North Bend woman joins cancer walk for her dad
September 22, 2011
Jenn Clarke and her father, Al, hold a small chain of the more than 15,000 origami cranes created as a tribute to cancer survivors. Al Clarke has survived cancer twice. (By Sebastian Moraga)
Sometimes, the best pet is the one that flunked out of seeing-eye dog school because of cataracts.
Sometimes, the strongest feeling is missing people who live less than an hour away.
Sometimes, the sweetest news is that your dad is in surgery for bladder cancer.
Just ask Jenn Clarke, a University of Washington student from North Bend who will participate in this year’s Cancer Walk at Seattle Center on Sept. 24.
Paul Edward Fairchild
September 22, 2011
Paul Edward Fairchild, of North Bend, died Sept. 12, 2011, in Snoqualmie.
Paul was born Nov. 17, 1948, in Worcester, Mass., to Lemont and Gladys Fairchild.
He owned Paul Fairchild Painting, was a Ford Mustang collector and is remembered as a generous man who gave freely of his time, advice and money.
Puget Sound Energy’s restoration project at Snoqualmie Falls reaches halfway point
September 22, 2011
 Construction workers dismantle a Puget Sound Energy building at Snoqualmie Falls as part of ongoing renovations. (Photo by Puget Sound Energy) |
Work on the upper part of Snoqualmie Falls Park is nearly finished, two years after Puget Sound begin the restoration project. The design work for the redevelopment of the lower park is almost finished but that phase of the project has not started yet.
More work is underway that isn’t as apparent to visitors to the 268-foot waterfall. All parts of the $240 million project are still on track to wrap up by 2013, according to PSE spokesman Roger Thompson.
PSE is also restoring a former train depot and carpenter shop on the river’s west bank south of the falls. The utility company is also in the process of overhauling the heart of its operations at Snoqualmie Falls — two hydroelectric power plants that will generate about 54 megawatts of energy. That is a 20 percent increase over its existing production, which relies on turbines that are more than a century old.
King County projects $70 million in savings
September 22, 2011
King County is projected to save more than $70 million in the decades ahead, or about $3 million per year, after refinancing sewer revenue bonds Aug. 22.
The county Wastewater Treatment Division issued $494 million worth of sewer revenue bonds at a rate of 3.79 percent. The savings to county taxpayers is projected at more than $70 million through 2034.
Officials intend to use most of the proceeds to refinance $458 million of outstanding sewer revenue bonds issued in 2001, 2002 and 2004. The rest is to be used to fund the completion of the Brightwater Treatment Plant project and other capital improvements.
Brightwater is a $1.8 billion treatment plant under construction near Woodinville that is scheduled for completion next year.
The credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s reaffirmed the AA+ rating of the sewer revenue bonds. Moody’s, another credit rating agency, also reaffirmed the Aa2 rating based on sound management practices, the system’s large service area, continued progress on a complex capital improvement plan and satisfactory debt service coverage.
The excellent credit ratings lower the annual costs to borrow money. Ratepayers then repay the sum through monthly sewer rates and charges.
Encompass readies to open new facility in North Bend
September 21, 2011
Encompass is expanding next month.
The children’s and family services organization is opening a satellite office in downtown North Bend. The new facility will offer two categories of services: Pediatric therapy programs and family support.
Pediatric therapy programs include in-home therapy for infants and toddlers and in-clinic therapy for children ages 3 to 18. Encompass has offered the service since 2008.
Police and fire reports
September 21, 2011
North Bend police
Don’t drink and drive
At 10:09 a.m. Sept. 9, in the 300 block of Mount Si Boulevard, police observed a man remove a bottle of whiskey from a bag, open it, toss the bag on the ground and drive away. Police had heard many complaints about this man in the past, including two days earlier, when the same man took a swig from a bottle before driving away. On this day, police approached the man, who had not yet opened the bottle, and told him to place it in the back of his vehicle, so it would be unreachable while driving. He was cited for littering.
Really, don’t drink and drive
At 2:27 a.m. Sept. 10, police assisted the Washington State Patrol with a reported collision on Interstate 90 near milepost 31. Police saw a white Chevrolet pickup parked on the grass next to the westbound lanes. It appeared to have been involved in a collision but it showed no major damage. A man identified as 22-year-old Aaron Steele was sleeping on the passenger seat. He told police he had driven to North Bend to return his friend’s handgun and now was driving back to Tacoma. Since he had a few beers in North Bend, he had stopped to sleep for a while. Police asked Steele if he had any weapons on him; he said his friend might have taken his weapon and Steele’s, too. Police checked Steele and the vehicle for weapons. Once the state patrol arrived, they checked again. Though they found no weapons, police found three magazines, a brown bag full of .45 caliber ammo and a long clip lying in the grass with about 25 rounds in it. After failing sobriety tests, the state patrol arrested Steele. The vehicle was impounded.
Youthful Mount Si volleyball squad seeks another league title
September 21, 2011
Mount Si High School’s volleyball team is younger than last year’s team that won the KingCo Conference and finished sixth in state.
But the Wildcats are making another run for the league title. They are already off to a 3-0 start in conference play.
The team’s new faces picked up some valuable experience Sept. 17 while taking on some of the Pacific Northwest’s top teams at the Kent Classic. The Wildcats went 3-3 in the tournament, and stayed close in their losses.
Mount Si High School group gets in the business of building bridges
September 21, 2011
From all corners of Mount Si High School, a group of 30-plus students head to Vashon Island for a weekend in the fall.
From glances, they graduate to looks. From looks they move on to bashful dialogues and from dialogues they start friendships.
Then, they return to Mount Si and repeat the recipe, this time with as many classmates as they can.
TV gardening show to feature North Bend’s Dahlia Farm
September 21, 2011
 Television gardener Ciscoe Morris (center) visits with Aimee and Jerry Sherrill at their Dahlia Barn in North Bend. (Contributed) |
TV gardener Ciscoe Morris is having a dalliance in North Bend. Or rather, a dahlia-nce.
Morris will air an episode filmed in North Bend’s Dahlia Barn.
“Two reasons why we did the Dahlia Barn,” Morris said. “It was unbelievably colorful and we love to shoot our show in a really beautiful, colorful spot. And we really like to support small, family-owned companies and nurseries.”
The episode was recorded Sept. 9. It will air Sept. 24 and Oct. 8.
Initiative 1125 calls for tighter rules on highway tolls
September 21, 2011
Tim Eyman said that for him, Initiative 1125 isn’t so much about highway tolling as it is a continuation of the same idea he has been promoting with his various ballot issues for 18 years.
I-1125 would change the way state conducts highway tolling in several ways. Among other provisions, I-1125 would require the Legislature to set toll amounts — rather than the appointed Washington State Transportation Commission — and mandate that tolls end when the state finishes paying off projects funded by tolling.
Voters will decide on the initiative in November.
