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WA State House passes bill to eliminate youth credits from adult sentencing calculations

The Washington State House of Representatives passed HB-1324 on the evening of March 6, which makes updates to Washington’s sentencing systems so that adults cannot be punished twice for crimes they committed as children. Among the goals of the bill are to promote rehabilitation and reintegration, to bring Washington State into line with other states that do not consider prior juvenile offenses when sentencing adults, and to “recognize how serious disproportionality in the juvenile justice system can later affect the sentencing range of adult justice.”

According to an ACLU press release, “This change would bring Washington in line with most other states regarding the scoring of prior juvenile offenses. Eliminating the use of juvenile records to automatically give people longer sentences would reduce racial disparities, account for discoveries in developmental brain science and stop punishing people twice by no longer counting juvenile points in sentencing for adults.”

Southeast Seattle Schools Fundraiser expands to 17 public schools to raise critical funds

Through the month of March, a collaborative fundraiser led by the Southeast Seattle Schools Fundraising Alliance hopes to raise $500,000 for approximately 7,000 students at 17 elementary, middle and high schools in Seattle Public Schools’ District 7. The fundraiser is a collaboration between 17 PTAs and family teacher groups— which started in 2021 and is now in its second year of fundraising together – in recognition that not all schools have the capacity to raise money equally.

Like the first year, which raised $400,000, this year’s fundraiser will also use a move-a-thon — with events mostly between March 6 to 17 — that will encourage dancing, navigating obstacle courses and other fun activities. PTAs at individual schools can also plan one-time events for themselves, including pep rallies, weekend family gatherings, and more.

Participating schools include:

• Elementary: Beacon Hill International Elementary, Dearborn Park International Elementary, Emerson Elementary, Dunlap Elementary, Graham Hill Elementary, Hawthorne Elementary, Kimball Elementary, John Muir Elementary, Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary, Maple Elementary, Rainier View Elementary, Rising Star Academy and Wing Luke Elementary
• The middle: Aki Kurose Middle School and Mercer Middle School
• K–8: Orca K–8 and Southshore Pre-K–8

A change from the previous year is the addition of two new schools and an update to the way the funds are distributed between the schools, taking into account the student population in each.

Students are encouraged to get others to sponsor them when they carry out various events related to the move-a-thon. Visit Southeast Seattle Schools Fundraising Alliance website to donate, become a sponsor and participate in the move-a-thon. Or send a text message to D7Moves to 44-321.

Local authors featured in short story dispensers at the Central Library and The Station Coffee Shop

Seattle Public Library’s short story dispensers have returned to Central Library (1000 4th Ave.) and Beacon Hill coffee shop, The Station (1600 S Roberto Maestas Festival St.), to provide a new slate of short stories written by Seattle-area authors. The collection is curated by Short Edition, a French publisher, which has more than 300 dispensers installed worldwide.

When visiting each of these locations, they can select “Local Writers” from the dispensers, choosing between one- or three-minute stories. Stories will be printed on a long paper. According to a press release from The Seattle Public Library, “Since the installation of story dispensers in January 2020, more than 14,000 short stories have been printed.” Those installed by The Seattle Public Library are the first and only in Washington State, according to Short Edition’s website.

The Seattle Public Library plans to expand the dispensers to other locations later this year.

Authors can submit stories for consideration on Short Edition’s website at Short-Edition.com/en.

The following works by local authors will be featured in the short story dispensers:

• Alicia Bones: “Everyone Wants an Uncomplicated Life” and “Scissor to Strand Salonspa”
• Alina Rios: “Seeking Ore” and “Woven”
• Andrea Eaker: “The Build of a Siren”
• Angie McCullagh: “The Whole Flow” and “Green Freak”
• Caitlin Andrews: “Color Me Blue”
• Carol Roscoe: “Ruby’s First Novel” and “Transplants”
• Carolyn Abram: “Nostalgia”
• Ching-In Chen: “Wooden Skin” and “Leaving the Desert (History in Reverse)”
• David Drury: “When the Lights Came Up” and “The House Lamps”
• Hillary Behrman: “Rocks” and “The Lost and Found”
• Jennifer Fliss: “Handprints” and “For the Dachshund Enthusiast”
• Jessica Duling: “Santa’s Helpers” and “The Days I Hope For”
• Johan Liedgren: “Bones of love”
• John Whittier Treat: “Almost”
• Kate Williams: “Doors swing both ways”
• Katie Kurtz: “Session” and “The Book”
• Kristen Millares Young: “Try to say yes”
• Lindy Thompson: “Bugging Out” and “The Ice Storm”
• Matthew Simmons: “We posted through it”
• Michael Bracy: “Grandma Earlene”
• Michelle Templeton: “Reading Emily Bronte” and “Burn”
• Rita Grace Atmajian: “Natural Wonders” and “Three Little Birds”
• Ruthie Nicklaus: “Just groceries, please”
• Stephanie Barbé Hammer: “Island Story” and “The Beautiful Pilot”
• Sudeshna Sen: “Tagebuch”
• Suzanne Morrison: “Mother’s Portion”
• William Gallien: “A rabbit rabbit eats tea leaves on TV”

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