[image] Sound Transit

Sound Transit regularly adjusts our bus and rail services to improve performance, respond to ridership trends, and make the most of the agency’s resources. This month, Sound Transit is introducing several service changes starting between March 30 and April 1, with the most significant changes affecting ST Express routes operated by Pierce Transit as well as late night 1 Line service.

In response to operator shortages, Sound Transit will be taking the following actions on ST Express bus routes:

Temporarily suspend Route 590 service between Tacoma Dome and downtown Tacoma (10th and Commerce Street) and suspend 22 trips overall.

Temporarily suspend Route 580.

Temporarily suspend six southbound (to Federal Way) weekday trips and 27 Sunday trips on Route 577.

Temporarily suspend two weekday trips on Route 578.

Temporarily suspend two weekday trips and 10 Sunday trips on Route 594. In addition, two trips will no longer stop at Dupont.

In addition, schedules for Routes 510, 512, 513, 532 and 535 have been updated to reflect current travel times. Also, Route 535 will now be departing Lynnwood Transit Center at 20 and 50 minutes past the hour.

Link light rail will also have changes. Northbound 1 Line trips at the end of the night will terminate at Beacon Hill Station instead of Stadium Station. This will affect the final four trips each night from Monday to Saturday and the last trip of the night on Sunday. In addition, there will be a mix of three- and four-car trains in service, and trains will run every 12 minutes between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.

This adjustment is needed to accommodate testing and certification work related to the upcoming opening of the Lynnwood Link Extension. Read more about the 1 Line changes.

There are no changes to Sounder or T Line service.

A full list of service changes is available on the service change page of the Sound Transit website.

[image] food is free

Food is Free Tacoma (FIFT) is embarking on a journey to reshape Tacoma's food landscape, one garden at a time. With a deep commitment to fostering community, promoting food security, and sharing abundance, FIFT is leading the charge toward a more resilient and equitable food system for all.

At the heart of FIFTs mission is a dedication to providing and enhancing access to healthy, locally produced food, at no cost, to those who need it. We believe that access to nutritious food is a fundamental human right and strive to create a future where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Through our programs, we aim to empower individuals, strengthen communities, and build a more sustainable food system that prioritizes people and the planet.

Ready to roll up your sleeves and join the FIFT community? Here's how you can get involved:

** Sign up for volunteer opportunities that match your interests and availability at www.foodisfreewashington.org/volunteer

** Spread the word to friends, family, and community members about the important work we're doing and how they can lend their support.

** Make a donation to support our programs, ensuring that we can continue to grow and thrive for years to come. www.foodisfreewashington.org/donate

Together, we can cultivate a healthier, more resilient Tacoma.

For more information and to get involved, visit www.foodisfreewashington.org or contact us at hello@foodisfreewashington.org

Additionally, if you have an overproducing vegetable garden and don’t use pesticides – you can donate produce to Food is Free through the Fresh Food Connect app. They can even pick up your donations from your house if you live in Tacoma.

You can download it here https://foodisfreewashington.org/.../share-your-harvest.../

Food Independence Gardens

[image] FIGs

What is a Food Independence Garden? It’s one of the ways Food Is Free Washington helps our community build our own food security. A Food Independence Garden can be anything from a container on a balcony to a full-scale urban farm and everything in between. As of January 31, 2022, FIFW has built 52 raised bed FIG gardens in streetside public areas and parking strips all over town. One of the difficulties in growing food in an urban setting is finding a piece of land large enough to grow enough food to feed a large number of people. Their solution to this problem is what they call “atomized farming”. They are using a lot of the standard farm practices like mono-cropping and crop rotation and incorporating them into their raised bed gardens all over the city. Instead of having one farm in one location, they have 52 gardens all over the city of Tacoma. The property owner or tenants (garden stewards) help to maintain the gardens, and the staff collects and distributes the harvest.

The Harvest from FIG Is Shared

FIG shares 20% of the crop with their garden stewards and share the remaining 80% at their FIG share events in the spring and summer months. They host their FIG share events at local parks with a focus in areas that are known food deserts. This year they are adding 4 more parks in addition to the parks that they shared at last year. These additional parks will be on a new day and time so that people can find a time that works for their schedules.

Find a FIG Share Day

[image] cirque park

University Place, WA - After several years of planning and fundraising, the City of University Place, in conjunction with the University Place Parks & Recreation Foundation (UPPRF), will break ground on a new inclusive playground at Cirque Park on Friday, April 12 at 11 a.m.

In 2020, the City of U.P. applied for and received a grant from the state’s Recreation and Conservation Office for playground improvements at Cirque Park. At the suggestion of the UPPRF, the plans for the playground were amended to include many accessibility accommodations designed to remove physical and social barriers so children can play and interact together, regardless of their needs or abilities.

In conjunction with the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation, the UPPRF has been conducting a fundraising campaign to support the project. To learn more and contribute, visit the UPPRF website.

Initial site work for the playground will begin this spring, with construction slated to last throughout the summer.

[image] busapp

The current school bus app for TPS families will be discontinued on May 1, 2024. It will be replaced by the My Ride K-12 app, which is available for free download. This app provides secure information about bus stop locations, routes, and pickup times for students.

To use My Ride K-12, download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Then, search for Tacoma Public Schools and register an account. A student ID is required to link students to the account.

Existing users of the Ride 360 app can use their current login details for My Ride K-12. No new account is necessary.

The My Ride K-12 app has added safety features. Most TPS elementary students who use the bus have a badge to confirm they are on the right bus. This badge also enables guardians and school officials to monitor students' bus usage.

Students with special education services don't carry a badge, but receive similar benefits through their bus driver. For questions, contact the transportation office at 253-571-1855.

Visit here for more details

U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that she secured nearly $242 million in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) for projects in every corner of Washington state across the two, bicameral, bipartisan funding packages for fiscal year 2024. The first six-bill package Murray negotiated as Appropriations Chair was passed through the Senate overwhelmingly in a 75-22 vote on March 8th and signed into law March 9th. The second six-bill package, which Murray also negotiated, was passed by the Senate in an overwhelming, 74-24 vote March 23rd and signed into law March 23rd.

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[image] fern hill

Fern Hill Library will close temporarily for about five weeks. This closure, starting on Tuesday, April 16, is for the replacement of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. The library plans to reopen by Tuesday, May 28. The HVAC system needs replacement, as the old air conditioning system had difficulty keeping the library cool last summer.

The library decided to upgrade the HVAC system in preparation for the busy summer season. Facilities Manager Phil Torgerson said the library will be more comfortable and energy efficient with a new HVAC system. This upgrade is crucial for the Summer Reading Challenge, an event attended by many patrons.

During the closure, Fern Hill Library's book drops will stay open. Patrons who usually collect their holds at Fern Hill Library will receive information on choosing another library location for the closure period.

If no alternate location is chosen, holds will be transferred to South Tacoma Library. This ensures patrons can still use library services while Fern Hill Library is closed for the HVAC system upgrade.

The nearest library locations to Fern Hill Library are South Tacoma Library at 3411 South 56th St, Moore Library at 215 South 56th St, and Mottet Library at 3523 East G Street. Fern Hill Library patrons can use these locations during the closure.

Visit here for more details

[image] co-op

Are you (or do you know) a woman who just needs a community? People you can call when you need help, whether it be someone to pick up your groceries while you're sick, or someone to feed your cat while you're out of town? Even just a friendly ear to listen when you're going through it?

Please join us at Gig Harbor Women's Co-op!

We are a group of strong, kind-hearted women who support and uplift eachother in times of need, as well as give back to our Gig Harbor community! If you need a hand, would like to lend a hand, or just want to know more about us, come on and check us out! Hope to see all your new faces soon!

By Kimberly Swetland

[image] flowers

On March 7, 61-year-old Charles Leo Daniel, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, died at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma, Washington after being held in solitary confinement for nearly 4 years. According to people detained with him, Daniel was in solitary confinement atflowers the time of his death.

The UW Center for Human Rights (UWCHR) released the “NWDC Conditions Research Update: Charles Leo Daniels’ Death at NWDC in Context” on March 15, and in it the UWCHR found that, Daniel served the second-longest stretch in solitary confinement of any person in ICE custody since 2018, despite being identified by ICE as having a significant mental illness.

The UWCHR stated in its NWDC Conditions Research Update that, “He was held in solitary for a total of 1244 days, between April 2020 and a September 2023, divided among two stints.”

“The second of Daniel’s stints in solitary lasted 811 days at the time the data was released via FOIA in September of 2023, and as such constituted the second-longest solitary placement in ICE detention in the nation during the period covered by the dataset, despite the fact that his case was flagged by ICE segregation records as ‘significant mental illness’.”

Five of ten of the longest placements in ICE solitary confinement between 2018 and 2023 were at Tacoma’s Northwest Detention Center, a private immigration prison operated by the GEO group.

The Washington State Standard released an article on March 8th stating that activists suspected the death was a suicide and that police said there was no indication of cause of death.

The Standard wrote that, “a detainee, Christian Duennas, heard from guards that the man appeared to have hung himself with a blanket. A Tacoma Police Department representative, William Muse, said police do not yet know what the cause of death was.”

The detainee that reported the death of Daniel to La Resistencia, a grassroots organization working to end detention, was transferred to a facility down in Texas. La Resistencia speculates that this was in retaliation for sharing that information.

In the article, Muse said, “I am aware of the fact that a lot of people are alleging that it was a suicide of some sort. There was no indication of, as I’ve been asked, if there was a rope hanging, or sheets, or something wrapped around his face or neck. There’s no indication of suicide.”

Charles Leo Daniel was found unresponsive by detention center staff during a routine check around 10:43 a.m. on Thursday and staff attempted medical aid. The Tacoma Fire Department also attempted life-saving measures and was not able to resuscitate Daniel who was declared dead at 11:35 a.m. A Tacoma police officer arrived shortly after.

In public statements, Tacoma Police indicated that the cause of death was unknown, and that they have handed responsibility for the investigation to ICE. This has raised concerns about independence and credibility of the investigation.

The last death to happen in the facility was in 2018, when a 40-year-old man held in solitary confinement died by suicide, according to ICE records.

A report released by the UWCHR on March 15, 2024, said that, “ICE documents indicate that Daniel arrived in ICE custody on March 31, 2020, after serving a criminal sentence in the Washington State Department of Corrections.”

La Resistencia has information, including ambulance footage and other corroborating witness accounts, that there were 6 attempts of suicide in the week after Daniel’s death at the NWDC.

“ICE’s own data shows that Tacoma’s Northwest Detention Center detained people longer, on average, in solitary confinement than any other dedicated ICE facility in the nation. The more recent data released by PHR with its February 2024 report confirm that this trend stays above the national average continues,” according to a UWCHR report.

“Data reveals that of the ten individuals who served the longest periods in ICE solitary confinement across the nation, five were held at Tacoma’s Northwest Detention Center. Of these, two cases had ‘mental illness’ flags, and one— Daniel’s— had a ‘serious mental illness’ flag.”

UWCHR reported that, “prolonged use of solitary confinement constitutes a particularly grave violation of human rights according to the UN Standards of Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the ‘Nelson Mandela Rules,’ which state that, ‘In no circumstances may restrictions or disciplinary sanctions amount to torture or other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. The following practices, in particular, shall be prohibited: (a) Indefinite solitary confinement; (b) Prolonged solitary confinement is defined… as solitary confinement for a time period in excess of 15 consecutive days.”

The International Standards place an emphasis on the, “need for particular concern about the detention of individuals with mental illness in solitary confinement. The Nelson Mandela rules state that ‘The Imposition of solitary confinement should be prohibited in the case of prisoners with mental or physical disabilities when their conditions would be exacerbated by such measures.”

In their report, The UWCHR stated that they did not have access to any records that would shed light on the quality of medical care received by Daniel during his nearly four years at the NWDC, “though our past research suggests that medical care is an area of grave concern at this facility. In recent years, research published in leading medicine and public health journals has found that lack of access to quality medical care is a key factor contributing to deaths in ICE custody.”

The UWCHR is urging that action be taken, “to ensure that his death is properly investigate by an independent body with a record of credible and transparent inquiry; that the results of that investigation are made public; and that, together, we use what we learned to inform effective policymaking, and in so doing, to prevent future deaths in ICE custody.”

UWCHR also wrote that, “Members of Congress have a unique ability to compel answers from federal agencies, not through strongly worded public letters but through written information requests of the agency’s Congressional liaison. If members of Washington’s Congressional delegation have chosen not to use this tool to date, now is the time to start.”

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