News Briefs

Vets Cemetery Memorial Day program

The community is invited to attend the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs Memorial Day ceremony at the Washington State Veterans Cemetery west of Medical Lake on Monday, May 28, from 11a.m. – noon. A musical prelude performed by the Lilac City Community Band will begin at 10:30 a.m.

This event is open to the public. Limited parking is available at the cemetery with overflow available along Ritchey Road, carpooling is highly encouraged.

Seating is limited so please arrive early, guests are welcome to bring a blanket or lawn chairs. Those needing unique ADA arrangements should call (509) 299-6280 by Monday, May 21.

The ceremony will be at the Washington State Veterans Cemetery, 21702 W. Espanola Road, Medical Lake. This is an outdoor event, so please dress accordingly.

Out of respect for the families we serve the use of any tobacco products or vaping devices are not allowed. Pets are not allowed on the grounds at any time. For additional information please contact the office at (509) 299-6280 or email at cemetery@dva.wa.gov.

Enrollment ends May 31 for prepaid tuition program 

Olympia—The GET program’s 2017-18 enrollment period closes on May 31. As the state’s 529 prepaid tuition program, GET provides Washington families an opportunity to start saving for future college costs while their children are young. 

The Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program opened in 1998, and since then, thousands of Washington families have saved billions of dollars to go towards their students’ future higher education expenses. To date, GET has distributed over $1 billion to more than 52,000 students who have used their GET accounts to attend college in all 50 states and 15 foreign countries.  

In a May 14 news release, the Washington Student Achievement Council, which administers the program, stated that as a 529 prepaid tuition program, the state of Washington guarantees that a family’s GET savings will keep pace with in-state tuition and state-mandated fees. While GET account values keep pace with in-state tuition, beneficiaries have the freedom to follow their ambitions wherever they choose, as GET can be used at nearly any public or private university, community college, or technical school in the country.

GET’s website, http://www.get.wa.gov, offers details, charts, planning tools and answers for questions that families may have about the program. Interested families can open accounts online without an enrollment fee, and the GET Contact Center staff is ready to help at (800) 955-2318 or GETInfo@wsac.wa.gov.

Recovery help line website redesigned

SEATTLE — Crisis Clinic has launched a redesign of the Washington Recovery Help Line website, http://www.warecoveryhelpline.org. In a May 9 news release, the clinic said the new website offers visitors a cleaner, up-to-date aesthetic with more engaging content and a clearer path for those who are looking for help and support with regards to substance use disorder, mental health challenges, and problem gambling.

According to the University of Washington Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, Washington has seen a 72 percent increase in deaths attributed to any opioid between 2002-2004 and 2014-2016. As more people are impacted by substance abuse, individuals, loved ones, as well as professionals are more often seeking help for those experiencing these challenges.

The Washington Recovery Help Line consequently is seeing more traffic. In a greater effort to meet our visitors where they are, the website was overhauled and simplified to ease the research process for people impacted by substance use disorder, mental health challenges and problem gambling.

Visitors can now find the most frequently needed information on resources for their needs by navigating to our website. For specific questions and concerns, or for emotional support, our specialists are available by phone 24/7, and by chat during high traffic hours specified on our website.

The Washington Recovery Help Line, a program of Crisis Clinic, is an anonymous and confidential 24-hour help line that provides crisis intervention and referral services for Washington State residents with professionally-trained staff at (866) 789-1511.