Snoqualmie optometrist earns national honor
December 1, 2010
Bad eyes gave Brian Duvall a vision and a mission.
When he was a child, the Snoqualmie optometrist had to undergo several surgeries to his eyes. The time spent at the doctor’s office piqued an interest in the field.
“I became curious as to why people do what they do,” said Duvall, who has been a doctor of optometry for 16 years and since last week, a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry.
A nod to Valley-based ‘Twin Peaks’ tonight
December 1, 2010
NEW — 4:44 p.m. Dec. 1, 2010
“Twin Peaks,” the 1990s TV show that was partially filmed in the Valley, will get some unusual recognition from “Psych,” a TV show on the USA Network.
Tonight’s episode of “Psych” not only will be based on a town named “Dual Spires,” but it will feature six former cast members and the episode will center on a girl who drowns.
“Twin Peaks” centered on the death of a high-school girl in a fictional Snoqualmie-area town.
“Psych” is on at 10 p.m.
Golf Course’s Food and Toy Drive begins
December 1, 2010
Mount Si Golf Course has started its annual Food and Toy Drive, which offers golfers a discount for their contribution of a food item or toy.
Players who donate a nonperishable food item or unwrapped toy to the golf course will receive a discount rate at the golf course.
All food donations will go to the Mount Si Helping Hand Food Bank in North Bend. All toys will be distributed to families in need by Encompass in North Bend.
North Bend and Fire District 38 eye fire station bond for February vote
December 1, 2010
North Bend firefighters Mike Vandenberger (left) and Tom Little inspect the blades on the station’s chainsaws in an improvised workspace. Nearly 70 years old, the fire station’s cramped space doesn’t include adequate room to work on the station’s equipment. (Photo by Dan Catchpole)
The North Bend fire station is an ad hoc building — the result of decades of additions, tweaks and patches.
Built in 1941, the station isn’t big enough — and was never designed — to meet current needs, according to the firefighters who work there.
From the station’s fire engine to its elliptical machine, equipment is shoe-horned into any space it can fit. The electrical system is at capacity. And according to one engineer’s assessment, one-third of the building will not survive an event like the Nisqually Earthquake; a 6.8 magnitude quake in 2001.
General election turnout sets a voting record
December 1, 2010
Turnout for the November general election in King County set several records and exceeded projected turnout.
King County Elections received 786,461 ballots from voters, of which 766,477 could be counted. That is the largest number of ballots processed since the county became vote-by-mail only in 2008.
More than 91,000 voters returned their ballots at drop boxes. More than 6,500 ballots were returned too late to be counted. The election had a 71.6 percent turnout rate, which exceeded the projected 68 percent.
Police and fire reports: Belligerent drivers, abandoned car crash…
December 1, 2010
North Bend police
Possible DUI
At 12:37 a.m. Nov. 22, a man was stopped for speeding and arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence on Southeast North Bend Way. The driver was belligerent and combative and had to be stunned. He was booked into the King County Jail.
Crash and bail
At 1 a.m. Nov. 23, police showed up at Southeast Cedar Falls Way where a vehicle had been abandoned, crashed against a tree. Cans of beer were found next to the vehicle. The driver, however, had left the scene.
Snoqualmie Valley teens take time to learn how to lend an ear to a friend
December 1, 2010
Aubrey Lane knows the feeling.
And she knows many of her peers know it, too.
“Kids get so overwhelmed with stuff, when we feel anxious we tend to drop everything at once, instead of asking for help,” she said.
So Lane, and dozens of her Mount Si High School classmates, are getting some help; the kind of help that teaches them how to help.
Mount Si grapplers looking for improvement this year
December 1, 2010
To second-year Mount Si High wrestling coach Tony Schlotfeldt, success on the mat is only part of the equation.
The upcoming 2010-11 season will be considered a success if the wrestlers improve, but that improvement has to spill over to the outside world, too.
“We want every wrestler to improve his skill, conditioning and self-confidence with every practice,” Schlotfeldt wrote in an e-mail. “This will carry over to competition as well as confidence in school and community life outside of wrestling.”
Some might say it’s a good thing Schlotfeldt has a broad definition of success this year, given his team’s youth and inexperience. Only three seniors and two juniors appear on the roster.
This, however, is hardly news to Schlotfeldt. He knows the meat of his squad is freshmen and sophomores.
“We still have our sights on being a competitive team,” he wrote.
The weather has conspired against the team a bit, forcing wrestlers to miss some practices. The team cancelled only one team practice due to the icy streets on Thanksgiving week, though. Those who show up take things seriously.
“The guys are positive and the tone of practices is intense,” he wrote. “They have a winning attitude this season.”
That’s a good thing, because the league looks as loaded as ever, with Mercer Island, Bellevue and Liberty being the teams to beat, Schlotfeldt wrote. Plus, KingCo wrestling welcomes Lake Washington to the mat, which Schlotfeldt predicted will be another tough opponent.
Last year, Schlotfeldt’s first as a high school wrestling head coach, six wrestlers made it to the Mat Classic. Nobody placed.
“I would say we didn’t place people in state because of inexperience on my end,” he wrote.
Even those who have yet to wrestle for Mount Si are learning the ins and outs of the sport, Wildcat style.
“We’re holding a middle school wrestling camp, Dec. 17 and 18,” Schlotfeldt wrote, adding that varsity coaches and wrestlers will teach at camp.
Some of the camp’s young teachers, and some of their teammates, are poised for a good season on the mat this year, Schlotfeldt wrote.
Josh Mitchell, a junior, has “all the tools” to stand on the podium at state, Schlotfeldt wrote. Junior Connor Deutsch is a “true workhorse of Wildcat wrestling,” sophomore Max Kenagy will be “a constant force throughout the season,” and freshman Tye Rodne, “has a lot of potential and an opportunity for a ton of experience at the varsity level this season.”
Ever the coach, Schlotfeldt exudes hope in his assessment of every wrestler. With football season over, the roster is filling up and now it’s just a matter of getting into wrestling shape, let the matches begin and not stop until the team bus is parked near a white dome in Tacoma.
“The plan is for the guys to peak at post-season time, as our ultimate goal is to get guys into the state tournament,” Schlotfeldt wrote.
Sebastian Moraga: 392-6434, ext.221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com.
Si View rec league basketball beginning
December 1, 2010
The Si View Metro Parks District’s Winter Recreational Basketball League is about to begin.
The league is open for children in grades K – 12.
In addition to practices and games, the league offers skill sessions for players each week. Skill evaluation sessions will be held in early December.
Sometimes, the old-fashioned way is best
December 1, 2010
Herb is a retired businessman, which tends to make the rest of us think he is practical. That wouldn’t be entirely accurate, however, as Herb has the silent soul of a romantic. How else can anyone explain his passion for archery?
Most nice days he can be found out in his backyard, terrorizing a stack of hay bales with a target pinned to it. Many shooters do this, of course, but Herb is different.
In this age of compound bows that resemble portable gym equipment, sights that glow in the dark, releases that resemble handguns and arrows made of space-age materials, Herb is a throwback to the old days.
He shoots a wooden recurve bow and uses wooden arrows. His fingers and bow arm are protected by leather rather than plastic, and he trusts his own eye and form to place the arrow in the paper plate affixed to the hay bales.
