Monthly Archives: August 2009

Sheriff Attempting to Identify Attempted Kidnapping Suspect

Posted on by

From a Thurston County Sheriff Department news release:

On August 26th, around 1230 P.M. a female resident of the 8300 block of 49th Loop SE was contacted by an adult male at her home. The male stated he had a court order signed by a Thurston County Superior Court judge for her to surrender her children to him based on allegations made against her by her husband. The woman asked to see the court order and he refused. She told him that without talking to a Deputy or her husband she would not give up her children. She then shut and locked her door. The male suspect then left in a white mini-van. The suspect made no attempt to force entry or take any other action to seize the children. A check of court orders did not find any order involving the victim, her children, or her husband at this time. The husband was contacted and he did not have any knowledge of the incident and had not been granted any court orders. The victim’s three children, ages 5, 3, and 6 months are safe.

The suspect used the name Michael Jenkins but did not show any identification. He is described as a white male adult, approximately mid to late 40’s, 5’6″, thin build, dark brown hair with a full beard and dark rimmed glasses. He was wearing a dark charcoal suit jacket and slacks. There are no Michael Jenkins employed in either the Superior Court or Child Protective Services or the Sheriff’s Office.

A Deputy Sheriff trained as a sketch artist was able to create the attached drawing of the suspect from the victim’s description. The Sheriff’s Office is requesting the public’s help in identifying this man. Also the public should not allow anyone using this type of ruse into their home. If they are other victims of similar attempts, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office would like to know about them. Please call 360-709-3072 or Crime Stoppers at 493-2222 if you have any information.

Chief Criminal Deputy Jim Chamberlain, 360-786-5659
Detective Lt. Chris Mealy, 360-786-5508

Click here to read the notice and to view a larger image of the artist’s sketch of the suspect.

WASL Scores: Significant Improvement for Griffin, but Capital Lags District

Posted on by

The WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) scores and trend analysis are now available on the web site of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. While a complete analysis of the scores is beyond the scope of this article, when compared to last years’ showing, Griffin showed significant – in some cases very significant – improvement in most grade levels and subjects tested. And, the performance of Griffin students generally place them in scores higher than other districts in the State. The story at Capital High, on the other hand, is of performance which has taken a downward trend, this last year, and continues to place Capital’s overall scores below the numbers for all high schools in the Olympia School District.

Click here for the Griffin School District’s summary page.

Click here for the page from which you can navigate to trending information for specific grade levels at Griffin.

Click here for the Capital High summary page.

Click here for Capital High’s trending information.

At Griffin, students in grades 3 through 8 sit for the WASL in two or three subject areas. Students in Grades 3 and 6 are tested in reading and match. Students in grades 4 and 7 are tested in reading, writing and math. Grades 5 and 8 are tested in reading, math and science. This last year, scores in most grades and subjects reversed the dip they had taken in the 2007-2008 school year.

Fairly consistently, students at Griffin are achieving scores above the average throughout the State.

The Griffin School District is justified in being proud of its performance in this last years WASL testing. After a dip in the prior year’s test scores, the 2008-2009 scores generally bounced back, some by quite a bit.

At Capital, 10th Grade students sit for the WASL in four subject areas: reading, writing, math and science. After showing improvement in writing, science and math over the last few years, performance in last year’s WASL was off slightly. After reaching its peak, in 2005-06, Capital’s score in the reading WASL continued to decline in 2008-09. In all four subject areas, Capital lags the average for Olympia School District 10th graders.

Randy Dorn, the new Superintendent of Public Instruction, was voted into office largely on his campaign promises to reform WASL. WASL has since been replaced by the grades 3-8 Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) and the High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE).

Latest Issue of “GriffinLink” Now Available Online

Posted on by

The August, 2009 issue of the Griffin School District newsletter, “GriffinLink,” is now available online. Click here for your copy.

This issue features an article highlighting the many ways the public can become involved in planning, including the Budget & Finance Advisory Task Force and the Safe Schools/Caring Climate Committee.

There are messages from Superintendent Don Brannam, Principal Greg Woods, Assistant Principal Doug Andersen, and Griffin School Board Chair Brenna English.

Along with the September and October calendar of events, there’s lots of beginning-of-the-year information.

If you’ve got a student going to Griffin, this year, you won’t want to miss this issue of the GriffinLink.

Click here to visit the web site of the Griffin School District.

Griffin parents can now receive important school district alerts on Twitter. Just follow @Griffin SD FA.

Homeowners on Eld Inlet Have a New Online Community

Posted on by

Gabrielle Byrne, Community Educator for People For Puget Sound, has created a new social networking web site, called “Eld Shoreline Community“. Described as “A community network for shoreline landowners on Eld Inlet – learning about, talking about and caring for our waters,” Eld Shoreline Community (ESC) is a clever and interactive way of bringing people together to steward Eld Inlet.

It’s a way for people to recognize what they have in common: ‘we care about our marine neighborhood’,” said Gabby Byrne. “It’s also a way for us to make available resources about the Inlet and about marine related events on the Inlet.” Byrne continued:

Our “bottom line” goal is getting restoration work on the ground around the Eld shoreline. We want to improve the condition of Eld Inlet and protect it from degrading over time by helping to educate folks about what healthy shoreline is and how to get it. People who live on the shoreline are uniquely blessed and have both an opportunity to enjoy and responsibility to protect the water they live on.

We have resources, including money for labor, plantings, invasive control and, in some cases, working on alternatives to bulkheads available for parts of the shoreline that have been identified as priority areas.

It’s not necessary to create an account to view a wealth of information focused on the current state of Eld Inlet and the Puget Sound, and to access resources for shoreline residents interested in improving the health of waters near their properties. Recent posts to the site include information on South Sound Dissolved Oxygen Profiles and links to a report on sea level rise and the effects of climate changes in the South Sound.

There is also a calendar of upcoming events. Just last week, People For Puget Sound had an evening event that included storytelling, sea stars, telescopes and other delights at Frye Cove Park.

Visitors to the site who set up a free account can customize their view of the site, gain access to a messaging inbox, can upload photos and post articles to the site’s blog. The site runs on Ning and there’s a network of developers presently working on social networking apps to release to Ning sites.

Eld Shoreline Community is a welcome online resource for homeowners on both sides of Eld Inlet and for all local residents interested in improving the health of Puget Sound and our valuable shorelines.

Click here to visit Eld Shoreline Community and click here to visit the web site of People for Puget Sound.

Capital Land Trust Preserves 530 Acres Near Matlock

Posted on by

Capital Land Trust has announced it will be protecting more than 530 acres of forested wetlands near Matlock through a purchase agreement with the previous owner, Green Diamond Resource Company.

“This project is the culmination of five years of work and results in protection of some of the region’s most intact salmon and wildlife habitat,” Capitol Land Trust executive director Eric Erler said. This from an article by John Dodge in The Olympian.

The property includes 2 miles of Decker Creek, a tributary to the East Fork Satsop River.

The mosaic of wetlands, streams and forests provides habitat for river otter, black bear and elk, as well as spawning and rearing habitat for coho, summer and fall chinook, chum, winter steelhead and cutthroat trout.

The Griffin Neighborhood Association congratulates Capital Land Trust on this important acquisition and holds this as an example of the kind of preservation work which compelled the Association to form the Steamboat Conservation Partnership with CLT.

For more information on how you can support the Steamboat Conservation Partnership, click here.