Tag Archives: patty murray

Health, News, Politics

Sen. Patty Murray Presents 2013 Golden Tennis Shoe Awards

At this year’s Golden Tennis Shoe Awards luncheon, held Monday, April 29, at the downtown Seattle Westin, Senator Patty Murray put the spotlight on the Special Olympics, ovarian cancer, and violence against women, through awards to Tyler May, Swedish Cancer Institute medical oncologist Saul E. Rivkin, and the Tulalip Tribes’ Deborah Parker, respectively. Though Murray, in her rise to budgetary power in the Senate, has gained a reputation for earmarks, as these awards indicate, her concerns are difficult to militate against.

Murray had met May and Parker separately, when they traveled to D.C. on citizen lobbying efforts. May, who years ago found that golf sat at the intersection of his athleticism and autism, was at the Capitol to help the push for reauthorization of the Special Olympics Sport and Empowerment Act of 2004, while Parker was speaking out for an expansion of coverage in reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, so that non-Indians responsible for abuse that occurs on tribal lands will be prosecuted. It was, as Murray was to learn, a very personal crusade.

May dedicated his award to all Special Olympians. “I’m trying to put myself out of business,” Dr. Rivkin — who founded the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research in 1996, in memory of his wife — said drily, accepting his award. Parker, for her part, invited her family and tribal members who were in the audience to stand and share in the award.

Murray had invited Dr. Jill Biden, whose husband works for the government, to speak as well. Biden’s address took a global view of women’s empowerment, hitting on the themes of access to education, freedom from violence, and cultivation of leadership potential. Referencing Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, Biden insisted, “Now is not the time to lower our voices.”

On Tuesday, Murray toured the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, sitting in on a roundtable discussion on sequestration impacts on research funding with scientists from heard from the Hutch, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, UW Medicine, and the Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute. FHCRC’s Randy Main, its vice president and chief financial officer, estimated that cuts in federal funding could subtract $41 million from the Center’s revenues alone. Murray has shepherded a budget with no NIH cuts through the Senate, but House of Representatives Republicans have not been in a compromising mood.

News, Politics, Real Estate

Yesler Terrace Redevelopment Gets Almost $20 Million More From HUD

The redevelopment of Yesler Terrace got another big federal boost today, when Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced the project would be awarded a $19.7-million Choice Neighborhood Initiative grant — this is the second HUD grant the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) has nabbed, the first for $10 million in August 2011. (You may wish to thank Senator Patty Murray, who is a backer of the initiative.) HUD says:

With both Choice Neighborhoods grants, SHA will replace the 561 public housing units on the site with 561 project-based voucher units and construct nearly 2,000 additional units to serve a mix of income levels. All new development will incorporate smart growth principals and be certified under the Enterprise Green Communities Program.

HUD claims the federal monies have “leveraged” another $207 million in support of the 22-acre redevelopment, from the City of Seattle, yes, but also  Neighborcare Health, Neighborhood House, Seattle University, Year Up, Seattle Parks Department, Retail Lock Box, and the U.S. Department of Justice. In October 2012, a half-acre of former SHA property at 12th Avenue and East Yesler Way sold for $2.9 million.

“HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Initiative supports local visions for how to transform high-poverty, distressed communities into neighborhoods of opportunity,” said Secretary Donovan. In the case of Yesler Terrace, that’s taken the shape of a not-uncontroversial attempt to build a “working” neighborhood from scratch. Authorities hope to replace a uniformly low-income housing project with one with income striations.

This year marked the beginning of Phase I: existing extremely low-income residents will get 98 replacement homes, but SHA is also building 20 brand-new homes for people who qualify as simply “low-income.” When Phases I and II are done, 212 of the promised 561 replacement homes will have been built, or about 38 percent of the total to come.

But it’s not just about housing. SHA says Phase I will also include community gardening improvements at Horiuchi Park, the launch of the 10th Avenue Hillclimb (for pedestrians and cyclists) connecting Yesler Terrace with the Little Saigon business district, and Cradle to College education support for residents of the Yesler Terrace neighborhood. To that end, there’s a partnership with Seattle University, which will offer early learning programs like Head Start, and tutoring and mentoring programs.

Also on the Transformation Plan list: two neighborhood medical clinics providing free healthcare services, three new pocket parks, 4,000-square-feet of affordable retail space, and restoration of Washington Hall, so it can function as a neighborhood performing arts center (instead of a decaying arts center).

News, Politics

Senator Murray Applauds Komen Reversal, Asks for Vigilance in Defense of Women’s Health

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(Apologies in advance for the audio–since this was a press conference more than a live address, Senator Murray wasn’t provided with amplification.)

Friday, February 3, Patty Murray made an appearance at Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest’s offices in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, planned in advance of news that Susan G. Komen For the Cure would reverse its decision to defund grants awarded to Planned Parenthood.

Flanked by PPGN CEO Chris Charbonneau and a board member who denounced this latest attempt at “bullying” Planned Parenthood, Murray expressed delight at the news of the reversal, tempered by the need, she said, to remain “vigilant.” (For the record, Komen has only promised to consider future grant applications from Planned Parenthood, which is not a hard promise to make, if it helps get you out of a media firestorm.)

In Washington State, the women’s health organization saw donations of $50,000 since the Komen announcement, with about $3 million raised nationally.

Seattlepi.com’s Joel Connelly summarizes what Planned Parenthood has to do with breast cancer, if you’re wondering:

Nationwide, Planned Parenthood clinics did 750,000 breast exams last year.  In Washington, an estimated 31,000 patients depend on Planned Parenthood for breast exams. Lindgren received a mammogram and an ultrasound test. About 1,000 breast exams, in the Northwest, were paid for last year by grants from Komen, said Planned Parent’s region CEO Chris Charbonneau.