Parks puts $6.7 million bond on August ballot
June 30, 2010
Despite being only a few years old, the Si View Metropolitan Parks District has a long to-do list of critical repairs and maintenance work on its facilities. To pay for the work, the district will have a $6.7 million bond on the Aug. 17 ballot.
Walking around Si View Park’s community center and fields, it’s easy to see the wear and tear. The facilities have been maintained “with duct tape and bailing wire,” said Fritz Ribary, co-chairman of the bond steering committee.
The community center has had little work done since it was built in the 1930s. Its siding needs to be repaired. Sections of its roof are overgrown with moss, and others leak. Inside the gym, water stains are apparent from where the ceiling leaks when it rains. Staff members often have to put out buckets and barrels to catch the rain.
The building also needs to be seismically retrofitted to withstand a significant earthquake. Currently, the foundation’s cross beams are held in place by the building’s weight, according to Travis Stombaugh, the district’s executive director.
The park’s fields are not fit for most sporting events. The fields, formerly pasture land, are rippled with swells and troughs.
“The soccer association used to play here, but now we only get the little kids. And they stay away from the holes,” Stombaugh said.
There is not enough continuous level ground to hold soccer games on a full-size pitch.
Quick response to fertilizer spill reduces environmental impact
June 30, 2010
Eastside Fire & Rescue responded June 22 to a report of a liquid fertilizer spill just north of Interstate 90’s Exit 34 in North Bend.
A 250-gallon container of liquid fertilizer spilled after it fell from a flatbed truck that was getting off the highway, according to a news release from EFR.
The Washington State Patrol, Department of Ecology and the Department of Transportation were called to the scene of the spill.
Ecology crews cleaned up the roadway, and the trucking company, Bio Gro, hired a cleanup company to vacuum up the majority of the fertilizer, which collected in a storm drain, according to Larry Altose, a spokesman for DOE.
Bio Gro was issued only a warning by the DOE, because it has not had another spill in Washington in the past five years, and it cooperated with the response effort, Altose said. Fertilizer can be especially harmful to river ecosystems.
Nutrients from fertilizer can consume oxygen in the water, limiting the amount of life it can support, Altose said.
This spill was contained, though.
“So far, there’s not a lot of environmental impact,” he said.
If it were raining, the rain could have carried the fertilizer into a waterway.
Even fertilizing lawns can harm rivers if directions are not carefully followed, Altose said.
Fertilizer not absorbed by plants and grass can be carried into rivers and creeks by surface water.
“From a thousand other lawns, that starts to add up,” Altose said.
Dan Catchpole: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.
Businesses win recycling awards
June 30, 2010
Three Snoqualmie Valley businesses have received awards for their recycling programs.
The UPS Store, Philips Oral Healthcare and the Summit at Snoqualmie are three of 75 local companies that received the 2010 Best Workplaces for Recycling and Waste Reduction awards from the King County Solid Waste Division.
Snoqualmie Valley School District hires new business director
June 30, 2010
Snoqualmie Valley schools have a new business director. Ryan Stokes, of Snoqualmie, will replace Director of Business Services Ron Ellis, who is retiring.
The Snoqualmie Valley School Board approved Stokes’ contract at the June 24 board meeting. Ellis will continue working until Aug. 31 to help Stokes, who starts work July 12, with the transition. Read more
Federal government offers mediation services to Mount Si
June 30, 2010
Two government agencies — one federal and one local — are about to mediate and monitor the Snoqualmie Valley School District.
At the federal level, the Department of Justice is offering mediation services from its Community Relations Service.
Letter & From the Web
June 30, 2010
Casino needs to turn it down
How can the Snoqualmie Tribe justify being able to pollute our lovely Valley with ear-splitting music from their outdoor concerts two and three times a week? It plans to continue this all summer long.
Our complaints have fallen on deaf ears. The first response from the casino was, “We are a sovereign nation and can do whatever we want.” Our suggestion of reversing the speakers away from the Valley was also ignored.
Both the Snoqualmie and King County police say they have no jurisdiction. As tax-paying citizens of the Snoqualmie Valley for more than 40 years, is it true that we have no rights?
If the Snoqualmie Tribe wants to be good neighbors, it will do something about the noise pollution. If it doesn’t care about the homeowners in the Valley, then perhaps our only recourse is to have the Valley boycott the casino. It sounds as if its only concern is profit.
Roberta Sorenson
Snoqualmie
From the web
Re: Snoqualmie’s Women in Business group celebrates second birthday
This group has been so supportive of my business and helped me grow leaps and bounds. The energy is amazing! Come check us out as a guest at our next luncheon.
Pia Larson
Snoqualmie
This group is wonderful in its diversity. We have all sorts of businesses represented — and we welcome those ladies who work from home to come join us too. It’s always nice to connect with other women who work. Come give yourself a boost!
Louise Wall
This is an amazing group of women. I’m not just new to the Valley, but am new to the U.S. and I have been made so welcome. Lovely write-up. And I met the Star reporter. I didn’t even know we had a local paper. Woohoo!
Jacqueline Fairbrass
Re: Schools target stopping bullying before it begins
Teachers are often blamed for not doing something about bullying in their schools. Very often, the parent of the bully isn’t even aware that their child is the bully, or certainly they don’t want to admit that their child would ever be a bully.
Actually, the responsibility for bullies clearly lies with the parents, not with the teacher. With so many children in a lunchroom or on a playground, it is impossible for a teacher to see every incident that occurs.
Schools can make policies about bullying, and governments can enact laws about bullying, but until parents do their job of teaching values in the home, these policies and laws will probably have little effect.
Joyce Holton Crawford
It is good to know that students are being taught to recognize and be aware of bullying; however, unless they are protected from it in the first place, recognition is of little to no benefit. Resolution starts at the top with tough and strong rules and consequences against those who bully. These rules must be constantly enforced and carried out for them to be effective.
Clay Boggess
Keep it safe on the Fourth
June 30, 2010
Everybody loves fireworks. Seeing the cascading lights flicker through the night sky just makes people ooh and ah no matter whether this is the first display they’ve seen or the 50th.
Besides the big fireworks shows going on around the region, many people also like to set off their own smaller displays — too often combined with the other American activity of ignoring the law by skirting the “safe and sane” fireworks rule.
Yes, indeed, fireworks are legal within the city limits of Snoqualmie and North Bend. Unincorporated King County also has no restrictions, although the more powerful fireworks purchased on nearby Indian reservations are generally not legal. These include firecrackers, all bottle rockets, fireworks with sticks or fins, M-80s and cherry bombs.
Teen artists pass on their passion for art at camp
June 30, 2010
Whenever she has a chance, 17-year-old Becky Orcutt drives to the Gage Academy of Art in Seattle to draw live models. The North Bend teenager has been drawing her whole life, and most of her talent is self-taught.
This summer, she and her 19-year-old sister, Amanda Orcutt, are putting their artistic skills to use and holding an art camp in Snoqualmie for $150.
“I’m minoring in art and Becky is such an amazing artist who went through art school,” Amanda Orcutt said.
Becky Orcutt works on a sketch at her home in North Bend. By Laura Geggel
The two are leading the camp with their mother Joy Orcutt, a kindergarten teacher at Snoqualmie Elementary School.
Becky and Amanda Orcutt will teach elementary-school-aged children about 12 artists known for their distinct styles and have them create spin-off pictures of their masterpieces, using media including crayons, colored pencils, pastels, acrylic and water color.
At the end of the week, each student’s drawings will be compiled into a calendar. The Orcutt girls make calendars every year for their grandparents, which helped spark the idea for the camp, Amanda Orcutt said.
When they are not drawing calendars, the sisters busy themselves with other art projects.
Marching Band Camp offered
June 30, 2010
How many trombones will be in the big parade at the Festival at Mt. Si? That depends on how many youths register for the Snoqualmie Valley Youth Marching Band Summer Camp.
The camp is from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Aug. 9-10 and 12-13 at Snoqualmie Middle School, 9200 Railroad Ave. S.E., Snoqualmie. Registration costs $75, which includes a T-shirt.
Youths entering grades six through 12 are invited to enroll in the camp and march in the Aug. 14 parade. Snoqualmie Valley teachers Dean Snavely and Adam Rupert will lead the camp.
Call 831-8474 or go to www.mrsnavely.com.
Student receives fiery scholarship
June 30, 2010
Mount Si High School senior Ashley Seiser received a $500 scholarship from the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2878 unit in June.
The unit includes firefighters and support staff of Eastside Fire & Rescue, Duvall Fire District 45, Fall City Fire District 27 and Snoqualmie fire departments.
Ashley Seiser
The unit has awarded more than $36,000 in scholarships to local students since it started in 1999. This year, it honored six seniors from local high schools, as well as the daughter of one of the firefighters. Each recipient demonstrated extraordinary community service.
Seiser said she participated in the Mount Si Key Club’s Relay for Life Team, helped North Bend Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Kelly Billington grade papers after school and tutored an elementary-school girl from Mexico, helping her learn English.
This fall, Seiser will attend Central Washington University, where she plans to study elementary education and Spanish.
