SEATTLEPI.COM
75¢
ARTTHIEL
UWmakesboldchoicewith‘theanti-Ty’
STEVESARKISIAN
Just34,he’sTrojans’offensivecoordinator
SPORTSC1
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2008
PROFILE
Ex-QBprideshimselfonstrategicthinking
NEWHEADHUSKY?
TOP STORIES
Pleadingfor rescue
U.S. auto executives again pleadedwith lawmakers at a contentiousCapitol Hill hearing for emergencyaid before year’s end. But theskepticism about a bailout seemedas strong as ever.
E4
Slow goingat Boeing
Boeing, still struggling to get itsproduction system up to speedafter the Machinists’ strike,delivered only four commercial jetsin November, down from 40 amonth before the strike.
E1
Strip clubnear Safeco
The city has issued a buildingpermit for a Deja Vu strip club nextto Safeco Field. The Mariners, whotried to block the cabaret, have 21days to appeal.
B1
ALSO INTHE NEWS
WORLD
Parliament closed:
Canada’sparliamentary opposition reactedwith outrage after Prime MinisterStephen Harper shut down thelegislature until Jan. 26.
A9
SEATTLE
Paid parking:
Fremont will be thenext neighborhood to get paidparking stations, probably byFebruary. The announcementoutraged members of the FremontChamber of Commerce.
B1TODAY’S WEATHER
Mostly sunny but chilly.High 47. Low 37.
B6
Comics
D4,5
Crosswords
D4,5
Editorial
B4,5
Horoscope
D2
Lottery
B2
Obituaries
B3
Television
D3
(FJECD|15000W
★★★
The P-I and seattlepi.com reach1.3 million readers a week inWestern Washington, includingthree-quarters of a millionMonday through Saturday. Tosubscribe, call 206-464-2121.
© 2008 SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
INDEX
SALES DOWN
17.5%
IN CITY
16.4%
IN COUNTY
FROM LAST MONTH
35.8%
IN CITY
30.7%
IN COUNTY
FROM LAST YEAR
PRICES DOWN
MEDIAN IN CITY
$415,000
FROM HIGH OF$501,000 IN AUGUST 2007
Cassandra Donovan and KarlisOgle started looking at homes forsale this spring.“WewerelookingupinEverett,”Ogle said Sunday.“And Bothell,” Donovan added.“We really initially didn’t evenconsider buying in the city,” Oglesaid.They were standing outside anopen house in Seattle’s Meadow-brook neighborhood. Now listed at$379,000, the home’s initial askingpriceinJulywas$425,000.Ahousenext door was on the market for$325,000,downfrom$350,000,theinitial price in September.For first-time buyers such as Do-novan and Ogle, sliding Seattlehomepricesmeanachancetobuyinthecity,ratherthan“drivingtoqual-ify” farther away in King, Snohom-ish or Pierce counties.The median price of a Seattlehouse was $415,000 in November,downfromahighof$501,000inAu-gust 2007. November’s median was
HOUSINGPRICEDTOSELL
Slideopenscitylivingtofirst-timebuyers
BY AUBREY COHEN
P-I reporter
INSIDE
MORTGAGES:
U.S. governmentbecoming No.1source of mortgagemoney.
E2MELTDOWN:
FedChairman BenBernanke pleadsfor moregovernment action.
E2
SEE BUYERS, A17
Area home sales showed nosigns of rebounding in Novem-ber, according to a report Thurs-day.November’s pending sales of housesandcondominiumsinSe-attleandKingCountyweredown17.5percentand16.4percent,re-spectively, from October andnearly36percentand31percentfromNovember 2007, accordingtotheNorthwestMultipleListingService.Total listings provided morehopeforpeopleseekingsignsofaturnaround. There was just onemore home on the market in Se-attle than there was a year earli-er, and listings were up just un-der 3 percent countywide.November’s median housesalespriceswere$415,000inSe-attle and $395,000 countywide.
Seattle-areamarketcontinuestoslow,butinventoryremainslargelystable
BY AUBREY COHEN
P-I reporter
SEE HOUSING, A17
Lastweek,itlookedasifRainierBeachHighSchoolwassafe.TheSouthSeattleschoolwouldkeepitsdoorsopenandpos-sibly absorb another school – a relief for parents and activists who fought to keep the iconic, yet sorely underenrolled highschool, alive.But just one week later, things have changed.Parents, students andemployees learnedthat SeattlePublicSchoolsstaffershaverecommendeda“merger”thatwouldsendallRainierBeachHighSchoolstudentstoClevelandHighSchool just a few miles away. And that was only one of several new school merger or clo-surepossibilitiesannouncedWednesday–aweekafterSuperin-tendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson unveiled the initial plan.ThepossiblemergeristroublingforsomeSouthSeattlepar-ents,whosaytheirschoolsaredisproportionatelytargetedintheplan, and that disputes between rival gangs at the high schoolscould escalate with the change. They also wonder about classsizeatClevelandandthefateofRainierBeach’spowerhouseath-letics.Despite concerns, the latest changes announced at theSchool Board meeting might not be the last. Closure plans may
Rainier Beach at a loss
Proposedclosureofhighschoolshocks,saddenscommunity
Angela Mealing and her son, Keano Debari, an eighth-grader at the African American Academy, look over data sheets about proposed school closures at a workshop Thursday.
BRAD VEST / P-I
BY AMY ROLPH, JON NAITO AND CLAUDIA ROWE
P-I reporters
“It’s so sad. They’vebeen doing so good.Everything – grades,test scores,enrollment – hasbeen going up.”
– Nancy Panama, parent of student atRainier Beach
SEE SCHOOLS, A18
Shannon Harps, a young Sierra Club worker, devoted her life to improving hercommunity before she was killed last New Year’s Eve. But her death may spur majormentalhealthsystemreformsthatcouldre-sultinimprovedpublicsafety,bettercarefortheseverelyillandtightercontroloverdan-long investigation into the mental healthand criminal justice systems that let JamesWilliamsroamthestreetshomelessandhal-lucinating in the hours before he allegedly chose Harps at random and stabbed her with a kitchen knife.Williams, a severely mentally ill man withalonghistoryofviolence,isnowfacinga murder charge.The 160-page report found glaring ex-amples of poor communication, a criticalshortage of hospital beds and commitmentlawsthatdon’tadequatelyaddressthecom-
Shannon Harps was believedslain by a mentally ill man.
DAVE SCHIEFELBEIN
Mental health system ailing
Majorproblemsfoundinkeepingilloffstreets
BY CAROL SMITH
P-I reporter
READ THE REPORT
◗
For the full report, “Examining the Tools in theToolbox: A Review of Community Supervision of Dangerous Mentally Ill Offenders,” visit
seattlepi.com/390746
.
◗
For previous stories in the P-I on mentalillness, visit
seattlepi.com/specials
.
SEE MENTAL HEALTH, A20
gerous offenders. AtaskforceconvenedbytheKingCoun-tyProsecutor’sOfficeandstateDepartmentofCorrectionshascompletedanearlyyear-
Leave a Comment