Community photo shows the love for everyone
May 17, 2012
By Mary Miller Photographer Mary Miller, of North Bend, organized a heart-shaped community photo May 5 at Centennial Fields in Snoqualmie. She said 200 people from the Snoqualmie Valley showed up for the photo, and brought along their dogs and chickens.
When you put a call out to the Snoqualmie Valley to show up for a community photo, you never know who or what’s going to show up.
Such was the case May 5, when several people brought their dogs, and a couple of families brought their chickens.
“I couldn’t believe it — chickens,” said North Bend photographer Mary Miller, who organized the community photo. “But it was great. I loved it.”
Hospital construction gets delayed by red tape
May 17, 2012
Site grading for the new Snoqualmie Valley Hospital is completed, and architects and contractors are waiting in the wings for the go-ahead from the state, but a delay is holding up construction.
Hospital administrators had hoped to get an approved Certificate of Need, which costs $34,457, from the state’s Department of Health in April.
But a backlog in applications and appeals is holding up the process, said Mark Thomas, analyst for the Certificate of Need program.
State Rep. Jay Rodne, who also serves as attorney for the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital district, said a letter of intent was mailed to the state in October, and the application for the certificate was received by the state in November, with hope that the state would make a decision in early April.
But the state has asked for two extensions since that time, he said.
“We’ve tried to stress to them that we have a small window of opportunity to build because of a short construction season,” said Rodger McCollum, the hospital administrator.
The district sold the current hospital building and land to the Snoqualmie Tribe in July 2008 for $30 million, and the tribe is allowing the hospital to continue to operate in the building. The tribe is currently paying $100,000 a month and will pay the remaining balance in a balloon payment May 1, 2015, expected to come in at about $29 million.
“Under our agreement with the Snoqualmie Tribe, we can occupy the current hospital until our new hospital is completed,” Rodne said.
He said hospital administrators had expected an expedited process.
Crime rate increase doesn’t tell the whole story
May 17, 2012
Overall, the crime rate in Washington is indicating a downward trend when comparing 2010 numbers with 2011. Snoqualmie is following that trend, but the numbers show North Bend with a slight increase.
The just released 32nd annual Crime in Washington 2011 statistics show a 5 percent decrease from 2010 in violent crimes statewide, a 3.3 percent decrease in property crime offenses and a 3.6 percent decrease in domestic assault crimes.
Since 2010, the crime rate is up 2.8 percent per 1,000 people from last year in North Bend, compared to Snoqualmie, which is showing a 32.2 percent decrease.
North Bend experienced an 87 percent increase in violent crimes, but North Bend Police Chief Mark Toner said the numbers needed some context.
There were 2.3 incidents in 2010, compared to 4.3 incidents last year.
“Now, if we had 100 incidents in 2010 and we experienced an 87 percent increase, then that number might mean a lot more,” Toner said. “But taken into perspective, only having a couple more incidents from the previous year isn’t indicating a significant increase in violent crime.”
The violent crime rate looks at incidents of murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
In North Bend, no one was murdered in 2010 or 2011; there were two robberies in 2010 and one incident last year; eight cases of aggravated assaults in 2010 compared to 17 in 2011; and there were three forcible rapes in 2010, compared to seven last year.
Toner said that if North Bend had actually had seven forcible rapes, “then seven would be a big number for our area.”
King County executive appoints manager for unincorporated areas
May 17, 2012
King County Executive Dow Constantine appointed a top adviser April 4 to lead the outreach effort from county government to residents in rural and unincorporated areas, including the Snoqualmie Valley.
Alan Painter — Constantine’s former adviser on human services, health and housing policy — will now serve as manager of the community service areas program.
Painter told the Star he is working with King County departments to see what they have under way in unincorporated areas.
“We’re looking at the full scope of county services: transportation, parks, crime prevention, zoning regulatory issues, community health and disaster management,” he said.
Painter’s plan is to collect information about key players, organizations and interests in the area over the summer, and then schedule a meeting with area communities to get feedback.
“We’ll be identifying issues for 2013 and beyond,” he said.
Similar groups exist in unincorporated areas across King County, outside Issaquah and from Vashon Island to urban Highline between Burien and Seattle.
Plans call for interdepartmental teams to hold public meetings at least once per year in each community service area.
Former teacher is new principal at Opstad Elementary School
May 17, 2012
Although she never really left, Amy Wright is coming home.
A resident of Fall City and a principal at Carnation’s Stillwater Elementary School, Wright has accepted the job as principal of North Bend’s Opstad Elementary School.
“Opstad has a tradition of great things happening,” she said. “To follow in Mr. Jester’s footsteps, it’s an opportunity I could not pass up.”
Longtime Opstad Principal John Jester will retire June 31.
Amy Wright
Prior to her six-year tenure at Stillwater, Wright spent a year in a principal internship at Snoqualmie’s Cascade View Elementary School and 15 years teaching first and fourth grades at Fall City Elementary School.
“The Snoqualmie Valley School District is a place I consider home, both professionally and personally,” she said. “I have two children who attend Mount Si High School. I have lived in the Valley my whole life.”
Snoqualmie Valley School Board President Dan Popp praised Wright’s hiring.
“My children were students in her class,” he said. “I could not be more pleased.”
Wright beat about 40 other candidates for the job, SVSD Super-intendent Joel Aune said.
Police blotter
May 17, 2012
North Bend
Graffiti
Someone broke into a vacant building in the east 500 block of North Bend Way and spray- painted graffiti on walls, including a Nazi symbol inside a circle. A neighbor reported seeing an open window on the building April 28, and that’s when the graffiti was discovered.
Popular building
A witness called police April 29 to report that she watched two juvenile males crawl into an open window of a vacant building in the east 500 block of North Bend Way, while a third juvenile male watched the area.
The three left the building together, and police report they were unable to locate the youths.
Vehicle violence
A man reported that he parked his vehicle behind a building in the 400 block of Mount Si Boulevard at 10 a.m. April 29.
When he returned to his vehicle at 3 p.m., he found his front, passenger window smashed and his coat on the ground.
MSHS baseball and softball tournament season in full swing
May 15, 2012
Baseball report
The Mount Si High School Wildcats baseball team, which had been battling it out with Lake Washington for a first place standing, has finally reached the coveted position.
They ended the season with a 12-2 conference record, compared to Lake Washington’s 10-3. Read more
North Bend man dies in car accident
May 14, 2012
Updated: 9:55 a.m., May 14, 2012
Donald R. Jones, a 52-year-old North Bend man, died in a single-vehicle accident at about midnight May 12 on Interstate 90, according to a press release from the Washington State Patrol.
The state patrol said the vehicle, a turquoise 1994 Jeep Wrangler, was traveling west on the interstate near Exit 31 when it veered right and struck a tree.
According to the press release, drugs or alcohol may have been a factor and the accident is under investigation.
Don’t be alarmed by explosions May 17
May 11, 2012
Snoqualmie Fireworks Supply will be hosting a fireworks vendor product demonstration around 7:45 p.m. May 17 near the Snoqualmie Casino, according to a press release from Jaime Martin with the Snoqualmie Tribe. Read more
Woman takes a close look at Gauguin’s paintings
May 10, 2012
Contributed by Julie Michelle Moshay Julie Michelle Moshay, 55, of North Bend, stands in front of the MS Paul Gauguin in Tahiti. She was invited to give a series of lectures about Gauguin’s life and artwork aboard the ship.
There is more than meets the eye when you look at Julie Michelle Moshay.
If all you see is a waitress at the Country Pride Restaurant in North Bend’s “Truck Town,” then you’re missing a lot.
She’s the landscaper at the restaurant, and her co-workers call her the hummingbird whisperer because of her ability to feed the skittish birds right out of her hands. She also organized North Bend’s recent first cash mob.
