King County Sheriff’s Office gets good marks for misconduct issues
July 15, 2011
The King County Auditor’s Office gave high marks to the county sheriff’s department for the frequency, severity and handling of misconduct issues in a report released Monday.
The report looked at misconduct, use of force and complaints during a five-year period from 2006 to 2010. It also examined the outcome of the department’s internal investigations of complaints.
King County Sheriff’s deputies received complaints regarding their use of force at a rate below the national average reported by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Warrior Dash could cause congestion in Snoqualmie and North Bend
July 15, 2011
More than 30,000 contestants are expected to join in the Warrior Dash on Saturday and Sunday in the upper Snoqualmie Valley. The race’s 3.5-mile course starts and finishes at Meadowbrook Farm, and features mud, water, obstacles and even fire.
The large number of participants could cause traffic snarls in North Bend, the city said in a news release.
Snoqualmie Tribe chief apologizes for gag resolution legalizing marijuana
July 15, 2011
Snoqualmie Tribal Chief Jerry Enick publicly apologized Wednesday on behalf of the tribe for a gag resolution legalizing marijuana on the tribe’s reservation passed last week by the Tribal Council.
The council passed the resolution in a 4-2 vote as a joke for an upcoming show by country singer and marijuana legalization advocate Willie Nelson at Snoqualmie Casino, which the tribe owns.
In a public statement, Enick criticized the council for using a resolution as a joke. He apologized “to all Native Americans everywhere, and to the public at large for the behavior of this current sitting Snoqualmie Tribal Council…”
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.
