Learn more at these drop-in sessions:

Thursday, May 14, 8:30 -10:30am 

Café Flora 

2901 E. Madison Street  

Seattle, WA 98112 

Monday, May 18, 5:00 – 7:00pm 

Bailey Boushay House (Community Room) 

2720 E. Madison St. 

Seattle, WA 98112 

Saturday, May 16, 9:00 – 11:00am 

My Coffee House 

2818 E. Madison St. 

Seattle, WA 98112 

Street car conductor in Seattle not allowing passengers aboard without a mask. 1918

All this talk today of the (possibly) emerging pandemic of “swine flu” got me wondering when we’d start seeing the classic photo from the 1918 flu epidemic – the Seattle Policemen all in their face masks. I found it on a National Archives website about that epidemic, together with the above picture of a streetcar from that period, which I just had to share with you.

Talking of the flu, here’s a Google map of all the cases to date (and a competitor).

Finally, what’s in a name? Is this going to be the Swine Flu, the Mexican Flu, the Mexican Swine Flu or what? Recall that the great 1918 pandemic was known as the Spanish Flu because of a quirk of political history:

The Allies of World War I came to call it the Spanish flu, primarily because the pandemic received greater press attention after it moved from France to Spain in November 1918. Spain was not involved in the war and had not imposed wartime censorship.

Seattle Tiles, 4/27/09: Seattle militant to testify in high stakes terror trial

Ujaama returned several times to Seattle, where he attended the Dar-us-Salaam mosque on Union Street.

The now-closed storefront mosque was dominated by a small group of militant Muslims, who attempted to create their own “Seattle Taliban” — armed patrols drove out neighborhood thugs and junkies, and enforced a version of the strict Islamic Shariah law on the neighbors. Women were required to cover their heads and Muslims who failed to pray were sometimes beaten, according to police reports and interviews.

Here’s an opportunity to voice your opinion on a very pertinent disaster topic … and earn $100 in the process. See message below from the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health:————————————–

Health Care in Disasters

Public Health, the Washington State Department of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) want to get the public’s input on what is the fairest way to decide who gets medical care when there is a disaster (like pandemic flu) and we don’t have enough medical staff and equipment to give life saving care to everyone. Who should get priority (children, health care workers, emergency workers, no one)? What criteria should be used in deciding who gets medical treatment in life-or-death situations? This input we get from the public will help guide local and state policy decisions. Well be using a variety of interactive discussion techniques and scenarios to talk about the ethical dilemmas involved.

Decisions like this are too important for Public Health to make alone. Make your voice heard.

There are two events to choose from:

1. North King County, Saturday, April 25, 9 am to 4 pm at the Shoreline Conference Center

2. South King County, Saturday, May 2, 9 am to 4 pm  at the Federal Way Community Center

* All participants will receive $100 for their participation. Breakfast & lunch will be provided.

If you are interested, register here: www.kingcounty.gov/health/healthindisasters 

For more information, or to register by phone, please call Alanna Beebe at 206-263-8704.

Greetings,

My name is Serena Lehman and I work for Cascade Bicycle Club. We are quickly approaching National Bike Month, May. Every year we have a big Bike to Work Day  event with stations all around the city. Last year we had about 40 stations and over 23,000 people passed through these stations. Have you ever thought your neighborhood needed its own station? This year we are starting a Do-It-Yourself Station opportunity. This is open to everybody. This is a great opportunity to really engage your neighbors/community to think about cycling as transportation and to really personalize Bike to Work Day. Go to >http://cbcef.org/btw/btw_stations_diy.html for more information. This event is all about your creativity.

Serena Lehman

Outreach Coordinator

Cascade Bicycle Club Education Foundation

206.957.4439

www.cbcef.org

www.cascade.org

Creating a Better Community Through Bicycling

Happy Spring!

This Seattle Times article caught my eye today:

Seattle schoolchildren find, play with hypodermic needle

Three elementary-school students who played with a hypodermic needle they found near their school have received medical attention, according to David Tucker, a spokesman for the Seattle Public School District.

According to Tucker, the three students found a needle in a city park that is adjacent to TT Minor Elementary School on 17th and Union earlier this week.

……(rest of article)…..

Those of us with long institutional memories recall the era before needle exchanges, when we had to be on a lookout for needles during neighborhood cleanups.

Questions:

1. Is this an isolated incident?
2. Do we need to promote a needle exchange in the area?
3. Should local neighbors/businesses organize neighborhood cleanups? Might help answer #1.

(meeting details on the calendar)

We will have an additional topic covered at our meeting tonight.  Mr. Doug Carey, Mayor’s Public Safety Team Lead, will be attending to present new updates regarding the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative.  Attached is a Summary Report, and we’ll have some copies printed out at the meeting.   

In addition, we will be having a presentation from Rena Martinez, Trainer Dispatcher 3, on Calling 911 and Operator Protocol, as well as EPCPC Executive Board Elections.  So we have pretty full agenda tonight, but lots of important information.  I look forward to seeing you all!

Regards,
Sita

— 
Sita DeGiulio Das
East Program Coordinator 
Seattle Neighborhood Group 
206.323.9666 (Main Line)
206.322.9330 (Direct Line)
[email protected]
http://www.sngi.org/