King County executive proposes streamlining permitting process for unincorporated areas
September 29, 2010
King County’s Department of Development and Environmental Services could start charging flat fees for permits, rather than billing applicants by the hour.
The switch, which King County Executive Dow Constantine proposed in his 2011 budget, is part of the department’s effort to become more customer-friendly.
Flat fees are meant to give applicants more certainty about the cost of permits. The change is also intended to let staff members focus more on each application, rather than meeting department standards for billable hours, according to a news release from Constantine’s office.
“Flat fees offer customers the predictability they need when planning and financing a project,” Constantine said in the news release.
Police & fire
September 29, 2010
North Bend police
Stolen wire
At 3:24 p.m. Sept. 17, police responded to a reported burglary at Tanner Electric Cooperative, 45710 S.E. North Bend Way. Tanner Electric’s general manager told police that 250 feet of copper wire had been stolen from the property. Police found that a four-foot square was cut out of a chain link fence around the storage yard.
Outstanding warrant
At 4:32 p.m. Sept. 8, an officer arrested a 21-year-old homeless man on an outstanding misdemeanor warrant, for third-degree malicious mischief and third-degree theft. The man was arrested at the intersection of East Fourth Street and Main Avenue North, and taken to the Issaquah Jail and booked.
Stolen wallet
At 4:59 p.m. Sept. 8, an officer responded to a larceny at Cutter and Buck, 461 S. Fork Ave. S.W. A sales associate told the officer her wallet had been taken from a shelf beneath the cash register.
Domestic assault
At 12:51 a.m. Sept. 9, police responded to a report of a fight in an apartment complex. A police officer saw through a bedroom window a man and woman in a heated argument. He saw the woman spit in the man’s face and leave the room. Police talked separately with the 23-year-old man and 19-year-old woman. They had been in a relationship and recently broken up, but still lived in the same apartment in separate rooms. After confirming details of the incident with them, police arrested the woman and took her to the Issaquah Jail. She was booked for consuming alcohol as a minor, vandalism, interfering with reporting of domestic violence and fourth-degree assault.
Suspended license
At 4:04 p.m. Sept. 8, an officer pulled over a van at the intersection of North Bend Way and Thrasher Avenue. The officer had run the van’s license plates and learned the owner had an outstanding warrant. The driver told the officer he works for the van’s owner, but his license is suspended. The 31-year-old man was arrested and released for driving with a suspended license.
Snoqualmie police
Suspicious circumstance
At 7:05 a.m. Sept. 18, an officer contacted a man sleeping inside a car in the 9000 block of 384th Avenue Southeast. The man’s car had beer cans surrounding it. The man admitted to drinking overnight but blew a .00 on a Breathalyzer test. The officer told him to clean up the area.
Hit-and-run
At 8:40 a.m. Sept. 20, a man reported to police that his car had been hit overnight while parked on his driveway in the 6700 block of Silent Creek Avenue Southeast, leaving it with scuff marks and dents. The man had no suspects.
Noise complaint
At 2:59 a.m. Sept. 22, an officer responded to a complaint that trucks were using compression brakes. The officer contacted truck drivers and found that four were using compression brakes. He warned the drivers and requested that they advise other drivers.
Snoqualmie fire
- At 11:18 a.m. Sept. 17, Snoqualmie paramedics responded to a medical call at Mount Si High School. The patient was left with the school nurse after evaluation.
- At 11:24 a.m. Sept. 17, paramedics from Snoqualmie and Fall City responded to a medical call on Snoqualmie Ridge. The patient was treated at the scene.
- At 1:15 p.m. Sept. 17, paramedics from Snoqualmie and Bellevue responded to a medical call in the Snoqualmie area. The patient was evaluated and taken to a hospital by Bellevue paramedics.
- At 2:11 p.m. Sept. 17, paramedics from Snoqualmie and Bellevue responded to a medical call on Snoqualmie Ridge. The patient was treated and left at the scene.
- At 2:11 p.m. Sept. 17, paramedics from Snoqualmie and Bellevue responded to a medical call at the Snoqualmie Casino. The patient was evaluated and taken to a hospital by Bellevue paramedics.
- At 6:24 p.m. Sept. 18, Snoqualmie paramedics were dispatched to Snoqualmie Ridge, where a 3-year-old girl had fallen and hit her head on a coffee table. The girl was treated and taken to a hospital by her father.
- At 2 a.m. Sept. 19, Snoqualmie firefighters were dispatched to Silent Creek Avenue for a man with a diabetic problem.
- At 12:27 a.m. Sept. 20, Snoqualmie paramedics responded to a medical call at the Snoqualmie Casino. The patient was treated and taken to a hospital by the paramedics.
- At 8:05 a.m. Sept. 22, Snoqualmie firefighters responded to a car accident at the intersection of Douglass Avenue and Snoqualmie Parkway.
North Bend fire
- At 5:13 a.m. Sept. 20, North Bend and Issaquah firefighters responded to a multivehicle accident on eastbound Interstate 90 in Issaquah.
- At 10:14 a.m. Sept. 20, North Bend firefighters responded to an emergency aid call on Southeast 71st Street.
- At 4:11 p.m. Sept. 20, North Bend firefighters responded to an emergency aid call near the intersection of 439th Place Southeast and 434th Avenue Southeast.
- At 3:24 p.m. Sept. 21, North Bend firefighters responded to a cardiac arrest on Thrasher Avenue Northeast.
- At 7:21 p.m. Sept. 21, North Bend firefighters responded to a burn complaint on Southeast 168th Street.
- At 1:29 a.m. Sept. 22, North Bend firefighters responded to a fire call on West Third Street.
- At 12:15 p.m. Sept. 24, North Bend firefighters responded to a medic call at the intersection of Ballarat Avenue North and East Park Street.
Community rallies to fill area food banks
September 29, 2010
In commemoration of the Sept. 11 attacks, hundreds of local residents and youth fanned out to local groceries stores to collect food for the Mt. Si Helping Hand Food Bank and the Fall City Community Food Pantry.
By Rebecca Mueller Tom Cloward (center) and two missionaries for the Church of Latter-Day Saints Elder sort food donations.
The effort was organized and staffed by the congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in response to President Obama’s request for a national day of service.
More than 7,500 pounds of food was collected and delivered to the local food banks.
Donations of toys and clothing, enough to fill eight full trucks, were also contributed by community members.
“The Day of Service Northwest was our way of helping out the community,” said Robert Johnson, president for the Bellevue South Stake. “As our stake includes residents of five cities on the Eastside, we had the ability to make a big difference to groups that need critical help, now.”
More than 22,000 pounds of food was raised for the Eastside and approximately $2,000 was contributed.
In all, 8,000 volunteers from LDS congregations throughout Western Washington assisted in the Day of Service Northwest.
Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.
Jerry Mark Mitchell
September 29, 2010
Jerry Mark Mitchell died Sept. 15, 2010, at his home in North Bend. He was 65.
Jerry Mark Mitchell
A celebration of life memorial service with a potluck was Sept. 25 at the Eagles Lodge in Snoqualmie.
Legion to honor Eric Ward
September 29, 2010
Pam Collingwood, of the local American Legion Auxiliary, has already planned Dave Lake’s to-do lists for the first days of October.
Lake, a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, has to contact the state Department of Transportation. Then, he has to get it to give the auxiliary a good date to hold its fundraiser at the Indian John Hill rest area on Interstate 90 next year.
Since plenty of groups will be doing the same thing at the same time, the first one to get through to the department will get the best dates.
“Dave will sit by the phone hitting redial, redial, redial,” Collingwood said.
She later added, “By the time your call is answered, you hope to be one of the first.”
The fundraiser requires manning a coffee booth at the rest stop for three days straight — 72 hours of offering coffee, hot cocoa, muffins and cookies.
“We start on a Friday at 8 a.m. and we end on a Monday at 8 a.m.,” Collingwood said.
All of the profit goes to the American Legion. Last year, the group collected about $2,000 in donations.
Scores of Mount Si students earn high-scoring awards on national Advanced Placement test
September 29, 2010
Students from Mount Si High School earned accolades from the national College Board’s Advanced Placement Program.
The board, which allows students to take college classes while still in high school, recognized students in three different groups — Scholar, Scholar with Honor and Scholar with Distinction — based on exams from spring 2010, a press release from the Snoqualmie Valley School District stated.
Snoqualmie Valley Schools Superintendent Joel Aune said the number of Mount Si High students enrolled in Advanced Placement classes and winning Advanced Placement awards keep growing.
A year ago, 25 students won awards. This year, 41 did, Aune said.
The Scholar awards went to students who earned scores of 3.0 or higher on a scale of 1-5 in three or more Advanced Placement exams.
Shirley Sue Wright
September 29, 2010
Shirley Sue Wright, of North Bend (formerly of Kent), died at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010. She was 69.
Shirley Sue Wright
A memorial service was held Sept. 25 at Flintoft’s Issaquah Funeral Home.
Twin Falls’ fundraiser gives children a choice
September 29, 2010
Gerrit Loudenback (left) and Vivien Zoller show five marks on their arms, proving that they ran five laps at the first Run-Walk-Read-a-Thon at Twin Falls Middle School. By Sebastian Moraga
Holding walkathons and marathons as fundraisers is nothing new.
But this particular “a-thon” at Twin Falls Middle School had a twist. You could run to raise cash, you could walk to raise cash, or you could pass on both and pick up a book.
Valley students are Merit Scholars
September 29, 2010
Three Snoqualmie Valley Students were chosen as semifinalists in the 56th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
Max McDevitt, Angie McMillan-Major and Stephanie Rehm still have a chance at one of 8,400 National Merit scholarships available next year.
Ninety percent of about 16,000 semifinalists will make it to the finals and about half of the finalists will earn a scholarship, a press release stated.
Both McMillan-Major and Rehm are Mount Si High School students. McDevitt is home-schooled.
Winners will be announced throughout the spring and summer of 2011.
Tribal meeting moved following death of elder
September 29, 2010
The Snoqualmie Tribal Council postponed a general membership meeting that had been scheduled for Sept. 25, after the death of a tribal elder.
The meeting, which had a long agenda, was rescheduled for Nov. 13, when the council will present the membership with the 2011 budget.
The council delayed the meeting after Earl Moses died. He was in his 70s.
The tribe is planning a benefits fair for Oct. 30 in Monroe. Representatives from the tribe’s agencies will be present to give information about what services are available to tribal members.
