‘REFLECTIONS’ | Columnist Jaris English visits an arts program at Nelsen Middle School [8]
.com
REPORTER NEWSLINE: 425.255.3484
FOUNDED 1995
RENTON
Alpacas | A visit to Chelsea Farms as they prepare for the Fiber Fusion Northwest Festival. [Local, 3]
FRIDAY, OCT. 24, 2014
District to help pay to put SROs back in schools BY TRACEY COMPTON tcompton@rentonreporter.com
Picking the perfect pumpkin Lincoln Shimkus, left, plays hide-and-seek with his pumpkin at Encisco Farm, while Zara and Gracin Casady seemed to have found the perfect pumpkin. Despite the deluge this past week, sunny skies, perfect for picking pumpkins, are expected to return by Sunday. The U-pick pumpkin patch is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., daily and located at 19417 196th Ave. S.E., Renton. TRACEY COMPTON, Renton Reporter
South Asian Film Festival brings the world to Renton next weekend tcompton@rentonreporter.com
T
he world of film comes to Renton next weekend as the city will play host to the ninth annual Seattle South Asian Film Festival, with lots of special guests from around the world. Renton Pavilion Event Center will be centerstage for the festival’s opening-night gala from 8 p.m. to midnight, on Friday, Oct. 31. According to Dr. Alka Kurian, festival co-director, the selection committee chose Renton as part of this year’s festival because the city is the most diverse in King County and because Renton is becoming “the new film festival destination of the state.”
Your Residential Specialists
“(Renton) is the most happening film city in the state,” Kurian said during brief remarks at Monday’s City Council meeting. “We didn’t want to be left out.” Opening-night features a showcase of short films including, “Jaya,” “FU377” and “What Remains,” followed by Bollywood and Bhangra dance beats, with Indian cuisine catered by Naan-N-Curry. In total, 41 films will be shown as part of the festival, which also includes locations in Bothell and Seattle. Filmmakers are scheduled to attend, including Puja Maewal, director of the multi-award-winning film “Jaya,” and Bob Woosley and Summer Pervez of the Candanian-Pakistani co-production, “Shame.” Music will be provided by Portland’s DJ Anjali and [ more SSAFF page 13 ]
[ more SRO page 4 ]
Ready for Ebola Ros Currie Parsons, a staff nurse in the Emergency Department at Valley Medical Center, displays the Personal Protective Equipment that hospital personnel would wear when assessing or treating an Ebola patient. It’s similar to protective gear worn when dealing with an infectious disease. See page 5 for details about Valley Medical’s plans to deal with a disease that has killed thousands in West Africa and has touched the United States. DEAN A. RADFORD, Renton Reporter
206-949-1696 info@MarcieMaxwell.com www.MarcieMaxwell.com
1143967
BY TRACEY COMPTON
With help from the City of Renton, the Renton School District is ramping up its safety and security plan once again. This year the school district is staffing a school resource officer or police officer at Renton High School, sharing the funding with the City of Renton. The district plans to staff two additional high schools with resource officers consecutively for the next two years. Previously, the former school resource officer program was funded by a grant that expired last year. “Safety and security of schools is important to the Renton School District, the City of Renton and all citizens,” said Randy Matheson, district spokesperson, in an email. “Both the district and the city are willing to fund a program that works to keep schools safe.” The school district is also in the process of hiring a safety and security manager. This new position should be staffed in the next week or so, according to district officials. Last August, the Renton School Board approved recommendations from a safety and security audit designed to “help keep schools safe and better prepared for emergencies and natural