INFOBULLETS: Lakewood Cleanup, International Festival, Whalen in the Other Washington

Lakewood Community Clean Up Day: Keep Lakewood Beautiful will host the second annual citywide litter clean up event on Saturday, May 18 and will reward those that participate with a free hotdog picnic outside City Hall at noon. Individuals, families, and groups from around the area will join forces to clean up litter and spruce up our rights of way until noon.  Registration runs from 9-10 am. All residents and businesses are encouraged to participate. For more information, please visit https://www.facebook.com/letsklb.

Lakewood International Festival: After participating in the Lakewood Community Clean Up, all citizens are encouraged to attend the Lakewood International Festival at Pierce College (Fort Steilacoom Campus) on May 18 from 11am – 5:30pm.  This free, family-friendly event includes food, arts and crafts, and entertainment (including the Siheung Municipal Traditional Arts Troupe). For more information, please visit www.lsca.us.

Lakewood Police Officers Receive State’s Medal of Honor: At a ceremony in Olympia on May 3, Governor Jay Inslee recognized Officers Ryan Moody and Jon Waller. He presented the State's highest law enforcement honor for their actions during a chase and shootout on December 9. The City Council will honor Officers Waller and Moody during their May 20 regular meeting.

LPD Participates in Pierce County Law Enforcement Memorial (PCLEM):  Lakewood Police participated in the annual PCLEM at Lakewood’s McGavick Center on May 8. The PCLEM provides the community and law enforcement professionals an opportunity to remember and honor those who died in the line of duty in Pierce County.  Officers Ryan Moody and Jon Waller read the names of the four Lakewood officers slain in 2009.

CSRT Participates in Lakes High School Safety Fair: On May 7, Community Safety and Resources Team staff participated in the Educational Safety Fair at Lakes High School from 6:00pm-7:30pm.  The City provided pamphlets related to domestic violence, bicycle safety, vehicle prowls, under age drinking, child ID kits, community resources, pencils, pens and bracelets to parents and high school students. 

City Supporting Single Soldier Donation Drive: The City of Lakewood is supporting efforts to provide toiletries and snack foods for single soldiers from the 4-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team re-deploying from Afghanistan. The City encourages the public to donate male and female toiletries (shampoo, shower gel, shaving cream, razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and deodorant) as well as non-perishable snack foods, water, sports drinks, and laundry detergent/dryer sheet combos. Family readiness groups from the brigade will place the donations in the barracks. The public is welcome to deliver contributions to Lakewood City Hall (3rd floor counter) or the Lakewood Police Department at 9401 Lakewood Dr SW from now through the end of June. Alternatively, the public can donate online to the non-profit Dragoon Raiders Soldier and Family Fund for this purpose: http://www.42drsff.org/

Deputy Mayor Participates in “Washington to “Washington” Visit:  Deputy Mayor Jason Whalen (far right in photo below) poses with other officials from Pierce County in front of the US Capitol earlier this week. Mr. Whalen was part of a delegation of local leaders representing the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce in its annual “Washington to Washington” visit. The delegation participated in various meetings with defense leaders and elected federal representatives.

Chief Farrar to Participate on TNT Panel:  The News Tribune invited Police Chief Farrar to serve on the All-Star Student judges’ panel to select the top twelve students from the Class of 2013 in Pierce County. The panel met on May 8 to make their selections. The final twelve All-Stars will also participate in a panel discussion roundtable that will help form the basis of a prominent story in the TNT.  Past discussions have focused on student heroes (many selected their parents), academic standards and other education or youth-related topics.

North Gate Road – Neighborhood Meeting and Next Steps:  Police and Public Works staff hosted a neighborhood meeting at Harrison Preparatory School on April 30 to share study results of recent traffic revisions.  About 35 people attended.  The “No Right Turn 4 to 6 PM” signage at Nottingham has kept approximately 60-70% of the vehicles from cutting through the neighborhood on Nottingham.  Speed studies show that speeding violations continues on Winona and Edgewood. LPD will provide extra enforcement.  Public Works staff will install an all-way stop at the North Gate Road and Edgewood intersection next week to improve safety and traffic flow.

Other items of interest:

Today in America Video Airs in Las Vegas and Spokane:  The City of Lakewood Best places to Live, Work, Play and Visit video will air in the Las Vegas market on 8 News/Cox Cable on in the latter half of May. Spokane showings will be on CBS KLEW-TV in late May and early June.

AJAC Presents to Pierce County Economic Development Practitioners:

The Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee (AJAC) presented a quarterly update to Pierce County economic development practitioners this week. AJAC is a state agency that provides businesses and individuals in advanced manufacturing access to low cost apprenticeship training and mentoring. The State subsidizes fifty percent of all training costs and currently serves over 120 apprentices. They hope to eventually increase that to 400 to meet increased workforce demand. Two and four-year full apprentice programs are offered. To learn more, visit www.ajactraining.org.