After complaints, Snoqualmie Casino shortens concert season
March 23, 2011
After receiving dozens of calls complaining about its outdoor concerts last summer, Snoqualmie Casino has implemented several changes to its schedule at Mountain View Plaza.
The season will be shorter; shows will start and end earlier; there will be fewer double billings and the casino will not hold any Friday concerts.
The casino has also started a phone hotline for community members who have questions or comments about the outdoor concerts — 888-HELP (4357).
“Respectful, constructive messages and calls will be addressed in various ways, including callbacks,” Snoqualmie Casino Vice President of Marketing Matt Gallagher said.
In 2010, the casino held 31 concerts from June 17 to Sept. 2, with most concerts ending at 10 p.m., the time in the city of Snoqualmie’s noise ordinance. The speakers from the venue pointed toward the Snoqualmie Valley, and some residents said they could hear it three miles away, and that it kept them up at night.
Other residents applauded the concerts, calling them free shows for the Valley.
This summer, the casino has shortened the season from July to August.
Housing market goes from boom to bust
March 23, 2011
It has been a long time since the sun shined on Snoqualmie Ridge’s housing market.
The outlook for 2011 isn’t any better, according to market analysts.
Home prices in King County fell in February to a new low since the real estate boom collapsed in 2008.
Prices have been pulled down by short sales and foreclosures, which are often priced below market value. That is especially true of the Ridge, which has a higher rate of distressed properties — bank-owned homes and short sales listed for less than the owner owes the lender — than the rest of the county.
The number of distressed properties is expected by analysts to rise in 2011, meaning prices will likely continue declining for the rest of the year.
Experts don’t expect prices to stabilize before 2012.
Snoqualmie Tribe helps restore historic habitat to Fall City park
March 23, 2011
The Snoqualmie Tribe has started work on the second phase of its ecosystem restoration project at Fall City Community Park. Volunteers from the community and the tribe lent a hand for the work.
The park, which sits on the Snoqualmie River, has historic significance to the tribe, according to Cindy Spiry, director of the tribe’s Environmental and Natural Resources Department.
Traditionally, American Indians hunted, fished, congregated and lived along the river. There were fish, wildlife, berries and other native plants that the Snoqualmies used for food and medicine.
Volunteers from the Snoqualmie Tribe restore the ecosystem at Fall City Community Park. By Dan Catchpole
Today, the tribe is attempting to restore the area’s historic habitat by planting native plants, including species that can be harvested.
“Our goal is to restore the healthy habitat to the park as well as to restore the traditional harvest grounds, so that tribal members will be able to walk the trail at the park and harvest the berries that once were abundant here,” Spiry said.
The project also aims to enhance the river’s habitat, used by chinook salmon while spawning.
Marijuana distribution trial ends with hung jury
March 23, 2011
Prosecutor’s office given 30 days to refile charges
King County prosecutors’ trial against a former Snoqualmie resident accused of selling marijuana ended March 15 with the jury unable to reach a unanimous decision.
The prosecutor’s office has 30 days from the end of the trial to file charges again.
The prosecution had alleged that Bryan Gabriel had sold four ounces of marijuana to another Snoqualmie resident during a meeting in Covington, which Snoqualmie police officers said they witnessed.
However, only three of the 12 jurors found Gabriel guilty, forcing the trial to end with a hung jury.
“It doesn’t sound like a case that we’re going to jump into retrying,” said Ian Goodhew, a spokesman for King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.
Gabriel’s defense attorney, Kurt Boehl, had argued that Snoqualmie police had been out to get his client for selling medicinal marijuana, which is legal in Washington.
It was the second time King County has filed charges against Gabriel for selling marijuana based on evidence from Snoqualmie police. The first charges were thrown out in June 2010 after the prosecution’s primary witness died from an injury sustained during an epileptic seizure.
The prosecution could not present conclusive evidence that Gabriel had been at the alleged meeting in Covington, and relied on testimony from Snoqualmie police officers.
“I’ll go to trial as many times as they want to,” Gabriel said. “There was no evidence.”
Despite claiming that Snoqualmie police persecuted him, Gabriel said he doesn’t have any ill will against them.
“There are a lot of good Snoqualmie police officers,” he said. “I just got caught up in a situation where they thought I did something wrong when I didn’t.”
While the prosecutor’s office does get convictions in hundreds of marijuana cases each year, times are changing, Goodhew said.
“Our society’s attitudes toward marijuana are changing, and if they do, our laws should change to reflect that,” he said.
Dan Catchpole: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com.
Plan now if you hope to run for a public office
March 23, 2011
Democracy doesn’t happen by accident. It takes planning and participation.
Now is the time to begin planning your participation.
People considering running for public office should start raising the idea with family and potential supporters. They should also begin engaging fellow residents about the issues facing the Snoqualmie Valley in next fall’s election.
The school bond vote demonstrated that the Valley faces very significant questions as it transitions from a rapidly expanding area to one with more stable population growth. It also showed that voters have very passionate views on some of the issues.
Valley voters deserve robust campaigns that take the issues head on. Local campaigns have too often shied away from raising the tough questions. But Valley voters must consider very serious issues about agenda priorities and revenue sustainability in local government.
House bill would open path for noneducators to be principals
March 23, 2011
A bill pushing to allow non-educators to work as school principals does not sit well with those now on the job.
Ray Wilson, Kirk Dunckel and Randy Taylor, all principals and all former teachers, said that you can’t be the former if you haven’t been the latter.
“Providing leadership to a school requires being more than just a manager,” said Taylor, principal of Mount Si High School.
To which State Rep. Glenn Anderson (R-Fall City) said, leadership is leadership.
House Bill 1593, which Anderson co-sponsored, passed the House and sits in the Senate this week. If it becomes law, it would allow noneducators to become principals.
“It’s an alternative certification path for individuals who are not certified educators,” Anderson said. “We have an opportunity to find well-qualified people to become principals.”
The program, which school districts would opt into, would be reviewed after one year, Anderson said.
Under the program, a school district must recommend an applicant to the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, which would review his or her qualifications.
Candidates would receive intensive mentoring for at least one school year, the bill reads.
North Bend is going extreme this summer with adventure sports
March 23, 2011
North Bend is getting extreme this summer.
The city is hosting at least two extreme sports events this summer — the Warrior Dash in July and North Bend Multisport Festival in August.
A third event is in the works but hasn’t been finalized.
Member of Chapel Car 5 restoration team is honored by state historical society
March 23, 2011
The Northwest Railway Museum’s Chapel Car 5, Messenger of Peace, has received plenty of accolades in its lifetime.
It was honored for its display at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, and after the museum acquired it, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
But it has to share the spotlight with one of the people laboring on the railcar’s restoration.
Kevin Palo, the restoration team’s lead carpenter, recently received the David Douglas Award from the Washington State Historical Society. Palo was honored for his work on restoration work at Fort Worden in Port Townsend. The award will be presented in Olympia in June.
Palo has more than 30 years experience preserving wood-construction structures.
Police Blotter
March 23, 2011
North Bend police
Just need a smoke
At about 10:15 a.m. March 15, an employee at a gas station in the 14500 block of 458th Avenue Southeast noticed all of the Marlboro cigarettes were missing from a display stand. Later, he noticed a toolkit was missing. Once the manager showed up, he looked at a security video and saw that at about 1:30 a.m., a male in a black jacket with fur on the hood had come from the back of the store, walked to the front counter and filled several plastic bags with cigarettes. The employee said he knew the guy. The video showed that at 3:30 a.m., a second male came in from the back, and stole some cigarettes along with a display case of lighters. The second man was wearing a black shirt and a stocking cap. The employee did not recognize him. The case is under investigation.
EFR advises homeowners to buy fire insurance
March 23, 2011
In 2010, Eastside Fire & Rescue responded to 110 structure fires that resulted in an estimated $1.7 million in property loss.
To avoid future property loss, EFR advises that homeowners and renters not only buy fire insurance but also take inventory of personal items so insurance providers will have records of the lost items of value. Without a list, it is difficult to receive full replacement value.
Once photos are taken, keep two copies — one that is not stored in the home — for safekeeping.
