Emily Keller-O'Donnell, Data Journalist

Senate Passes Pedestrian Safety Bill

    On December 10, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act (S. 841) to reduce the risk of silent hybrid and electric vehicles to pedestrians.

    The bill requires the Department of Transportation to study and establish safety standards to alert pedestrians that hybrid, electric and other vehicles are present and in motion within the next three years.

    The bill is a response to the auto industry’s silent vehicle technology, which endangers people who are blind and visibly impaired and rely on vehicle noise to track the speed and direction of traffic. Vehicle noise also provides an added warning to other pedestrians, including children and seniors, as well as to bicyclists and skaters.

National Council on Disability Holds ADA Anniversary Summit

    The National Council on Disability (NCD) held the first National Summit on Disability Policy in Washington, D.C. for several days around July 26.

    More than 500 people from 48 states attended the summit, including stakeholders in the federal government and the disability community. The summit aimed to identify opportunities around the theme of “Living, Learning and Earning” for people with disabilities.

Disabled Veteran Charges Discrimination in Brooklyn

    Luis Carlos Montalvan was looking for a meal when he visited a McDonald's restaurant in Sunset Park, Brooklyn in late 2008 with his service dog, Tuesday.

    Instead he became the plaintiff in a discrimination lawsuit against a multi-billion dollar fast-food chain, charging that the restaurant failed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

    This article was published in Able News. Click here to read page one and here to read page two of the story.

Broker Out on Bond in Mortgage Fraud Case

    Sammamish resident Mustafa “Marc” Khosraw could face up to 30 years in jail for participation in what the U.S. Attorney’s Office calls a mortgage fraud scheme – one that has gained national attention.

    Khosraw, 46, is one of 406 people indicted in Operation “Malicious Mortgage,” a federal investigation that uncovered 144 mortgage fraud cases between March 1 and June 18. The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges that Khosraw, a mortgage broker, drafted false mortgage documents as part of a six-person team in the Puget Sound area that made $8.5 million in profits in 2004 and 2005.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the current story.

    Read the background story.

Fire Marshal Calls Three Recent Blazes Suspicious

    Sammamish has been the site of three suspicious fires in recent weeks. Two of the fires took place on the 20500 block of Northeast 29th Street and the third was in a dumpster behind Quality Food Centers at 2902 228th Avenue Southeast.

    Fire Marshal Tim Pilling of Eastside Fire and Rescue said there is no evidence linking the blazes, which were all extinguished quickly and caused minimal damage. He said they may have been the result of mischief that sometimes accompanies the Fourth of July holiday, or improperly discarded cigarettes. There are no indications that the fires were intentionally set.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

Council Asks Fire Department to Cut Costs

    The Sammamish City Council will ask Eastside Fire and Rescue to limit the growth of its 2009 budget by no more than five percent over its 2008 budget of $17.1 million, council members said July 1.

    “We should ask them to take a look at if there’s a way they can cut back in areas that are not salaries and benefits,” said City Manager Ben Yazici. “We’re in challenging times and we need to look at ways to streamline our budget.”

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

Minimal Impact from Sheriff’s Budget Cuts

    If King County officials respond to the county’s budget crisis by reducing criminal justice funding, some of the impacts could trickle down to Sammamish.

    Facing a $68 million shortfall in the 2009 budget, King County Executive Ron Sims has proposed an 8.6 percent cut to criminal justice services, which make up 71 percent of the county’s budget. Those services include the county sheriff’s office, prosecuting attorney’s office, superior and district courts and Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention.

    Published in the Sammamish Review. Read the story.

New York Under Water

    New York Under Water is a series of self-published videos and audio slideshows about flooding impacts on New York City's transit system, harbor water, waterfront residents and low-lying neighborhoods. Please click here to view the project.

Bedford-Stuyvesant Residents Discuss Violence Prevention

    Middle-aged women condemn it on the B52 bus.  Teenagers worry about it on their way home from school.  Posters at the entrance to a local high school offer rewards for information about it.

    In the school's auditorium, a forum of concerned community leaders has gathered to take another crack at eradicating youth violence - the age-old problem plaguing their community of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

    They walk past a poster bearing the face of Rashawn Brazell, a former student killed in a grisly attack two years ago that left the 19-year-old's dismembered body on the A-train tracks of a subway station seven blocks away.  The New York Police Department has offered $22,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction but no one has come forward.

Home Scammers Set to Repay Victims: Attorney General

    A mortgage fraud ring in Brooklyn agreed to pay $1.8 million in restitution to victims, according to an agreement with Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. This article was published in the New York Daily News. Click on the article to enlarge it.