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Mike Rutledge has another state championship on his resume, although he managed this one all by himself.
Just three months after helping the Mount Si boys golf team snare the Class 3A state title, the Fall City teenager captured the WJGA boys state championship at Glendale Country Club July 31. The title capped a furious three-day run on three different courses for Rutledge.
“It’s pretty cool,” he said. “It’s been a good year for me.”
Playing in the 16-17 age division, Rutledge topped everyone else in the tournament with his 72-70-73 – 215. He was even par for the three days, as well as the final round.
Rutledge’s closest competitors – Kent Hagen from Covington and Zach Wanderscheid from Goldendale – were each two shots back.
Mike Rutledge tees off on No. 14 at the Washington Junior Golf Association state tournament in Bellevue.
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The Festival at Mount Si promises to be extra special this year, because the annual event has been combined with North Bend’s 100th birthday celebration.
The city plans to dedicate its centennial project, a climbing tower in Torguson Park, at 8 p.m. Aug. 8. If the weather is good, a group of paragliders will take off from Mount Si and land at Torguson Park. Afterwards, at 9:45 p.m., there will be a fireworks display.
Other centennial-centric festival events include a community quilt cake that will serve 2,200, and a tent on the Si View Park festival grounds with displays from the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum showcasing 100 years of North Bend history.
A pair of unicyclists perform in the parade at the Festival at Mount Si last summer.
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By Laura Geggel
Safer schools, decreased drug use and better mental health services were just three elements Snoqualmie Valley hoped to improve with a federal grant called the Safe Schools – Healthy Students Initiative.
The federal grant would have given Snoqualmie Valley $1.5 million per year for four years, totaling $6 million. But, on July 10, the federal government announced its grant recipients, and the Valley was not included on the list.
“It would have made a huge difference,” Snoqualmie Valley Community Network Executive Director Kristy Sullivan said.
The network worked with the Snoqualmie Valley School District to apply for the grant and included other stakeholders, including the Riverview School District, Friends of Youth, Encompass, law enforcement agencies and more.
Snoqualmie Valley School District employees had high hopes for the programs they could have implemented with the grant money.
“It was huge,” school district Student Services Director Nancy Meeks said. “It would have been so great.”
“It was a fairly substantial grant,” Snoqualmie Valley Superintendent Joel Aune said. “With the budget challenges we’re facing and resources being so scarce, there are some needs out there we simply can’t address.”
Aune said the grant could have started programs instrumental to the district, such as staff development and training and writing protocols that could be used in the long-term.
Even though the network did not receive the grant, Sullivan said there was a silver lining.
“What this grant helped us do was to start a dialogue with different partners,” Sullivan said. “That community dialogue has helped us move in a better direction.”
Aune agreed.
“It’s helped us to do some thinking, maybe a little deeper thinking, about student needs, staff needs, community needs and how we might go about better addressing those needs,” he said.
Safe Schools – Healthy Students
For the past 10 years, the federal Education, Justice and Health and Human Services departments have offered the Safe Schools – Healthy Students grant, awarding more than $2.1 billion to educational, mental health, law enforcement and juvenile justice partnerships.
Last year, about 60 communities across the country received the grant, a number the government halved this year because of budget cuts.
Snoqualmie Valley Community Network Grant and Program Evaluator Jan-Olov Johansson, Ph.D. said that it is hard to receive such a grant on the first try, especially since the government received 422 applications and only accepted 29 of them. Communities with high rates of violence and diversity tend to have better chances receiving the grant, Johansson said.
If the grant is offered again next year, Johansson said the network would likely work with the Snoqualmie Valley School District to reapply.
The grant would have helped Snoqualmie Valley youth in five major ways. The grant requires recipients use the funds to increase school safety, decrease alcohol, tobacco and substance use, offer behavioral, social and emotional support to students, make available mental health services and collaborate with early childhood development agencies.
Johansson helped Skagit County receive a $7.8 million Safe Schools – Healthy Students four-year grant in 2005.
The grant helped Skagit develop its emergency response to multiple types of emergencies within its 35 schools, from gang violence to natural disasters.
“Each school had a team that could assess any threat,” Johansson said, adding that each team had school administrators, counselors, teachers, law enforcement and emergency responders.
In a four-year period, the grant money provided anti-bullying training for more than 2,000 students. At the upper level, Skagit County used to have only 4.5 prevention intervention specialists who helped students deal with substance problems. The grant money increased that number to about 15 specialists, so now every middle and high school had one.
“What that means in numbers is in 2004, there were 275 youth that received prevention intervention services,” Johansson said. “In 2009, we had close to 1,200.”
Similar programs would have been implemented in Snoqualmie Valley. For instance, the grant could have increased Snoqualmie Valley schools prevention intervention specialists from two part-time specialists to 4.5.
The money would have also helped early-education students at places like Encompass learn anti-bullying and harassment lessons, which would have given the young students the necessary vocabulary to address these issues as they matured.
The grant would have helped the Valley better integrate services to help children who are falling between the cracks because they have emotional, truancy, substance abuse or other problems. Interventions at specific grade levels are not enough — the entire school district and community need to be engaged, Johansson said.
“If we do one-shot deals and continue to press the burden on one of the sectors, like the schools or the law enforcement, the likelihood we will be successful in addressing this is going to be minimal,” Johansson said.
Despite the Snoqualmie Valley School District’s losing bid for the grant, Aune thanked the network for helping it apply for the grant. Larger school districts have grant writers on staff, but Snoqualmie Valley cannot yet afford to fund such a position.
“For us, to be able to form a partnership with the network in terms of pursuing these grant opportunities, that’s a real benefit for the school district,” Aune said.
Reach reporter Laura Geggel at 392-6434 .221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com. To comment on this story, visit www.snovalleystar.com.
Safer schools, decreased drug use and better mental health services were just three elements Snoqualmie Valley hoped to improve with a federal grant called the Safe Schools – Healthy Students Initiative.
The federal grant would have given Snoqualmie Valley $1.5 million per year for four years, totaling $6 million. But, on July 10, the federal government announced its grant recipients, and the Valley was not included on the list.
“It would have made a huge difference,” Snoqualmie Valley Community Network Executive Director Kristy Sullivan said.
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By Michael Bayless Rowe
The future site for a climbing tower in North Bend may not currently look like much. Red cones surround it and concrete makes up its foundation.
Still, the city hopes to see its contractor at the site this week to assemble the tower.
“The tower is on track and is scheduled to be completed by the Festival (at Mount Si) on August 8,” North Bend City Administrator Duncan Wilson said in an e-mail to the SnoValley Star.
Wilson said that the city’s contractor, Rockwex, would be on site to assemble the tower sometime this week.
The $190,000 project is North Bend’s centennial legacy project. The climbing tower will be dedicated during the Festival at Mount Si at 8 p.m. Aug. 8.
“The city is very excited to see the final product after all of the planning and fundraising efforts. This will be the centerpiece of our Centennial Celebration,” Wilson said.
Construction of the tower is on track, but fundraising for the project is not. The city has not been able to raise all of the money it needs for the climbing tower, and Wilson is still looking for donations. He said that the city was particularly interested in a “Naming Sponsor.” A naming sponsor would get the chance to name the climbing wall in exchange for a suitable donation.
“Naming rights can be negotiated, as we have not ordered the final brass plaque for the project,” Wilson said.
The city plans to pay for the project through a variety of sources including: a $65,000 recreation grant from King County, a $10,000 donation from the North Bend Parks Foundation, a $1,000 donation from an unnamed North Bend resident, and $35,000 in funds from the city.
The tower is designed to echo Mount Si, which dominates the northern horizon beyond the park. The tower will be about 31 feet tall at its highest point. The base of the tower will be about 20 feet wide and six feet deep. Climbing routes will be placed on all sides of the tower.
Reach reporter Michael Bayless Rowe at mrowe@snovalleystar.com or 392-6434, ext. 248. To comment on this story, go to www.snovalleystar.com.
The future site for a climbing tower in North Bend may not currently look like much. Red cones surround it and concrete makes up its foundation.
Still, the city hopes to see its contractor at the site this week to assemble the tower.
“The tower is on track and is scheduled to be completed by the Festival (at Mount Si) on August 8,” North Bend City Administrator Duncan Wilson said in an e-mail to the SnoValley Star.
Wilson said that the city’s contractor, Rockwex, would be on site to assemble the tower sometime this week.
The site for the North Bend climbing tower is scheduled for construction this week.
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Levee work on the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River is expected to begin later this summer.
The work is part of a multi-year, $7 million project that began in 2008 to rehabilitate five miles of levees on the South Fork Snoqualmie levee system. The levees slated for work are the Si View and Reif Road levees.
The levees, which protect commercial and residential areas in North Bend, were identified as needing repairs after recent flood events.
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Wearing cooler clothing, staying out of the sun, seeking air-conditioned buildings (movies anyone?) and drinking plenty of water seems are common sense in extreme hot weather, but here are some things you might not have thought of:
A cold beer sounds good, but it’s better to avoid alcoholic and caffeinated beverages, which can be dehydrating. And don’t wait until you are thirsty to reach for that glass of water.
Never leave infants, children or pets in a parked car, even if the windows are open. Of course, it’s against the law to ever leave kids in a car.
Check on elderly neighbors and relatives. They may be the first to “wilt” in the heat. Take elderly neighbors a pitcher of cold lemonade.
Cover your windows and keep lights and appliances off during the day to help keep your house cool. Open windows at night, placing fans near windows to draw the cooler air in.
Symptoms of heat exhaustion include muscle cramps, weakness, dizziness, headache and nausea. If you notice someone with signs of overheating, move the person to a cooler location, have them rest for a few minutes and slowly drink a cool beverage.
Heat stroke can cause death or permanent disability if emergency treatment is not provided. Symptoms include high body temperature, hot and dry skin, rapid pulse, confusion and unconsciousness.
Remember the effects of heat on your pets, too. Leave pets at home, instead of taking them on errands. Pets are susceptible to sunburn and other heat-related maladies and their paws can burn when walking on hot pavement.
Animals need access to shade. Replenish their water dish with cool water throughout the day.
Think cool thoughts. Do a little rain dance. This can’t last forever!
Editorial:
Wearing cooler clothing, staying out of the sun, seeking air-conditioned buildings (movies anyone?) and drinking plenty of water seems are common sense in extreme hot weather, but here are some things you might not have thought of:
A cold beer sounds good, but it’s better to avoid alcoholic and caffeinated beverages, which can be dehydrating. And don’t wait until you are thirsty to reach for that glass of water. Read more
Ridge should pay for increased costs
As senior North Benders, retired and living on fixed incomes, who further have seen our property taxes almost triple in the 14-plus years we’ve lived here … “Valley Population Still Booming” caught our eye.
It’s easy to see what has caused and continues to cause schools to burst at the seams, so to speak, causing never-ending school levy measures to be foisted on Valley home owners.
It’s easy to see, also, who should be paying most of the increased school tax costs. NOT North Bend homeowners.
For the record, two kids have attended and graduated from Mount Si High School (1987 & 1997); three grandkids have attended Valley schools and graduated from Mount Si High. One great-grandchild is in the system and three others are looking forward to it.
Also for the record, we’re among the “900-1000” recently added to the North Bend numbers.
That said, how about a new high school up on the ridge, paid for totally by Ridge homeowners! Seems fair to us.
George and Theresa Crotts,
North Bend
Initiative I-1033 in specifics
A recent story in the SnoValley Star described I-1033 inaccurately. Let me set the record straight.
I-1033 brings back successful policies passed by the voters previously. In 1993, during tough economic times, voters approved I-601, which put reasonable limits on government’s fiscal policies. I-601 established a sustainable rate for government to grow, saying it could grow at the inflation rate, plus population growth. It included a safety valve that said if government thought I-601’s automatic increase wasn’t enough, they could go to the voters and ask for a bigger increase.
And it worked very well for many years until the Legislature started putting loopholes in it, removing I-601’s reasonable fiscal discipline and policies.
The result? Two major deficits — $3.2 billion in 2003 and $9 billion in 2009. Those loopholes allowed them to take their budgets on a fiscal roller coaster, overextending themselves in good times — creating unsustainable budgets — and then slashing during bad times.
I-1033 gets us off that fiscal roller coaster by re-establishing I-601’s same reasonable allowance for growth (inflation, plus population growth), allowing higher increases with voter approval. I-601 worked, and it can work again with the passage of I-1033.
So what happens to excess tax revenues that government collects above I-1033’s limit? After a fixed percentage of tax revenue is transferred into the constitutionally-protected rainy day fund, the remainder of excess tax revenues gets refunded back to taxpayers via lower property taxes.
Opponents of I-1033 pushed really hard for higher taxes and a state income tax during this year’s legislative session. Even Gregoire and the Democrats rejected doing that, which just shows that I-1033’s opponents are on the extreme fringe regarding tax policy.
Property taxes keep going higher and higher, and government keeps getting bigger and bigger. The people are losing control. I-1033 allows the state, counties and cities to grow, but at a rate that citizens can control and taxpayers can afford.
I-1033 is our last, best chance to gain control of our government and provide the first real reduction in property tax bills in our state’s history. We’re hopeful voters will approve I-1033 in November.
Tim Eyman,
Co-sponsor of I-1033
Ridge should pay for increased costs
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The King County elections office has already begun mailing ballots for an Aug. 18 primary election for Snoqualmie Valley School Board seat No. 1. The primary is between candidates Geoffrey Doy, G. Scott Hodgins and Paul Houldridge.
The SnoValley Star has profiled each of the three candidates, including background information and an in-brief explanation as to why they are running.
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By Michael Bayless Rowe
Snoqualmie is getting an extra $250,000 for its downtown improvement projects.
Congressman Dave Reichert announced the additional money July 23. It is part of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies appropriations legislation for fiscal year 2010.
Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson said that the city hopes to combine the new appropriation with grants from the state’s Transportation Improvement Board or other sources. He said that the city anticipates using the new appropriation for future phases of the downtown improvement project.
Snoqualmie’s downtown improvement project is slated to begin in late February or early March of 2010. The project is designed to make the downtown area more attractive for retail businesses and shoppers.
Snoqualmie is getting an extra $250,000 for its downtown improvement projects.
Congressman Dave Reichert announced the additional money July 23. It is part of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies appropriations legislation for fiscal year 2010.
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By Laura Geggel
The kindergarten class acted like any other. The 5-year-olds boys and girls giggled and sang as Snoqualmie Valley teacher Jan Formisano led them in a rhyming song about colors and animals.
“We need to wake up our brains this morning,” Formisano said before singing, “Blue is for endless skies, orange is for butterflies.”
Each of the class of about 20 were at Snoqualmie Elementary for a free, three-week summer school session for English language learners.
When parents register their children for kindergarten, the district gives them a questionnaire asking, among other things, if English is the primary language spoken in their home. Children coming from families who speak another language at home are given a test called the Washington Language Proficiency Test. Those who score within a certain percentile qualify for language-support services.
For the first time, Snoqualmie Valley School District decided to give these children a head start, instead of waiting until September to start services. The 2009 summer school introduced the pre-kindergartners to the academic language of kindergarten, including letter identification, phonic skills, counting and colors.
“I met with the kindergarten teachers and asked them what they wanted the kindergartners to know,” Formisano said, explaining how she came up with the curriculum.
Formisano first taught with Dana Nohavec and later with Gretchen Hinds. Jessica Kitz, a 21-year-old with Down syndrome, helped as well. Kitz recently graduated from the Snoqualmie Valley schools Transition Learning Center, a program helping special needs students who have completed high school, but need further skill-related training related to independent living.
“It’s her first job,” Formisano said. “She had to go through all of the paperwork like a regular employee.”
Kitz has befriended many of the students, just as they are making friends amongst themselves. Formisano said she noticed families began carpooling with one another and planning play dates outside of class.
“They know enough English to play with each other,” said Kelly Billington, a teacher from North Bend Elementary who was observing the class. “One little girl said her mom was born in Hyderabad, India. That’s a big word for a kindergartner.”
There were so many nationalities in the classroom that the students spoke a combined 10 languages, including Mandarin, Spanish, Swahili, Farsi and Telugu.
“These kids are amazing, they’re so diverse,” Hinds said. “They’ve never been in kindergarten before and they’re so attuned to Jan (Formisano).”
Formisano acknowledged that “the first couple of days were a little chaotic because they didn’t know routines,” but by the end of the third week, the students were able to seamlessly transition between their daily activities.
To demonstrate, she asked the children to be like “quiet coyote” and walk outside in single file for recess. The students silently walked down the hall, but once they reached the sunny outdoors, they started squealing and starting games of tag and hide-and-seek.
Sometimes kids will just be kids, no matter what language they speak.
Reach reporter Laura Geggel at 392-6434 .221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com. To comment on this story, visit www.snovalleystar.com.
The kindergarten class acted like any other. The 5-year-olds boys and girls giggled and sang as Snoqualmie Valley teacher Jan Formisano led them in a rhyming song about colors and animals.
“We need to wake up our brains this morning,” Formisano said before singing, “Blue is for endless skies, orange is for butterflies.”
Each of the class of about 20 were at Snoqualmie Elementary for a free, three-week summer school session for English language learners.
A group of summer school kindergarten students listen as Jan Formisano teaches them a song about colors.
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