Student art on display at Boxley’s
May 21, 2010
NEW — 2:56 p.m. May 21, 2010
Enjoy complementary appetizers and beverages while listening to live music at a student art show from 5-7 p.m. May 26 at Boxley’s, 101 West North Bend Way, North Bend. The art, crafted by Snoqualmie Middle School’s eighth graders, will be on display until June 13. The art show includes portraits and mixed media pieces that highlight the students’ feelings surrounding their transition to high school.
North Bend man arrested for child porn says he was looking for the Olsen twins
May 20, 2010
NEW — 2:20 p.m. May 20, 2010
A North Bend man faces child pornography charges after technicians at a computer repair store found allegedly illegal images on his home computer.
Mock crash and funeral encourage safety
May 20, 2010
UPDATED — 1:25 p.m. May 20, 2010
The students at the party drank liberally as they danced to rap music. When they left, Mount Si Senior Alex Rudd offered to drive, but senior Sam Evans was adamant; he felt fine and said he was OK to get behind the wheel, leaving a cliffhanger for the assembly featuring Think and Drive Week at Mount Si May 13.
Mock crash, real lessons
School custodians keep it clean in spite of cuts
May 20, 2010
Updated — 2:06 p.m. May 20, 2010
Chief Kanim Middle School Head Custodian Allison Turnbull steers a vacuum through the commons after lunch. Turnbull and the district’s 20 other custodians received pay cuts this year. (Photo by Laura Geggel)
Last spring, school district Operations Director Carl Larson learned he would have to cut 64 custodial hours per day, amounting to a $457,000 annual bite out of his custodial department.
State representative tours Habitat for Humanity houses
May 20, 2010
NEW — 5:59 a.m. May 20, 2010
State Rep. Glenn Anderson, R-Fall City, (left) chats with AmeriCorps volunteers at a Habitat for Humanity home on Koinonia Ridge in Snoqualmie. (Photo by Laura Geggel)
State Rep. Glenn Anderson, R-Fall City, spoke with AmeriCorps employees Doug Copley and Kristina Struve May 12 during National AmeriCorps Week. Six AmeriCorps volunteers work on Habitat for Humanity of East King County houses at Koinonia Ridge site in Snoqualmie.
An elk is born
May 19, 2010
A female elk, or cow, looks for a place along the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River to give birth to her calf, which is already on the way.
School board agrees to Race to the Top
May 19, 2010
The Snoqualmie Valley School Board unanimously agreed to sign up for Race to the Top at its meeting May 13.
The board joins the Snoqualmie Education Association and the Snoqualmie Valley Principals’ Association in supporting the Race to the Top partnership with Washington state.
If the state wins Race to the Top money, which is paid for through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, it could win up to $2.5 million.
Snoqualmie Valley would get about $500,000 of that money, which amounts to roughly $22 per student a year for four years.
Snoqualmie Valley could also form a consortium with other school districts to apply to receive more of the $250 million, if Washington is one of the winning states.
Districts that receive Race to the Top money must use it in four main areas, including to adopt standards and assessments that prepare students for success; to use data to improve practices; to turn around low-performing schools; and to prepare, recruit, support and retain effective teachers and principals.
The state will learn whether it is a finalist in August and a recipient in September. If it wins, the state and district will receive Race to the Top money in January.
Laura Geggel: 392-6434, ext. 221, or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.
School district receives an upbeat budget update
May 19, 2010
\After reviewing the latest budget numbers, Snoqualmie Valley School District has reason for some slight optimism.
The district is expecting to lose about $1 million, less than the $1.8 million it predicted to lose when Gov. Chris Gregoire proposed her initial state budget in December.
Even with the loss, district administrators announced they would not have to lay off any teachers and that they would keep the same student-teacher ratio as this year.
“That’s good news, but we also want to remember that the current staffing model we have is not desirable. It’s with $3.5 million in reduction,” Superintendent Joel Aune said at the May 13 school board meeting.
Included in the state cuts are increased staffing for fourth grade, the remaining Learning Improvement Day and the elimination of Initiative 728 money, which provides money for more teachers.
Off-leash dog park turns 1, but future remains uncertain
May 19, 2010
The private, off-leash dog park at Eagle Pointe on Snoqualmie Ridge turned 1 year old May 2, but it may not live long enough to see its second or third birthdays.
That’s frustrating news for Misty Carpenter, who takes her dog, Lucy, to the park six days a week.
“Rain, snow, you name it, we’re out here because we need to run,” Carpenter said. “I go to the gym and she goes to the dog park.”
Carpenter, like many of the people who use the dog park, calls it her community center, where she and her husband “talk about new businesses and goings on in the city. We definitely wouldn’t feel as connected without it.”
Snoqualmie resident Steve McDonald agreed.
“I know everybody’s concerned that it’s leaving,” McDonald said. “I love the social part of it, both for me and the dogs.”
Developer Murray Franklyn built the dog park last year, but the park is only temporary. It built the park after a group of Snoqualmie dog owners, the RidgeRovers, unsuccessfully lobbied the city to build a dog park on Snoqualmie Ridge.
Letters
May 19, 2010
North Bend
Construction work reaching ludicrous level
I am writing to express my frustration at all the construction along Mount Si Road. Crews have been tearing up the road for weeks, to place (or replace) water and sewer pipes.
We didn’t get a notice, even though we live right where the construction is taking place, so we have to go on hearsay as to what is going on. I am all for improvements and repairs, but the length of time it’s taking to do the work and the general project organization seems to be bordering on the ludicrous.
Crews have you drive around heavy equipment, and into ditches and muddy terrain in order to get around them. Sometimes, nobody is looking out for vehicles needing to get in and out of residences at the project site, leaving people on their own to navigate around obstacles and trenches. Trenches that have been patched up get dug out again and again.
Just when we think that the machines are gone, here they come back again. Work goes on all night, keeping many residents awake.
Carlos Roots
North Bend
