In the Media

Services will be held Saturday, July 23, for Hugh Fleetwood, a longtime philosophy professor at Western Washington University who held true to his beliefs in the public realm even when it ruffled some people's feathers.
Fleetwood died Sunday at the age of 81. A longtime member and leader of the American Civil Liberties Union, he was an early supporter of Whatcom County's public defender's office and a key board member of Interfaith Coalition, which supports housing and medical programs for needy people in the county.

Will Glazier is the trumpeter, vocalist, booking manager and general manager for Bellingham band Snug Harbor, whose first full-length, self-titled album was released last month. The album is available at local stores, on snugharbormusic.com and digitally at CDBaby and iTunes. For more on the band, who plays with the Fabulous Party Boys at 9 p.m. Saturday, July 23, at the Wild Buffalo, go to the band's Facebook page.

The Public Employees’ Benefits Board is voting Wednesday afternoon on a package of health-care proposals that is going to formally drive up Washington state employees’ health care costs next year.

Workers in two-dozen unions are bound by health-care agreements that require them to pay 15 percent of base premiums in January, up from 12 percent. But other out-of-pocket costs are in the offing, too – including new $100 co-pays for Group Health participants who get MRIs, CTs and PET scans.

Funding higher education aimed at meeting the needs of a more demanding and global marketplace will be a key focus of the National Governors Association meeting this week in Utah, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire said Friday.

Gregoire said that as more jobs demand degrees beyond high school diplomas, it is imperative that states invest more in higher education and trade schools.

“Our work force is not prepared to meet the demands of the future,” she said.

Soon you'll be able to enjoy the beauty of Western Washington University without having to step foot on campus.

A Google team spent Monday riding around campus on a specially-outfitted tricycle to take panoramic photographs of the campus from the ground.

The Evergreen State College Foundation, a nonprofit group that raises money and manages private donations for the college, has been awarded a $3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

DEBATE IS intensifying over the federal Pell Grant program. Some see runaway spending that can’t be sustained in the face of the mounting national debt; others believe no one with skill and determination should be denied a college education for lack of financial resources. We think it’s shortsighted to try to save money by denying people the chance to better themselves, but there is merit in making the program more cost-effective.

The Pell Grant program, started more than 30 years ago to make college accessible to low-income students, is on the chopping block as President Obama negotiates with Congress on how to rein in the country’s debt. The needs-based grants, which do not have to be repaid, can be used at traditional state or private institutions as well as for-profit schools. (Disclosure: Among those for-profits is Kaplan, a subsidiary of The Washington Post Co.) Republicans are clamoring for cuts in Pell grants, either through reducing the maximum award size from $5,550 or restricting student eligibility. The budget passed by the House would slash the maximum grant by 45 percent and cut about 1.5 million students from the program.

A team from Google was spotted scanning the scenery of Western Washington University’s campus earlier this week.

University spokesperson Paul Cocke says images of the campus will soon be on Google Street View.

University of Missouri-Kansas City Chancellor Leo Morton today joined college leaders on Capitol Hill and pleaded for lawmakers to spare funding for Pell Grants for the nation’s poor students.

Pell Grants, which unlike loans don’t have to be paid back, each year aid some 10 million lower-income students in affording a college education.

In its effort to deal with the nation’s debt, Congress is considering cutting the program nearly in half, which could bounce about 1.5 million students off the grants.

Morton was in Washington with college leaders from across the country. They were backed by a contingent of students chanting, “You say cut back — we say fight back.” Many of the students at the morning event said they would be greatly affected by such a cut.

The state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) paid the University of Washington more than $24,000 for health services that the UW never delivered, a state auditor's report has found.

But UW officials say they don't agree with the findings of the audit, which was prompted by a November 2009 tip from a state whistle-blower.

The audit examined DSHS, rather than the UW, because it was a DSHS contract, said state Auditor Brian Sonntag. "But the university has a hand to play here as well," he said.