School-closure talks

The next public meeting scheduled to discuss preliminary recommendations for school closures and consolidations in the Seattle School District will be at 6:30 p.m. today at Meany Middle School, 301 21st Ave. E.

The district-appointed Community Advisory Committee on School Facilities and Programs, which has named specific schools in its months-long process, is seeking input from the public.

Public meetings also are scheduled on Wednesday, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Hamilton International Middle School, 1610 N. 41st St., and Thursday, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Aki Kurose Middle School, 3928 S. Graham St., for the bilingual community.

The district says there are other dates to watch:

• Next Tuesday: Committee gives its final closure list to district Superintendent Raj Manhas.

• June 2: Manhas issues preliminary recommendations.

• July 3: Manhas submits final recommendations to School Board.

• July 26: School Board votes on closure list.

The changes would take effect in 2007-08.

Today

• Another open house to discuss the future of the unincorporated North Highline area, which includes White Center, and prospects of annexation into Seattle or Burien is scheduled from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Hilltop Elementary School's cafeteria at 12250 24th Ave. S.

A governance plan for North Highline, which also includes Boulevard Park, is being developed. The plan — which could mean annexation by Burien, Seattle or a combination of the two — would be put to a vote of residents in November 2007.

• Woodland Park Zoo will hold another design open house for its proposed four-story parking garage from 4 to 7 p.m. at the zoo's Education Center at North 50th Street and Fremont Avenue North. Zoo staff and project engineers and architects will be on hand.

Wednesday

• The YWCA Women's Health Outreach Program will host a health fair with mammography screening downtown at the Y's Opportunity Place, 2024 Third Ave.

The Y will have a 64-foot bus equipped with mammography equipment parked in front of Opportunity Place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Health providers and community organizations also will be set up inside Opportunity Place.

The health fair is an opportunity for homeless and low-income women, particularly those in the downtown area, to get health screening, including a free or low-cost mammogram, Pap test and breast exam.

Getting around

As a result of road-construction work around Seattle's Fremont Bridge for the next year or so, the city will limit the times the bridge can be opened, and vehicle traffic will be disrupted even more by boat traffic through the Ship Canal, unless it's a very large vessel.

Unless it's absolutely necessary, the Fremont Bridge and the Ballard Bridge to the west will not be opened for boaters between 7 and 10 a.m. and between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. — the heights of commute traffic.

The Coast Guard has granted the city's transportation department authority for the restricted hours, starting next Tuesday. But under federal law, the bridges must open at any time for vessels weighing more than 1,000 gross tons.

The restricted hours will be in effect until March.

Here & Now is compiled by Seattle Times staff reporter Charles E. Brown and news assistant Suesan Whitney Henderson. To submit an item, e-mail herenow@seattletimes.com or call 206-464-2226.