In the Media
Western Washington University is holding its quarterly blood drive today through Thursday as regional blood supplies in our area remain at critically-low levels.
Carol Rondello with the Puget Sound Blood Center says supplies are dangerously low because fewer people gave blood over the holidays, and because of the recent winter weather.
Western Washington University men's basketball guard John Allen is the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week for Jan. 15-21.
It is the second straight week that the 6-foot-1 junior has earned the honor. He is the first player to win the award in back-to-back weeks since Northwest Nazarene's Brian Barkdoll accomplished the feat in February of 2009 and is the first player in the 11-year history of the GNAC to take the award outright in consecutive weeks.
Nikki Larson and six of her Western Washington University students are working on an unusual recycling project they hope will result in helping Haiti residents get new homes while cleaning up their country.
Larson, an associate professor of engineering technology, and her students are working on the best ways to create small homes made from plastic waste that litters earthquake-shattered Haiti. If the logistics of a trip can be worked out, she said several of them hope to visit Haiti this summer.
Maestro Northwest GIS, a startup company specializing in geographic information systems, has been formed by partners Lauren Erickson and Daniel Tepper.
The firm is in Fairhaven and has produced maps related to farm management, property planning, and trail planning. Their services include cartography, spatial analysis and map production for presentations and print projects.
Inside the Stafford Creek state prison, an inmate serving time for murder works quietly at a desk, using computer-assisted-design tools. He is putting final touches on a blueprint for a bunk bed that might be built for a university’s dorms.
Other inmates take furniture orders at one end of a long row of desks in the prison’s furniture-business office. The desks are arranged in the sequence of the decisions that have to be made, helping orders move into production within 36 to 48 hours compared with two weeks previously.
State lawmakers say talks continue on a more than $1 billion public-works package that could potentially put 25,000 people to work, many starting in the summer construction season just months away.
A top Republican met Thursday with Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, and said later that the GOP is interested in the concept – though still not committed to any specifics.
“We are still at the table to see what is going to come forward,” Senate Republican Leader Mike Hewitt of Walla Walla said Friday. “I liked the approach we talked about … more than any other approach so far.’’
Western Washington University is offering an art and science program for elementary school students who have early release on Wednesdays.
WWU's Odyssey of Science & Arts is now available in an early-release format for students in kindergarten through fifth grade from 1:45 to 5:15 p.m. on Jan. 25, Feb. 29 and April 25.
Students will discover the "best kept secret" places on Western's campus and ignite their imagination and creativity with hands-on activities in labs, classrooms and the Wade King Student Recreation Center, organizers said.
Jennifer Hahn, a Western Washington University professor, adventurer, kayaker and food forager, will present “Go WILD: Beach to Forest Food Foraging” at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23 at the Deer Lagoon Grange.
Hahn will detail the delicious local powerhouse foods of the coast — seaweed, wild greens, native edible ferns, flowers, roots and shoots — and how sustainable harvest depends on responsible foraging.
Nationally ranked Western Washington University shot better than 80 percent from the floor for the first 11 minutes to grab a big lead and went on to defeat Northwest Nazarene University, 90-71, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball contest on Saturday, Jan. 21, at Sam Carver Gymnasium on the WWU campus.
The Vikings, ranked No. 22 in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 Poll, improved to 17-3 overall and stayed alone atop the GNAC standings at 8-1.
Forward Rory Blanche had a game-high 24 points and eight rebounds on 10-of-13 field-goal shooting and center Chris Mitchell had 20 points, hitting 8 of 9 from the floor, as WWU was 62.7 percent (37 of 59) for the game.
As state lawmakers gather for their 2012 legislative sessions, taxes are emerging as a key issue, with at least half a dozen Republican governors pressing for sweeping tax cuts and just as many Democrats pushing for tax increases.
One of the biggest tax battles will be in New Jersey, where Governor Chris Christie is calling for an across-the-board 10 percent cut in the state income tax. “This will send a loud signal,” the Republican governor said in his state of the state speech this week. “The New Jersey comeback has begun.” Democrats, who control the legislature and went along with Christie’s plan to overhaul the state pension system last year, are scoffing at the tax-cut plan.