’s Center for New Year’s Eve Offers Spectrum of Ways to Greet 2019

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While Seattleites across the city will look toward Seattle Center for the spectacular 30-minute musically choreographed light show originating from the Space Needle, thousands will gather on the campus for all kind of New Year’s Eve revelry. From the fun, free Seattle Center Winterfest offerings to Straight No Chase in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at Seattle Center and the many NYE events at venues on the grounds, Seattle Center is NYE-central for the region.

Here is a schedule of the evening’s activities:

WINTERFEST ICE RINK

11 a.m.-11:30 p.m., Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center

Skate, glide and slide as you await the New Year. Admission/skate rental applies. Learn more at:  Seattle Center Winterfest

WINTERFEST NEW YEAR’S EVE FESTIVITIES

8 p.m., Dec. 31, Seattle Center Armory and on the grounds

Celebrate the arrival of a new year with two free signature Winterfest events. Cover band Sway rocks in the New Year on the Armory Stage. Fountain of Light dance party, 10 p.m. at International Fountain, offers live electronic music and a video projection show by local DJ Freddy King of Pants and VJ Baryonyx. Sponsored by T-Mobile. Learn more at:  Seattle Center Winterfest

NEW YEAR’S EVE pARTy

Doors open at 8 p.m. Must arrive by 10 p.m., Dec. 31, Chihuly Garden and Glass

Dine, dance and delight in the most extraordinary view of Seattle’s most iconic fireworks display through the glass ceiling. Information and tickets:  New Year’s Eve pARTy

STRAIGHT NO CHASER

8 p.m., Dec. 31, Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at Seattle Center

The acclaimed a cappella group’s “One Shot Tour” highlights their unconventional, multi-part harmonies and sound effects, from boy-band classics, spiked with Britney Spears for flavor, to unique takes on holiday classics. Information and tickets:  Straight No Chase, McCaw Hall

T-MOBILE NEW YEARS’ EVE AT THE NEEDLE

9 p.m., Dec. 31, Space Needle

Join the height of celebration in Seattle. The party spans two floors atop the newly-transformed Space Needle. Taste, toast and dance the night away while enjoying floor-to-forever views on The Loupe, the world’s first and only revolving glass floor. Information and tickets:  T-Mobile New Year’s Eve at the Needle

SPECTRA 2019: NYE Under the Arches

Starts at 9 p.m., Dec. 31, Pacific Science Center

Dance off the last hours of 2018 with live DJs and sip drinks from an open bar, while you wait for the luminary explosions of the Space Needle’s annual fireworks show to begin. Information and tickets: SPECTRA 2019

INDULGENCE 2019 NEW YEARS BASH

Doors open at 9 p.m., Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP)

Multi-flavored excitement that satisfies and delights, with music played by live bands and 2 DJs, continuous comedy and RJ, the emcee hosting the event, accompanied by the party’s dancers and stage performers. Information and tickets:  INDULGENCE 2019

Seattle Center Monorail will remain in service until 2 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2019 to accommodate New Year’s Eve visitors, ceasing operations between 11:15 p.m. and approximately 12:30 a.m., to comply with fire regulations.

Seattle Center Winterfest, produced by Seattle Center, presents spirited programming for one and all in search of entertaining and enriching activities during this festive time of year. For more information, visit Seattle Center or call 206 684-7200.

About Seattle Center Winterfest 2018

Connect to the sights, sounds and spirit of the season at Seattle Center Winterfest, Nov. 23–Dec. 31. Visit the festive Seattle Center Armory, displaying its winter finery, and explore the olden Winter Train & Village. The Winterfest Ice Rink returns, along with ice sculpting, student showcases and more. Seattle Center Winterfest is sponsored by Coca-Cola, Alaska Airlines, T-Mobile, Lyft, Seattle Center Foundation, Seattle Center Monorail and City of Seattle.

Building The Movement – Got Green

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Nancy Huizar Got Green member

My name is Nancy Huizar and I am an environmental justice leader.  In 2016, I was moving between Tacoma and Seattle, when I found out about Got Green from my friends at Hilltop Urban Gardens. I immediately jumped into Got Green’s Young Leaders Committee and was swept up into the Green Pathways campaign. Through this experience, I learned about community organizing, grassroots campaigns, green jobs, coalition building, and so much more.

With the campaign slogan “green pathways, not prison pipelines,” we waged a powerful campaign to increase young people of color’s access to living-wage, career-bound jobs that are good for our communities and the environment.  And we are thrilled to be working with Rainier Valley Corps on the Green Pathways Fellowship. Through this process, I have grown into my leadership and power. This is one of the many reasons, I invite you to support the work of Got Green.

 

Rooted in the South End
Since I was born, my family has always lived on Beacon Hill. These last few decades we’ve seen the South-end and the city dramatically change. — with new buildings going up and families being pushed out.  At Got Green, the Climate Justice Committee has lifted up displacement and housing justice in a unique way. The CJ Committee has highlighting stories of displacement, including fellow Beacon Hill resident Esther “Little Dove” John, where a housing company sought to displace Dove and her neighbors, demolish the existing building, and build high-end luxury housing (with a few environmental perks).  The CJ Committee is actively challenging the greenwashing of gentrification while naming that access to permanent affordable housing is the greenest form of housing and necessary if we are to be resilient in the face of climate change.

Food for the People
Got Green’s longest standing committee, the Food Access Team has continued to wage a powerful fight for healthy foods for communities of color and working-class families.  They kicked off the year by making sure the revenue from Seattle’s Sweetened Beverage Tax would primarily be used to expand access to healthy food, specifically for the Fresh Bucks — and EBT match program.  This tax is estimated to bring in $20 million annually, which is deeply needed as EBT benefits are being slashed by the billions at the federal level. This has been met by an unprecedented backlash from the soda industry.

 

Building The Movement
Got Green spent nearly four years working with our friends in labor, health, tribes,  environmental organizations, and racial justice groups to develop and fight for one of the most progressive climate policies in the nation.  As Initiative 1631 didn’t pass at the ballot due to the the misleading opposition from Big Oil, who spent over $30 million to defeat us, Got Green is nonetheless deeply proud of this historic collaboration and this massive grassroots effort to bring clean air and water, expansion of clean energy and fair green jobs, as well as healthy and powerful communities to all of WA State.  Moving into 2019, Got Green is well positioned to be a powerful leader in the ongoing struggle for climate justice.

Food for the People
Got Green’s longest standing committee, the Food Access Team has continued to wage a powerful fight for healthy foods for communities of color and working-class families.  They kicked off the year by making sure the revenue from Seattle’s Sweetened Beverage Tax would primarily be used to expand access to healthy food, specifically for the Fresh Bucks — and EBT match program.  This tax is estimated to bring in $20 million annually, which is deeply needed as EBT benefits are being slashed by the billions at the federal level. This has been met by an unprecedented backlash from the soda industry.

 

Building The Movement
Got Green spent nearly four years working with our friends in labor, health, tribes,  environmental organizations, and racial justice groups to develop and fight for one of the most progressive climate policies in the nation.  As Initiative 1631 didn’t pass at the ballot due to the the misleading opposition from Big Oil, who spent over $30 million to defeat us, Got Green is nonetheless deeply proud of this historic collaboration and this massive grassroots effort to bring clean air and water, expansion of clean energy and fair green jobs, as well as healthy and powerful communities to all of WA State.  Moving into 2019, Got Green is well positioned to be a powerful leader in the ongoing struggle for climate justice.

The Missteps of a Southern Boy – Memoirs from a Prison Cell by Terry Hill Sr.

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Few men caught in this cycle survive and come out the other side better men. And even fewer record their experience with rawness and humility to help others avoid this path.

“The Missteps of a Southern Boy” is the first in a trilogy of autobiographical books written by myself, a Seattle-based author who spent 35 years in the Washington state prison system.

I talk about growing up with foster parents in rural Louisiana, the lure of street life in Seattle, and the choices I made as a young man that landed me in prison nine times. I’m motivated to tell my story to give hope to other youth caught in the same destructive cycle, and to those who love them.

You can reach the author directly at terrywaynehillsr@gmail.com or (360) 842-4286.

“The Missteps of a Southern Boy” is available on the author’s website and Amazon. It’s the first in a trilogy titled, Memoirs from a Prison Cell.

 

Terry Hill Sr. is the accomplished author of Memoirs from a Prison Cell Trilogy: The Missteps of a Southern Boy. Memoirs from a Prison Cell vividly brings to life the long road traveled by a nine-time convicted felon. He used his many years behind bars to teach himself the craft of writing.
Born in Winnfield, Louisiana, then moving to Seattle as a teenager, Terry Hill Sr. tells the undeniable truth as a foster child, drug abuser, and inevitably a man incarcerated nine times over a thirty-five-year span.
His Memoirs are hard to put down as he captures the pivotal moments of his life and shares them with the world. With plenty of humor and drama, one pictures everything in the mind’s eye. The pain, strength, and determination ignite Terry’s ‘clawed’ out mentality to become a pillar of a man.

After spending decades behind bars, he now uses his hard-won wisdom to create change in the same neighborhoods where he was once a criminal. These days he can be found not in the prison yards but regaling street kids with his infectious good-natured humor, while he teaches them about freedom. His wisdom offers comfort and hopes to families and inmates alike, as he empowers and advocates for social changes.

12-Year-Old’s Suicide: Can We Stop Ignoring Kids’ Mental Health?

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Relentless humiliation and rebuke from her science teacher over the last few months allegedly forced a Class 7 student to kill herself, the police told news agency IANS. the teacher allegedly scolded her in front of the entire class and called her “characterless”.

The 12-year-old girl from a Delhi school hanged herself from a ceiling fan at her home on 1 December. Her suicide is yet another case of a student taking the final step.

She had scribbled her teacher’s name on her palms and hands and left a note explaining the reason she took the extreme step. She wrote that she does not want to go to school anymore.

The police add that in the note, she apologized to her mother and grandmother and on one of her palms wrote “I love you”. The mother, an advocate, found her daughter’s body after returning from work around 4 pm. My daughter complained that the teacher scolded her every day. The same teacher rebuked and humiliated her on Friday for 10 minutes in the biology lab. She cried in the school bathroom after the episode.

“She had been insisting that I change her school but I did not know how serious the situation was. I never imagined she would take the step of suicide,” the mother said, sobbing.

While the police are investigating the case and the school authorities say they’re cooperating, we have to start understanding where we go wrong with kids’ mental health woes.

Also Read: With Serious Lack of School Counselors, Are We Failing Our Kids?
Where Do We Go Wrong?
India has perhaps the worst teen suicide rate in the world, where one student dies by suicide every hour. We’re known as the suicide capital of the world, with 63,000 annual suicides in the age group of 10-24. Thus, the role of school counselors and safe spaces for children to talk becomes even more important. And that is where we fail.

First, we lack miserably in respecting boundaries of teenagers or their privacy and decisions. This makes them feel isolated and targeted. If a teacher was harassing the girl about a boy she was friends with, why was there no school authority or counselor to whom she could go and discuss this with?

Why do we not teach our children that they will not be punished for talking about their problems? This lack of trust can be damaging. There are so many issues that these kids are facing, academic pressure, bullying, loneliness. There are so many causes for their disturbance and we do nothing to address those.
Dr. Amit Sen, Child Psychiatrist

Secondly, why are there no school counselors, even when CBSE guidelines mandate it? And when they’re there, their role is reduced to doing miscellaneous work. Student’s also don’t feel comfortable approaching them for advice and see it as a punishment. Quite often they are seen as spies for the school administration.

In our cultural context, a child is not seen as an individual. The counselor is also answerable to so many people, the school administration, the parents. It’s so important to recognize that the student is an individual and he/she has a right to privacy.
Swarnima Bhargava, Clinical Psychologist, Children First
What Should Be Done?
Strengthen the system of mental healthcare for children. The institute Children First, for example, works with schools to help them build structures and programs. They carry out regular training workshops with teachers, students and work with the community as a whole.

First of all, schools should give due respect and delegate proper work to counselors, they are the most useful part of the school system, says Sudeshna Nath, Senior School Counselor, DPS Vasundhra. The schools have to diligently make the best possible use of them.

Bhargava adds that schools need to do much more to address this problem.

It’s not enough to just have a counselor on board. You need to train your entire faculty to recognize problems and address them. It has to be a continuous process of learning.

(Looking for help? Reach out to this list of safe mental health professionals compiled by The Health Collective.)
James Donaldson

 

Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for mental health awareness and suicide prevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.

Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.

Having gone through a recent bout of depression and suicidal thoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space.  http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticle

STEVENS PASS GOES EPIC WITH FIRST STORM OF THE SEASON Opening Day brings new future for Pacific Northwest skiers with investment on the way

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Stevens Pass opened under the Vail Resorts banner today with 23 inches of new snow mid-mountain falling in the last two days, and more on the way.

Serious storm action off the top of the week brought the mid-mountain snow level up by two feet, for a 34-inch base and 49 inches mid-mountain. Snow is expected to continue throughout the week with new terrain opening daily.

“This is going to be a great season for us. We’ve just announced two new chairlifts and the snow has clearly arrived. By this time next week, we’re fully expecting most, if not all of our terrain will be open, and we’ll be enjoying new snow through Christmas and the New Year,” said Tom Pettigrew, Stevens Pass General Manager.

On Friday, Vail Resorts announced Stevens Pass will share in a $35 million investment it is making in its newest resorts, as part of its $175-180 million capital investment package for the coming season. Both the Brooks and Daisy chairlifts will be replaced with bigger, more modern lifts by the 2019-20 season, with additional upgrades to food services.

For Seattle area skiers, this season marks the first opportunity to purchase an EPIC pass, for use at Stevens Pass and the full complement of Vail Resorts properties. The EPIC pass offers access to 65 resorts, including the Colorado mountains and North America’s largest ski resort, Whistler Blackcomb, which is located just north of Washington State in British Columbia.

“This really is the start of a new era at Stevens Pass. This is an extremely successful hill, with 81 years of servicing the Pacific Northwest ski community. Joining the Vail Resorts family is only going to make it a stronger option for both core skiers and families,” said Pettigrew.

Stevens Pass had its first big snowfall mid-October and has received a cumulative 58 inches of snow for the season. The resort opened with the Daisy, Brooks, Skyline and Hogsback lifts open, accessing 23 runs.

About Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN)
Vail Resorts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is the leading global mountain resort operator. Vail Resorts’ subsidiaries operate 15 world-class mountain resorts and three urban ski areas, including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Crested Butte in Colorado; Park City in Utah; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada; Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, Canada; Perisher in Australia; Stowe and Okemo in Vermont; Mt. Sunapee in New Hampshire; Stevens Pass in Washington; Wilmot Mountain in Wisconsin; Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mt. Brighton in Michigan. Vail Resorts owns and/or manages a collection of casually elegant hotels under the RockResorts brand, as well as the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estate planning and development subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. Vail Resorts is a publicly held company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MTN). The Vail Resorts company website is www.vailresorts.com and consumer website is www.snow.com.

Congress Enacts National Standard for Treatment of Youth in Criminal Courts

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Congress passed and reauthorized today the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act, a bill that ensures federal standards in the treatment of youth in criminal courts across the country. The legislation now needs President Trump’s signature.

Jennifer Bellamy, American Civil Liberties Union senior legislative counsel, had the following response:

“Today Congress has reaffirmed its commitment to the youth entangled in our country’s complex criminal justice system by passing a bill that will address the systematic practices that disproportionately penalize and incarcerate youth of color.

“The bill will help ensure the safety of the over 50,000 kids currently living in juvenile detention facilities. It will help address at-risk and delinquent behaviors and will help teens become productive members of society through community programs. President Trump should immediately sign this bill.

“But while this reauthorization of the JJDPA is an extremely important step, it is also an incomplete step. There is still work to be done to prevent youth from being detained for behaviors that would not be a crime if committed by an adult. We have momentum now to impose greater change and we should not lose it.”

This statement is online here:

https://www.aclu.org/news/congress-enacts-national-standard-treatment-youth-criminal-courts

New data highlights how unstable & unpredictable work schedules have become the real nightmare before Christmas for retail & food workers in Washington state

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Academic researchers to join conversation as workers speak out about need for a statewide secure scheduling law in Washington

The holiday season is the busiest time of year for retail & food workers. And new data underscores how service workers in our state struggle year round to secure the balanced, flexible schedules they need to make the rent, care for their families, and live their lives.

Join us for this special event to learn from top academic researchers about the magnitude of scheduling issues in Washington State, then hear food & retail workers speak out about their own scheduling nightmares and call for the state legislature to pass a statewide secure scheduling law.

Who: Food & retail workers from across Washington, joined by top academic researchers and other supporters

What: Present data & share experiences about unstable & unpredictable work schedules in the service industry, and call for change

When: 1:00pm sharp, Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Where: Working Washington offices, in the shadow of the Space Needle at 116 Warren Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109. (Note: if you’ve been to our Columbia Street office before: we moved last month!). Space is limited — RSVP here to reserve a spot in person or to join the livestream.

Two of the nation’s top academic researchers on work schedules looked at data provided by several thousand workers from large chains in Washington State (excluding Seattle) and published a comprehensive new report titled Working in the Service Sector in Washington State which shows that:

  • More than half of people working working for large food and retail chains in Washington have variable or rotating schedules, with a 31% variation between weeks with the most hours and weeks with the fewest hours.
  • Almost four in ten worked a clopen in the last month (a closing shift one night followed by an opening shift the next morning), and 21% worked on-call.
  • About 70% of part-time workers want to work more hours.
  • A quarter of workers get less than week’s notice of their schedules; seven in ten struggle with their caregiving responsibilities because of their schedules
  • And more…

Inspired by the success of Seattle’s 2016 secure scheduling law, food and retail workers across the state will be pushing to make secure scheduling a top priority in the state legislature next year. Similar laws have also been passed in San Francisco, New York City, Oregon, Philadelphia, and other jurisdictions over the last few years.

Kent tenants protest landlord who demands outrageous fees for bedbug-infested building

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Tenants who are already suffering through a bedbug infestation are also getting shouldered with the cost of exterminating the pests. Now, after working with their neighbors to hold their landlord accountable, they’re facing retaliation in the form of eviction notices.

Tenants throughout the complex, which is a living facility for seniors, are being told they bear full responsibility for the infestation and are being told to pay fees of $1,188 to treat the building. It is difficult to track the origin of pests like bed bugs, but the landlord seems willing to place blame on most of the tenants, and push most of the cost onto tenants. These costs are burdensome and will prevent some tenants from being able to move into cleaner apartments. One tenant was told to cover the cost of exterminating bed bugs from an office that the whole complex shares.

Tenants organized with Washington CAN and reached out to their neighbors to see if other tenants were facing similar issues. In response, their property owners issued organizing tenants eviction notices citing the organizing as the reason. (We can provide documents showing this upon request.)

Tenants plan to call out this retaliatory behavior at a protest Wednesday. Details below:

What: Tenants protest unjust extermination costs

Where: Kent: We will announce the specific location on the day of the protest.

When: 10 a.m., Wednesday, Dec. 19