In the Media
The combination of the Great Recession, rising gas prices, and growing environmental concerns have caused may people to rethink how they commute. After housing, transportation is the biggest item in a typical family's budget, accounting for an average of 20 percent. The sheer fact of car ownership can make the difference between who spends and who saves, and even which homes go into foreclosure, as I noted here. Not to mention that being stuck in traffic ranks high on almost every list of the things that make us the most unhappy.
And yet for all that, America overwhelmingly remains a nation of drivers. Across the board, nearly nine in 10 (86 percent) of Americans commute to work by car and more than three-quarters (76.1 percent) drive to work alone, according to the most recent estimates from the American Community Survey. Only five percent use public transit to get to work.
College students from low-income families have long relied on federal Pell grants to help pay for tuition. Earlier this year, $4 billion was slashed from the Pell budget. Republicans in the House, under a budget proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), but rejected by the Senate, would have slashed even more.
Pell grants are not out of the woods yet: Once again, its funding is in play during discussions about federal debt reduction.
University of California regents voted Thursday to raise tuition by 9.6 percent - on top of an 8 percent increase already approved for this fall - over the objections of students who said they'll drown in debt.
At the same meeting in San Francisco, the regents also gave large pay raises to three executives, including two who are paid from state funds.
California State University trustees voted Tuesday to raise tuition by 12 percent this fall over the objections of protesters who said middle-class and undocumented students will be priced out of a college education.
It is the second increase in less than a year, making this year's tuition 23.2 percent more than last fall's: $5,472, up from $4,440. And with mandatory campus fees averaging $950, the price for a year at CSU will come to about $6,422, not counting room and board.
That's twice what it cost in 2007.
Brian Strickland and Amy Morgan both left their first rugby practices a tad battered and bloodied.
Neither was deterred by their minor wounds and years later both continue to be devoted to the sport as members of the Frederick Rugby Football Club.
“It's been wonderful, I've really enjoyed it,” said Strickland, president of the FRFC men's team.
Arlington High School graduate Ryann Lewis has danced onboard the USS Intrepid, she’s twirled in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty and she’s a mentor to young girls in the community. She also carried a 3.87 grade-point average throughout high school.
It’s no wonder she received a Boeing Employees Credit Union academic scholarship. BECU received over 600 submissions and selected just 40 high school seniors for its $2,500 scholarship. In the fall, the 18-year-old will begin her freshman year at Western Washington University.
The Western Washington University men's basketball team will make its second appearance in three seasons at the fifth annual Disney Division II West Coast Tip-Off Classic on Nov. 4-6 at Anaheim, Calif.
The tournament will be held at the 7,500-seat Anaheim Convention Center.
Western opens against Dominican University CA at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 4. The Vikings play UC San Diego at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 5; and take on Chestnut Hill College PA at 4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 6.
Watercolor artist Bev Jozwiak will be featured in a new show at Cole Gallery beginning Saturday.
Jozwiak's skill as a painter has garnered her national acclaim as one of America's premier watercolorists. Featured in nine Best of Watercolor books including five times in the well-known Splash series, Jozwiak continues to be one of the most in-demand painters in America.
This is not traditional jump roping – the kind where school children loop the rope around their head and under their feet in a school gym. Jumpers have taken it to a whole different place – dance moves, music, choreography.
“The sport has evolved so much,” said Colleen McCary, a 17 year member of the Kirkland based Hot Dog USA jump rope team. McCary said when she first started jumping, after attending a summer camp before the third grade, the focus was more on speed and endurance. Today she’s part of the six person team which just finished performing their fusion routine at the World Competition in Washington D.C.
I've been attending some of the bi-monthly Café Cubana events at the Blue Horse Gallery to learn the basics of salsa dancing and other Latin dance steps with instruction by Antonio Diaz of Rumba Northwest.
Antonio and his wife, Heather Haugland, moved from Juneau last summer, and started their dance instruction company Rumba Northwest almost as soon as they moved to town.