According to Kaufer, Mika’s Playground will be dedicated to Mika Zimbalist, a boy who died just short of this 11th birthday. Born with cerebral palsy, Mika enjoyed going to the park, but found as he got older, his wheelchair and walker did not work there wood chips would get stuck in the wheels or block movement altogether. Also, standard climbing park equipment didn’t allow him to play on them and weren’t equipped to be safe for him. (Learn more in our earlier story here.)
While all playgrounds in Edmonds are ADA compliant, many of them use wood chips as a fall surface because they are a cheap alternative to rubberized coating. Although the rubberized surface is expensive, it is a key part of what makes playgrounds inclusive, so that children and other community members can access the playground structures if they are in a wheelchair or walker.
Private prison ban could limit ICE detention in the Pacific Northwest By Lilly Fowler, Crosscut
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2 Photos Detainees walk past a map of the world in a hallway of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE detention facility Sept. 10, 2019 in Tacoma. The recent canceling of ICE contracts in Cowlitz County and at NORCOR in Oregon, along with a Washington state consideration of banning private prisons in the state, may severely hamper or even halt ICE detention and enforcement in the Pacific Northwest. (Ted S. Warren/Associated Press) Photo Gallery
After years of pressure from activists, the detention of adults and teens by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could be severely curtailed in the Pacific Northwest, thanks to action in the courts and in the Washington Legislature.
BY LILLY FOWLER / CROSSCUT
Originally published March 2, 2021, on Crosscut.com
After years of pressure from activists, the detention of adults and teens by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could be severely curtailed in the Pacific Northwest, thanks to action in the courts and in the Washington Legislature.
Last week, the Washington state House passed a bill aimed at banning private for-profit prison companies that contract with local, state and such federal agencies as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, from operating in Washington state. The proposed legislation, now heading to the Senate, seems to have support and could soon become law.
MY EDMONDS NEWS Posted: March 5, 2021 501
Equity, race, policing and social justice: The nationwide debate has come to Edmonds. The city’s search for a new police chief, the Equity and Social Justice Task Force report and an upcoming police department audit have quickly sharpened that debate locally.
Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self
State Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self, who represents the 21st District that includes Edmonds, put it this way: “This is probably the safest place I have ever lived.” But, she said, “systemic racism is built into our systems; the system was not made to work for everyone and those outside it struggle to fit in and struggle to succeed.”