News

In north central Washington, scientists are trying once again to reintroduce a tiny endangered rabbit species into a big, predator-ridden landscape. Next week, scientists plan to release about 100 young pygmy rabbits, each one the size of a tennis ball.

Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist has charged eleven people with gang-related crimes. The defendants are all alleged to be members or associates of the Tillicum Park Gangsters, also known as the TPG. The Lakewood Police Department says the TPG is a criminal street gang associated with the Tillicum neighborhood of Lakewood.

The quest to find new uses for an uncompleted nuclear power plant in western Washington has a new twist. The U.S. Army has taken a liking to training soldiers in the tunnels, plazas and towers of the old Satsop complex.

The final Giant Magnet Children’s Festival is underway in Seattle. It’s the 25th year of the event which aims to introduce young audiences to the world - it's people, customs and cultures.  

Nick Risinger has always gazed up at the sky. But last year the amateur astronomer and photographer quit his day job as a Seattle marketing director and lugged six synchronized cameras about 60,000 miles to capture an image of the entire night sky.

This is a guest Humanosphere post from Kunle Oguneye, president of the Seattle chapter of The African Network, a Nigerian and former tech worker who now writes children’s books (which should, I hope, explain the photo).

Oguneye wrote me to suggest that Humanosphere tends to suffer from the same bias, or lack of diversity and perspective, that afflicts much of the local global health and development community.

Here’s what he says:

Governor Chris Gregoire says she wants all the states that allow medical marijuana to ask the federal government to reclassify the drug. She scheduled a conference call among those states Thursday. Meanwhile, a state Senate committee heard testimony Wednesday on a last ditch effort to pass an overhaul of Washington’s medical marijuana law.

Thursday weather: Sun is back! Highs upper 50s.

In the headlines around the Northwest:

• U.W. Students Arrested in Sit-In Protest Over Campus Vendor
• Gregoire Signs Legislation to Pave Way for Federal Health Care Overhaul
• Popular Seattle High School Principal Fired
• Microsoft Antitrust Settlement Expires Today

A University of Washington sit-in to protest the food services company that supplies the concessions at UW athletic facilities has led to the arrests of about 25 students.

Protest organizer Morgan Currier says the students were cited Wednesday evening for trespassing and released.

The University of Washington plans to launch a program to train and certify Teach for America recruits. People who go through the program would start teaching after just five weeks of intensive instruction.

Teach for America expects to bring at least 35 of its recruits to Seattle and Federal Way this fall.

Bugs are so cute and lovable except when they’re crawling on you. Or in your food. Or the bathtub. Come to think of it the only time bugs are okay is in song, and this week’s Record Bin Roulette celebrates some of our most beloved chitinous arthropods in melody.

An 8 year old male reticulated python (Python reticulatus) is settling into its new home at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo. The new 100 pound snake needs a name, and you can submit your suggestion via the Zoo's facebook page through May 13 at noon. Zookeepers will select their five favorite names and fans will then vote May 17 on facebook for their top pick.

There are 25 assistant advisors in the White House who report directly to President Obama.  One of them is the President's Chief Technology Officer. Anish Chopra has been in Seattle this week, meeting with all kinds of players - in everything from energy and education to global health. 

The Johnston Ridge Observatory opens Saturday at Mount St. Helens with some new displays to tell visitors the story of the volcano's big 1980 eruption.

The Daily News of Longview reports $1.6 million worth of improvements and enhancements have been made. When the Forest Service and Mount St. Helens Institute discussed them Tuesday, the center of attention was a touch-screen kiosk.

Decades after the federal government stopped taking Native American children from their homes and putting them in boarding schools, Native families still face challenges staying together.

KPLU has received the Service to America Award from the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation (NABEF) for its School of Jazz program. 

The award recognizes outstanding community service by local broadcasters.  Winners will be honored at the Celebration of Service to America Awards dinner on Monday, June 6, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

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