State uses heavy artillery to keep Snoqualmie Pass safe for motorists
March 30, 2011
Washington State Department of Transportation photo A controlled avalanche is set off in Snoqualmie Pass by a surplus Army tank cannon.
Keeping Snoqualmie Pass open in winter is serious work involving big explosions and a surplus U.S. Army tank.
Without avalanche control, snow slides can bury vehicles or close Interstate 90, which crosses the Cascade Mountains through the pass, for hours, said John Stimberis, the Snoqualmie Pass avalanche forecaster for the Washington State Department of Transportation.
Snoqualmie settles audit billing discrepancy
March 30, 2011
Snoqualmie officials and the city’s engineering consultants say they have resolved billing issues raised by the Washington State Auditor’s Office in a November 2010 report.
The report found that Snoqualmie’s engineering consultant, Perteet, overcharged the city, which passed the costs onto Snoqualmie Ridge developers.
City officials and Perteet executives reviewed all invoices from the period in question, from 2003 to 2008, and found that Perteet had overcharged the city by $40,266. But it had also undercharged by $71,084.
To resolve the issue, Perteet has agreed to pay all developers it overcharged. But it will not try to collect amounts that it undercharged.
The payments will go through the city. Perteet will pay the city, and Snoqualmie will pay the developers.
In all, developers will receive about $4,600, according to Rahmi Kutsal, an engineer with Perteet.
Payment amounts will vary from nearly $1,000 owed to CamWest to $11 owed to the King County Library System.
The billing discrepancy began in 2003 when the city’s contract with Perteet changed.
Snoqualmie first contracted with Perteet in 1994 to help oversee development on the Ridge.
Medical marijuana dispensary opens in Preston
March 30, 2011
There is a war on in America. The front line runs right through a Preston storefront filled with mismatched donated furniture.
The nonprofit operation runs on a shoestring budget, but it already has a strong customer base. Patrons come because it is the only place near the Snoqualmie Valley that has what they need: medicine, specifically medicinal marijuana.
Some patients of the operation, Kind Alternative, also grow the marijuana that is sold to people who are authorized medical marijuana users.
Whether it is legal depends on who you ask. Washington’s laws on medical marijuana have a lot of gray areas.
Lawmaker seeks budget priorities from residents
March 30, 2011
State Rep. Glenn Anderson is asking residents in the Snoqualmie Valley and elsewhere in the 5th Legislative District to rank budget priorities in a brief survey to gauge how the cash-strapped state should spend.
The legislator launched the survey after the chief state economist said the state is projected to collect almost $700 million less in taxes through 2013, increasing the budget gap to about $5.1 billion.
“We simply cannot continue this death spiral of poor decisions every time another hit to tax collections is announced,” Anderson wrote in a message to constituents March 18, a day after the dismal revenue forecast announcement. “It’s time for politicians to change their mindset from one of figuring out gimmicks that keep the status quo of overspending, over-promising and under-delivering to one of being proactive and realistic.”
The longtime lawmaker also heard from Valley residents March 12 about the budget shortfall at a town hall meeting in Snoqualmie.
Evergreen State residents could face increased fees on state lands, shrunken services from state agencies and larger class sizes in elementary school classrooms as legislators consider spending cuts and fee increases.
“Finally, we need to look at how we create private-sector jobs in Washington by addressing regulations, taxation and the ever-growing intrusion of government in private enterprise,” Anderson wrote in closing.
To complete a brief state budget survey, go to www.surveymonkey.com/s/9YLXP2T.
Letters to the editor
March 30, 2011
Pay off old bonds before asking for new ones
Citizens are wondering why the new middle school was voted down. Try opening your property taxes and take a look at what we citizens are already paying to the school district.
One wonders why the district can’t learn to budget better, the same as we have to do. I feel the pain of the pro new school people, but in these times of recession it is difficult to vote ourselves higher taxes.
A suggestion might be for the hospital board to pay off the ongoing bond we voters have had to pay for 30 years.
Since the voters resoundingly voted down a new hospital, wouldn’t it make sense to pay off the old bond, lower our taxes and make it easier for voters to support the district if they put out a more reasonably priced middle school that doesn’t have as many bells and whistles? They could be added later when there is more money.
Just a thought.
William Combs
North Bend
Four suspended licenses result in just one jailing
I was just wondering if anyone else noticed the irony in the four articles regarding citizens with suspended licenses (Police Blotter, 3-24 issue). Of the four, three people were caught actually driving with the suspended licenses and all three of those drivers were let go. One had 11 outstanding tickets, another had a loaded concealed weapon without a permit. How ironic is it that the one citizen, who was not driving, was the only one taken to jail?
Steve Kowalsky
Snoqualmie
Step up to help out the Valley’s schools
March 30, 2011
The Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation’s annual luncheon fundraiser was an overwhelming success this year.
It raised more than $70,000. To fit in all of the donors, the foundation had to expand its ad in this week’s Star.
It is good to see the community rally around the schools during lean times. The financial outlook for education in Washington is not likely to improve soon. Based on the most recent revenue forecast, the state faces a budget shortfall of more than $5.1 billion. So, the school district will need continued local support in the future.
Don’t wait to be asked! Go to the foundation’s website, www.svsfoundation.org, to make a donation or set up a recurring donation. Make it part of your monthly budget. It only takes a minute, but it will pay dividends for years.
About 90 percent of what the foundation raises goes to supporting classroom grants, professional development and districtwide initiatives. During the past four years, the foundation has funded more than $300,000 in programming for the district.
By being proactive, the community can spread the cost among those who can bear it, while not burdening those who can least afford it.
But the problem must be addressed from all sides.
The school district must cut costs where it can to lessen its need for extra support. It has already made deep cuts in recent years.
But there are still opportunities for savings that will have a minimal effect on academics. For example, perhaps the district can combine junior varsity and C teams for high school sports and limit how far they travel. It will mean fewer spaces for sports, but it will also reduce administrative and transportation costs.
Department of Ecology seeks public input
March 30, 2011
The Washington State Department of Ecology is seeking public input on a list of 51 proposed clean water projects slated to receive $104 million in loans and grants in 2012.
The list includes three projects in or around Snoqualmie.
The funding depends on the state budget, which faces a $6 billion shortfall. The state provided $108 million for clean water loans and grants in 2011.
The money comes from state and federal sources. About $15 million comes from the Centennial Clean Water Program. The Washington State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund, a combination federal grant, state match and interest and loan repayments, provides $87 million.
Project descriptions and funding amounts are in the State Fiscal Year 2012 Draft Water Quality Funding Offer List and Intended Use Plan. The plan is on the Ecology Department’s website, www.ecy.wa.gov.
The projects include upgrades and expansion of sewer plants and collection systems, sewage system improvements, water re-use facilities, water cleanup projects, storm water and ground water projects.
Three projects are aimed at work in or around Snoqualmie.
The city of Snoqualmie applied for $411,500 in funds to improve a storm water facility. The King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks applied for $500,000 to fund the Snoqualmie Watershed Stewardship in Action, a water quality improvement project.
Comments about the program are due by 5 p.m. March 20. Email them to Cindy Price at cindy.price@ecy.wa.gov or mail them to Cindy Price, Department of Ecology, Water Quality Program, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600.
Snoqualmie officers collect $7,000 in tips for Special Olympics
March 30, 2011
Snoqualmie police officers took a new approach to their duty to protect and serve. They swapped their badges for burgers March 26 at Red Robin in Issaquah to serve meals to raise money for disabled children and adults.
Any tips collected by the officers at the annual Tip-a-Cop fundraiser benefited Special Olympics Washington.
Snoqualmie and Issaquah officers served meals for nine hours during the Saturday lunch and dinner rushes — and collected $7,741 in tips for the nonprofit organization.
“It was a lot of fun. It always is,” Snoqualmie Police Officer Nigel Draveling said.
Sgt. Paul Graham, of Snoqualmie, serves iced tea to a patron at Red Robin in Issaquah during a fundraiser for Special Olympics. Contributed
Draveling has helped at the event for four years.
His reward for working with members of Special Olympics Washington at Tip-a-Cop is simple: “Just to see the smile on their faces, handing out stickers and helping out.”
Two other Snoqualmie officers, Sgt. Paul Graham and Officer Rick Cary, also helped at the event.
Japan tragedy floods Valley resident with memories
March 30, 2011
Editor’s note:
The woman who is the focus of this story found it very difficult to talk about the incident, and she asked that her full name not be used in order to protect her privacy.
First the slumber, then the darkness and then the terror.
The walls shook, crashing light fixtures against the closet in Masami’s daughter’s bedroom in southeastern Japan, sending glass everywhere.
“I could feel, hear the glass blowing and breaking,” Masami, a 15-year Valley resident, said. “That’s when I thought, ‘OK, I am going to die.’”
It lasted less than a minute, she said, but it felt like forever.
She was comforting a sick daughter, so instead of rushing for the door, she shielded her from the flying glass with her body.
Then, the shaking subsided. Masami and her daughter battled the predawn darkness to race downstairs beside her husband and son, dodging glass shards the whole way.
Once outside, they found themselves with no light, little food and inches of snow on the ground. Two days later, they slept four to a sedan in a public park, too frightened to endure the aftershocks in their own home.
Japanese students enjoying their stay in Valley bubble
March 30, 2011
Back home, despair turns into urgency and fear.
At their temporary home in America, quiet turns into a frantic search. For Easter eggs.
Twenty students and two chaperones from southern Japan have spent the past two weeks in the Valley, removed from the crisis affecting their homeland.
On their last day as students at Mount Si High School, the students signed jerseys with the school logo, wrote on an American classmate’s arm and raced along the auditorium seats for treats.
Students from Naga High School in Japan, flashing the universal peace sign, visited Mount Si High School for 11 days, from March 17-28. By Sebastian Moraga
“They haven’t seen or talked about what’s going on at home,” said Jinto Yasutebu, a teacher at Japan’s Naga High School and a chaperone during the trip. “They don’t understand the TV news in English because it’s too fast, so they are in something of a bubble.”
Yasutebu, speaking through a translator, said the real challenge will come once the students return home and learn more about what the tsunami did.
