Linnenkohl gets his shot

Congratulations to Capital grad Alex Linnenkohl, who was signed by the Chicago Bears to a 3-year contract, getting a shot at center. The Olympian reports:

Linnenkohl, who finished his college career last season as one of Oregon State’s all-time best centers, signed a rookie free agent contract with the Chicago Bears on Tuesday afternoon, fulfilling his longtime dream of getting a chance to play in the NFL. He was one of two undrafted centers signed by Chicago, joining Mississippi State’s J.C. Brignone.

“This is all I’ve ever wanted,” Linnenkohl said Tuesday from Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill., where the Bears will begin training camp Saturday. “It’s pretty surreal right now. It hasn’t really hit me yet.”

What follows is one of those I-knew-him-when's: Back in 2006, I appeared on the same stage as Linnenkohl in an improv comedy show. The papers always report his work ethic (second-to-none) and his determination (at only 303 pounds, he's small for a center), but what they miss is his quick wit and killer sense of humor.

Best of luck, Alex. Strike that: do what brought you here, and keep working hard. If you get a Superbowl ring before the Seahawks do, I won't even complain.

Evergreen's Science Carnival: more science than carnival

Yesterday's Science Carnival at The Evergreen State College brought a lot of science, and a little bit of carnival, to the public. The Olympian sent reporter Rolf Boone to cover the story:

Elementary school students descended on the campus Friday as part of school field trips, while more children – this time with their parents – attended Saturday.

Over the two days, more than 150 science presentations were primarily presented throughout three buildings on campus, with an emphasis on hands-on activities.

I sampled some natural soda (dandelion blossoms should not, under any circumstances, be carbonated), saw how bacteria can power a fuel cell, and learned how oyster mushrooms are crucial to mycoremediation. The only disappointment: the cancellation of the 1:00 showing of "That's a Chicken?!" I never did learn what the putative quasi-chicken was, or what it all meant.

The carnival closed with Mentos/Diet Coke fountains set to "Thus Spake Zarathustra," which mostly made a mess of Red Square and the students manning the event.

Oh, and to Jimmy S., the commentator on the Olympian's website who claims that "The words science and Evergreen do not belong in the same sentence," you are obviously right. Clearly, an institution that sponsors cutting-edge phage research, has a "Research Ambassador Program" to connect science to the community, gets high school teachers involved in lab work, and has several top-notch programs in various scientific fields (with unparalleled opportunities for undergraduates to participate in research!) , and, for goodness' sake, HOSTS A SCIENCE CARNIVAL, has nothing to do with science.


Added: Science!

The Olympian hears about Olympia's RIF

They're a little late to the party, but at least they have the story now.

The Olympia School District is notifying 48 teachers this week that they might not have jobs in the fall, as it works to close a $2.3 million deficit.

Of course, the real number of teachers who could lose their jobs – and the actual amount of the deficit – depends largely on how things play out in the state Legislature’s special session, and how many teachers decide to retire, resign or take a leave of absence during next school year. “The majority of those folks will be offered their jobs back,” said district spokesman Peter Rex.

So far, 27 teachers have indicated they don’t plan to work next year. The district plans to basically leave 40 positions vacant to balance its budget. Unless there’s more attrition, about 13 teachers will lose their positions, Rex said.

More accurately, the 40 positions vacated may help balance the budget. There are other cuts planned; you can read all about the details here. If teaching positions are salvaged in the best-case scenario, many of the other cuts will still be necessary.

Chapter One of the worst case scenario has already been written, I should point out. As expected, the House has voted to suspend I-728 and I-732. Again.

The votes were lopsided but not unanimous to suspend initiatives 728 and 732 in the state House of Representatives Monday. The two iconic education-funding measures were first approved by voters in 2000 to provide class-size reduction funds and also to provide K-12 public school employees with annual cost-of-living raises.

The vote was to temporarily suspend the voters’ will on both measures, saving more than $1 billion in general fund outlays over the next two years.

We'll know in the next 15 days or so how the next chapter plays out.

Capital debater to have breakfast with Biden

Cameron Seib, a leading debater for Capital High School, will dine over hash browns and coffee with the talkingest politician who ever talked, one Vice President Joe Biden.

“I think it’s a great opportunity,” said Seib, 17, of Olympia. “You don’t get too many chances to meet such important people, and I’m definitely excited that not only is he coming to Seattle, but I get to meet him as well.”

The teenager was invited to the political fundraiser by 3rd Congressional District candidate Denny Heck. He spent the summer volunteering for Heck’s campaign.

Biden's in the region to stump for Patty Murray, who's hoping for a campaign that goes the way I like my eggs: over easy.

the long arm of the law

Back in February of 2008, Capital High School went on lockdown because of a nearby bank robbery. At the time, I wrote,

For about 45 minutes, my advisory class sat in darkness near the inside wall, taking naps and chatting quietly about There Will Be Blood and the magic that is Daniel Day-Lewis. I totally called the bank robbery angle.

When they announced the lockdown's conclusion, saying that the search had been called off, I told students it was because the cops had probably caught the bad guy.

Nope.

Roughly a year and six months later, they finally have.

An anonymous letter to the Olympia Police Department in January helped detectives make an arrest Wednesday in a year-and-a-half old armed bank robbery on the west side, court papers state.

Abraham Sebastian Anthony, 22, turned himself in at a local state Department of Corrections office after he was identified as a suspect and located in Lansing, Mich., as part of Olympia Police Det. Jeff Herbig’s investigation, court papers state.

Olympia Police Det. Dan Smith said Anthony admitted to committing the robbery after his arrest and said he did it to get money to feed his OxyContin habit.

The investigation of the Feb. 12, 2008 armed robbery of the Columbia Bank on Harrison Avenue had stalled until an anonymous letter sent to OPD in January said that Anthony was responsible.

There's one tiny transposition error in the article: the robbery occurred on February 21st, not the 12th.

Trader Joe's in Olympia opens August 21st

The Olympian has the official story. That is all.

traffic circles expanding their circumference of power

I commute through downtown Olympia every (school) day, driving 'round two roundabouts as I head up 4th/Harrison toward Capital High School. While they used to be somewhat treacherous, as inexperienced drivers struggled to learn right-of-way rules, or keep their SUVs in one lane, over the years, the two traffic circles have become easier and easier to negotiate.

Monday I linked to an article by Tom Vanderbilt explaining why roundabouts are superior to traditional four-way intersections. Consider safety:

Roundabouts are safer than traditional intersections for a simple reason: By dint of geometry and traffic rules, they reduce the number of places where one vehicle can strike another by a factor of four. They also eliminate the left turn against oncoming traffic—itself one of the main reasons for intersection danger—as well as the prospect of vehicles running a red light or speeding up as they approach an intersection to "beat the light." The fact that roundabouts may "feel" more dangerous to the average driver is a good thing: It increases vigilance. It's unlikely the average driver killed or severely injured in a high-speed "T-bone" crash as they drove through a green light felt much risk. In addition, drivers must slow to enter a roundabout: Placing an obstacle in the center makes this not only a physical necessity but visually disrupts the speed-encouraging continuity of the street. Motorists also travel through a roundabout more slowly than they would a traditional intersection: Roundabouts are typically built using what's called "negative superelevation," meaning that water flows away from the center and also that the road slopes against the direction of a driver's turn. As a result, any crashes in a roundabout take place at lower speeds and are thus less likely to be fatal. While roundabouts can be more costly to install than other kinds of traffic controls, such calculations don't take into account the fact that reducing fatal crashes also reduces social and monetary costs.

As Vanderbilt goes on to argue, roundabouts are also more energy- and time-efficient, and are better uses of public space.

So, when I hear that the City of Olympia is installing traffic circles in more locations...

Work began Monday on the first of three planned roundabouts to improve traffic flow and safety on Boulevard Road.

Crews for the general contractor, KLB Construction Inc. of Mukilteo, will clear trees and brush before construction begins in earnest at the T intersection of Boulevard and Log Cabin roads in southeast Olympia, said Sheri Zimny, project manager for the city of Olympia.

Crews will build a two-lane roundabout – the first city-funded roundabout in east Olympia – that features sidewalks, bike lanes, landscaping and lighting. Water and sewer lines also will be upgraded, and other utility lines will be buried.

The new roundabout also will feature the most ambitious artwork to grace one of the intersection control devices in the community so far. It consists of a circle of 10 wooden columns, each 8 feet high and carved with Northwest themes. Seattle artist Steve Jensen has characterized the $70,000 work as a “contemporary Northwest Stonehenge.”

...I get excited. And you should, too.

it takes money to get money

Why would the state of Washington send welfare recipients measly $1 checks?

Leo Ribas, head of community services at the Department of Social and Health Services, says there’s a method to the state’s madness....

He says if the state’s food stamp recipients receive just $1 for energy bill assistance, that qualifies them for extra federal assistance. That means someone like Nelson could receive about $30 more per month in food stamps.

Sending out $1 checks cost the state $250,000. DSHS says that could bring the state and additional $43 million in federal funding....

"I think it's an issue of maximizing the federal regulations to the advantage of Washington residents,” said Ribas.

Clever. And also everything that's wrong with the combination of federalism and the welfare state.

it's about time: Trader Joe's coming to Olympia

Trader Joe's is coming to west Olympia, the paper reports. Sometime this year they'll occupy the building Good Guys used to fill.

I can't believe it took this long. Trader Joe's has always seemed to be the quintessential west Olympia outfit--cheap, casual, organicky.

So... what'll replace Circuit City?


Update 7/15/09: This morning, driving by, the wife and I saw that they're putting signs on the former Good Guys building. I'm going to email the company about a timeline for the opening; if you have specific information, feel free to post it in the comments.

Update Update Word is, August 22nd. Still waiting for confirmation from an official representative.

Update Update Update: Or maybe even the week of August 10th. See this post, and the comment.

Capital closed again; I miss most of the fun

This morning, I went with a group of CHS teachers to observe at Bush Middle School in Tumwater. We braved the snow and ice to watch eighth-grade classes in action, unaware that our colleagues across town were ushering students out the door, starting at 9:30, when city inspectors declared a "live load" of snow made the building unsafe in certain areas.

Unsafe for students, at least. Our observations finished, we returned to campus for meetings and to finish out the contract day. My sub had a sweet gig: first period prep from 8:00-8:55, and 2nd period from 9:00 to 9:30. Not bad for a day's wages.

The Olympian sums up the state of affairs thusly:

On Monday night, Superintendent Bill Lahmann told the school board at its regular meeting that he plans to ask the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to waive four of the five days that Capital was closed this month because of the roof collapse.

Lahmann said that the damage to the school's roof would be covered under Gov. Chris Gregoire's proclamation of an emergency because of the severe winter storm that began on Dec. 15.

The fifth missed day would be made up on March 6, which was scheduled to be a district-wide training day for teachers.

All the schools in the district will make up the three school days canceled just before winter break because of snow fall at the end of the year. Olympia's last day of school is scheduled to be June 18.

Now it's all up to Randy Dorn's crew. Hurrah!

CHS open; normalcy around the corner

Capital High School opened as planned at 10:00 this morning, after an extra week's vacation due to a collapsed roof. District officials, Board members and media types arrived just in time to catch what will certainly be the first of many false fire alarms.

With the exposed plywood barricading the library and much of the commons, with circuitous, cramped commutes through crowded hallways, and with the constant movement of construction workers and materials throughout the building, the entire experience is one extended flashback to the remodel we finished a couple years ago.

The biggest headache, now that the mess is largely contained, is shared by the diaspora, the teachers who have set up shop in computer labs or the Career Center for the foreseeable future.

But at least we're back.

dozens killed, injured in War on Christmas

Love that Olympian headline.

everything is consolidated

Jonathan Safran Foer was close.

November, following the Postal Service's lead, The Olympian will print in Tacoma. It's only a matter of time before the local rag mutates completely into the branch campus of the News Tribune.

Still, it was fun while it lasted.

Lacey's red light cameras head to court

Yesterday, as my wife and I drove through Lacey, we watched as several citizens were photographed running solid reds at Sleater-Kinney and Pacific. The darkness of overcast skies accentuated the flash. They're working, I thought. As in, the cameras are on. But are they really working?

The Olympian reports this morning that the first batch of citations have entered the court system. So far, not so good, at least from an enforcement perspective:

The nine people who appeared Friday before Thurston County District Judge Susan Dubuisson were the first to go to court to challenge the $124 tickets issued under Lacey's red-light photo enforcement program.... Dubuisson ended up upholding the full fine for just one person, Evaline Fuik of Olympia....

She dismissed three tickets. John Kenney, an elderly man who's hard of hearing, testified that his caregiver, not he, was driving the car at the time of the infraction; under the law, the cameras can only take pictures of the license plates and not the occupants. Lacey city prosecutor Joe Svoboda moved to dismiss and said the caregiver could receive a ticket.

We have no idea, right now, how many citations have been issued, and whether the cameras are anywhere near cost-effective, never mind effective, never mind fair from a due process standpoint.

Any system that drags the geriatric owner of a vehicle into court when the caretaking driver is at fault has a few flaws. My wife, furthermore, is certain that a few red light runners were missed by the system. If the error rate potentially tops 33%--that's simply unacceptable.*

Here's another bothersome point:

American Traffic Solutions is charging the city $9,200 a month to operate the two cameras. The city will receive money only if fines collected cover the fees and unpaid balances. The city needs to collect fines from 75 violations each month to pay costs.

What we don't need: extra pressure on our judges to meet a subtle quota.

Longer yellows are just too cheap and efficacious, I guess.




Oh, and the tacky tie is Thursday's. I wore it for "Do Work Day." I dressed, appropriately, as a judge.


*Of course, not knowing how many citations aren't being challenged, this number is a total back-of-the-envelope calculation; it could be a wild overestimate, or, depending on how many violators the system misses, it could be an underestimate. That we don't know the number is problematic enough on its own.

North Thurston shoves science aside

After tossing and turning all night in a Kennewick hotel--drunken neighbors, a concealed beeping cellphone, and snoring, all in conspiracy--I woke up at 7:17 this morning to browse the news. First up: The Olympian reports that, as a budget-saving measure, the North Thurston School District's high schools now start at 7:20, 35 minutes earlier than last year.

The initial comments are mostly uninformed and grumpy:

Wow, do you guys want some cheese with your whine? Get over it, kiddies (and parents). Go to bed 1/2 hour earlier instead of texting your friends. The world doesn't operate on a 9-5 schedule and the soon they learn that, the better.

...

Buck up!

(You too, OLYMPIAN. Got NEWS???)

...

Don't worry, little children. Once you get to college you'll only go to class for three to four hours a day and an early class is at 8:00 a.m.

More in that vein, but you get the point. Is it that simple? Kids shouldn't be coddled, adults have it tough, grow up and be a man, I walked uphill both ways in the snow naked and shoeless while memorizing Shakespeare just to improve my memory not because it was assigned?

No. If anything, this article understates the importance of sleep, for at least three reasons.

1. Continual sleep deprivation results not just in poor academic performance, but has been implicated in a range of mood disorders.

2. Sleep patterns aren't just based on when you go to bed and when you wake up. Circadian rhythms dictate ideal sleep times. Adolescents aren't just "night owls" because it's fun; their circadian rhythms are different from those of adults.

3. Adolescent brain development is a critical period, a massive reorganization of neural circuitry comparable in scale to the changes in infancy. Proper sleep is thus especially important for teens.

So, go ahead and call it whining, but realize that the facts aren't on your side. Or maybe you aren't getting enough sleep, crankypants?

Capital runs all over Port Angeles

Riley Wall scored three touchdowns*, including an 85-yard kickoff return, as the Capital Cougars demolished Port Angeles 57-6 Friday night at Ingersoll Stadium.

I wasn't able to attend--I'm stuck in a hotel room in rainy Kennewick, five hours away--so you'll have to rely on The Olympian's report.

Wall's opening salvo represented Capital's only points of the first quarter. Then the floodgates opened. Cougars quarterback Kellen Camus scored from 13 yards out on a keeper with just 11 seconds ticked off the second-quarter clock. His touchdown was the first of four scored in a quarter that saw Capital (1-2, 1-0 OWL) tally 29 points.

Camus did most of the damage in the quarter himself, throwing touchdown passes of 65 and 30 yards in addition to his run. The junior signal caller finished the game completing 5-of-6 attempts for 130 yards.

"The big thing tonight is that we had to get our offense going," Capital coach J.D. Johnson said. "We had to get some consistency with our offense and get them to execute. I felt our kids were playing with great effort the last two weeks we just weren't executing on offense."

Whatever offensive issues Capital faced the first two weeks were gone by the third. The Cougars enjoyed a 36-0 halftime advantage and racked up 259 yards (129 on the ground, 130 through the air) of total offense through the first 24 minutes.

Once again, the Cougar defense was stifling. They're averaging 9 points surrendered per game.

Until yesterday's offensive explosion, Capital had scored only 13 points in its two previous contests, close non-league losses to powerhouses O'Dea and Olympia. The Cougars now appear set to plow through the WCC/OWL. That's what character-building will get you.

Up next: a road game against Olympic.



*The Olympian's headline says three, but their scoreboard say four, giving credit to Riley for a touchdown that twin brother Reid apparently scored. Which is it, guys?

Olympia City Council adopts my "door prize democracy" scheme

The Olympia City Council has embraced the value of randomness. Here's what I recommended here and on Olyblog, a little while back:

A random draw would level every individual's probability of being chosen first, and would also lead to a representative sample of the various opinions represented, especially if at least 60 people were chosen (3 minutes each = 3 hours). The council could post the first 60 names drawn, and those picked would have the option of passing their turn to a friend, if they thought s/he would do a better job or otherwise needed to go earlier. The council could even set a rule saying that they would not be allowed to adjourn until at least 60 people had spoken.

The only element lost would be the "back-and-forth," but since such situations are usually far removed from the rigor of a formal debate, there's no need to go Pro-Con-Pro-Con in lockstep.

Here's what the Council approved:

In the method approved Monday, people who want to speak would sign a form upon entering The Washington Center, which would open at 5 p.m. that day. Of the forms received from 5 to 6 p.m., a city official would randomly draw 40 names.

Those people would be notified by their names being put up on a screen, and they would be asked to relocate to the lower section, where three rows would be reserved for them.

A second drawing would take place for the next 40 speakers at 7 p.m. They would speak after the initial 40.

Those who do not get to speak, but sign up by 7 p.m. that day, would be able to speak at another hearing, at a date to be scheduled.

Freaky / awesome.

I promise not to abuse my powers of persuasion.

the weed on the bus goes round and round, all around town

A couple folks complained about an Oly Hempfest ad on the side of an Intercity Transit bus. The agency isn't backing down, though; the ad clearly represents political speech, even though it includes--horrors!--a photo of a cannabis leaf. What's out of bounds:

Intercity Transit forbids advertising on its buses that is obscene, defamatory, racist, sexist or "that is directed at producing imminent lawless action and is likely to produce such action." The agency does not endorse any issue or product advertised on its buses, the exception being self-promotion, according to its policies. All political and issue advertisements identify who sponsored them.

If looking at a pot leaf promotes "imminent lawless action," then what will we make of all those anti-drug ads sporting drug paraphernalia? Consider the top half of a recent print ad, which, at first (and potentially only) glance, has a message bound to boomerang:

Today's weed: twice as efficient!

we, me, you, and James Dobson

Recently James Dobson took umbrage with Barack Obama's notion that a person of faith, in a democracy, has to offer claims in support of her position without appealing to exclusively religious arguments. Dobson was blasted, and rightfully so, for twisting Obama's words into a claim that people of faith were somehow barred from introducing legislation offensive to nonbelievers.

The brouhaha illustrates the difference between democratic means and ends. For Dobson, democracy is not a value. It is a tool, effective or no, for producing valued ends. The pluralism held dear by those who value democracy in itself is, for Dobson, an unfortunate aspect of a messed up world. Thus, it's no surprise to me that Dobson would fundamentally (and some say maliciously) misinterpret Obama's words.

Two letters to today's Olympian illustrate Obama's point. Daniel Shaw, in the first:

Our national consciousness must rise above the "me" and start thinking in terms of "we." By voting yes for levies, you vote for the collective "we" and the world of tomorrow. By voting no, you vote for more intellectually challenged leaders who will run, control and decide your future.

Debra Brown, describing a road rage incident where no one stopped to help:

Here's the kicker: According to authorities, not ONE person called 9-1-1 to report the incident; not ONE person stopped to assist her, and it all happened during the morning commute!

What has this world come to?

When you see someone who needs help, PLEASE do yourself a favor and pay it forward.

Emphasis added in both examples.

Whether they're conscious of it, each writer is making a communitarian appeal couched in self-interested language. It's good for all of us won't sell it; It's good for you will. After all, if both writers are correct in their assessment that American society is fundamentally selfish, there's no other way.

cat people in trouble again

Judith Ann Lawson of Olympia...

...was jailed for investigation of 20 counts of felony animal cruelty after animal control officers found 20 Persian cats locked up in cages inside the garage of her home.

The animals were found living in filth. Feces covered their bodies. In some cases, the weight of the hardened waste pieces had caused their heavily-matted fur to tear right off of their bodies.

One of the cats was found covered with open and infected sores. The cat also had a broken tail and severe respiratory problems that affected its breathing.

Test her for Toxoplasma gondii. Test these brothers, too. There are too many cases like this; it seems quite evident to me that living with too many cats is an invitation to dementia, and my hunch is that Toxoplasma is the cause. But I'm no researcher, and can't prove my case.

Added: The Olympian has much more detail, placing Lawson in Lacey. Seattle media often miss the distinction.