Snoqualmie Valley residents injured in head-on collision
October 31, 2011
Two Snoqualmie Valley residents were injured early Sunday morning, Oct. 24, when their cars collided head-on on Interstate 90 near Exit 34.
North Bend resident Shelby Smith was driving the wrong direction on I-90, heading westbound in the eastbound lanes in her Nissan XTerra, when she changed lanes and hit a car head-on.
Smith did not have a seat belt on and sustained serious injuries. She was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she remains in critical condition, according to Trooper Julie Startup, a Washington State Patrol spokeswoman.
Glitch delays ballots for 11,000 Eastside voters, including Snoqualmie Valley residents
October 28, 2011
NEW — 5:15 p.m. Oct. 28, 2011
King County Elections officials said ballots for 11,000 Eastside voters — including more than 1,000 people in North Bend and Snoqualmie — did not go out last week as planned due to a glitch.
The elections office plans to mail ballots Saturday; voters should receive them early next week. The deadline to return ballots via mail, drop box or accessible voting center is Nov. 8.
Overall, the issue impacted 11,000 Eastside voters, including 1,118 in North Bend and 72 in Snoqualmie. Some Issaquah, Newcastle and Sammamish voters also face delays in receiving ballots.
King County Elections started mailing 1.1 million ballots to voters Oct. 19.
Mount Si soccer shows heart on eve of soccer playoffs
October 28, 2011
Wildcat coach Darren Brown’s warning to his starters at halftime was as straight as a goal’s crossbar: Get it together in 10 minutes or I empty the bench.
On a frigid Mercer Island night, the Wildcats had reserved some of their flattest soccer for the first half of the last game before playoffs, trailing 3-1 to the normally beatable Islanders.
Snoqualmie City Council paves way for vote on mill annexation
October 26, 2011
King County Meadowbrook Bridge rises above the Snoqualmie River during the January 2009 flood. Snoqualmie would assume the cost of maintaining the bridge if it annexes the Weyerhaeuser mill site.
Snoqualmie City Council has approved an agreement between the city and property owners of a former Weyerhaeuser mill that paves the way for a vote on annexing the property.
The vote on annexation could come as soon as Nov. 14.
While the pre-annexation agreement passed with unanimous support at the Council’s Oct. 24 meeting, several council members expressed reservations about added infrastructure maintenance costs the city would take on by annexing the property.
North Bend wants money for roadwork
October 26, 2011
Ballot proposal targets out-of-town shoppers
North Bend voters are being asked to approve a sales tax increase to raise money to pay for street maintenance. The 0.2 percent increase is expected to bring in about $400,000 a year, according to city estimates.
Supporters say that it will save the city money in the long run and will be paid for mostly by shoppers from outside the city. Opponents say that it is an added tax burden during hard economic times.
If approved by voters, the proposition would raise the city’s sales tax from 8.6 percent to 8.8 percent. Residents would pay $10 more in sales tax on $5,000 of retail purchases, which would not include groceries. It would expire after 10 years.
Money collected by the tax would come, in large part, from shoppers at North Bend Premium Outlets, City Administrator Duncan Wilson said.
The proposition was approved by the city’s Transportation Benefit District board of directors Aug. 2. The board consists of City Council members.
The proposition stipulates that any revenue from the tax must be used on projects in the city’s Transportation Improvement Plan.
Community groups join forces to host job fair
October 26, 2011
Two community groups have joined together to host a free job fair that will include networking opportunities.
The New Livelihoods Job Fair is scheduled for Nov. 5 and is being hosted by the Snoqualmie Valley Community Network and Transition Snoqualmie Valley.
“The overarching vision of the fair is to stimulate our local economy and spark new vitality, a new livelihood in the face of challenging economic times,” Kristy Trione, executive director of Snoqualmie Valley Community Network, said in a statement.
David Korten, author of Agenda for a New Economy, will speak at the fair.
Job seekers will be able to find local businesses with open positions, résumé and interview coaching, and business card creation.
People interested in finding new careers can attend sessions about starting a business and identifying new income opportunities.
North Bend resident starts write-in campaign for mayor
October 26, 2011
North Bend resident Jim Curtis is launching a write-in campaign to unseat Mayor Ken Hearing, who is running unopposed for a third term.
In an email announcing his candidacy, Curtis criticized the city for not building a veterans memorial and for letting side streets deteriorate.
“If you think (like I do) that all of the above points to a need for leadership change in North Bend, then please feel free to write my name, Jim Curtis, in on your election ballots for the position of North Bend’s Mayor,” he wrote in the email.
A longtime North Bend resident, Curtis owns and teaches at a martial arts school. He served in the United States Marine Corps in Vietnam.
In 2003, Hearing beat Ed Carlson with nearly 60 percent of the vote. He ran unopposed and was re-elected in 2007, when he received 95 percent of the vote.
Hearing owns Scott’s Dairy Freeze. The North Bend native served in the U.S. Navy.
He is backing a proposed 0.2 percent sales tax increase to raise money for roadwork.
Snoqualmie Valley Y begins hiring for community center staff
October 26, 2011
The YMCA is holding two job fairs to fill positions for the community center currently being built on Snoqualmie Ridge. The center will be operated by the Snoqualmie Valley YMCA, the local chapter of the Greater Seattle YMCA, as part of an agreement with Snoqualmie, which will own the building.
The YMCA is looking to fill several open positions, including health and wellness instructors, a children’s program instructor, a member services representative and a maintenance assistant.
The YMCA’s news release about the jobs highlights “three overarching goals” driving its work — youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.
The job fairs are from 10 a.m. to noon Oct. 29 and from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Nov. 3, at the Snoqualmie Fire Department, 37600 S.E. Snoqualmie Parkway.
Interested candidates should come with a résumé and cover letter, and be ready to interview for open positions, the news release said.
Apply online at www.yemployment.org.
Snoqualmie and schools move closer on impact fees
October 26, 2011
Officials from Snoqualmie and the Snoqualmie Valley School District are closer to an agreement on collecting impact fees from housing development for 2012. But the district won’t get any money for 2011.
The city and the school district still haven’t reached a compromise regarding the agreement’s indemnity clause. Snoqualmie officials don’t want the city to be held liable for any lawsuit challenging the fee’s collection or a capital project paid for by the fees. But district officials say that would be an unusual exemption.
“The representatives from the city did share with us their intent to recommend to the [Snoqualmie City] Council collection of the full impact fee amount for 2012,” Joel Aune, superintendent of Valley schools, said after an Oct. 18 meeting with city officials. “At this point, it’s all but too late to do anything about 2011.”
Late last year, school officials asked cities in the district to approve a 300 percent increase in impact fees for 2011 to $8,140. Homebuilders objected to the jump, which the district said was needed to help build a new middle school. North Bend and Sammamish approved the fees.
Snoqualmie City Council delayed a vote on collecting the fees until after district voters passed a $56 million bond to build a new middle school. When that failed twice, the council shelved making a decision on the fees.
The city’s move toward collecting fees in 2012 is long overdue, Aune said.
Letters
October 26, 2011
Hospital commissioner race
As a long time resident of the Valley, I have watched the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital deal with the challenges faced by many small hospitals. Few successes, many failures.
We need a change in the public persona and oversight on the board of commissioners. Gene Pollard will give us that change.
Snoqualmie Valley Hospital has a checkered past, to be sure. Going broke and closing the doors on three different occasions. Silly, absurd mistakes has cost and lost millions of our tax dollars.
Opening and closing various medical clinics, attempting to compete with the likes of Overlake, Evergreen and now Swedish was, and is, a fool’s errand.
Where is the common sense? Where is Gene Pollard when we need him? It’s my opinion that if Gene was aboard, this hospital would be more than a nursing home and a couple of medical clinics, as it is now.
There is a serious question as to whether we need this hospital. They are simply hanging on, waiting for a miracle, going further and further in debt. Surviving on our considerable tax dollars. I, for one, would never consider being a patient at SVH with Swedish and Overlake nearby. Swedish and Overlake don’t take my tax dollars.
