There are a slew of resources for more serious students of LA gang culture, including the 2009 PBS documentary Crips and Bloods: Made in America as well as numerous books and websites published on the topic.

Until relatively recently, however, information about gangs in the Pacific Northwest was essentially nonexistent.

Enter Brad, who asked that his last name not be used, a native of Yakima and current employee of a Seattle museum. In 2005, Brad started the website www.nwgangs.com in order to “give general information on street gang activity in the Northwest region of the United States,” according to the site.

The site now includes comprehensive lists of gangs sorted by location: Western Washington, Eastern Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Additionally, gangs are sorted by city or county and by broader gang affiliation: Crip, Blood, Folk-Nation, Hispanic, Asian, and “Hybrid” gangs. The listing for Seattle includes over 100 distinct gangs, which, according to the site, “can be as small as 3–5 members or as large as several hundred.”

The website began as a conscious effort by Brad to fill the informational void in Northwest gang culture.

“I’ve always had an interest in modern day street gangs—Crips, Bloods, Norteños,” Brad says. “I tried to find out information on the Internet about gang violence and graffiti. There was a lot about Los Angeles and Chicago, but nothing about the Northwest.”

Brad started in Yakima, walking or driving around with a digital camera and taking pictures of gang tags when he found them. He posted the photos on the website, and gradually began getting feedback from people with more information. As the site grew, he began receiving emails from people in Seattle and Tacoma, and gradually expanded outside the Washington state borders.

While Brad has several frequent correspondents—a police officer in Spokane, a security officer in Lynwood—much of his knowledge comes from the inside.

“Lots of information about who is active, or various things going on comes from people associated with gangs or full-fledged members,” Brad says. Obviously, working in close concert with gang members could be considered dangerous. But Brad isn’t worried.

“I don’t share information with the Police Department or with rival gangs, which creates personal trust,” he says. “I show them respect, and they give me respect.”

Though much of his information comes from gang members, Brad has also worked for the other side.

“The first time I worked with police was within the Lakewood Police Department. An officer found graffiti and emailed me and asked if I recognized the photo,” Brad says. “Turns out I did—it was a tag for the Hoover Criminals gang. After that, I was able to do a ride-along with the Lakewood officer.”

Since then, several other officers have contacted Brad, to ask questions and to provide information on gangs not represented on the site.

He has also enlisted the help of police officers on the newest feature of the site: interactive maps of gang territories. The feature uses Google Maps to color code gang territory in eight different cities, including Seattle, Tacoma, Yakima, and Portland. The Seattle map specifies five territories within several blocks of Garfield: Yesler Terrace Bloods and Deuce-0 to the west; East Union Street Hustlers to the north; Cherry Block to the east; and Deuce Eight to the southeast.

Territory for Valley Hood Piru, the gang which the Seattle Times identifies former Garfield student Quincy Coleman as a member of, is outlined about a mile north of Garfield, between Martin Luther King Way and 31st St. Coleman was fatally shot outside of Garfield the night of October 31, 2008.

Perhaps the most compelling feature of nwgangs.com is the section of gang-related deaths. Started last year, it is a listing of all of the year’s deaths in the four-state territory covered by nwgangs.com that Brad deems to have gang ties. As of May 17, the list contained 17 entries for 2010, ranging from David R. Duarte, a 40-year-old killed in a March 6 Yakima homicide, to Alajawan Brown, a 12-year-old fatally shot in an April 29 Skyway homicide.

In addition, nwgangs.com also contains links to a Twitter account updated almost daily, a Flickr account containing over 2,500 photos of gang tags, a Myspace profile where Brad says much of the correspondence with gang members occurs, and a message board that appears to be populated both by members representing their gang with often explicit posts, and by more explanatory posts about the history or territory of northwest gangs.

Given the comprehensiveness of the site, it’s difficult to believe that Brad has a day job. He spends about three hours a night doing research, or driving around looking for graffiti.

“It’s a hobby that spiraled out of control,” he says.
Clearly, it’s also a hobby that is personally compelling. In the latest update, dated May 10, Brad expounds on information gleaned in his latest trip to Yakima: “Down in Sunnyside, two ‘Little Valley Lokotes’ gang members were shot outside of a store. A homie by the name of ‘Lil Loony’ was hurt pretty bad, but is at Harborview Medical Center, he should survive. That’s all for now.”

Garfield Vice-Principal Leticia Rascon got out after less than two.

In an October 21 email, Rascon announced her resignation to all Garfield staff. Although she didn’t cite a reason for her resignation, she wrote that she was “grateful for the opportunity to have worked with and for [Garfield staff],” and that she “wish[ed] Garfield a smooth and speedy transition.”

Garfield Principal Ted Howard declined to comment on whether or not he had spoken to Rascon about her resignation prior to the email, or if he knew the reason for it.

Howard said that for the rest of the 2009-10 school year, Garfield would continue with just the two remaining Vice-Principals, Lenora Lee and Jewell Woods.

“It means a heavier workload for the other administrators and a heavier workload for me,” he said.

Rascon was moved from Cleveland High School to Garfield in the fall of 2008, when the Seattle School District adopted the Weighted Staffing Standards model. The model, which is used to allocate resources for specific schools, calls for a high school with 1500 or more students to have three full time assistant principals. Before the 2008-09 school year, Howard said, Garfield had always had only two.

Howard said that a hiring process for a vice-principal for the 2010-11 school year will begin this spring. While Rascon was placed at Garfield by the district without any input from the school, Howard said that he hoped this time the process would be an open one, involving parents, teachers, and students.

“The last person interviewed [for an administrator position] was me,” he said.

Student response to news of the resignation has been generally positive. Rascon, who had been booed by students at assemblies, did not have a reputation of popularity with students. The newly created Facebook pagel, “Ms. Rascon not working at GHS anymore,” had amassed 225 fans as of November 1.

This isn’t the first time Rascon has resigned from a school administrative position. In 2004, she was working at Covington Middle School (CMS) in Austin, Tex., according to Texas court documents. Rascon contended that she was harassed by the CMS principal, Karen Rilling, and filed a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Rascon eventually reached an agreement with the Austin Independent School District that she would withdraw her charge and resign from her position in return for the removal of Rilling’s unfavorable evaluation from Rascon’s files, the documents said.

Rascon could not be reached for comment.

“The Essence” — AZ ft. Nas
Nas, the best rapper alive, and AZ, the most underrated rapper ever, team up and basically place themselves firmly on the other’s jock. The homoeroticism in this song is palpable as they trade compliments (“you James Bond!” “I love your style babe bro!”) like pre-Prop. 8 Californian newlyweds.

“The Sky is the Limit” — Notorious B.I.G.
This song can’t be truly appreciated without the video. Biggie employs his characteristically masterful flow about going “from ashy to classy.” In the video a chubby 12-year-old role-plays young Biggie, complete with flashy suits, chains and attractive females. Best day of his life.

“Black on Black Crime” — Stanley Clarke
I jock songs from movies. That said, this is an incredible instrumental from one of the best scenes in one of the best movies, “Boyz ‘n the Hood.” you know the part after Ricky gets killed, and Doughboy and his posse are looking for the guys that did it? This song is in the background.

“Angeles” — Elliott Smith
Another song from the cinema. This one is from my favorite movie, Good Will Hunting. If you haven’t heard the song before, don’t listen to it without first seeing the movie — you’ll be doing yourself a disservice.

Everything by Shankbone
…Just kidding.

“Da Graveyard” — Big L
Big L’s verse in this song is legendary. He consistently has the best punches of any rapper, ever. Jay-Z and others make an appearance, but the spotlight here is on L. Furthermore, in a fight Big L could annihilate T-Pain, Kid Cudi, Soulja Boy, Weezy — all at the same time.

“Home” — Jake One
Normally, I despise Seattle hip-hop and its ultra-prachy political messages. Fortunately, these guys understand that 206 hip-hop doesn’t have to be lame. Listen for Garfield references, and watch the video and see Broadway, Ezell’s Parnell’s, Quick Pack, and other spots around the CD.

Our entrance into the world of online media offers several advantages over the medieval days of exclusively print publication, and we plan to utilize these. Expect more news stories posted in real time. Expect more timely movie reviews. Expect more articles, some of them online-exclusive.

As for this blog, I hope that it will function as a conversation between Messenger staff and you, our readers. We will be posting to update you on our news, plans, ideas, opinions and questions. Any general feedback or critique that you have will be welcomed.

Now, direct your mouse to the “Favorites” button, generally located in the top left region of the page. Add this site.

That felt good, didn’t it? See you back here soon.

Pick a Date: You can’t have a party without a time and a place. There are plenty of occasions worthy of celebrating. The most popular include birthdays and holiday celebrations, but don’t limit yourself to these. You’re feeling the urge this weekend? Look it up on the internet. Chances are its National Pet Owner’s Day or the anniversary of William Hung’s album release.

Make a Guest List: It’s important to decide in advance who you want to come to your party so you’ll be able to turn other people away at the door. Make a Facebook event and send invitations out to the guests. That way, everyone will be clear on who is welcome and who is not. While making your list, remember that the guests at your party will dictate your success as a host. Want to be cool? You’re going to need either cool people or a whole lot of lame ones. The exchange rate here is about ten freshman for every upperclassman, with bonus points if Biggie or Tone-Tone comes. You can also choose the invitees according to a theme. Looking to spice things up? Just exclude your least favorite race or religious group, and see what reaction you get!

Trick your Parents: Let’s be honest. Having your parents at a party is basically social suicide. You’ll have to come up with a trick to get them out of the house. Tell them there’s an important meeting about any of the following subjects: teenage sex, teenage drinking, teenage pregnancy, teenage driving, or college. They love that stuff! Or you could just send mom and pop on a romantic getaway for the weekend. That way, while their house is being mutilated unbeknownst to them, they’ll at least be getting’ it on. While talking about the party around your parents, be wary. They’re always on the lookout for anything suspicious. To avoid this, try speaking in code.

Spike the Punch: Be creative here. Your guests, responsible teenagers that they are, will be sure to ask if there’s alcohol in the beverage. Use Viagra or your dad’s toe fungus cream, and you’ll be able to confidently respond that the drinks are free of alcohol. Or if you’re really looking for a wacky time, use roofies.

Ice the Driveway: It’s cold outside, and a party is a perfect opportunity to take advantage of that. A couple hours before you expect the guests to show up, go crazy with your hose on the street outside your house. There’s nothing so goofy and fun as a good slide on some ice. And you thought drunk drivers were dangerous before? This will teach them a lesson they won’t forget.

Give Out Party Favors: Nothing makes a party like a party bag full of little treasures and surprises. They key here is to cater the favors to the demographic of your guests. Oh-leven, for example, will probably be satisfied with an action figure and one of those funny pointy hats. To please oh-nine, however, you’ll have to provide plenty of dat purple strain, as well as a minimum of three iPods.

Choose Popular Music: Sometimes it’s tough to figure out what the hip tracks to bump are. As a general guideline, the more blatantly vulgar and sexually explicit the lyrics are, the cooler it is to play. While I’ve never heard of a party where they blasted, say, a recorded reading of a romance novel, I imagine the chemistry would be electric.

Have an After-Party: This is a pretty complex concept in the realm of partying. It’s apparently no longer good enough to just have a party—it has to be supplemented by an additional post-party party. These are generally even more exclusive. I suggest that you limit your guest list to your close friends, preferably if they don’t mind cleaning up vomit, urine, and other bodily fluids.

Invite Tony: He’s the coolest and most powerful person at Garfield, including Ted Howard himself. If he comes, that makes you, by the transitive property, also the coolest person at Garfield. It’s even better if you invite him as the only guest. But I guess that’s less of a “party” and more of a “playdate.” Oh, and Tony, if you’re reading this, please say hi to me in the hall! I’ll be following you around a lot, I know your whole class schedule! Just kidding. But not really.

Lifeguard

This is a perennial summer classic. All you really do is sit on one of those high chairs like a bronzed deity as you check out all the good-looking people around you getting their tan and swim on. At some point you may also be expected to save lives, so be prepared. If you are a minimum of 15 years old, you can get a three-year lifeguard certification by taking a 30 hour training course through Seattle Parks and Recreation. The next training course starts May 10 and costs $125. Once you’re 16 and certified, you can apply for a job at beaches and pools run by the city. For more information, check out www.seattle.gov/parks/Aquatics/employment.

Golf Course

Playing golf is really fun. Thus, by association, working at a golf course must be really fun as well. As a high school kid, your best chance for finding work is as a cashier. Sure, hanging out at the register isn’t that exciting, but you’d get to hit the links on the daily. After a summer of that, you could be a regular little Tiger Woods! For details and job openings at Jefferson, Interbay, and several other courses in the Seattle area, visit www.premiergolfcenters.com/emp.

Pacific Science Center Discovery Corps

If you remember your younger days, you might remember that the Science Center used to be crackin’. Well guess what? It still is! Plus, they’ve got a sweet program called Discovery Corps that lets you get your community service hours out of the way AND make bank. The program starts out with 100 hours of community service, including a three-day training session. Once that’s out of the way, you can be promoted to a paid position. Applications for the next training are due May 22, and the training is June 22–25.

Go Fishing

Go to Alaska and get a job on a charter boat. Ever seen “The Deadliest Catch?” Well, this isn’t quite like that. You won’t fight high winds and 40-foot breakers, but you will make bank as you cruise the bays of Alaska and help tourists try to reel one in. You might need some connections to make this one work.

Get an Internship

A quality internship can give you a peek into the window of the real world. Plus, if you score a good one, they can give you tons of opportunities to do fun things. When one former Garfield student interned at the Vera Project, a local all-ages music venue, she got sent free of charge to Sasquatch Music Festival at the Gorge, and got to hang out backstage with performers while working.

Take Surveys Online

Yes, it’s true—you can be paid to take online surveys. This might be appealing to some because it can be done out of the comforts of your own home. But come on! This is summer we’re talking about. Quit being lazy and get off your butt and get a real job. If you’re set on the idea of sitting at your computer all day, a quick internet search will yield dozens of survey sites. Make sure the site you choose is legitimate; a list of trustworthy sites can be found on Wikipedia.

Skilled Labor

If you’ve got a talent, exploit it. No matter what your skill is, it’s almost certain you’ll be able to find some way to capitalize on it if you look hard enough. If you’re a tennis star, teach lessons. If you’re a music buff, play gigs. If you have a really great body, be a nude model for an art class. Not only will skilled labor generally pay better than scrubbing dishes, but you might actually enjoy using your positive attributes to your own advantage. Don’t wait until summer to find potential customers. Start working your parents’ friend circle now and convince some of them that it really would be to little Johnny’s benefit if you were paid $20 an hour to teach him how to play the tuba.

Volunteer

I know, if you’re going to be putting in serious hours this summer, you want to make sure that you’re bringing home the big bucks. But maybe you could quit being so selfish and help out for a change. There are tons of different unpaid opportunities for high school kids, ranging from internships at Virginia Mason and Children’s Hospital to working at your local food bank. If you volunteer in an area that interests you, you can do some good and (shudder) build up that college application. Garfield’s own College and Career Center is a great resource for finding volunteer and internship opportunities. Check it out.

In an unprecedented and overtly snitcherrific move, the PTA has began recruiting parent volunteers to walk the halls at lunch. The hall monitor program, which began several weeks ago, was orchestrated at the request of Garfield’s own head honcho, Mr. Ted “Big Brother” Howard II himself.

According to Kim Kemp, a Garfield PTA member who is in charge of organizing the hall monitor program, Howard requested parental assistance because he believed that students felt unsafe. The lunch hour is an opportunity for teachers to have a break, which leaves campus security entirely up to Garfield administrators.

“It’s a huge territory to supervise,” Kemp said. “Using parents as additional eyes in the building frees up administration to secure the surrounding area.”

In addition, says Kemp, Howard wants to increase overall parental involvement in school. Increased parental involvement can often correspond with increased achievement.

“The hall monitors try to touch base with kids, and ask how their days is going,” said Kemp. “There’s no one checking in with many of these kids.” Both the administration and the PTA are hoping that putting parents in the halls might fill that void.

Aside from the embarrassment of seeing your mom at school, there is little that is practically wrong with the program. Nonetheless, coming in a year that has seen a crackdown on froshing, freakdancing, class attendance and other staples of Garfield filthiness, bringing hall monitors into the picture only increases the sense that GHS is turning into Guantanamo High School.

For the average Winston Smith at Garfield, this turn of events only reinforces the notion that has been becoming more and more clear in recent months: Big Brother is watching You!

The evidence for this is all around us. Boys try to improve their fit and up their swag to higher levels than ever, not unlike the male peacock touting its plumage in an elaborate mating ritual. Girls take advantage of the balmy temperatures to sport short-shorts so minuscule that the fabric used in their production was actually spun from a single cotton plant. Health class attracts far more interest than normal, and cases of in-class arousal by pubescent males are at a yearlong high. This is a difficult time. Fortunately, our culture has adopted several coping mechanisms to get us through the season. Hundreds of photos of shirtless sophomore boys and bikini-clad sophomore girls on the Hawaii trip are splayed across the internet. And of course, rapidly approaching on the horizon is the most important event of the season: prom. It’s the greatest night of high school, the culmination of years of tedious schooling leading up to the prom-night climax. There’s only one problem. Prom is a week away. And I’m a junior.

As a younger man, getting a prom date is no simple task. This is one night where a girl won’t settle—she wants the limo, the designer dress, the corsage, and Mr. Right on her arm. Somehow, I’ve got to fool a senior into thinking that I’m that guy.

I don’t want to let all this self-deprecating humor go too far, or you faithful readers might start taking me seriously. So now, let me be straight with you. I’m an immensely appealing candidate for a prom date. I’m smart, funny, romantic, and am currently being recruited to play NCAA Basketball for the University of North Carolina. I once performed open-heart surgery while simultaneously writing President Obama’s first national address and composing the chamber music piece for the inauguration. So I’m kind of a big deal. Nevertheless, this isn’t going to be easy.

One obstacle to my success is the complex etiquette that prevents me from taking the initiative. Any goober senior can get a date—all he’s got to do is pull off a really exorbitant, over-the-top invitation that the girl is too polite to decline. But as a junior, I can’t do the asking myself—instead, I’m forced to wait for the offer from the senior girl to come my way.

I’m not really into taking risks, so I’ve been brainstorming ways that I can acquire a date. I’ve got two primary stratagems at this point: the first is to act respectful and polite, and simultaneously suave and flirtatious towards every eligible senior girl I know. My backup plan is to genetically insert arsenic into every marijuana plant controlled by the cartel serving the greater Seattle area, which should incapacitate 97% of ’09 boys.

Things haven’t been going so hot. Despite all my efforts, I’ve come up empty-handed, save several restraining orders and a pending trial date. Plus, there was this one time where I thought I could help my chances by sneaking into an entire home for seniors. But get this—it was just a bunch of old people. Just my luck!

Still, I’m not stressing yet—there’s still plenty of time until the big night. On the contrary, I’m fairly confident at this point that I’ll be able to haul in a top-notch date. Nevertheless, if I fail for too much longer, I may get more desperate. I’ll be perfectly willing to settle for a sexually ambiguous date. If the time comes closer still, I might begin scouring my house for inanimate objects that merely look like high school girls.

If the whole prom thing doesn’t work out, there’s only one real solution: I’ll be forced to move up the age spectrum. I’m talking Baby Boomers. It’s Cougar season, and I ain’t talking about Washington State University.

UPDATE: MR. WENER-FLIGNER IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. BLAOW!

I’ve been feeling really philosophical about my life recently. I’ve been asking all sorts of questions and feeling all kinds of funny feelings. I figured I’m either going through puberty, take two, or having some kind of identity crisis. I just hope it isn’t one of those midlife crises. Because if so, I’m pacing myself to expire at age 34.

Anyways, I spent like my whole weekend watching March Madness and pondering the immortal question: Who am I? In the end, I came up with two potential answers. I could remain Zach Wener-Fligner, lame-ass white boy; or I could seize the day and accede to greatness: Zach Wener-Fligner, Best in the World. I knew what I had to do. Guinness—and I’m not talking about a pint of the good stuff. On that fateful day, I made an oath that I would set a Guinness World Record, and my name would grace the pages of immortality. And since I always mob deep, I vowed that my friend Clifford’s name would too.

Let’s take a quick time-out from the wacky adventure you’re enjoying to talk a little bit about my skills. What makes me, just another average fella, worthy of achieving the status reserved only for the world’s greatest? Well, that’s a pretty good question. In terms of awesomeness, I’d say I’m about the middle of the pack. Sure, I’m no Sean Shewey (read: loser), but it’s not like I’m the star sophomore of the Garfield High School Basketball team and coolest dude in school, Glenn Brooks. Fortunately for me, this is America. And in America, if a man wants to be the best in the world at something, then I’ll be darn tootin’ if a little hard work and dedication doesn’t get him there. And if it doesn’t, then by God he will cheat.

Clifford and I strutted into Grocery Outlet with a sense of purpose. We glanced briefly and condescendingly at the other shoppers, but we had more important matters to attend to. We strode past the appallingly good deals—the boxes of cereal for $1.99, the twelve-pound bag of frozen hash browns for three dollars. They were nothing more than evil temptresses meant to impede us on the way to achieving our impending goal.

When we returned to the front of the store, our arms were laden with world class Grocery Outlet goods. We carried three loaves of bread, two large packages of salami and enough lettuce and tomatoes to feed a Jenny Craig patient for a year. The cashier informed me perkily, “You just saved 17 dollars!” But for the first time in my life, I didn’t give a damn.

We drove home and went into my kitchen, where the deed was to be done. We laid out the materials, and prepared to construct our pièce de résistance, our Holy Grail: The World’s Largest Sandwich.

Twenty-two hours later, the seemingly negligible task now appeared insurmountable. My breath was ragged, and every piece of bread I lifted seemed like it was made from lead. I had several knife wounds from tomato malfunctions, which were only aggravated by the heavily salted salami and pepperoni we handled. My finger joints were swollen due to carpal tunnel from spreading gallons of mayonnaise and mustard. But the sandwich loomed massively over the rest of the kitchen, fueling my will to continue.

When we finally finished, materials were strewn around the kitchen, night had come upon us—and the sandwich stood 17 imposing inches high. I felt a glowing sense of accomplishment as I stared at my creation. Finally my existence had a purpose. I was now as cool as someone like Claude Wroten, defensive tackle for the St. Louis Rams and also the most awesome person with that particular surname.

I logged on to the Guinness World Records web site, eager to share Clifford and my epic deed with the rest of humanity. Hence forward, I expected a life of universal respect, money, fast cars and beautiful women.

I was preparing to send for a judge to verify our achievement when Clifford pointed to a small box in the corner of the screen. It read: “The largest sandwich ever created was made by Wild Woody’s Chill and Grill, and weighed 5,440 pounds.”

And just like that, our hopes and dreams were dashed.

I’ve been trying not to get too down about the whole thing, but it’s tough when we dedicated so much time and energy. Naturally, Clifford and I will try to become world class again—you can tune in next issue as we try to become “World’s Fastest Men.”

As of right now there are more pressing concerns. The sandwich is clogging up my kitchen and I just need a place where I can unload 17 inches of meat.