Hi everyone,

This is the week-end, and i have a good litterary game to suggest you… Rather than to determine if a memory is good or bad, positive or negative, let me introduce the project of two great writers to you… In the early 70’s, Joe Brainard (1942-1994) wrote his “I Remember“, described by Paul Auster as “a masterpiece . . . one of the few totally original books I have ever read,”. One of my favourite french writer, Georges Perec (1936-1982), read this book and gave, a few years later, his own version of his memories… Geoges Perec was the genius of the words, able to write a 300 pages lipogram novel (“La Disparition”, An Avoid” in english without “e” letter), or his amazing palindroma of… 1247 words !!! He was an influent member of OuLiPo = “workshop of potential literature” with many examples of writing constraints.

So i come back to “I remember”: try to write 10 important “I remember” in your life between 7 and 25 years old, and share with us

Here are my ten memories:

1. I remember the day when my father had threatened me to bring me to Police Office to test lie detector: i had stolen around 15$ and i have hidden the banknote under a mirror frame. But i don’t remember why i had stolen this money…
2. I remember my father asked me once to strangle a still alive and wounded quail during a hunting day. I did it crying a lot.
3. I remember when i heard secretly teachers talking together in an undertone and saying that the father of my best friend had commited suicide because of the war in Algeria, ten years after the end of this war. I was deeply in pain for seven days, since the moment when my best friend had disappeared with no reasons nor explanations… I didn’t know what was this war and i think that’s the day i have decided to study History.
4. I remember when my mother went after me with a broom. I closed the door of my bedroom. There were many holes on this door.
5. I remember the day in Brighton, UK when I have nearly fallen accidentally in the sea from a chalk cliff
6. I remember that I think that my first memory is a day when I removed thorns to a rose in a garden
7. I remember that my very first girl friend had green eyes and big breast
8. I remember that i have smoked my first cigarette when i was 11 years old, in a cave with my friends Thierry and Christophe.
9. I remember my last love night with Jocelyne in Istanbul, after offering her as break-up gift a wonderful golden necklace i had bought in a souk at Jeddah.
10. I remember that Yupah from Ayuttaya often told me that i was like a butterfly. She was right.

Source: http://horslesmurs.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1302569%3ABlogPost%3A40828

Below are just a few ideas for projects that a neighborhood can accomplish.  With a Neighborhood Matching Grant detention ponds can be transformed from a dreary look into something with a curbside appeal, turning a vacant lot into an attractive historical entrance sign with small park, convert a plain drainage ditch into a beautiful entryway identifying your neighborhood, build an informational kiosk in a local park to contain neighborhood news as well as bus schedules or provide an elegant debris container to help keep your neighborhood clean.

Before	After

Start	to
Finish

Beginning	Ending

Kiosk	Debris container

These are just a few ideas for neighborhood projects.  Contact Toni Azzola at 253-856-5708 or tazzola@ci.kent.wa.us for further information on how your neighborhood can get involved.

Ah, this little book. “I Remember” is a tiny, funny, heart-warming masterpiece composed entirely of microscopic reflections and remembrances: but like the human body itself, which is of course made up of tiny microscopic cells, the book’s one- and two-sentence units of “I remember this or that” recollections gradually build up into a living, breathing, singular human presence.

This book has also become a cult classic for writing instructors, as it often helps unlock a particular gate for students, enabling them to write about their own lives in an open, vivid, and funny way.

(Note to parents and subject-sensitive readers: the book does contain some frank discussions of sexuality, including gay sexuality. Although these passages are honest, humane, and often funny, occasionally they can be a little bit graphic (though not at all trying to be ’shocking’ or ‘offensive,’ simply honest.) But it does mean that the book is not meant for very young readers. Use your judgement.)

Warm, intelligent, vivid, and screamingly funny. To read Joe Brainard is to love the man. We miss you, Joe.

By CASEY MCNERTHNEY

A Pierce County Sheriff’s deputy who was shot last week while responding to a domestic violence dispute in Eatonville died Monday at Harborview Medical Center.

Walter Kent Mundell Jr. was surrounded by his family, including his wife Lisa, his 16-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son, when he died at 5:04 p.m., about an hour after being taken off life support, sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said. Mundell was 44.

“Obviously everybody was waiting for a miracle, and it didn’t come,” Troyer said. “The fact that he survived as long as he did is amazing, and that’s why, I think, people were hoping for a miracle. But it just wasn’t meant to be. The wounds were too severe, and he has passed on.”

His death is Washington’s seventh law enforcement line-of-duty death this year, and sixth fatal shooting since Oct. 31.

Troyer said a memorial for Mundell was tentatively scheduled for Jan. 5 in the Tacoma Dome.

Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor said the whole department has been shaken by the loss.

“He lost his life because he believed in taking risks for other people. All of us here … have suffered a tremendous loss.

“Whether or not you knew him, whether or not you lived in Pierce County, you suffered a tremendous loss,” Pastor said. “We should all be thankful there are people willing to step forward, willing to put themselves at risk for us.”

On Dec. 21, Mundell and Sgt. Nick Hausner responded to the 34300 block of Tanwax Court East in Eatonville — about an hour south of Seattle. David Edward Crable, 35, had been arguing with his younger brother, Edward Jason Crable, who let the deputies inside.

David Crable was drunk and belligerent. Troyer said he was hiding upstairs and fired at least 10 rounds from a gun he’d concealed. Mundell was hit multiple times, but fired back, Troyer said. Hausner also was hit.

Crable was killed at the scene.

Court documents show Crable had a history of domestic issues and earlier this year pleaded guilty to third-degree malicious mischief and unlawful display of a weapon after an incident involving his brother and teenage daughter, who also was involved in the Dec. 21 dispute. Click here to read more on his history of domestic violence.

Mundell was hired by the sheriff’s office in January 2000.

He last served with the Mountain detachment and had worked as a patrol deputy in South Hill. He was a member of the Air Operations, Clandestine Lab Team, and was a Safety Committee representative.

His father, who lives out of state, was given a police escort last week to Harborview, where Mundell was in the intensive care unit.

Friends held a vigil late last week outside Mundell’s favorite Eatonville coffee shop. Mundell and Hausner often met there. Hausner left Madigan Army Medical Hospital on Christmas Eve after being upgraded to stable condition late last week. A police motorcade escort accompanied the sergeant as he went to see Mundell at Harborview.

Troyer told reporters it was a shocking, hard day for Hausner — a father of two and an award-winning member of the sheriff’s office since 1989.

Officers from across Western Washington stopped by Harborview, where Mundell was flown following the Monday night shooting.

The Pierce County deputy shooting was the third incident in less than eight weeks that police in Washington were shot in the line of duty.

On Oct. 31, Seattle police Officer Tim Brenton was shot to death in the Leschi neighborhood and his partner, Britt Sweeney, was wounded.

Christopher J. Monfort has been charged with aggravated first-degree murder as well as three counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of arson. Read more here.

The morning of Nov. 29, four members of the Lakewood Police Department — Sgt. Mark Renninger, and officers Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens and Greg Richards — were shot to death at Forza Coffee, near McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma.

Police said their killer, Maurice Clemmons, was shot to death in Seattle on Dec. 1 after a multiagency manhunt.

Gov. Chris Gregoire has called on law enforcement groups to meet next week to compile a list of potential changes to state law, policy or the state constitution, and to meet with her on Jan. 8, according to The Associated Press.

“The bottom line is we owe it to our law enforcement personnel to do everything we can to make sure they’re safe and secure out there,” Gregoire said in a phone interview with AP.

Rep. Chris Hurst, D-Enumclaw, told AP that a Jan. 18 public hearing he scheduled will examine every aspect of the recent Lakewood case.

“These are horrifically shocking crimes to the public at large and we need to have some answers,” Hurst, chairman of the House Public Safety Committee and a retired police officer, told AP. “What are some of the factors that caused this to occur? What are some things we can do to make sure this never happens again?”

Source: SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

KOMO/4 contributed to this report. Casey McNerthney can be reached at 206-448-8220 or caseymcnerthney@seattlepi.com.

In 1975, President Ford signed the first Public Law 94-142 called Education for All Handicapped Children Act that mandated special education for children with disabilities. The original PL 94-141 act consisted of six key components which will be discussed in this essay. This first Public Law has been amended four times in the last 32 years. Today this Public Law has came to known as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This essay will also cover main points of the four amendments. Finally the essay will discuss the referral for evaluation process and intervention programs mandated by IDEA.

First all children are guaranteed a free and appropriate education (FAPE). Under FAPE local school is required to educate children from 3 to 21 years of age. The ages can be determined based on the state policy for normal children. In other words disabled children have the same right and access to education like any one else in that state. Second component is Unbiased Detection and Assessment. Evaluation for special education needed to be in the child’s first language done by qualified team members who are well trained in suspected areas. The assessment must be done for specific concerned areas and must be more than one method. Third component is Individualized Education Plan (IEP), which schools are required to provide to every child with confirmed disability after evaluation. IEP must be tailored to meet student’s needs and updated yearly. The IEP must have specific objectives for short and long term. Fourth component is Least Restricted Environment (LRE), may be considered as inclusive classroom. In this inclusive classroom, a handful of students with disabilities learn side-by-side with age peers who have no disabilities. Disabled children should be educated together with non-disabled students unless the disability is too severe for such inclusion. Fifth component is called due process, which is a check and balance system to ensure children with special needs and their family are treated fairly. In this process, parents must give permission for any testing or placement. Parents have the rights to appeal any decisions. All records must be kept confidentially. Finally the sixth component is parental involvement. Parents have the right to review and received records and to be involved in placement (Houghton Mifflin Student Resource Center, n.d, PL 94-142).

In 1986, first IDEA PL 94-142 was amended to become known as Public Law 99-457. Services were expanded to include children from birth to three years of age and three to five years. States were also expected to design an early intervention for infants and toddlers (birth to three) with developmental delays. The difference is that school district is not directly involved. Usually some other agencies would take a lead and coordinate the services for younger children. When disabled children reach three years of age, he or she will qualify for IEP (Houghton Mifflin Student Resource Center, n.d., PL 99-457).

The second major change took place in 1990, when PL 101-476 was amended to become known as PL 101-476. The title also changed from “Education for All Handicapped Children” to the current name, IDEA. IDEA puts “person first” and the disabilities second. Autism and traumatic brain injury was also added to the definition (Houghton Mifflin Student Resource Center, n.d., PL 101-476). The new IDEA also required public school to provide transitional services to student before 16 years of age to help prepare students move from public school system to community agencies.

The next amendment, a 1997 amendment came as a change to Public Law 105-17 signed by President Bill Clinton. This amendment gave parents the right to participate in making education decisions for their disabled children. Parents did not have this right before 1997. The amendment gave parents the right to receive academic notifications regarding their student, to give informed consent to education programs, and to participate in voluntary mediation if necessary. This amendment gave parents more power to know details about their student education process (Houghton Mifflin Student Resource Center, n.d., PL 105-17).

The most recent change to the IDEA was reauthorized by President Bush in 2004 at the same time with No Child Left Behind Act. The reauthorization ensured that students with learning disabilities were provided with special education teachers who were appropriately trained. The new law made tutoring programs available for students with disabilities. Finally the new law gave parents, teachers, and school administrators more flexibility and power in educating students with disabilities (National Center on Secondary Education and Transition [NCSET], 2005).

The next step is how to recognize and referral students for special education services? The referral usually begins with parents who suspected something wrong with their child. Parents often ask the family doctor why my child is not talking, not responding to my voice, not looking at me, etc. The doctor usually refers the parents to see development psychologist or other agencies that have authority to work with development and disabilities children from birth to three. Once a possible disability is acknowledged, pre-referral interventions are put into place. Pre-interventions includes special instructional to aid students with learning disabilities. These interventions help reducing the amount of inappropriate referrals for special education (Gargiulo, 2003, p. 55). The pre-referral program is usually worked with from birth to three. These agencies will refer the case to multidisciplinary team composed of teachers, administrators, therapists, and psychologists at a local school district. The team reviews the referral and decides if an assessment is justified. If the team decides to press on, a written request must be sent to the parents of the child who was referred requesting permission for an evaluation. Evaluation includes observation, interviews, work samples, and other assessments (Gargiulo, 2003, pp. 56-58). The scores will be compared to the norm scores of the age group. After evaluation is done, parents and the team from school will meet to go over the results and decide the next step. If all decided that the child need special education, then the IEP will be prepared within 30 days from the agreement. The IEP is detailed goals, objectives, what, when, and how services will be provided (Gargiulo, 2003, pp. 60-62). The IEP updates yearly.

There are several services available to students with disabilities. The programs include the least restrictive, the general education classroom, to the most restrictive environment, a treatment center or hospital. This variety range is called “cascade of service delivery options”. A general education classroom is seen as the least restrictive environment possible because it allows students with disabilities to be mainstreamed. This practice is called inclusion. The goal for inclusion is to move students with disabilities closer and closer the real thing. This real thing may be a start with normal classroom setting and later transition to the community.

To conclude, this essay is very personal to me. Five years ago, I did not believe in special education. I thought special education is just a waste of money. Seven years ago my daughter was born 16 weeks early, had cancer and hundreds of other things related to her premature birth. After the surgery and cancer is gone, she was diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder. Today I have two children in special education. IEP helps my children greatly. We went through all of the steps listed in this essay. Now I realize that is important that children with disabilities be allowed to receive the best education that will meet their special needs. What about the cost? I now believe that if we wait for tomorrow to do some thing about it, then it would cost hundreds of thousands more than today cost for early intervention. Thank you President Ford. Thanks to the IDEA for helping each and every disabled child and that also include two of mine.

References
Gargiulo, R. M. (2003). Special education in contemporary society: An introduction to exceptionality. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Houghton Mifflin Student Resource Center (n.d.). The education for all handicapped children act (PL 94-142) 1975. Retrieved January 17, 2007, from http://college.hmco.com/education/resources/res_prof/students/spec_ed/legislation/pl_94-142.html#overview

Houghton Mifflin Student Resource Center (n.d.). The education for all handicapped children act amendments of 1986 (PL 99-457). Retrieved January 17, 2007, from http://college.hmco.com/education/resources/res_prof/students/spec_ed/legislation/pl_99-457.html#overview

Houghton Mifflin Student Resource Center (n.d.). The education for all handicapped children act amendments of 1990 (PL 101-476). Retrieved January 17, 2007, from http://college.hmco.com/education/resources/res_prof/students/spec_ed/legislation/pl_101-476.html#overview

Houghton Mifflin Student Resource Center (n.d.). The individuals with disabilities education act amendments of 1997 (PL 105-17). Retrieved January 17, 2007, from http://college.hmco.com/education/resources/res_prof/students/spec_ed/legislation/pl_105-17.html

National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (2005). Key provisions on transition: IDEA 1997 compared to H.R. 1350 (IDEA 2004). Retrieved January 17, 2007, from http://ncset.org/publications/related/ideatransition.asp

Kent, Wash. – December 27, 2009 – A King County Fire Investigator is currently looking into the cause of a residential fire that was first reported at 2:21 AM in the 12000 block of SE 196 Street.

The fire was thought to possibly be at a local elementary school but turned out to be a structure on a property containing several barns or sheds, a mobile home, and a house. The building was fully engulfed in flames by the time the first fire department unit arrived and already collapsing. It is not clear what type of structure it was due to the damage, but it was approximately 20 feet by 30 feet.

Because the building was already largely destroyed by fire, firefighters from Kent and Renton concentrated on protecting the several other buildings on the property, which they were able to do. No one was injured fighting the fire.

A search of the structures on the property found them all to be empty and unoccupied. The electrical meter had previously been removed from the house. Further information will be released if it becomes available.

In Kent Washington, the police have arrested a half-naked man who is suspected of grabbing a teenage girl. The assault occurred around 7 a.m. Wednesday. The girl was walking to Kent-Meridian High School on a bike trail when the man jumped from behind a bush and grabbed her. She manged to get away and went to the school to report it.

The police say the man is in his 20s and was arrested on Saturday. His case is awaiting review and charges by the King County Prosecutor’s Office for Child Molestation and Indecent Liberties.

According to the police, this man has been doing this since August 2009. Several witnesses have reported seeing the man in different stages of nudity on or near the trail. Other teenagers have reported they have seen the man exposing himself in the same wooded trail area.

Source: King5.com

Kent, Washington – iCollect Movies from Hooked In Motion, a UPC barcode scanning iPhone/iPod Touch application on the App Store, has reached #33 in the Reference category in just a matter of 4 days. It’s also cataloging movies from users at an incredible rate, with over 3000 new UPC barcodes with pictures and information being added to the central database daily, and increasing.

“iCollect Movies has taken off, growing faster than we ever imagined it would” said Ethan C. Allen, Hooked In Motion’s founder and CEO. “We’re cataloging movies and associating them directly with their barcodes, with great meta information such as cover art and resolution, region codes and ratings, from all over the world. We’ve got people in Germany submitting movies by the second. The amount of North American movies we’ve already put together is incredible. Never before, not on Amazon.com or IMDB, has barcode information been linked directly to verified meta information in such a way at such a rapid pace. And thanks to the iPhone, it’s all possible in the palms of our users hands.”

Hooked In Motion has teamed up with Occipital, the creators of Red Laser, the #1 selling app on the iPhone/iPod App Store, to release iCollect Movies. Utilizing UPC barcode scanning technology from Occipital, iCollect Movies allows home movie watchers to scan in their movies using the barcode on the back of the case and obtain detailed information about each movie. iCollect Movies also features a detailed search feature, as well as wishlist and preorder features.

iCollect Movies, an iPhone/iPod application, supports barcodes worldwide from formats like Blu-ray, DVD, HD DVD, UMD, VHS, Betamax, and Laserdisc. Simply by scanning in a movie they own or a movie at a store, users can see details like never before. Each movie record contains more information than IMDB, and includes details such as regions, subtitles, aspect ratios, and pictures of the actual case that the UPC barcode belongs to. With the simple touch of a button, users can add the movie to their collection and manage it from within the app.

The application features a number of unique features beyond just barcode scanning. Using the wishlist and preorder features, users can keep track of which movies to buy in the future quickly and easily. They’ll also be able to easily switch between DVDs and Blu-rays on their main catalog screen. Searching is in depth and allows users to see all movies that they own starring a specific actor, or all movies under 90 minutes, for example.

Device Requirements:
* iPhone or iPod Touch 3.1 or later

Pricing and Availability:
iCollect Movies 1.0 is only $1.99 (USD) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Reference category.
Hooked In Motion
iCollect Movies 1.0
Purchase and Download
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Based in Kent, WA USA, Hooked In Motion, LLC has been in busy since July of 2008, at the beginning of the App Store launch, using their passion for development to make applications that users needs first. Copyright (C) 2008-2009 Hooked In Motion, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.