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Beacon YO U R H O M E TO W N N E W S PA P E R
Volume XXVIII
Number 8
September 18, 2019
Auditor’s Office: Kids need more time to eat
‘Dreams Take Flight’ 787 Dreamliner on display at Future of Flight
BY BRANDON GUSTAFSON MUKILTEOEDITOR @ YOURBEACON . NET
E Beacon photos by Brandon Gustafson
T
hrough Sunday, Sept. 22, plane aficionados will have the opportunity to get up close with a special Boeing 787 Dreamliner at the Future of Flight in Mukilteo. According to Boeing, who operates the Future of Flight, “In August 2019, the 787 Dreamliner program rolled out this special pink and purple livery on the largest decal ever on a composite
aircraft, inspired by the Employees Community Fund (ECF) of Boeing.” Boeing said it certified this technology to “enable customers to create new 787 brand activations through the creative use of photographs, complex multicolor graphics, logos, and various specific finishes with the same durability as paint.” The plane will be available to the
public for 30-minute tours every day except Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Future of Flight. Tickets are $7 for adults, and children under 15 are free if accompanied by an adult. Children must be at least four-feet-tall to participate. Per Boeing, the plane will depart from the area on Sept. 23, and then head to Charleston, South Carolina.
City rolling out pilot parking program at Lighthouse Park BY BRANDON GUSTAFSON MUKILTEOEDITOR @ YOURBEACON . NET
P
arking at Lighthouse Park will look a tad different over the next few months, as the City is going to test a pilot parking program at the waterfront from October through March for 33 “low demand” paid parking spaces. Currently, the City has roughly 250 paid parking stalls at its most visited park, which does not include the boat launch, ADA spots, or commuter parking stalls. With this pilot program, 33 spots that are among the least used, or in the lowest demand historically, would be open
to extended hours. The spots would be available to park in for a maximum of 12 hours, rather than the current maximum of four hours, Community Development Director Dave Osaki said. “They’re all striped yellow,” he said. “There are two meters that are used for this, and they’re the only two meters that work for this. They’re close to those spaces.” The 33 spots are on the southwest side of Lighthouse Park, next to the volleyball court and the railroad track. “The history in the past and accounts from the rangers and police department show the demand for that area is typically low,” Osaki said. “We want to
make sure that there’s no conflict when the demand for parking increases. These are typically the least used spaces during the least used time of the year.” The goal is to start the program Oct. 15, Osaki said, while the end date is March 15. “That seemed like a comfortable (end) date before the busier season down there,” Osaki said. The City discussed a pilot program like this late last year, and the initial plan was to debut the program this past January. But a few things got in the way. see
PARKING PROGRAM page 16 u
lementary school students need more time to eat lunch. That’s the word from the State Auditor’s Office (SAO), which recently performed an audit on lunchtime practices and scheduling. During that audit, the SAO visited 31 elementary schools across the state, including a stop locally at Mukilteo Elementary, and found that most schools did not give their students the recommended amount of time to eat. Per the report, research shows that when students go to recess before lunch and have more time to eat, they are more likely to make healthier choices in the lunch line. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal in a recent news release said there are “several logistical reasons for this,” before citing inadequate facilities, overcrowding, and scheduling. “But sometimes difficult tasks are what produce the best outcomes,” he added. Per the SAO report, nearly all of the schools visited during its audit didn’t give students the recommended seated lunchtime of 20 minutes. Per the Mukilteo Elementary website, each lunch period last 20 minutes total. Principals are responsible for setting school schedules, “often without specific guidance around lunchtime,” the report said “Most principals did not realize the actual amount of time all their students had to eat lunch and tended to overestimate it. About half of principals interviewed who allocate less than 20 minutes of seat time believe students already have enough time to eat,” the report said. According to the SAO, principals cited “many challenges” to ensuring that there is 20 minutes of seated lunchtime for each student. Concerns cited were, as Reykdal said, scheduling, limited facilities, and resource constraints. In addition to visiting the 31 schools, the SAO sent out a separate survey electronically to schools with students in see
LUNCHTIME page 15 u
Mukilteo Teen Lounge back for fourth year BY BRANDON GUSTAFSON MUKILTEOEDITOR @ YOURBEACON . NET
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eens looking for a place to go after school will once again have the option of going to the Mukilteo Teen Lounge at Pointe of Grace Lutheran Church (5425 Harbour Pointe Blvd.). The lounge, which is open to students aged 12-18 each Thursday of the school year with the exception of holidays and holiday breaks, opened in February 2017, lounge supervisor Laura Crawford said. The lounge’s first day is tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 19. It is open from 2 to 5 p.m. throughout the school year. “We spoke to the schools and we were in agreement that we wanted the kids to have a chance to settle in first,” Crawford said.
While the lounge is at Pointe of Grace and the church helps operate it, it is not a youth group or church program in that sense. “Anyone aged 12 to 18, they’re welcome here. Any race, gender, religion, it’s just a place where they can hang out, talk, play board games,” Crawford said. “It’s Pointe of Grace ministry-supported, but no, it’s not a youth group. It not a religious group. All are welcome here and all are loved.” Crawford is a familiar face to those who have attended the lounge in the last three school years. Her reason for returning is simple. “I completely believe in it,” she said. Crawford noted that there are a lot of other see
TEEN LOUNGE page 16 u
Beacon photo by Brandon Gustafson