Bond won’t be on May ballot
March 26, 2008
After failing to pass for a third time, the Snoqualmie Valley School District board has decided not to rerun in May a proposed school bond that would provide a second high school. Read more
Editorial: McKenna a bright spot during Sunshine Week
March 26, 2008
Last week may have been mostly cloudy, but it was Sunshine Week, a national initiative to promote open government and open public records. Read more
Parents know: Teens, phones can be a real “hang-up”
March 26, 2008
Judy Halone
Columnist
Before call-waiting technology, there were teens, phones, and busy signals.
This didn’t make parents too happy. So when someone wanted the phone, families resorted to their own versions of call-waiting. Read more
Letter to the Editor
March 26, 2008
Government spending
Wasteful spending projects plague the federal budget.
When a bill is proposed, a member of congress might earmark the bill with a special spending project for his district such as these: a wine museum in Prosser, a multi-million dollar bridge to a sparsely populated island in Ketchikan, or a member’s defense contract reselling business in Pennsylvania. Rarely do such special and sometimes bizarre spending projects ever reach the scrutiny of debate or budget prioritization.
The bridge project was cancelled, but last year, the bill that hosted the contract reselling business and the Prosser wine museum was passed. I suppose we’ll be touring the new wine museum long before sufficient safety gear ever arrives in Iraq. It’s just not right. Many congressmen seem to figure that the people will never know about all this spending. They even go so far to say that it is a good way to bring money back to the district as though it was right to take that amount away in the first place.
In a bold move this month, our congressman Dave Reichert announced that he will voluntarily refrain from this practice in the 2009 budget year. He deserves our support, commendation, and continuing encouragement for making this decision. He realizes that we need not be a welfare state routinely begging money from the federal coffers. He needs to know you support this action and that you are willing to sacrifice a few frivolous, federally funded projects here for a better America. Please encourage him to lead a strong coalition of his peers in congress that will also make the same pledge.
David Willson
North Bend
Residents pack council hospital hearing
March 26, 2008
More than 30 speakers, out of a crowd estimated at about 200 who packed the commons room of Snoqualmie Middle School Thursday, addressed the Growth Management and Natural Resources Committee of the King County Council. Read more
Sewage spills at youth center
March 26, 2008
A pipe clogged with rags, grit and plastics led to raw sewage spill at the Snoqualmie Valley Youth Activity Center.
The backup occurred the morning of March 22, when the clogged pipe at the City of North Bend Waste Water Treatment Plant caused waste water to swell over the pipe’s ditch. Read more
North Bend mayor calls water settlement ‘major victory
March 26, 2008
The North Bend City Council adopted a new master plan for the downtown area, heard Mayor Ken Hearing give a “State of the City” presentation and received a resignation from one of its own last week. Read more
Swedish moving forward with hospital
March 26, 2008
Despite appeals from four hospitals, Swedish has plans to build facility
Officials at Swedish Medical Center are convinced they’ll have a new hospital close to the Snoqualmie Valley.
The only questions remaining, they believe, are how big and when. Read more
Twin Falls Middle School nears completion
March 26, 2008
As the newly planted trees mature and the surrounding elk run becomes indented with hoof marks, Clint Marsh hopes Twin Falls Middle School will look like it naturally fits in with the landscape. Read more
Attorney General McKenna speaks at chamber meeting
March 26, 2008
State Attorney General Rob McKenna gave a crowd an inside look at the daily operations of his office last week at the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce meeting.
McKenna, the meeting’s featured speaker, talked in specifics about some of the bills supported by his office and the goals he has for the future. He also fielded some questions from a few attending the meeting at TPC at Snoqualmie Ridge. Read more
