Snoqualmie couple reunited with ‘walking miracle’
July 14, 2011
Beloved dog is returned after being lost for 54 days
Cheryl Hanson hugs her 13-year-old black Lab, Misty Si. Misty survived 54 days in the forest near Snoqualmie after getting lost on a walk. By Dan Catchpole
Misty Si is a walking miracle as far as her owners, Cheryl and Steve Hanson, are concerned. They thought their 13-year-old black Lab had died after going missing near Snoqualmie Point Park on May 11.
It was a terrible thing for the Hansons to try to accept. With no children, their dogs are their offspring, and Misty’s disappearance had left a gaping hole in their lives.
Both sides of mill site annexation fight dig in
July 14, 2011
The two sides in the fight over Snoqualmie’s bid to annex the former Weyerhaeuser mill site are facing off over the conditions under which the annexation happens.
At recent public hearings, opponents to the annexation have raised a host of issues that they say city and county officials are glossing over in their negotiations to transfer the land to Snoqualmie.
City of Snoqualmie
City and county officials say they are following all applicable policies and not taking any shortcuts.
Meanwhile, DirtFish Rally School has been trying to improve its reputation in the community, after being attacked by opponents who said the school is hurting their quality of life and driving down property values.
Both sides have retained lawyers and seem to be digging in for a possibly long battle. Opponents have formed the group Your Snoqualmie Valley to lead their effort.
Local police agencies crack down on speeders
July 14, 2011
Lead-footed drivers beware: Local police agencies are stepping up their efforts to stop speeders.
North Bend and Snoqualmie police are joining in a statewide focus on speeding as part of Washington state’s Target Zero, a campaign to end traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030. More than 40 percent of fatal crashes in the state past year involved a driver going faster than the posted speed limit, according to Target Zero.
Along with other police forces in the state, local officers will conduct more speed patrols from July 15 through Aug. 7.
Local police will target the busiest times for extra patrols, which will be paid for by grants. Last year, North Bend spent about $1,000 on speed emphasis. The grant money allows North Bend Police Chief Mark Toner to dedicate one patrol car to going after speeders, usually in the evening on the city’s busiest streets.
“We stop as many speeders as we can,” Toner said.
But the North Bend police won’t use any tricky tactics, he said.
Snoqualmie man killed in car crash on state Route 18
July 14, 2011
A Snoqualmie man died Wednesday night on state Route 18 near Preston after stopping to help a pair of stranded motorists.
The 65-year-old man, Ronald Reinhardt, was driving westbound in a black Subaru Impreza when he pulled over to help two people whose pickup had broken down.
A 47-year-old woman from Enumclaw, Cheryl Bach, got into the Snoqualmie man’s Subaru, which was stopped on the road’s shoulder.
He started to make a u-turn, but turned “directly into the path of a semi truck also traveling westbound,” according to Trooper Julie Startup, of the Washington State Patrol.
The semi hit the Subaru on the driver’s side, killing Reinhardt and pushing the car off the road.
Eastside Fire & Rescue responded to the crash.
Bach was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she died from her injuries.
The semi truck’s driver, a 45-year-old man from Yakima, was not injured.
The Washington State Patrol is investigating the collision.
State tourism budget cut hurts local economy
July 14, 2011
The state’s elimination of tourism dollars, also known as economic development, flies in the face of wisdom. Each city is left to its own devices, and surely won’t have the same effect as the statewide effort.
Washington had already cut its tourism budget, from $7 million to $2 million annually. Further reduction when the economy is stalled makes little sense.
Tourism is the state’s fourth largest industry. Visitors spent about $15.2 billion here last year, according to state figures. Yet Washington is now the only state in the nation with no money to spend on self-promotion.
A few states that had made similar cuts are upping their marketing budgets again, but have expressed concerns they have already lost market share.
Police & Fire
July 14, 2011
Snoqualmie police
No license, no driving
At 12:20 p.m. July 2, police saw and stopped a vehicle headed south on Snoqualmie Parkway near the intersection of Railroad Avenue. The tags on the vehicle read June 2011. The driver said the vehicle was not his so he did not know that the registration had expired. Police asked him for his license and he handed police an I.D. card, saying he did not have a license. A status check showed his license was suspended. Police told him he would be cited for a suspended license and that he had to find a driver to take him home.
Wait to celebrate
At 12: 23 p.m. July 2, police contacted children lighting fireworks in the 7000 block of Cortland Avenue Southeast. Officer warned them that they had to wait until July 4.
Tribe: Resolution about legalizing pot was a gag
July 14, 2011
Just kidding, said Snoqualmie Tribal Chairwoman Shelley Burch.
A resolution passed and signed by the Snoqualmie Tribal Council declaring marijuana legal on the reservation July 30 was a gag.
The resolution was intended as a souvenir to frame and present to country singer Willie Nelson when he performs at the tribe’s Snoqualmie Casino that day, and Burch said she doesn’t know how it became public.
“It was just tongue in cheek at a council meeting. We know marijuana is illegal,” Burch said. “It was a joke. We don’t allow it and we don’t back it. We passed it, but it was supposed to be just for him.
“We were cracking up, saying, what if we did a resolution because he is coming to the casino? That is how it came about.”
The resolution passed 4-2 July 7 and was signed by Burch and Nina Repin, tribal secretary. Nothing on it indicates it is anything but an official tribal document.
Stranded hikers call for rescue with cellphone
July 14, 2011
King County Sheriff’s Office deputies and volunteer members of Seattle Mountain Rescue retrieved a 22-year-old woman from Rattlesnake Ledge after she fell about 30 feet the afternoon of June 29.
The Seattle woman had stopped to take a photograph, got too close to the cliff edge, lost her footing and fell, according to Sgt. John Urquhart, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.
The woman’s hiking companion, a 23-year-old man, tried to reach her, but he became stuck after climbing down about 10 feet.
The man used his cellphone to call 911.
Deputies trained in search-and-rescue techniques and members of the all-volunteer Seattle Mountain Rescue responded to the call.
Locals share personal reasons to participate in Relay for Life
July 14, 2011
Nicole Piche ran her fingers through her hair, all 14 inches of it from root to tip, and gasped.
“Oh, my God,” she said, standing in the middle of the 2011 Relay For Life at Snoqualmie’s Centennial Fields. “It’s so tiny.”
She was serious. And she had reason to be. Until July 9, her scalp carried 24 inches of hair. That day, at Relay For Life, she donated 10 inches of it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, a program that makes wigs for cancer patients.
Nicole Piche, of North Bend, prepares to donate 10 inches of hair to a program that makes wigs for cancer patients. By Sebastian Moraga
“I’m used to having my arms out like this,” she said, looking like a pizza delivery girl holding a supreme above her head or like Richard Nixon doing his victory sign.
For years, putting her hair up in a bun meant getting a headache, she added, so letting go of it was OK.
“She has been waiting to cut her hair for a long time,” said Aaron Piche, her husband. “Both of us are attached to her hair, but it’s for a good cause.”
Aaron’s mom has stage 4 cancer.
Riding club builds new trail, future
July 14, 2011
For everyone else, it’s a hill. For the Snoqualmie Valley Riding Club, it’s the future.
“We are building a competitive trail for judged events with obstacles that are timed and judged on how well you control the horses,” club vice president Darla Kohlruss said.
The first clinics for what they call the competitive trail challenges are in two weeks, Kohlruss said.
The Snoqualmie Valley Riding Club will host trail clinics such as the one seen in this picture every Wednesday starting at the end of July. Riders who excel at the clinics will move on to use the club’s new trail. Contributed
The ultimate goal is to have riders who compete statewide, she said, adding that such a facility is unique to the Valley.
“You have to go out of the area to have anywhere to practice,” she said.
The club will offer a trainer for the clinics on Wednesdays and trail challenge events on weekends.
