of Continental Newstime newsmagazine
VOLUME VI NUMBER 1 AUGUST 3, 2019
Copyright @ Continental News Service. All rights reserved.
Continental Features/Continental News Service
"The newspaper-feature super-channel"
This is not the whole newspaper, but a special complimentary, on-line edition of the general-interest, periodic newsmagazine, Continental Newstime. The rest of the newspaper includes national and world news, newsmaker profiles, commentary/analysis, periodic interviews, travel and entertainment features, an intermittent science column, humor, sports, cartoons, comic strips, and puzzles, and averages 28 pages per month. Continental Features/Continental News Service publishes, on a monthly rotational basis, special, complimentary on-line newspapers: Washington DC News Edition (familiarly knownasthe Malfunction Junction News Edition or Snooze Junction News Edition), Chicago News Edition, Honolulu News Edition, Atlanta News Edition, Anchorage News Edition, Boston News Edition, Seattle News Edition, Miami News Edition, San Diego News Edition, Rochester (N.Y.) News Edition, Minneapolis News Edition, and Houston News Edition.
Seattle News Edition of Continental Newstime
Continental Features/Continental News Service
501 W. Broadway, Plaza A, PMB# 265
San Diego, CA 92101
(858) 492-8696
E-mail: info@continentalnewsservice.com
* U.S. Government News Briefs … Senator Maria Cantwell has supported a resolution introduced, as well, by Independent Senator Bernie Sanders and 22 other members of the Senate Democratic Caucus, to press FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) to end gender-related pay discrimination between male and female soccer players. Having already introduced the Equal Pay For Team USA Act, with West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito, to impact 50 different sports national governing organizations, with coordination by the U.S. Olympic Committee, the Senator observes that the 2019 World Cup champion U.S. Women's National Team is due to receive $4 million less in prizes than the 2018 Men's World Cup first-round losers and only 10.5 percent of the award received by the winning 2018 Men's World Cup team. The Senator also reports that, since at least July, 2015, she has consistently followed up with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on its implementation of Positive Train Control, a technology that is designed to ensure that trains automatically stop in time to avoid certain types of accidents. Indeed, recently, the Ranking Member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee used FRA Administrator Ron Batory's Committee testimony as opportunity not only to inquire about the findings and lessons learned following the Amtrak 501 derailment in the state, but to express alarm that Positive Train Control implementation has been delayed so long that more than 150 crashes were not prevented and that, even with "full" implementation, more than 1,400 miles of railroad track used by Amtrak will be exempt from system coverage. With respect to the 2017 Amtrak 501 derailment, which killed three and is still under investigation, the Senator records that the FRA Administrator described a management failure to assign a road foreman of engines on that inaugural train run on the Point Defiance Bypass south of Tacoma, and Batory acknowledged that noncompliant training of crew members was a contributing cause of the accident. Besides, Senator Cantwell confides an expectation that four bills on grid modernization, smart buildings, cyber-security and work-force development she has re-introduced will be incorporated into bipartisan legislation the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is crafting. The latter bill envisions strengthening the skill levels in the traditional and clean energy sectors through a competitive grant program, while the cyber-security bill seeks to improve cooperation between the Department of Energy and the intelligence community, the Smart Building Acceleration Act aims to use cost-benefit studies to expedite building retrofits of certain federal buildings, and the grid modernization bill would provide for demonstration programs focusing on such features as micro-grids and extend assistance to local and state grid regulators in obtaining new technology and grid controls.
* State Government News Briefs ... Governor Jay Inslee has announced that, since July 15 when the Trump Administration issued a new Title X rule, the state of Washington has stopped using federal grant money to pay sub-grantees for family-planning services. Instead, the state has switched to using state funds, during Attorney-General Bob Ferguson's legal challenge to the Title X rule, which the state calls a “gag” rule. In other developments, the state Department of Licensing has moved to offer a third gender option in applications for a driver's license, by allowing applicants to choose an X gender designation, beside male or female. Department of Licensing Director Teresa Berntsen says that, by replacing the so-called binary option, the state creates consistency with birth certificates listing the gender as X and that full consistency is achieved by allowing a declaration of gender X on instruction permits and state ID cards, too. Further, the Governor notes that 2019 marks the 25th year of AmeriCorps' existence and that the state of Washington affiliated agency, Serve Washington has received the third-largest grant amount in the country, $17.8 million from the Corporation for National and Community Service. Among the state recipient organizations is the Bands of the Yakama Nation, and two multi-state programs have also been awarded funding. The non-profit and state/local-government entities receiving funds, as a group, will receive an infusion of $25 million-plus in matching local resources and will be recruiting AmeriCorps volunteers for their environmental and community-improvement projects this fall, with volunteers receiving a modest living allowance and $6,095 after 1,700 hours of service, to pay for college or repay student loans. What is more, Governor Inslee has established a goal of eliminating the deadly, but curable, Hepatitis Type C virus in the state by 2030, through testing, early detection, prevention measures and early treatment. Health Secretary John Wiesman says that, while those born between 1945 and 1965 who received blood not screened for the virus during medical procedures before 1992 risk cirrhosis of the liver, liver cancer, need for a liver transplant, and even death, new cases are mainly due to injection drug use. In all, almost 60,000 Washington residents, knowingly or unknowingly, are believed to be living with the virus, which, the Governor warns, "is silently harming and killing thousands of Washingtonians every year." Lastly, the Governor has congratulated Representative Laurie Jinkins—a lawmaker he has worked with on health care, civil rights, and working-family issues—on her selection as the first woman to become Speaker of the Washington House of Representatives.
-1-
* County Government News Briefs … King County Executive Dow Constantine, commenting on renaming of the Eastside Rail Corridor to Eastrail, explains that the lightly-used freight rail line will be transformed into a 42-mile multi-purpose, non-motorized, paved trail spanning Gene Coulon Park (Renton), Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, and Woodinville, its northern terminus being Snohomish County, and the uninterrupted paved trail will connect to four light-rail stations that Sound Transit projects opening in 2023 as part of its East Link extension. In all, 10 light-rail stations are due to open on the Eastside during 2023. With approximately 13 miles of the trail currently open to the public, the County Executive says that the vision is for a multi-purpose, scenic path that will offer travelers a "convenient, healthy way to get to and from four of the 10 Link light-rail stations" planned, while furnishing trail-side amenities and trail-oriented urban development. The remainder of the trail from Renton to Woodinville and Redmond is scheduled to be completed by 2025. In addition, Constantine notes that the 15-member King County Women's Advisory Board has made its recommendations concerning the needs, rights, and well-being of women, and now the next step is for his office to collaborate with the King County Council to appoint a County Children and Families Strategy Task Force to examine the Board's key recommendation of promoting affordable and accessible, high-quality, child-care services. The County Executive confirms that a variety of experts on early learning and other disciplines will be assembled to consider such options as telecommuting, opening new child-care facilities, infants-at work arrangements, and a voucher program for County employees. While the Task Force will be required to report to the County Executive and County Council by June 30, 2020 and then to expire, the work of Constantine's Best Starts for Kids Initiative branches out in the new direction of furnishing child-care providers best practices for maintaining healthy, safe environments. Moreover, Executive Constantine reports that the County's estimated 115,000 veterans have not been overlooked, thanks to voters approving a Veterans, Seniors and Human Services Levy in 2017 and availability of $7.5 million in budgetary resources, because the County's Pathfinders specialists are matching veterans, service members, and military-family members with employment and needed services, and the County's Navigators have reduced veteran homelessness 31 percent in 2018 and an additional 10 percent this year by arranging placement in permanent housing. Constantine says that the County's outreach is really unique because provision is made to fill gaps in state and federal veteran programs that leave National Guard and Reserve members un-served.
* City Government News Briefs … Mayor Jenny A. Durkan informs that the City can now enjoy the fruits of its efforts in Olympia to secure state legislation permitting cities to retain more sales-tax revenue for the purpose of financing affordable housing development and operations. In fact, joined by Council Member Teresa Mosqueda, she announced that the City Council has just produced a bill to allocate $50 million of this revenue for permanent supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness. Previously, the Mayor revealed her Housing Seattle Now blueprint for resolving the City's housing crisis, a plan entailing a surge in new housing investments for low- and middle-income families. Part of Mayor Durkan's housing-policy strategy is to renew and improve the City's Multi-Family Tax Exemption Program that presently furnishes affordable rent for nearly 4,500 low- and middle-income households occupying apartment buildings city-wide. It is anticipated that the program enhancement planned will make available an additional 1,300 affordable homes during the next three years, by limiting rent increases to 4.5 percent annually. Along the way, though, the Mayor vowed to use the power of the veto to check the Council's attempt to under-fund low-income programs she termed "vital."
* School District News Briefs … The Seattle Public Schools District announces that a Special School Board Meeting is scheduled for August 5, between 4:30 PM and 6 PM, in the Board Conference Room of the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence, the District VII Appointment Process being on the agenda. Two days later, Superintendent Denise Juneau confirms that a District VII Candidate Forum is set for 6 PM to 9 PM.
* Weather ... The National Weather Service reports that, as of 5:55 PM, the current temperature at the University of Washington is 77 degrees Fahrenheit, with wind out of the north-northwest at 5 miles per hour, gusts as high as 12 miles per hour, relative humidity of 45 percent, and the dewpoint 54 degrees. The forecast for tonight calls for mostly-clear skies, a low temperature of about 60 degrees, and north wind of 7 to 11 miles per hour becoming east-northeast wind after midnight. Tomorrow is expected to be sunny, with a daily high temperature of 86 degrees, north wind of 7 to 15 miles per hour, and gusts as high as 20 miles per hour. Sunday night, clear conditions are anticipated, with a low temperature of 62 degrees.
* Sports ... In Major League Baseball (MLB), the Mariners went hitless today in Houston (72-40), where two Astros pitchers combined to shut out the Mariners by a score of 9-0, the Mariners still having won 6 of their last 10 games. Meantime, in Major League Soccer, both the Sounders and San Jose boast 38 total points and battle for exclusive possession of second place, behind the L.A. Football Club in the Western Conference. And in the NFL, on August 8 at 7 PM, the Seahawks are due to host the Denver Broncos in their first 2019 pre-season game.
Sports and Families: By David Frost
FALLING STARS
A number of years ago, a high school in Southern California received national attention when a secret club known as the "Spur Posse" got into all kinds of trouble. Among other things, some of their members were convicted of burglary and having sex with minors. I remember reading an article in which one of the boys’ parents talked about how nice her son had been when he was a young boy. But, somewhere along the way, he crossed a line and she lost him.
Parents need to know that just because their child is immersed in sports is no guaranty that he or she will not run afoul of the law. Typically, when parents read about a good athlete who gets into trouble at school, or with the law, they tell themselves this could never happen to their child. Unfortunately, good kids from fine families often go against what they learned as children. Sometimes, this is only normal adolescent rebellion. But there are times when young athletes can cross an imaginary line that only exists for those who excel in the world of sports. Good athletes receive preferential treatment in many areas of their lives and are often allowed to get away with questionable activities. Problems that arise are often "taken care of" or overlooked. This reinforces negative behavior, and the young athlete may begin to push beyond the limits of acceptable conduct. He wants to find out exactly how far the line extends.
I am not writing this to frighten parents into believing that their kids are only a step away from the penitentiary. Most kids in sports don't develop personal problems or have skirmishes with the law. However, when an unfortunate situation does occur, parents often express surprise. Nobody saw it coming.
The reason I am so familiar with how this process works is because it happened in my family. It happened to me. When I was 12, I was a model kid, a parent's pride and joy. But from 12 to 20, the subtle effect of being in the spotlight caused a gradual change in my attitude and behavior. At 26, I was a successful major-league pitcher, but I was not a quality individual. I was proud when I should have been generous, deceitful rather than honest. What had happened to me?
The talented young athlete experiences adolescence in a unique way. To my knowledge, only athletes receive such an intoxicating mixture of attention, hero-worship, and special treatment. Over time, even the most well-grounded kids can be affected. In light of these circumstances, parents need to guard against their natural tendency to idolize their child. You can be sure that your gifted athlete is getting plenty of attention and praise from friends, teachers, and the general public. Parents need to develop ways to balance all this adulation. One way is to emphasize the importance of giving. With all that is offered to them, athletes quickly learn how to become excellent "takers." Teach humility to counter the pride that can grow at an accelerated rate inside the hearts of successful young sports stars. Set an example by demonstrating integrity, rather than expediency, when facing tough challenges. Too often, athletes are allowed to take the easiest option when faced with a difficult choice. Parents, if you encourage your young athletes to feel as though they are the center of the universe, they might end up with their heads in the clouds. If you stress gratitude, humility, and balance, they will have a better chance of keeping their feet on the ground. [David Frost played professional baseball for 10 years and pitched for the American League Angels from 1978 to 1981. He now speaks professionally as a marriage and family counselor.]
Question Time with Public Officials
The American public expects public officials to deal with, rather than dodge, difficult public-policy problems, to be transparent in their public-policy positions, and to state their views confidently, thoughtfully and boldly. One week was allowed to finalize the response, by E-mail, of each of the Presidential candidates listed below.
The Continental News Service had announced its intention to publish results of this multi-respondent poll in its on-line newspapers over the course of time, and these newspapers include its Washington D.C. News Edition, Chicago News Edition, Honolulu News Edition, Atlanta News Edition, Anchorage News Edition, Boston News Edition, Seattle News Edition, Miami News Edition, San Diego News Edition, Rochester (N.Y.) News Edition, Minneapolis News Edition, and Houston News Edition.
Would you, Senator/Representative/Governor, support legislation, or even sponsor legislation, ending all federal government grants to Planned Parenthood if it was conducted in an even-handed and non-discriminatory manner; that is, likewise ending all federal and federally-subsidized state grants to faith-based and all other non-profit groups, whatever their specific tax-code classification?
__ Yes. Uncheck "No Comment." My reasoning is ________________________________________________________________________________.
__ No. Uncheck "No Comment." My reasoning is _________________________________________________________________________________.
X No Comment. Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Cory Booker, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Representative Tulsi Gabbard, Washington Governor Jay Inslee.
-2-