Editorial: Hospital district needs Gene Pollard
October 26, 2011
The Snoqualmie Valley Hospital has long served the taxpayers of Public Hospital District No. 4 and will continue to do so. But it faces big choices in the near future as it prepares to build a new facility and deal with potential changes to Medicare reimbursement rates after 2014.
With such big changes in the wind, it’s time an independent voice joined the district’s board of commissioners.
Gene Pollard offers that voice. He is running for Commissioner Position No. 3.
Pollard will ask hard questions of the district’s administration that the current board has not. He also promises to push for increased transparency for the board by having documents and meeting minutes posted online.
Despite collecting millions in property taxes, the district does not make it easy for residents to find out how their money is being spent.
Pollard’s opponent, Karyn Denton, has not pledged to make similar reforms. Denton is the hospital district’s former chief operating officer. How can she be asked to provide oversight of her former colleagues? It’s this close tie that concerns us, that she will not be the independent voice the commission needs during this important transitional time in the hospital’s history.
Pollard will serve the hospital district and the taxpayers well.
Editorial: Return Ron Pedee to Fire District 38
October 26, 2011
Ron Pedee has served Fire District 38 well and voters should re-elect him to Commissioner Position No. 1.
Pedee’s opponent, Daniel Lang, is well intentioned, but it isn’t clear that he can improve on the commendable job that Pedee has done.
Pedee should take note of Lang’s pledge to control costs. Taxpayers have been hard hit by the Great Recession and sluggish recovery. Pedee should take a tough stand on his directive to EFR when negotiating contracts with firefighters. Pedee has already demonstrated his ability to keep costs down, even if not as much as some taxpayers would like.
Dan Popp defends his School Board seat against Peggy Johnson
October 26, 2011
The third race in the Snoqualmie Valley School District school board elections this year is between the mom and the Popp.
Peggy Johnson, mother of four, and Dan Popp, father of five, square off in a November showdown that pits the incumbent Popp against the challenger Johnson.
Peggy Johnson
Drawing from volunteer experience with Eastside youths, and a desire to decrease bullying and increase graduation rates, Johnson said she is ready to take the issues facing the district head on.
The Fall City resident said the school board is inattentive to student and parent concerns, especially when it comes to providing a safe environment for children.
Johnson said the district must create an environment where students feel safe traveling to and from school and while they’re in the district’s facilities.
Port of Seattle is major economic engine for region, candidates say
October 26, 2011
In November, voters in King County, including those in Snoqualmie Valley, will be asked to choose from among four candidates hoping to serve as commissioners for the Port of Seattle.
The port includes both the seaport in downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac International Airport. According to the port’s annual report for 2010, the port collected $75.6 million in property taxes in 2009. The projection for 2010 was $73.5 million. Those collections come from all King County residents.
Bill Bryant
Dean Willard
“The port is an economic engine for the entire county, not just the city of Seattle,” said Charla Skaggs, corporate media officer for the port.
Both Skaggs and other port officials said thousands of jobs depend directly and indirectly on port operations. According to what is billed by the port as an independent report released in 2009, the port was directly and indirectly responsible for 190,000 jobs in the Puget Sound region.
Port facilities generated more than $17 billion in revenue for businesses who deal with the port or the port tenants who operate the maritime terminals. All in all, those employers and employees pay about $867 million in state and local taxes.
Finally, the 2009 report stated that more than 135,000 people are employed at regional businesses that have cargo moving through the Port of Seattle.
King County offers wildfire workshop for rural residents
October 26, 2011
Now is the time to plan for next year’s fire season in Western Washington, and King County is helping rural residents stay safe with a free workshop on wildfire safety.
Communities in the Snoqualmie Valley are at particular risk of wildfires because of their exposure to strong east winds that blow down from the Cascade Mountains in the summer.
Workshop participants will learn how to maintain a zone of safety around structures, create a fire-resistant garden, and work with neighbors and fire districts to develop a plan for dealing with wildfire and other emergencies.
The workshop will also include a panel discussion with emergency responders.
The workshop is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Cedar River Watershed Education Center, 19901 Cedar Falls Road S.E., North Bend. It is being held by the county’s Department of Natural Resources and Parks. The workshop will teach fire-safe landscaping techniques and show homeowners how to plan a safe response to wildfire threats.
Pre-registration is required, and can be done online at www.kingcounty.gov/forestry or email linda.vane@kingcounty.gov.
Police Blotter
October 26, 2011
Snoqualmie Police
Yikes! There’s a bear in the garbage
At 1:20 a.m. Oct. 14, police found a bear in the trash in the 35300 block of Kinsey Street. Police asked the bear to leave the area, and the bear left toward a utility road.
Open gas cap
At 3:07 p.m. Oct. 14, police responded to a call from the 9500 block of Point Avenue Southeast.
The caller told police that the gas cap of his neighbor’s truck had been tampered with. The officer found the vehicle with the gas cap open, and cobwebs on the cap and on the door.
Police could not determine if someone had siphoned gas, and closed the cap and the door.
Volunteers needed for tree planting in Valley
October 26, 2011
The Mountains to Sound Greenway is looking for volunteers to help plant trees as part of its campaign to restore the natural habitat of the Three Forks Natural Area between Snoqualmie and North Bend.
The group has scheduled two planting days — Oct. 29 and Nov. 5 — along the Meadowbrook Slough in Snoqualmie.
The 418-acre Three Forks Natural Area is located at the confluence of the three forks of the Snoqualmie River, the largest river system in King County. The campaign’s goal is to plant more than 20,000 native trees and shrubs in the park.
The Meadowbrook Slough is one of the area’s most important wetlands, but has suffered degradation through the introduction of invasive plants such as Himalayan blackberry and Japanese knotweed. These plants do not provide needed shelter for wildlife and fish, and they deprive native vegetation of vital nutrients.
Native trees and shrubs improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gases, reduce riverbank erosion and improve water quality.
Volunteer by going to www.mtsgreenway.org/volunteer, or contact 206-812-0122 or volunteer@mtsgreenway.org.
Pumpkin recipes get delicious use out of that old Jack-o-lantern
October 26, 2011
After you’ve carved your pumpkin, don’t just toss out the innards. Use them to make some fall treats.
Sugared pumpkin seeds
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
2-3 cups of pumpkin seeds (remove excess pumpkin pulp, rinse and pat dry)
1 cup of pecans (optional)
Movie festival builds the thrills
October 26, 2011
The North Bend Mountain Film Festival returns this weekend with yet another serving of outdoor thrillers.
The promotion dubbed “Sledder Double Header” brings to the big screen of the North Bend Theatre the productions “Flirting with Danger” and “Thunderstruck Ten.”
The double header will be the fourth consecutive week of outdoor-themed movies shown at the North Bend Theatre.
Next, the theater will feature the movies “The Art of Flight” Nov. 6, “Solitaire” Nov. 13 and “All I Can” Nov. 20.
The festival’s series will serve as a preamble for two more events: an award-winning movie from the Canada-based 2011 Banff Film Festival, Dec. 7-8, and the showing of the winning movie of the North Bend Amateur Outdoor Film Challenge on Dec. 9.
“They are accepting submissions now,” Walker said of the amateur film challenge.
The deadline is Nov. 15.
Area organization donates large gift to help foster children
October 26, 2011
The 180 Foundation, a King County philanthropy organization, has committed $250,000 to better education for foster children in the county.
Tom Hawley, a North Bend resident and a member of the executive board of the foundation, said the organization wanted to impact as many children as it could, and thus directed its first major donation toward helping foster children.
“We were eager to find something specific,” he said. “Not just writing a check to a general fund of an organization, but to make sure that money went toward a specifically targeted program.”
In this case, the program is Treehouse, a 23-year-old nonprofit that seeks to double the graduation rate of foster children in King County by 2017.
Graduation rates for foster kids hover between 35 percent and 45 percent, Hawley said.
