Beacon Hill News

Mayor Mike McGinn has invited the community to participate in the Youth and Families Initiative, a major initiative announced during his inaugural address.

The initiative is aimed to address the many difficult challenges children and families of Seattle are facing. At community meetings, neighbors are invited to talk about how best to create a healthy, positive and equitable environment for all families in our city. 

A workshop will be held at Van Asselt Elementary School on Mar. 8 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Trained facilitators will lead participants through a group discussion.  If you are interested in volunteering with the Initiative, please contact Sol Villarreal in the Mayor’s Office at sol.villarreal@seattle.gov or 206-233-2656.

The Wing Luke Asian Museum is hosting several events this month including a Lunar New Year Celebration!

On Feb. 13, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. members and kids will get free admission to the museum while the surrounding neighborhood celebrates the Lunar New Year. Fun activities include a lion dance by Lieu Quan Lion Dance team at 11:30 a.m. in front of the Museum, plus games and crafts for the whole family. On display is the special exhibit New Years All Year Round, exploring the New Year celebrations in the Japanese, Hmong and Vietnamese communities.

The Museum Marketplace also offers special Year of the Tiger items and Lunar New Year gifts.

Residents from neighborhoods across Seattle heard a harsh message at a special conference Sunday about a new round of budget troubles for the city.

A shortfall of tens of millions of dollars means big cuts and even job losses in the next several months, officials said, as they began laying out the city's budget for the next two years.

Although the budget-writing process is in the early stages, the city is making it very clear - things could get ugly.

Seattle residents from all sorts of backgrounds, living in all kinds of neighborhoods, were eager to hear how city dollars might be budgeted for programs and services they care about.

"There's always that little bit of money here, little bit of money there," said Susan George of Broadview, hopefully. "You just move it around a little bit."

But the city's message to her and everyone else is harsh - not this year. Money is frighteningly scarce, because the revenue stream is drying up.

"Through November, sales tax in the city's general fund is down $17.5 million, or 12.5 percent, as compared to 2008," said Beth Goldberg, Seattle's budget director.

And that's not all:

Seattlecrime.com has also reported that one Mercer Middle School student was brutally beaten by a classmate last Friday who had also tormented him on MySpace.

After the bully had posted insults about the other boy on MySpace, the two arranged to meet after school on Friday and fight. When they met up though, the victim tried to walk away and the bully hit him from behind, knocked him down and punched him "approximately 35 times," according to Seattlecrime.com.

Another student filmed the beating and uploaded it to Youtube.

The victim's father has asked that charges be filed against the bully.