Schools target stopping bullying before it begins
June 24, 2010
Steve Bates, Opstad Elementary School counselor, shows a flashcard he uses to teach anti-bullying lessons to kindergarten students. By Laura Geggel
The methods of bullies are simple: They operate based on power and control.
Snoqualmie Valley schools use workshops, assemblies and programs to try to stop bullying before it begins, teaching students the definition of bullying behavior, and what it means to be a bully, a victim and a bystander.
Rising costs makes North Bend, others rethink police services
June 24, 2010
Officials in North Bend and other cities that contract with the King County Sheriff’s Office for police services are growing frustrated with the contracts’ rising costs.
While the sheriff’s office says it has worked to control costs, the main driver — wage increases for sheriff’s deputies — is out of its hands. The deputies’ contract is negotiated by the King County executive.
Their current five-year contract, negotiated in 2008 under then-King County Executive Ron Sims, guarantees a cumulative 5 percent base-pay raise each year, though the actual increase is closer to 7 percent, because of changes to incentives and overtime.
Sgt. Mark Toner, a deputy with the King County Sheriff’s Office, talks to a driver in North Bend, where he manages deputies contracted by the city for police services. By Dan Catchpole
At the same time, many contract cities have had to reduce other services, cut positions and withhold cost of living adjustments, let alone base-pay raises. Officials from some cities say that while the sheriff’s office provides good service, the contracts could become unsustainable if costs are not contained.
The King County Police Officers Guild, the union that represents deputies with the sheriff’s office, did not reply to repeated requests for comment.
It is widely expected by officials from the county and contract cities, and members of the guild that it will take the raise.
North Bend joins new animal control plan
June 24, 2010
North Bend City Council approved joining King County’s new animal control service at its June 15 meeting with a unanimous vote.
On June 21, the Metropolitan King County Council gave its go-ahead for creating a collaborative regional animal services program.
The new system is designed to spread the cost of animal control, sheltering and licensing between 27 cities and unincorporated King County. The county had previously paid for the service, but budget shortfalls forced it to adopt a new cost-sharing system.
Costs vary by city and are based on a variety of cost factors. What cities pay in the end will also depend on how many cities join the model.
Participating in the model will cost Snoqualmie $7,000 for the rest of 2010 and likely $14,295 in 2011. North Bend will pay $11,277 this year and likely $15,449 in 2011.
Cities explored other options, but found the regional model to be the cheapest.
Snoqualmie Valley students pass state requirements to graduate
June 24, 2010
Snoqualmie Valley School District’s graduating senior class members are ahead of their peers statewide.
State Superintendent Randy Dorn announced preliminary graduation rates and High School Proficiency Exam scores at a June 16 press conference in Olympia.
It is the third year students have been required to pass state exams and requirements for graduation.
To graduate, students must pass the state’s exams in reading and writing, which replaced the Washington Assessment of Student Learning exams.
Now, students are required to pass the HSPE mathematics test or take the exam and additional math courses or another exam to fulfill the requirement. Students also must complete a high school and beyond plan, a culminating high school project and meet their district’s credit requirements.
This year, 94 percent of students from the class of 2010 passed the reading and writing requirements of newly administered exams, Dorn said. However, only 69 percent of high school seniors passed the mathematics exam.
In Snoqualmie Valley, district officials handed diplomas to 345 students in the class of 2010. There were no cases of students not graduating solely because they did not pass the WASL or HSPE.
Sophomores, juniors and senior students who didn’t pass one or more of the state’s tests can register online to retake High School Proficiency Exams in August.
Testing will be Aug. 9-12 at Twin Falls Middle School, 46910 S.E. Middle Fork Road, North Bend.
Chantelle Lusebrink: 392-6434, ext. 241, or clusebrink@isspress.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.
Prosecutor reconsiders charges in medical marijuana case
June 24, 2010
The King County prosecutor is reconsidering pressing charges against a Snoqualmie man who claims police confiscated 10 ounces of marijuana meant for medical purposes.
Prosecutors had initially declined to press charges in the case, and a King County Superior Court judge ordered the Snoqualmie Police Department to give the man the marijuana seized when he was arrested in 2009.
Police contested the order, which the judge, Sharon Armstrong, upheld at a June 16 hearing.
“Our knowledge of the investigation is that the medical marijuana process really doesn’t apply,” Snoqualmie Police Chief Jim Schaffer said before the hearing.
Schaffer said he did not know of any police department that has returned marijuana in similar circumstances.
Snoqualmie police resubmitted the charges to the prosecutor’s office again after the June 16 hearing, according to Becky Munson, the department’s spokeswoman.
Another kink arose in the case June 19 when the prosecution’s primary witness died of natural causes.
“We have statements, but they can’t be cross-examined,” further complicating the prosecution’s case, Munson said.
The department expects a decision from the prosecutor’s office in a week or two, she said.
The prosecutor’s office could not be reached for comment.
Dan Catchpole: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.
Two letter writers let slip their bias
June 24, 2010
There were two interesting letters last week (June 17).
I guess Matt Robinson doesn’t understand the concept of opinion pages and letters (to the editor) columns.
He writes, “That’s why it’s time for the Star to quit printing such polarizing letters from individuals spewing their own pointless agendas …” (Do I detect the faint odor of the pot calling the kettle…?)
Wow. Seems to me whomever had a point and it is akin to one of my own, specifically the impact the Ridge has had on the Snoqualmie Valley School District facilities and, particularly, “other than Snoqualmie” taxpayers.
But, to the letter from Susannah St. Clair.
I, too, thought Joe Crecca’s letter was right on. I had no problem with his use of “Democrats.” To borrow from St. Clair’s “peach” thingy, if it walks and talks and behaves like a Democrat, yep, it’s a Democrat.
St. Clair’s snarky “Fox News” remark pretty much removes all doubt about her party affiliation, not to mention her cable news viewing habits (Olbermann and MSNBC, I’d wager.)
No clue about exactly which “indiscriminate and random beatings and stompings” she refers to. The one some time ago in which a cop was seen kicking a downed suspect was bad policing to say the least. And that cop should be terminated. The more recent one in which an officer punched a young woman (named Angel, by the way) demonstrated amazing tolerance by the officer.
Lastly, the garbage-/filth-strewn border areas to which St. Clair refers — perhaps sometime during the pending U.S. v. Arizona lawsuit trial, our president will pay a visit to these places and, as he is wont to do, at least on tarball-strewn Louisiana and Florida beaches, kneel down and sift through the waste that contaminates it all. Can you visualize it? I didn’t think so.
George Crotts
North Bend
Building a cleaner Puget Sound for future
June 24, 2010
Rain often washes down the Snoqualmie Valley, running down its walls into the Snoqualmie River. On its way, storm water picks up pollutants from the soil and paved surfaces. Those chemicals and toxins travel down the river and eventually into Puget Sound.
They are part of Puget Sound’s whispering oil leak.
It is not as dramatic as the environmental devastation happening in the Gulf of Mexico as a result of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. But the slow leak into the sound has turned it into one of America’s most polluted waterways.
It’s time for us, for you, for every community around the Puget Sound area to do what it can to stop and reverse the contamination of Puget Sound.
A growing mass of evidence indicates that water runoff is the leading contaminant. The equivalent of an 11-million-gallon oil spill flows into the sound every 18 months.
Kiwanis Club has fireworks for sale
June 24, 2010
Looking for a snap, crackle and pop this Fourth of July? The Snoqualmie Valley Kiwanis Club begins selling fireworks at noon June 28 until July 4 at two locations: across the street from the QFC, at 460 E. North Bend Way, North Bend, and next to Adventure Bowling Center in Snoqualmie, at 7940 Railroad Ave. S.E., Snoqualmie.
Hours are from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Proceeds benefit scholarships given by the Kiwanis Club to graduates of Mount Si High School and Two Rivers School, as well as support for leadership conferences, Key Club, Boy Scouts, the food bank and the senior center.
North Bend, Snoqualmie and unincorporated King County residents are allowed to light fireworks between the hours of 9 a.m. and midnight July 4. Public displays require a city permit.
Eastside Fire & Rescue advise people to designate a responsible adult to supervise fireworks, which should be lit away from flammable materials, including trees, buildings or dry fields. A bucket of water or a fire extinguisher should be kept nearby to put out unwanted fireworks or stray sparks.
Eastside Fire & Rescue also recommends protecting pets by keeping them indoors.
Snoqualmie Valley teacher tech training starts in August
June 24, 2010
Part of the $9.9 million technology levy dollars that Snoqualmie Valley voters approved in February will soon be put to use.
Starting in August, Snoqualmie Valley teachers can register for technology classes offered through the Summer Learning Academy.
Of the $9.9 million levy, about 43 percent of it will pay for training teachers to use technology and implement it into their lessons.
The most teachers can earn is $1,650, including $400 from attending 14 hours of workshops at the Summer Learning Academy and $1,250 from proving to the district that they implemented the technology into their lessons.
Students earn higher grades through better driving
June 24, 2010
Mount Si High School sophomore Kendall Maddux laughs as driving teacher Art Galloway delivers some wise cracks about learning how to drive. By Laura Geggel
Although her driving and knowledge tests were two months away, sophomore Kendall Maddux needed to log more hours behind the wheel with her driving instructor, Mount Si High School teacher Art Galloway.
