Public meetings
June 22, 2011
North Bend Planning Commission, 7 p.m. June 23, 211 Main Ave. N.
Snoqualmie Valley School Board, 7:30 p.m. June 23, 8001 Silva Ave. S.E., Snoqualmie.
Snoqualmie City Council, 7 p.m. June 27, 38624 S.E. River St.
Snoqualmie Community and Economic Affairs Committee, 5 p.m. June 28, 38624 S.E. River St.
North Bend City Council workstudy, 7 p.m. June 28, 211 Main Ave. N.
Snoqualmie Shoreline Hearing Board, 5 p.m. June 29, 38624 S.E. River St.
Snoqualmie Public Safety Committee, 5 p.m. June 30, 37600 S.E. Snoqualmie Parkway.
Caregivers find resources, laughter at senior center
June 22, 2011
 Edna Turnbull (left) and Senior Services Caregiver Advocate Sally Friedman erupt in gales of laughter at laughing yoga at the Mt Si Senior Center. (Laura Geggel) |
Every Monday morning, caregivers and senior citizens gather at the Mount Si Senior Center for another session of laughing yoga.
They make funny faces, cavort and shake each other’s hands, laughing the whole time while Sally Friedman leads them through continuous bursts of giggles.
“My job is wonderful,” said Friedman, Senior Services caregiver advocate. “I learn a lot about life.”
North Bend imposes one-year ban on medical marijuana facilities
June 22, 2011
The North Bend City Council has banned medical marijuana dispensaries in the city’s limits for one year.
Concerns about the state law’s large gray areas, especially regarding production and distribution of medical marijuana, prompted the city’s administration to recommend the ban.
But under a state law passed in May, Washington cities might not be able to ban patient gardens.
The council unanimously voted at its June 7 meeting to adopt an ordinance banning the opening or operation of any medical marijuana dispensary for one year under the city’s emergency clause. A public hearing on the ban is scheduled for July 19.
No new counterfeit bills hitting North Bend so far
June 22, 2011
The King County Sheriff’s Office said no counterfeit $100 bills had been seen in North Bend businesses since a handful of cases were reported in early June.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart said no new fake bills had appeared in the city. No new suspects had been found, he added.
“We had a couple of phone calls but no arrests yet,” he said.
Contributed A surveillance camera captures a man suspected of passing counterfeit bills.
The appearance of fake bills remains an isolated incident in the county, Urquhart added, with the recent cases in North Bend but nowhere else.
The sheriff’s office has released photos of the people who allegedly brought bills in to North Bend businesses.
People with information about the case or who believe they have been handed a fake bill should call 911, he said.
Snoqualmie Tribe votes to throw out Tribal Council, hold elections
June 22, 2011
The Snoqualmie Tribe’s division deepened June 18 when a group of members voted to throw out the current Tribal Council and hold new elections.
The move is the latest in an ongoing dispute. But formal opposition to the current government has been growing, and opponents are digging in for a protracted fight to wrest control of the tribe from what they say is an illegitimate government.
Tribal Council members and the tribal administration contend that the opposition is acting illegally and consists of members who have been disenrolled, or kicked out.
But the outcome will have big repercussions. Both sides are fighting for their heritage, and control of millions of dollars in Snoqualmie Casino revenue and federal money.
For the Snoqualmies who gathered at the Great Longhouse in Monroe on June 18, there was no doubt that they crossed the Rubicon when they voted unanimously for a resolution recalling the current Tribal Council and to hold new elections. An election committee headed by Chief Jerry Enick will organize the elections July 16.
“Once you do this, you’re going into the lion’s den. You have to go and look these people in the eye, and you have to stand firm,” said Leon Enick, the chief’s son. “There’s no turning back after this.”
As the tribe’s head chief, Jerry Enick had called the June 18 meeting after the Tribal Council postponed the Snoqualmies’ annual general membership meeting in May when new elections are typically held.
The council postponed the elections earlier that month saying that the tribe’s membership must be vetted by an outside party, a Seattle-based genealogist. However, opponents of the council say that the audit is politically motivated and that the 2004 member rolls are legitimate.
Quadrant receives award for high marks from customers
June 22, 2011
Quadrant Homes, the largest developer on Snoqualmie Ridge, has been recognized by a homebuilding industry group for good customer service.
The developer won a 2011 Guildmaster Award from Guild Quality. In North America, 154 other builders, remodelers, developers and contractors also won awards.
The awards are given based on two criteria — how satisfied customers are in feedback surveys and how many customers respond to the surveys. Guild Quality reviews the surveys to determine recipients.
So far this year, 853 of 1,279 Quadrant customers have completed a survey. Most customers said they would refer Quadrant to another homebuyer, according to a news release from the developer.
More than 20 percent of Quadrant homes sales actually came from referrals by previous customers.
Quadrant, a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Co., won a Guildmaster Award in 2010.
Letters
June 22, 2011
Cities were lacking in support of Flag Day
Since June 15 was National Flag Day, I decided to conduct a roving flag patrol through the cities of Snoqualmie and North Bend.
I’m sorry to report that there were only eight American Flags that I could find on display along the main streets and connecting side streets of both cities.
Maybe this is a sign of the times since our nation has been at war for 10 long years now?
But in my opinion, this is the very reason that every single business in these two fairly small American cities should have Old Glory on display.
Simply because that’s the least we all should do while young Americans are making the ultimate sacrifice with their precious lives and limbs in service to us all.
Jim Curtis
North Bend
Life jacket rule could create confusion
June 22, 2011
The Metropolitan King County Council has passed an ordinance to require anyone who swims, floats or boats on major rivers this summer to wear a life jacket. Violators could be fined $86.
The law, which expires Oct. 31, is in response to rivers running faster and colder than usual due to heavy winter snowfall, creating a heightened risk to public safety.
This short-term law will likely cost taxpayers. Signs at entry points along the Snoqualmie, Tolt, Cedar, Green, White, Raging and Skykomish rivers would be installed immediately. Those without life jackets would get a warning for a first violation. This all takes time and money before any fine are collected — but so does search and recovery of drowned bodies.
Public education about water safety could make it worthwhile even if no fines are ever collected. State law already requires children younger than 12 to wear life vests, and adults to have one onboard vessels shorter than 19 feet long, including rafts, canoes and kayaks. Yet, reports of river floaters without life vests vary from 60 percent to 90 percent.
State honors North Bend men for work with elk
June 22, 2011
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has recognized two North Bend men for their help in monitoring and managing the upper Snoqualmie Valley’s growing elk herd.
Jim Gildersleeve and Harold Erland were named citizen Volunteers of the Year for 2010 by the department. Both are active in the Upper Snoqualmie Valley Elk Management Group.
WDFW Director Phil Anderson will present the award to the men June 2 at the department’s regional office in Mill Creek.
The men are being recognized for their help in resolving conflicts between residents and the 350 to 400 elk living in the Valley, according to a wildlife department news release.
Gildersleeve helped start the management group in 2008 to work with the state in addressing conflicts between residents and the elk. As a leader of that organization, he helped raise funds for essential research and worked with the department to coordinate permit-only hunts to reduce the size of the herd.
Erland, a volunteer research biologist for the group, has worked closely with the department to determine the herd’s size and age structure. As part of his research, he has coordinated the capture and marking of 34 elk, and he leads monthly discussions about herd-management strategies with area residents.
“It can present a real management challenge when a growing elk herd starts pushing into populated areas,” Anderson said in the release.
He credited the two men with working with the department “toward a mutual, scientifically sound solution.”
Firefighters rescue climber who fell more than 60 feet
June 22, 2011
Eastside Fire & Rescue retrieved a male climber Friday evening, June 10, after he fell between 60 and 80 feet at a popular rock climbing spot near Interstate 90’s Exit 38.
The climber had to be taken by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, but did not receive life-threatening injuries, according to Battalion Chief Greg Tryon, of Eastside Fire & Rescue.
Reports of the fall near North Bend reached firefighters shortly after 5 p.m.
It took about two hours for firefighters using ropes to rescue the injured man from the cliff.
No further details about the man were available.
The fall is being treated as an accident, and its cause is not being investigated, Tryon said.
