Washington Anti-Hunger Groups, Schools, and Non-profit Organizations Seek to Feed More Students When School is Out

The Children’s Alliance

Seattle – January 28, 2013 – Washington afterschool providers came together today with anti-hunger advocates and child nutrition state and regional administrators to learn how to implement and expand the Afterschool Meal Program to receive federal funding to feed children afterschool, on weekends, and during school holidays. Working together, these stakeholders are helping to eliminate childhood hunger in Washington.

At the Luncheon: Eliminating Hunger After School: Expansion of the Afterschool Meal Program for Washington Kids, state and regional program administrators and advocacy organizations:

·     Spoke about the connection between nutrition and educational enrichment,

·     Presented an overview of the At-Risk Afterschool Meal Program,

·     Provided information on how to apply to receive the federal funding available, and

·     Discussed current opportunities for implementation and how to make the program work in a variety of settings.

“The Afterschool Meal Program can make a big difference for children in Washington,” said Linda Stone, executive director of the Children’s Alliance.  “Many parents are struggling to hold onto jobs, working extra-long or nontraditional hours, commuting long-distances, or trying to get back into the workforce. They need care for their children in order to do that, so it absolutely makes sense to provide afterschool, weekend, and school holiday programs to help parents provide healthy food for their children.”

With its partners, the Children’s Alliance is working to increase the number of sponsors and providers participating in the federal Afterschool Meal Program so that more children in Washington can receive free meals and snacks, participate fully in their afterschool activities, and have access to the nutrition they need outside of school.

“The benefits of afterschool meal programs are boundless,” said Crystal FitzSimons of the Food Research and Action Center.  “Access to afterschool meals improves students’ health, mental well-being, and their ability to fully participate and learn in afterschool activities.  As a result, schools have higher overall achievement scores, and communities stay healthier.”

Washington’s childhood poverty rate is over 18 percent and the percentage of Washington families experiencing food insecurity has increased in recent years.

The Luncheon was organized by the Children’s Alliance and the Food Research and Action Center in partnership with the Afterschool Meals Workgroup, and with support from the ConAgra Foods Foundation.

 

Influenza hitting elderly hard in Snohomish County

Another death reported
The Snohomish Health District
SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — The Snohomish Health District reports five Snohomish County residents have died in the last month from the severe influenza (commonly called the “flu”) that is circulating throughout Western Washington. All but one death was in people over age 70, and all had underlying medical conditions in addition to confirmed flu.
 
The latest flu-related death was of an Everett woman in her 70s. The health district confirms and reports deaths through the previous week, Jan. 19. Previously the health district confirmed flu-related deaths in a Stanwood man in his 90s, a Bothell woman in her 40s, an Everett woman in her 80s, and an Edmonds woman in her 80s.
 
Nation-wide, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention reports that more than 90% of flu season deaths have been in people over age 65. Older people are also more likely to be hospitalized as a result of this year’s H3N2 flu strain. To date, 71 hospitalizations related to flu have been reported in Snohomish County.
 
The Snohomish Health District has also received reports of flu outbreaks at nine longterm care facilities through Jan. 19, compared to one facility reporting flu in the 2011-2012 flu season. Facilities must report whenever at least two residents have flu symptoms and at least one has tested positive for influenza.
 
“Even when vaccinated, the elderly are more at risk to flu because their immune systems are weaker than in younger people,” explained Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for Snohomish Health District. “That’s why flu vaccination is so important for people of all ages – so we don’t spread flu to people who are most vulnerable.”
 
State Health Officer Dr. Maxine Hayes sent a letter to long-term care facility managers urging them to encourage employees to get vaccinated to protect patients and themselves from the flu. Visitors to these facilities should get the flu vaccine and delay visits if they’re sick.
People who are at high risk of serious flu complications –seniors, pregnant women, young children, and people with asthma, diabetes, or heart disease – should contact a health care provider immediately if they develop influenza-like symptoms, including cough, fever, sore throat, and body aches. Antiviral treatment works best when started as soon as possible after you get sick.
 
For those who are healthy, flu shots are still recommended to protect yourself and others, along with frequent hand washing. Children’s flu shots are subsidized by the state. Adult flu shots are covered by most health insurance and are available in providers’ offices as well as community clinics, pharmacies, and the Snohomish Health District clinics.
 
During last year’s flu season in Snohomish County, 39 residents were reported hospitalized and there were two deaths related to flu. Only lab-confirmed deaths are counted, and not all hospitals report flu-related admissions. The CDC estimates that up to 49,000 people die from the flu each year.
 
“This flu season appears to be the worst since H1N1 in 2009, when more than 100 people were hospitalized in Snohomish County,” said Goldbaum. “However, the current flu strain is most severe in seniors, while H1N1 caused deaths in younger people. We also have plenty of vaccine matched to the current strain this year.”
 
To learn more about the flu and vaccination, visit the Snohomish Health District website at www.snohd.org.
 
Established in 1959, the Snohomish Health District works for a safer and healthier Snohomish County through disease prevention, health promotion, and protection from environmental threats. Find more information about the Health Board and the Health District at http://www.snohd.org.

Fundraiser for crime victims Feb. 27 in Tulalip

http://www.heraldnet.com

The non-profit organization, Families & Friends of Violent Crime Victims, will hold its Voices of Victims breakfast Feb. 27. The Everett-based victim advocacy center aims to ease the burdens and promote healing for victims of violent crimes, loved ones of homicide victims, and families of missing people.
The fund-raising breakfast will be held at the Tulalip Resort Casino, 10200 W. Quil Ceda Blvd., Tulalip. Coffee service begins at 7 a.m. and breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m.

To register, call 425-252-6081. The agency also is seeking people to sponsor tables. For more information, go to www.fnfvcv.org.;http://www.tulalipresort.com/?src=ppc_google_tulalipcasino&gclid=CIGWh9TL8rQCFW6CQgodlRYAXQ[URL][/URL]

Tulalips screen film about American Indian jazz great

Photo courtesy of Sandy OsawaJim Pepper was a leader in both the world music and jazz-rock fusion movement.
Jim Pepper was a leader in both the world music and jazz-rock fusion movement. Photo courtesy Sandy Osawa.

By Theresa Goffredo, Herald Writer, http://www.heraldnet.com

 
Jim Pepper was known for pioneering the fusion jazz movement as well as being the kind of musical innovator who blended jazz with American Indian music.Jazz aficionados are well aware of Pepper’s composition “Witchi Tai To,” today a jazz classic that was a crossover hit between jazz and the top 40 popular song list when it was first produced in the mid-’60s.

Pepper’s life is celebrated in the film documentary “Pepper’s Pow Wow,” showing at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Hibulb Cultural Center on the Tulalip Reservation, 6410 23rd Ave. NE, Tulalip.

Admission for adults is $10. For more information call Hibulb at 360-716-2600 or online atwww.hibulbculturalcenter.org/.

Sandy Osawa will present the one-hour film. Osawa, a Makah, is the first American Indian filmmaker to produce on a national broadcast scale and has made 16 broadcast films.

She and her husband, cameraman and editor Yasu Osawa, will answer questions following the film.

Pepper’s heritage is Creek and Kaw and the film shows a rare, personal glimpse into the life of this jazz innovator, who made his name on the European stage rather than back home in America.

The film pays tribute to Pepper’s life along with sharing his music, including a recording of his grandfather, Ralph Pepper, singing the original chant that became the basis for “Witchi Tai To.”

Pepper played the tenor saxophone and the film opens with him performing the song “Caddo Revival” during the Kaw Pow Wow in Oklahoma, where Pepper grew up.

In the film, Pepper is recorded as saying music created by American Indians “comes directly from the ground, from the earth, from the four directions and the music is a healing force.”

Along with documenting Pepper’s life, the film delves into the birth of the jazz-rock fusion movement of the mid-1960s. The film includes footage of Pepper’s band, the first jazz-rock fusion band called The Free Spirits.

Filmmaker Osawa hopes that Pepper’s life “can be a metaphor for many indigenous people who are struggling to walk in two worlds with one spirit,” she said in a statement.

“Pepper’s Pow Wow” has been shown on the Public Broadcasting Station with funding by the Independent Television Service. Osawa’s films are available at www.upstreamvideos.com.

Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424; goffredo@heraldnet.com.

2013 Pacific Northwest Weather Workshop

The Pacific Northwest Weather Workshop, the annual gathering for those interested in Northwest weather and climate. will be held on March 1-2, 2013. As usual it will be held at the NOAA Sand Point facility in Seattle. For more information and to register please check the meeting web site: http://www.atmos.washington.edu/pnww/

Abstracts for talks are encouraged and are due by 15 February 2013–see the “Submit an Abstract” web page for more information. Some information on the meeting is also found below. The meeting banquet will be held at the Talaris Center, close to the UW.

DATES: March 1 and March 2, 2013 (Friday and Saturday)

LOCATION: NOAA Western Regional Center, Building 9 Auditorium

TIMES: 1pm Friday through 4pm Saturday (tentative times)

The Pacific Northwest Weather Workshop will be held Friday and Saturday, March 1-2, at the NOAA Western Regional Center, Building 9 Auditorium, at Sand Point in Seattle, Washington. This annual conference, sponsored by NOAA’s National Weather Service, the University of Washington, and the Puget Sound Chapter of the American Meteorological Society, covers recent developments in weather forecasting and observational technologies, major weather events of the past year, and topics dealing with western U.S. meteorology.

We welcome talks on all topics dealing with Northwest weather and climate. The meeting will start Friday, March 1, at 1pm and will continue through mid-afternoon on Saturday. Registration will be $30 for regular attendees ($15 for students) and will include Saturday lunch, afternoon and morning refreshments, and a pre-print volume. We will also have a Friday evening banquet (for an additional charge).

This year’s banquet talk title and speaker will be announced in early February.

Pre-registration is requested for all attendees. You can check for the latest information and register on-line via our website at: http://www.atmos.washington.edu/pnww/index.php?page=registration. Please submit abstracts for oral presentations and posters in text, Word or WordPerfect format – no PDF please. ABSTRACTS SHOULD BE RECEIVED BY February 15, 2013. Please include the title, author’s name and author contact information. Poster presentations are welcome and will be displayed throughout the meeting and during a special poster session. Please send abstracts to Cliff Mass, at the email address shown below.

For more information contact: Brad Colman/Kirby Cook, NWS Forecast Office, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115 (206.526.6095 x222/224,brad.colman@noaa.gov , Kirby.Cook@noaa.gov), or Clifford Mass, Dept of Atmospheric Sciences, Box 351640, University of Washington, Seattle WA 98195 (206.685.0190, cliff@atmos.washington.edu).

Eagle Festival returns Feb. 1-2

Arlington  Times, http://www.arlingtontimes.com

ARLINGTON — The city of Arlington and the Stillaguamish Tribe welcome locals and out-of-towners alike to attend the sixth annual Eagle Festival on Friday, Feb. 1, and Saturday, Feb. 2, in Arlington. The Stillaguamish watershed hosts large concentrations of bald eagles during the winter, when they feed on the spawning salmon.

This year, in an effort to make the festival a two-day event, organizers have added activities on Friday, including a rafting trip on the Stillaguamish River. To make a reservation, call North Cascades River Expeditions at 1-800-634-8433. The cost is $60. Also on Friday, the Predators of the Heart Wild Animal Show will start at 7 p.m. at Eagle Creek Elementary. This event is new to the Eagle Festival and is sponsored by Calvary of Arlington.

The Arlington Arts Council will again be conducting its Nature Art Show at Magnolia Hall. The show opens on Friday at 5 p.m. with an artists’ reception and wine tasting, and continues on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Included in the show are a Nature Art Contest and an Eagle Photograph Contest. Cash prizes will be awarded. For more details, log onto www.arlingtonwa.gov/eaglefest.

Also included in the Eagle Festival is a Nature Poetry Contest whose details can be found online, again, at www.arlingtonwa.gov/eaglefest. Fogdog Gallery will be displaying the poems and providing prizes at 233 N. Olympic Ave.

Starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, city Natural Resource Manager Bill Blake will lead a short walk through the city’s Storm Water Wetland Park, and along the Stillaguamish River’s Eagle Trail. Participants should meet at the Haller Park parking lot, located at 1100 West Ave. From 10 a.m. to noon, wildlife biologists will be giving tours at the Port Susan Bay Nature Conservancy.

For a personal encounter with a live bird, guests should stop by the Sarvey Wildlife open house from noon to 4 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at 110 E. Third St. Sarvey Wildlife staff will be showing many birds of prey. Nature exhibits and representatives from Western Wildlife Outreach, Sound Salmon Solutions, Pilchuck Audubon Society and Snohomish Conservation District will be on site from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Representatives from Sound Salmon Solutions will be presenting “Tree Tenders” at 11 a.m. at the Depot at Legion Park.

The Country Carvers Chainsaw Show will return Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Legion Park. Chainsaw artists from across the Pacific Northwest will carve eagles and other art, and an auction at 3 p.m. on Saturday will sell those carvings to the public, while the best-in-show title is awarded.

For more information on the Eagle Festival, please visit the city of Arlington’s website at www.arlingtonwa.gov/eaglefest or call 360-403-3448.

 

 

Eliminating Hunger After School: Expansion of the Afterschool Meal Program for Washington Kids Luncheon set for January 28

Source: Children’s Alliance

What:  Afterschool program providers and administrators of the federal child nutrition programs throughout Washington will attend the Luncheon – Eliminating Hunger After School: Expansion of the Afterschool Meal Program for Washington Kids – to learn how they can implement and expand federally funded programming to eliminate hunger experienced by children after school, on weekends, and during school holidays.

The summit, organized by the Children’s Alliance and the Food Research and Action Center, will provide a forum for current and potential afterschool meal providers to share their successes in bringing afterschool meals to the children they serve in Washington.

When: Monday, January 28, 2013 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Where:  United Way of King County, 720 Second Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104

Why:   Washington’s childhood poverty rate is over 18 percent and the percentage of Washington families experiencing food insecurity has increased in recent years.

Extending the reach of the Afterschool Meal Program to all eligible communities throughout the state will ensure that the children of Washington can participate fully in their afterschool activities, while also receiving the nutrition they need and may not have access to outside of school.

See registration page and agenda here.

The Luncheon was organized by the Children’s Alliance and the Food Research and Action Center in partnership with the Afterschool Meals Workgroup, and with support from the ConAgra Foods Foundation.

Survey finds NRA Members United

91% of NRA Members Support Laws to Stop Mentally Ill from Acquiring Firearms

Press Release, NRA Public Affairs

FAIRFAX, Va. – The National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action conducted a national scientific poll of its members and found near unanimity among NRA members on a wide range of issues involving mental health reform and firearm rights.

Gun control advocates including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as well as various media outlets, have released data claiming to represent the views of NRA members, despite the fact that none of those surveys had access to the NRA’s membership list. The NRA survey of 1,000 randomly-selected NRA members across the country is the only legitimate survey of NRA members in existence.

The data from this survey indicates that NRA members are united in their desire for Washington to focus on keeping firearms from the mentally ill and to reject unconstitutional gun control measures that infringe on Second Amendment rights.

“Mayor Bloomberg’s claims that gun owners are divided are totally false. It is nothing more than an attempt by anti-gun activists to further their long-standing political agenda,” said NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox. “American gun owners and Second Amendment supporters are ready for Washington to put politics aside and come together to fix our broken mental health system.”

Key Findings:

  • 91% of NRA members support laws keeping firearms away from the mentally ill.
  • 92% of NRA members oppose gun confiscation via mandatory buy-back laws.
  • 89% oppose banning semi-automatic firearms, often mistakenly called “assault rifles”.
  • 93% oppose a law requiring gun owners to register with the federal government.
  • 92% oppose a new federal law banning the sale of firearms between private citizens.

Methodology – The national survey was conducted by OnMessage Inc.  Telephone interviews were conducted January 13-14, 2013.  This survey consists of 1,000 NRA members and was stratified by state to reflect voter distribution in the 2012 presidential election. The margin of error for this survey is +/- 3.09%.

Full results available here.

-NRA-
Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’s oldest civil rights and sportsmen’s group. Four million members strong, NRA continues to uphold the Second Amendment and advocates enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. The Association remains the nation’s leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the armed services. Be sure to follow the NRA on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NationalRifleAssociation and on Twitter @NRA.