Editor's Take: June 02, 2008
Photo courtesy: berty33, Flickr
Can Seattle Schools Reverse Re-segregation?
Racial balance is long gone in Seattle's schools. But beyond parents' conflicting
hopes for diversity
and for close-by schools,
the Supreme Court ruled last year that Seattle
could no longer use
race to determine school assignments. The challenge now is to foster
racial and economic diversity without mandating it.
Also today: The national climate
policy discussion heats up.
Editor's Top Picks
Your editor today is Anna Fahey | View All Today's News
The Resegregation of Seattle's Schools
Seattle Times
06/01/2008
Seattle schools don't look exactly like they did before districtwide busing began in 1978. There are fewer nearly all-white schools. Minority students are not as concentrated as they once were in the central part of the city. But Seattle Public Schools, like many districts across the nation, has slowly, steadily resegregated.
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Canada: Gas Prices Guzzling up Rural Way of Life
Toronto Globe and Mail
06/02/2008
Fuel costs may be frustrating city-dwellers, but in rural Canada it's a much grimmer picture. Gas prices are virtually doubling community budgets and driving farmers to question their profession.
Go to article.
Commute Shifts Stretch Transit Infrastructure
San Jose Mercury News
06/02/2008
As gas prices climb toward $5 a gallon, Silicon Valley residents are changing the ways they commute -- but some of the new "car-free" solutions are creating new kinds of jams -- parking shortage at transit hubs, bike racks overflowing.
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Views: Transit Ridership Soars, Budgets Slashed?
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
06/02/2008
Just as ridership is up, fare increases and cuts to such things as customer service or maintenance are being considered for Seattle Metro as budgets are cut. It's still too soon to tell which package of options will be employed but with gas prices on the rise, cutting transit service could be a big mistake.
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Urban Farming Sprouts in Seattle
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
06/02/2008
Homeowners with yards are hooking up with apartment or condo dwellers looking to grow tomatoes. Others dream of creating an "archipelago" of tiny urban farms that could sell items to restaurants or consumers. Some Seattle officials are pushing for a citywide inventory of public land that could be used to grow food, potentially including parks, land under power lines or even future reservoir caps.
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At Food-Inflation Summit, A Biofuels Debate Is Likely
Wall Street Journal
06/01/2008
An agriculture summit in Rome in the coming week promises to turn into a food fight over biofuels. Along with some 60 heads of state, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has invited a dozen corporations to the three-day meeting, which starts Tuesday, to talk about how to counter the effects of global food inflation, especially in poor countries.
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WA GOP: No citizenship for kids born in U.S. to illegal immigrants
Seattle Times
06/01/2008
The Washington state Republican Party adopted a platform Saturday that includes a provision aimed at opposing automatic citizenship for babies born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants. The state party approved a similar platform plank at its 2006 convention that proved controversial. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution recognizes citizenship for all persons born in the United States.
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A Farmer's Power Costs Blow Away
Oregonian
06/02/2008
When Mike Bernards began exploring ways to cut soaring operating costs for the 500 acres he farms near McMinnville, he looked first to the sun. But after failing to find suitable solar options for his farm's multiple crops, he decided to harness the wind instead. The search is now paying off.
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Using Chain Saws to Re-Create Ancient Landscapes
Vancouver Columbian
06/02/2008
Sustainable logging is a reality: A conservation trust is logging special places in order to release old stands of oaks from competition for light, water and nutrients that firs command once they grow tall. As a secondary benefit, the logs and slash will provide fuel, timber and jobs to help boost the Columbia gorge economy.
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Choices and Convenience: The "Why" of Infill Housing
Bellingham Herald
06/02/2008
The wheels are turning on what new types of housing might help Bellingham absorb more people without sprawling out of control. Still to come: Deciding where the housing should go and how to maintain neighborhood character.
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