Star staff honored in regional contest
May 25, 2011
SnoValley Star staff was recognized for excellence in reporting in the annual awards contest for the Society of Professional Journalists’ Northwest chapter.
A ceremony at Safeco Field in Seattle on May 21 honored more than 200 journalists in print, online, radio and television news media. The Star competed against publications in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.
The Star and sister publications The Issaquah Press and Sammamish Review claimed awards in numerous categories in the contest, including a sweep in the environmental reporting category.
Former Star reporter Laura Geggel took first place in the category for a report about Snoqualmie Valley’s wet and windy weather.
Geggel also earned second place in the education reporting category for a piece about auto crash safety at Mount Si High School.
Star editor Dan Catchpole took third place in the government and politics reporting category for a piece about King County Sheriff’s Office deputy salaries, a subject of intense focus amid cuts last fall.
Letters
May 25, 2011
Encourage school board to make the right decision
The Snoqualmie Valley School Board has an important decision to make May 26. On that night, board members will vote on a 10-year plan to realign the school board director districts, pursuant to state law and new census results, in order to reflect a shift of population among North Bend, Snoqualmie and Fall City.
The school board has a choice. It can accept the district’s revised plan, which keeps all incumbents in place and limits and delays long-awaited Snoqualmie representation, or it can make two adjustments to this plan to ensure the school board is balanced with Snoqualmie representation in time for this year’s election.
One of the key components of the District Plan is to reduce the number of North Bend directors from three to two, freeing up one new seat for Snoqualmie. But the district’s plan divides North Bend in a way that maintains all three North Bend seats until 2014.
Honor guard seeks new members
May 25, 2011
Snoqualmie Valley’s American Legion post is recruiting members for two new positions on its Honor Guard.
The Renton-Pickering Post 79 has raised enough money to equip and uniform two new positions. The money came from a donation from the Summit at Snoqualmie and the Tahoma National Cemetery Honor Guard.
The unit performs in local ceremonies and events, and renders final honors at funerals for veterans.
Learn more at http://cpoapnw.com.
Take time this weekend to remember the fallen
May 25, 2011
In the more than 140 years that Americans have lived in the Snoqualmie Valley, many have given their lives during wartime while serving their country.
Memorial Day is an opportunity to pay tribute to the fallen and set an example for future generations.
The following is an incomplete list of the Valley’s fallen:
World War I
Arthur William Lyford
Battista Pasini
David Renton
Edward Clements Koester
Peter Erickson
Police Blotter
May 25, 2011
North Bend police
Tools taken
At 1:16 p.m. May 19, police responded to a theft in the 900 block of Mountain View Boulevard Southeast. A man said he parked his company van in his driveway and he probably left the front passenger door unlocked. The night before, someone stole a cable compression tool, a laptop computer, a screwdriver set, a sound pressure meter, a grocery sack, a staple gun and three sets of wire strippers. The total value of the stolen items was $1,076. The suspect took tools out of the tool bag but left more expensive tools untouched.
Plan ahead for holiday travel headaches
May 25, 2011
Memorial Day weekend means more traffic congestion as people hit the road for the traditional start to summer.
The state Department of Transportation is alerting drivers to expect delays along Interstate 90 at Snoqualmie Pass and U.S. 2 at Stevens Pass, as well as along Interstate 5 at the Canadian border and between Olympia and Tacoma.
In 2010, Memorial Day weekend traffic over Snoqualmie Pass decreased slightly from 2009, but drivers still ran into long delays caused by a collision. In all, about 187,000 vehicles crossed the pass between Friday and Monday.
The agency offers many ways for motorists to check road conditions, including a travel website, www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic, and a travel information hotline, 511.
Motorists can find information such as camera images from across the state, state ferry schedules and a map of highway incidents and closures online.
People using mobile devices can go to www.wsdot.wa.gov/inform to see how transportation officials provide travel information through email alerts and other tools, such as Facebook and Twitter.
Martial arts tournament honors wounded veterans
May 25, 2011
Low turnout jeopardizes event’s future
Sparse attendance for the inaugural Lance Cpl. Eric Ward Tournament in Snoqualmie has thrown the event’s future into question.
The tournament, which pitted a variety of martial artists against each other, was organized to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project, which supports wounded veterans.
But small turnout among competitors and spectators left tournament organizer Jim Curtis barely able to cover costs.
Two competitors spar during the Ward Tournament in Snoqualmie. By Scott Harris
“The turnout for this memorial tournament really makes me wonder about the folks that make up the greater Snoqualmie Valley community,” he wrote in an email to the Star.
Curtis, who runs a martial arts studio in North Bend, had hoped to raise several thousand dollars to contribute to the Wounded Warrior Project.
The event did have some positive results, even if it fell short of the intended goal.
American Legion kicks off program to honor veterans
May 25, 2011
Between sips of hot cocoa and swings at her father’s arm when in sight of a Volkswagen Beetle, 6-year-old Zoe Perkins honored her family’s heritage.
The daughter and granddaughter of military men, Perkins stood with her father, Navy officer John Perkins outside the North Bend QFC May 21 asking people to donate money for veterans.
In the meantime, she passed out American flags and little paper poppies made by veterans nationwide.
Retired Navy Chief Petty Officer John Perkins hands out a paper poppy flower outside the QFC in North Bend. By Sebastian Moraga
“I try to include her in everything we do,” Perkins said, “so she understands what the military is about and helping others. Anything we have time to do, we try to do.”
Zoe is the youngest member of the American Legion’s Auxiliary, said Perkins, who at 40 is one of the younger members of the Legion chapter.
“It’s not very common,” he said of the Legion and the Auxiliary having younger members. “There are a few kids that come down there but it’s not very broad.”
Helping veterans is always special to Perkins, if not always easy.
Mount Si graduate makes pro debut on soccer pitch
May 25, 2011
Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning, unless you are Gibson Bardsley.
In that case, evenings are just as fine, particularly those spent at Christian Stadium, home of the Charlotte (N.C.) Eagles.
Bardsley, a graduate of Mount Si High School and Western Washington University, made his pro debut as a United Soccer Leagues of America player the evening of April 25, entering as a sub against the Charleston Battery.
Gibson Bardsley (right) makes his professional soccer debut for the Charlotte Eagles, of the United Soccer Leagues of America. Contributed
“It was a really cool experience,” the 21-year-old forward said in a telephone interview from Charlotte. “I had been training for a while and been waiting for a chance to get in a game.”
The game was 2-1 Charleston in the 70th minute, when the Charlotte coach gave Bardsley the go-ahead.
“Coach said, ‘You’re up, and try to get us a goal,’” Bardsley said.
The game ended 2-1 Charleston. Bardsley didn’t get his goal, but he did get a reminder of his first time as a pro booter.
‘Underdog’ Twin Falls earns top honors at Bellevue Jazz Festival
May 25, 2011
Trombonists from the Twin Falls Middle School Jazz Band’s perform during the Bellevue Jazz Festival. Contributed
If you ask Phoenix Moomaw, it was a scream. If you ask Jacob Wachtendonk, it was almost one.
Moomaw, Wachtendonk and the rest of the Twin Falls Middle School Jazz Band took first place at the Bellevue Jazz Festival on May 13, shocking older, more established bands, like those from Everett’s Eisenhower and Seattle’s Eckstein middle schools.
