Carmen Villanueva began volunteering at Snoqualmie Valley schools in 1994.

The same year, her daughter Jasmin took her baby sister Chloe to kindergarten class for show and tell.

Sixteen years later, Jasmin is living in Hawaii, Chloe is a junior at Mount Si High and Carmen is the newly-appointed interim president of the Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation.

And she has another show and tell on her calendar.

This one has not happened yet, but Carmen knows how she wants it to look: She wants many people there.

Villanueva said that when her time at the helm is up, she wants to show and tell people about how more people cared about the foundation.

“I’d like to see more parents involved,” she said. “Not just the same group of people in many organizations.”

A member of the board of directors of the foundation for almost three years, Villanueva was appointed interim head three weeks ago to replace then-foundation president Carolyn Simpson.

The nomination scared her a little, Villanueva said.

“It’s a big responsibility,” she said. “But I’m excited about the challenges. Filling her shoes is going to be a big task.”

Simpson said she stepped down because her youngest son graduated in June from Mount Si High School.

The main reason was time. Simpson had been involved with the foundation for eight years, the last two-plus as president.

What was an interest at the beginning had become a full-time volunteer job at the end.

“I’ve given it a good, strong eight years,” she said. “And it’s time for me to work on some other areas of my life.”

Simpson said she will continue volunteering in places like the valley’s chamber of commerce and the high school.

Her successor at the foundation, Simpson said, will need committed volunteers.

The foundation is growing, but it is small when compared to school foundations in places like Mercer Island and Bellevue, she said.

Villanueva said funding will remain the foundation’s main focus.

The state’s weak economy aside, she said she hopes the foundation’s mid-September phoneathon doubles last year’s $20,000 total.

“Unlike the PTSAs we don’t focus on one school,” she said. “We take pride on making a difference for every student.”

The foundation and the PTSAs complement one another, Villanueva said, but they also compete.

“We’re trying to get the same dollar from one family,” she said.

The foundation has made a big difference in science at the schools, and it has struggled with membership, she said.

PTSAs are nationally known. School foundations are more local and people assume the foundations belong to the PTSAs, she said.

Villanueva said she wants to be president for a couple of years after Chloe graduates. However, she is a volunteer like the rest of the foundation, so she can’t be certain.

“I have other interests,” she said. “I would like to see how things develop over the next few years.”

Besides, she is still the interim president and an election date has not been set.

Because the schools’ needs will not likely change much, neither will her approach to the job, she said.

“The requirements are the same — the passion to do what we can to make a difference,” she said.

Sebastian Moraga can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com.

Snoqualmie Valley taxpayers will pay less each year on school bond repayments until 2020.

The Valley’s school board and Jon Gores, the school district’s financial advisor, made the announcement at the Aug. 19 school board meeting.

Gores said the district refinanced $30 million out of a $53.5 million bond issue from 2003 at a 2.43 percent interest rate, down from an original 5 percent.

“We are looking at interest rates at historic lows,” Gores said.

Board members had said in February and again in July that they wanted to refinance the bonds, and take advantage of the feeble economy’s low interest rates.

“A sluggish economy benefits interest rates, because there’s little fear of inflation and there’s ‘flight to quality,’” Gores said. “People want to buy secure investments, like U.S. Treasury securities.”

He called such securities “riskless.”

Gores said in July the district would OK the refinance if it achieved a 4 percent minimum dollar savings of the face amount of the bonds, in this case $30 million.

Four percent of $30 million is about $1.2 million and the district is looking at a savings of $2.3 million.

“Achieved savings are significantly above their target,” Gores said Aug. 30.

A second condition was that the refinancing could not affect in any way the district’s bond rating of Aa2, the third-best rating on a 10-item scale.

“The district had its bond rating reaffirmed, so it didn’t have any impact,” Gores said Aug. 30.

The only beneficiaries are the taxpayers, he said. No money goes to the district’s general fund.

The savings mean the district will levy less each year until 2020 to pay debt service —principal and interest — on the new bonds.

The amount taxpayers will save depends on what they pay in property taxes, Gores said.

The refinancing cost the district $188,602, he said. The district had expected a $240,000 cost.

The lowered rates go into effect Jan. 1, 2011, according to a district press release.

The 2003 bond’s original date is 2013, which is when the old bondholders will be paid, Gores said. The district will pay the new bondholders at the reduced rate.

The 2003 bond issue helped pay for Twin Falls Middle School, said Ryan Stokes, district director of finance services.

The bond also paid for the expansion of the gym at Chief Kanim Middle School and a fiber optic system for the entire district.

Sebastian Moraga: 392-6434, ext. 221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com.

The new standardized test scores released Tuesday brought mixed results for Snoqualmie Valley School District.

Some schools in the district saw big improvements in their standing relative to other Washington schools over last year. Other schools saw continued success, but some schools slipped.

This year was the first for the High School Proficiency Exam and the Measurement of Student Progress for elementary and middle schools. The tests replaced the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, which was introduced in the late 1990s.

Mount Si students scored 87.1 percent in reading, down 2 percent from the previous year, but better than state and district averages.

Mount Si scored 57.7 percent in math, down from 60 percent in the 2008-2009 school year but well above the state average 41.6 percent.

Reading scores for Mount Si slipped to 87.1, down from 89.1.

The school’s science scores increased almost 10 percentage points to 58 percent.

Despite Mount Si’s gains, the school’s principal, Randy Taylor, criticized the new test after results were released for students who took the test last spring as 10th graders.

“The reading portion took longer than anticipated, and we had kids needing more time to finish the test,” he said.

Randy Dorn, state Superintendent of Public Instruction, said in an Aug. 31 news release that the state will shorten the reading test to be taken in spring 2011.

Taylor said the math standards changed since the previous test and that it’s not fair to compare two tests with different standards.

The comparison is valid this year but won’t be next year, said Chris Barron, a spokesman for the superintendent. The state will replace the current math test with two exams on algebra and geometry in 2011.

The exams will be the third different high school math tests in three years.

Taylor criticized the move. “The kids and teachers will have to adapt to a different test again,” he said.

The Snoqualmie Valley School District declined to comment for this story.

The tests are not the only way to measure student success, Taylor said.

“There’s other indicators that say kids are being successful despite the WASL and HSPE scores,” he said, referring to the old and new standardized tests.

He pointed to the results of another standardized test — the ACT, a college-admission test — taken by juniors last school year.

“Our ACT scores … they are phenomenal, just blew our socks off.”

Other scores include:

• Cascade View Elementary scored on average 19.6 percent above state averages in all its grades’ reading tests.
• Opstad Elementary’s third- and fifth-grade reading scores of 76.7 and 78.9 percent respectively, each dropped almost 10 percentage points from last year. Both scores stand above state average. Fourth-grade reading improved 7.2 percent from 2008-09, with 81.9 percent. The school had math scores below district and state averages on fourth and fifth grades.
• Chief Kanim Middle School’s scored 88.1 percent in sixth-grade reading, 86.7 percent in seventh and 86.2 percent in eighth. On average, these scores stand 21 percentage points above the state average. The school’s math scores, 79.7, 84.8 and 78.9 percent respectively, stand on average 26 percentage points higher. “We attribute our success to the district as a whole,” he said. “It’s kind of a trickle-up effect,” Principal Kirk Dunckel said. “Kids are benefiting from good teachers all along the way, from elementary.
• Snoqualmie Elementary third-graders scored 74.6 percent in reading, a drop from last year’s 81.7 percent. Fourth-graders dropped from 75.3 percent to 69.2 percent. Fifth-graders jumped from last year’s 77.4 to 78.8 percent. The school scored better than the state average in math in fourth and fifth grades. Fifth-graders scored 50 percent in science, 16 percentage points better than state’s average, but down 9.1 percent from last year.
• Snoqualmie Middle School scored 73.3 percent in sixth-grade reading, a drop from the 2008-09 score of 82 percent. The school improved on last year’s scores in seventh-grade reading, with 77.2 percent and eighth grade, with 82.8 percent. The school scored 75.5, 74 and 68.8 percent in sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade math, respectively. Math scores were on average almost 20 percent higher than the state averages.
• Twin Falls Middle School scored 80.3 in seventh-grade reading, a 7.3 percent jump from last year. Eighth-graders scored 86.5 percent, a 1.7 percent jump. Sixth-graders’ scored 79.2 percent, a 5.4 percent drop. Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders scored 70.3, 69.7 and 67.6 percent in math, respectively, on average 16 points above the state marks.
• Two Rivers School eighth-graders scored a 38.5 percent on their reading test. Two Rivers’ 10th-graders scored a 66.7 percent in reading, down from 69.2 in 2008-09. Tenth-graders scored 15.8 percent in math, 71.4 percent in writing and 36.8 percent in science.

Sebastian Moraga: 3926434, ext. 221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com.

KING 5’s Evening Magazine is looking for the best of Western Washington, and Snoqualmie’s Woodman Lodge is in the running for best steakhouse.

Vote for the restaurant at http://best.king5.com.

The restaurant is housed in the former lodge of Modern Woodman of America Camp 8630 in the city’s historic downtown area.

Woodman Lodge’s owner Peter LaHaye was recognized in May by the state Department of Commerce for his renovation of the building. The restaurant was one of four winners for “outstanding achievement in design.”

The city of Snoqualmie also honored the restaurant for its contribution to revitalizing the downtown area.

In a news release, Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson called the restaurant “an example of, not only rehabilitation, but also of adaptive reuse and an important catalyst for downtown revitalization.”

Call it the fire department equivalent of tolling.

Faced with the steadily rising costs of health care and personnel, and repeated calls from partners to limit their annual increases in contributions, Eastside Fire & Rescue is considering charging citizens for various fire services, from ambulance rides to car crash responses.

Sammamish officials have pushed the department to see what it would take to draft a budget with a zero-percent increase next year. EFR Deputy Chief of Operations Jeff Griffin said the administration is dedicated to trying for that, but said it may be a choice between staff or program cuts, or new revenue from fees.

The plans are still in the theoretical stages now, but will be presented as alternatives as the administration puts together its 2011 budget. Griffin told the board at its Aug. 12 meeting that many other local agencies, including Bellevue and Kirkland, were considering a fee-for-service model, which gives districts a more stable revenue source that doesn’t fluctuate like property tax receipts.

“The balance between what a society wants and what it is willing to pay for is delicate,” Griffin said.

Who gets a free ride?

He also highlighted the fairness issue. Currently, whether or not a patient gets a free ride to the hospital with EFR or pays approximately $700 for one with a private company is dependent on how many units are staffed near where they live and the severity of the injury. This naturally means that rural residents near Snoqualmie or North Bend are more likely to be charged for their ride than residents in more dense areas, like Issaquah or Sammamish.

Dee Williamson, the North Bend representative on the EFR board of directors, said it was unfair that people in North Bend and Snoqualmie had to pay for ambulance rides while people in Issaquah or Bellevue frequently did not.

If a fire department rig does not have to leave its area to reach a hospital, it can take patients there free of charge. If the rig would have to leave its area to reach a hospital, or if the rig were too busy, a private ambulance would be called.

“The issue becomes that people in Issaquah that are close to the hospital get a free ride,” Williamson said. “If it were equal, that would be wonderful, but we in North Bend never get the free ride, because the paramedics can’t leave North Bend.”

About 35 percent of patients in the area are transported by EFR, while private companies handle 65 percent. Griffin said that ratio would not change under the fee program; the agency would just recoup some of its costs and time spent carting people into hospitals in Bellevue or Seattle. Griffin said admitting a patient to Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue takes a unit out of commission for an hour and a half on average.

If the fee program were approved, the board would have to determine what to charge, whether it would bill patients itself or forgo approximately 15 percent of the revenues to pay an outside company to do billing. The board would also have to consider how hard to go after those who don’t pay — would it send them to collection agencies or forgive the debt?

Plan would generate needed revenue

All of those factors would affect how much EFR would make from the program annually, but Griffin estimated it could net the agency between $262,000 and $367,000. At the end of 2009, the district passed a budget that took approximately $300,000 from reserve funds and still had a $241,000 hole, which was made up by union employees forgoing wage increases and finding a cheaper health insurance plan.

At least one board member, Chairman Ron Pedee, said he is philosophically opposed to the idea. Pedee spoke at length against the proposal, calling it a “double billing” of taxpayers who have already funded the services with their tax dollars.

“Our job is to do the most good for the most people with the resources the public has provided for us,” he said. “It seems improper to charge them again for a service we feel is prudent given that they’ve already paid for it.

“Do we need the money? You bet,” he said. “But it’s disingenuous for public agencies to be grubbing around for fees they can tack on when the public has specifically said they don’t want that.”

To transport or not?

Pedee disagreed with the idea that charging patients for services would somehow make the system fairer. He suggested that if the aim was truly to make the system more equitable, the agency should consider getting out of the transport business completely, focusing local units on first response while letting the private companies handle transports.

“Fairness on a call-to-call basis is impossible,” he said. “It’s possible for me to experience response time ‘X’ and my neighbor to experience response time ‘XX.’”

King County medical directors are against districts charging for rides as well, Griffin said. The group feels that the fee would be double-dipping taxpayers who already pay money through their Medic One levy that is routed to individual districts for ambulance service — about $1.3 million dollars a year of a budget of more than $20 million.

The hospital administrators also fear that the elderly or those on fixed incomes might shy away from seeking medical attention, because they could not afford it and the fee would put pressure on emergency medical technicians to consider economic factors in their care.

Griffin downplayed suggestions that EMTs would have an economic incentive to transport people instead of giving them over to private services, saying that district policy still requires that departments prioritize keeping units in their regular areas over transports.

In its contract with private ambulance service American Medical Response, “it states that in the event of an emergency, we could have 25 additional ambulance trips into our area within an hour,” Griffin said. “We don’t want to lose that capacity. We have no interest in driving the private companies out of business.”

Caleb Heeringa: 392-6434, ext. 247, or cheeringa@isspress.com. Laura Geggel contributed to this report.

Almost a year after downtown Snoqualmie was hit by racist graffiti and vandalism, a Snoqualmie man pleaded guilty to the spree and assaulting a police officer. He was sentenced to more than four years in prison.

Adam Moore pleaded guilty June 17 in King County Superior Court to three counts of malicious harassment and third-degree assault of a police officer. He was sentenced to 37 months for the assault and 50 months for the malicious harassment.

The 24-year-old had been charged with nine counts of malicious harassment.

Moore was arrested July 11 after biting a Snoqualmie police officer outside a bar in the city’s historic downtown. After his arrest, he spent time in and out of a state mental hospital, but was found to be mentally competent.

At the time of his arrest, Moore was the lead suspect in connection to the hate graffiti drawn with spray-paint and pen on the exterior of several churches and other buildings, according to Snoqualmie police.

According to the King County prosecutor’s office, Moore was charged in connection with graffiti found:

q June 9 at the Nazarene Church, 39051 S.E. Park St., and Mount Si High School, 8651 Meadowbrook Way S.E.

q June 21 at Scriptures Christian Store, 8150 Railroad Ave. S.E.

q June 28 at St. Claire Episcopal Church, 8650 block of Railroad Ave. S.E.; United Methodist Church, 38701 S.E. River St.; and Our Lady of Sorrows, 39025 S.E. Alpha St.

q June 29 at the Scriptures Christian Store. Graffiti was also found next door outside the Snoqualmie Tribal offices.

q June 30 at Snoqualmie Market, 8030 Railroad Ave. S.E.

The graffiti included swastikas and phrases such as “white power” and “kill religion.”

A Snoqualmie police officer questioned Moore July 11 outside Smokey Joe’s Tavern in downtown Snoqualmie after police received a malicious mischief report just after midnight.

Moore had allegedly placed a poster featuring swastikas and racist statements in the men’s bathroom at the tavern.

According to police reports, Kasel recognized Moore from surveillance photographs as a suspect in the hate graffiti and in three fires lit overnight at downtown locations June 30.

Kasel attempted to question Moore outside the tavern about the racist poster. Moore told the officer he wouldn’t answer his questions and used racist epithets against him. When Kasel told Moore he was being detained until he “figured out what was going on,” Moore punched him several times in the face before another Snoqualmie police officer arrived, according to court documents.

While the two officers tried to get Moore under control, he bit Kasel’s arm, breaking the skin, according to court documents. After Moore was handcuffed and put in the back of a police car, he spit on the car’s windows, and pushed against the door and cage with his feet and back.

Moore has a history of assaulting police officers, according to prosecutors. Court documents show Moore has two prior convictions for custodial assault in 2007, and convictions for third-degree assault and third-degree attempted assault in 2006. During a mental health evaluation in 2007, Moore said he wanted to “kill a cop,” according to charging papers for the assault.

As part of his sentencing, Moore is not allowed to have any contact with Kasel for five years.

Dan Catchpole: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com.

Landowners can learn how to protect forests from fires, diseases and insects at a forestry stewardship class offered by the Washington State University Extension and the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks.

The course aims to teach participants how to develop a personal forest stewardship plan — how to provide habitat, enjoyment and income for years to come. Maintaining a healthy forest helps protect watersheds, wildlife habitat and aesthetics.

Moreover, a stewardship plan could also qualify certain owners for property tax reductions.

Many forested properties face high risks for fire, disease, insects and problems related to crowding, invasive plants and other factors.

The course runs from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Sept. 21 through Nov. 16 at the Preston Community Center, 8625 310th Ave. S.E. The cost to register is $175 per family. Find registration information at http://snohomish.wsu.edu/forestry/CP10Preston.htm, or call WSU Extension Forester Kevin Zobrist at 357-6017.

The Washington State Patrol is investigating a one-vehicle crash on Snoqualmie Pass that killed a man Aug. 28.

Troopers don’t know how or exactly when Edward C. Traweek crashed his 2002 Chevrolet Blazer, according to Trooper Trisena John, a WSP spokeswoman.

The 53-year-old Maple Valley man’s car left the eastbound lane of Interstate 90 near the pass’ summit early in the morning, John said. A trooper found the man’s body, which had been thrown from his vehicle, at about 6:30 a.m.

Traweek was not wearing his seat belt, she said.

Snoqualmie

Dead animal

At 8:30 p.m. Aug. 21, an officer was contacted about a dead dog at the Fraternal Order of Eagles’ beer garden near the corner of Southeast King Street and Railroad Avenue Southeast. A witness told the officer he saw a large, off-leash Husky dog attack and kill a Shih-Tzu on a leash. The officer told the owners of both dogs that King County Animal Control would review the case.

Car accident

At 10:09 p.m. Aug. 21, an officer was called to the 34000 block of Southeast Osprey Court, where he found a 53-year-old man who had been hit by his own car. A friend of the man said the man went outside his friend’s house to start his car, which was backed into the driveway. He said the man opened the driver’s side door, reached inside and started the car. The car moved in reverse and caught the victim with the open door, pinning him against the house. The man never lost consciousness but complained of chest pains to the EMTs and was taken to a hospital. No alcohol use is suspected.

Car theft

At 11:30 p.m. Aug. 22, a woman contacted Snoqualmie Police about her car being broken into on the parking lot of Snoqualmie Point Park. The woman said a bag of clothes had been stolen from the vehicle and that she discovered the theft about 9:30 p.m. The woman also said she saw suspicious-looking people drive away when she discovered her broken window. The woman gave police the people’s license-plate number. The driver was contacted and said he had been there with his fiancée and his dogs.

Peddling

Between 7:11 and 7:58 p.m. Aug. 23, officers responded to complaints of people selling frozen steaks without a business license. Police found one of the solicitors had a misdemeanor warrant out of Kitsap County. The solicitor was arrested.

DUI stop

At 11:08 p.m. Aug. 24, an officer noticed a gray 2004 KIA driving over the fog line near the intersection of Snoqualmie Parkway and Fisher Avenue Southeast. The driver drove over the fog line again, with all four wheels this time and drove on the shoulder for about 50 feet before returning to her lane. As the road turned, the driver drove over the fog line and onto the shoulder a second time. When stopped, the driver said she had dropped her cellphone and had been looking for it. Her speech was slurred and she said she had a few drinks with friends earlier. She failed sobriety tests and was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. A bottle with expired Vicodin pills was found in her car and later destroyed.

Drug possession

At 11:20 p.m. Aug. 24, officers were sent to the 38600 block of Southeast Newton Street to check on a potential burglary. Two officers arrived and found two teenage males in the parking lot. Officers contacted them and one of them said he had tried to open the door to a school nearby, but that he was just playing. There are ‘No Trespassing’ signs posted on school grounds.. Since the teenager seemed fidgety, the officer asked him if he had been smoking marijuana. He said no. He asked the other teenager, who replied he had pipes and marijuana in his backpack. Both teenagers were arrested.

North Bend

Lost debit card

North Bend police received a report of a lost debit card Aug. 17. The alleged victim told police she had lost the card around 6 p.m. Aug. 8 at the Chevron station at 745 S.W. Mount Si Boulevard. She said the card had been used at Jet Mart in Kennewick and that she had cancelled it.

Car prowl

A Seattle resident told police that her car had been broken into between 4:45 and 7 p.m. Aug. 23 along Southeast Homestead Valley Road. The 31-year-old woman had parked to go rock climbing. When she returned to her car, the rear passenger side window had been broken. A Nikkon digital camera and lens was missing from the car, she told police.

Stolen appliances

At 8:44 a.m. Aug. 24, North Bend police received a report of a burglary that occurred between 8 p.m. Aug. 23 and 8:40 a.m. Aug. 24 at the Kitchen Collection store in the Factory Outlet Stores mall. The store’s assistant manager told police that a window had been smashed, and a kitchen blender and mixer had been stolen. The total damage and loss was estimated to be nearly $800.

Bernhard Langer holds his hands up in victory after finishing the Boeing Classic at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge. (Photo by Greg Farrrar)

The summer of Bernhard Langer continued a little longer at the Boeing Classic at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge beneath overcast skies. He won the tournament Aug. 29 with an 18-under-par 198.

Langer has dominated the Champions Tour this year with five wins, including two of the tour’s five major tournaments. Those wins include the US Senior Open at Sahalee Golf Course in Sammamish earlier this month.

“It must be the air here in Seattle,” he said. “It also might be the greens — both courses have very good greens.”

He finished the three round Boeing Classic with an 18-under-par 198, which tied the tournament record set last year by Loren Roberts. At the Senior Open, Langer shot four rounds in the 60s. He became the first player to win five events in a season on the over-50 circuit since Craig Stadler did it in 2004.

“I think right now I’m playing as well as I’ve ever played,” Langer said.

Nick Price matched that level of play through the first two rounds. By the final day, it was a two-person tournament.

But Langer, who started one stroke ahead of Price, was steadier through the final round.

“He’s like a metronome out there,” Price said, waving his arm back and forth for dramatic effect.

Langer was cool and calm on the greens, needing only an average 25 putts per round.

Price ran into trouble early in the day, bogeying three straight holes in the front nine. But he recovered and pulled to within two strokes of Langer when the German bogeyed the 11th hole.

The South African Price had opportunities to birdie several times in the back nine, but couldn’t put the pieces together.

“I needed my A-game today, and I didn’t have it,” he said.

Langer hoists the Boeing Classic trophy over his head. Mount Si is reflected in the trophy. (Photo by Greg Farrar)

Price started the tournament by matching the record for the first 18 holes with a nine-under-par 63. Langer responded by setting a new record for the first 36 holes.

Seattle-native Fred Couples drew thousands of spectators to TPC Snoqualmie Ridge, but ran into trouble in the back nine during the second day, which put him out of contention. He said his performance was “disappointing.”

Couples said he has been working on his iron game with his coach, Paul Marchand.

Couples’ position on the leaderboard didn’t matter as he walked up the 18th hole’s long fairway toward the green. Thousands of fans on the hillside overlooking the green broke into applause as he approached.

They can expect to see him again next year, he said. “I am going to play every single year; that’s a given.”

This year, Couples finished the Boeing Classic in third place with a nine-under-par 207.

Dan Catchpole: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com.

For the third day in a row Dave Rummells has eagled the first hole in the Boeing Classic at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge. Rummells started the day tied for 13th place with a three-under-par 141.

German Bernhard Langer leads the field with a 15-under-par 129 after the first two rounds. South African Nick Price trails Langer by one stroke. In third place is Tom Pernice, Jr., with a 10-under-par 134.

Seattle-native Fred Couples is tied for ninth place with a four-under-par 140.

King County Council members have called for County Executive Dow Constantine to develop a plan to help people transition from jail to society, and to prevent them from re-offending.

Issaquah-area County Councilman Reagan Dunn serves as chairman of the council Law, Safety, Health and Human Services Committee. He touted the proposal after council members’ unanimous decision July 19.

“It’s important that we as policy makers consider how best to move people from jail back to living constructive lives,” Dunn said in a statement. “Sometimes, a very small adjustment will keep someone from re-offending. That’s something we should think about and plan for.”

King County has missed out on opportunities to compete for more than $100 million in federal money through the Second Chance Act. The program requires local governments to create re-entry plans to keep former offenders out of jail.

“King County is already very successful with the re-entry programs that we have,” Dunn said. “It would be a mistake for us not to take advantage of every opportunity to build on that success.”

Snoqualmie has openings on both the city’s Arts Commission and Economic Development Commission. The commissions advise Snoqualmie City Council and the mayor on policy.

The Arts Commission works to promote and develop programs that engage public interest in fine and performing arts. It also works to preserving Snoqualmie’s cultural heritage. It meets the second Wednesday of each month from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Snoqualmie City Hall.

The Economic Development Commission provides guidelines for maintaining and improving Snoqualmie’s economy to help the city’s long-term financial stability. It is involved in preparing the economic development portion of the city’s comprehensive plan. It meets on the fourth Monday of each month from 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. at Snoqualmie City Hall.

To apply for one of the positions, fill out a volunteer application form posted on the city’s website at www.cityofsnoqualmie.org. Click on the ‘City Government’ tab, then ‘Commissions & Boards’ to reach the form. The finished copy can be submitted at Snoqualmie City Hall, 38624 S.E. River Street, or by mail to City of Snoqualmie, Attn: Jodi Warren, City Clerk, PO Box 987, Snoqualmie, WA 98065.

For information, contact Jodi Warren at at jwarren@ci.snoqualmie.wa.us or 425-888-1555, x1118.

(Click on photo to go to slideshow)

Bernhard Langer drives from the rough onto the green on the first hole. (Photo by Dan Catchpole)

Seattle-native Fred Couples birdied the first two holes, sinking a long putt on the second hole. But the fan favorite ran into problems on the third hole, which he bogied.

Couples finished the day tied for seventh place with a 4-under-par 68. He trails leader Nick Price by five strokes.

Price, who was paired with Couples and Bernhard Langer, birdied the first four holes to start. His 63 matched a tournament record for the opening round set in 2006 by Massy Kuramoto.

Tom Pernice Jr. trails Price by one shot with a 64. His day included two eagles and a bogey.

Hal Sutton and Bernhard Langer each shot 66 to tie for third.

Almost a year after downtown Snoqualmie was hit by racist graffiti and vandalism, a Snoqualmie man pleaded guilty to the spree and to assaulting a police officer. He was sentenced to

Adam Moore pleaded guilty June 17 at King County Superior Court to three counts of malicious harassment and third degree assault of a police officer. He was sentenced to 37 months for the assault and 50 months for the malicious harassment.

The 24 year old had been charged with nine counts of malicious harassment.

Moore was arrested July 11 after biting a Snoqualmie police officer outside a bar in the city’s historic downtown. After his arrest, he spent time in and out of a state mental hospital, but was found to be mentally competent.

At the time of his arrest, Moore was the police’s lead suspect in connection to the hate graffiti drawn with spray-paint and pen on the exterior of several churches and other buildings, according to Snoqualmie police.

According to the King County prosecutor’s office, Moore has been charged in connection with graffiti found:

• June 9 at the Nazarene Church, 3900 block of Southeast Park Street, and Mount Si High School, 8651 Meadowbrook Way S.E.
• June 21 at Scriptures Christian Store, 8100 block of Railroad Avenue Southeast.
• June 28 at St. Claire Episcopal Church, 8600 block of Railroad Avenue Southeast; United Methodist Church, 3800 block of River Street; and Our Lady of Sorrows, 3900 block of Southeast Alpha Street.
• June 29 at the Scriptures Christian Store. Graffiti was also found next door outside the Snoqualmie Tribal offices.
• June 30 at Snoqualmie Market, 8000 block of Railroad Avenue.

The graffiti included swastikas and phrases such as “white power” and “kill religion.”

Police are also investigating Moore for a group of unsolved arsons in Snoqualmie that occurred around the same time, according to the court documents.

A Snoqualmie police officer questioned Moore July 11 outside Smokey Joe’s Tavern in downtown Snoqualmie after police received a malicious mischief report at about 12:30 p.m. Moore had allegedly placed a poster featuring swastikas and racist statements in the men’s bathroom at the tavern.

According to police reports, Kasel recognized Moore from surveillance photographs as a suspect in the hate graffiti and in three fires lit overnight at downtown locations on June 30.

Kasel attempted to question Moore outside the tavern about the racist poster. Moore allegedly wouldn’t answer the officer’s questions and used racist epithets against Kasel. The incident escalated and Moore allegedly punched Kasel several times in the face before another Snoqualmie police officer arrived.

While Kasel tried to get Moore under control, he allegedly bit the officer’s arm, breaking the skin. After handcuffing Moore and placing him in the back of a police car, he allegedly spit on the car’s windows and pushed against the door and cage with his feet and back.

Moore has a history of assaulting police officers, according to prosecutors. Documents show that Moore has two prior convictions for custodial assault in 2007, and convictions assault in the third degree and attempted assault in the third degree in 2006.

Steve McCulley (Photo by Dan Catchpole)

The Snoqualmie Police Department has a new second in command, Capt. Steve McCulley.

The Snoqualmie resident joins the force after serving with the Washington State Patrol for 27 years. He and his family have lived in Snoqualmie for 19 years.

McCulley will run the department’s operations.

With WSP, McCulley served as a trooper and detective. He was lieutenant of operations for District 2, based in Bellevue. In addition to other positions, he also supervised WSP’s bomb squad.

“He has a significant grasp of managing personnel and projects,” Snoqualmie Police Chief Jim Schaffer said.

Most important, as a resident, he is part of the community, Schaffer said.

The North Bend City Council has confirmed the appointment of Maryann Nelson as the city’s new finance director.

She follows Elena Montgomery, who retires Sept. 1 after 20 years of working for the city.

Nelson has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Washington, and more than 20 years of experience in banking. She has served as the chief financial officer for three local banks.

Off in a corner of Railroad Days, away from the commotion, two students from Mount Si High School were engineering change.

Amy Robles and Addison Brothers waited for people to trickle over to their spot at the United Methodist Church parking lot. In the meantime, they spoke about their alma mater and how they wanted it to shed its reputation as a nest of bullies.

Students and Supporters Against Bullying at the high school is still in its infancy, having been created in May, but Brothers said he believes it can help stop bullying at Mount Si.

“If not stop it, we want to put a serious dent on it and let everybody know we are not going to let it continue,” he said.

Brothers, a junior this coming school year, said he has bullied and been bullied during his time at Mount Si.

“My hair used to be longer, so kids would say how I looked like a girl. I had a lot of female friends, so I was called gay,” he said.

A self-described bookworm, Brothers said his lack of athleticism also made him a target.

But this problem goes beyond just one boy. Mount Si, Brothers said, has become known among KingCo league schools as the “hick school,” and the violence problem just adds to it. Something needs to be done and students can’t do it alone, he said.

“We’re trying to see if the administration will work with us,” Brothers said. “Bellevue High School has a peer-mediation program and we want to see if we could implement that here.”

Other ideas include bringing experts on bullying prevention to talk to the students and train teachers.

Bullying is not just physical violence, said Shayne Allen, a senior and one of the founders of the anti-bullying group.

“It’s not the classic shoving some kids head down the toilet. It’s jokes and stuff like that by staff and children,” he said.

Teachers’ attitudes regarding bullying vary from student to student, Brothers said. If a student has a good grade point average or is a star athlete, and is doing the bullying, he or she gets treated differently, he said.

One teacher who swung by the booth applauded the students.

“I have a family member that is gay,” said Christine Kjenner, a math teacher at Mount Si High. “I don’t think he’d be welcome at the school by some of the population. We are trying to increase the awareness and this is a really positive step.”

Ron Stettler, a 67-year-old resident of North Bend, said students around here inherited an icy attitude toward people who are different from past generations.

“You got to get face to face with it,” he said of bullying. “You have to stand up and face the music.”

Brothers agreed.

“There’s a point where it’s part of high school, a part of life,” Brothers said. “But it’s gone too far.”

Allen echoed Brothers’ words.

“We know students who go home from school in tears,” he said. “You shouldn’t have to do that. High school should be the best time of your life, not the worst.”

The group encourages anyone in the community to join its page on Facebook. Log on to Facebook, then type on the search bar “MSHS Bullying.” A link to the group’s page will appear. Click on “Join Group.”

If the school’s administrators keep their word and work on stopping bullies, the group will remain in an observing role, Allen said.

If they don’t keep their word, he added, “We will get loud again. This is for us, our younger brothers and sisters.”

Sebastian Moraga: 392-6434, ext. 221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com. Kirsten Johnson: 392-6434 or isspress@isspress.com.

Snoqualmie Valley parent Kim Baker cried in front of the school district’s board members Aug. 19 and accused them of inaction in the face of bullying at schools.

“If you weren’t the superintendent and if you weren’t the board president,” Baker said to district superintendent Joel Aune and board president Caroline Loudenback, “how safe would your kids be?”

Baker said bullying is happening in all schools of the district, which elicited applause from some of the parents in the audience.

“There has been a rape threat against a special-needs student and the principal has not gotten back to the parent,” Baker said.

Aune said he was aware of that threat. Loudenback said she was not.

At the end of the meeting, school board member Craig Husa spoke up on behalf of the board.

“None of us feels bullying is acceptable,” he said. “A districtwide program has been implemented and it’s pretty robust.”

Baker referred to the incident last November where a student hit a classmate at Mount Si High School. The student was charged with second-degree assault and found not guilty after a two-day trial earlier this month.

“I want to know who is going to be the bullying-prevention person,” Baker said. “After the beating at Mount Si, we need to have somebody now.”

Baker broke down in tears when she said she was disappointed the members of the school board had not gotten back to her about her own children being bullied.

After the meeting, Baker said she was disappointed with how the district handled the Mount Si incident and the ones involving her children

“I feel like they told me to go address it with just my children’s schools,” she said. “I want to address it for all schools.”

Despite the shows of support Baker received after the Aug. 19 meeting from other parents, she said she wondered where everyone else was.

“Four hundred kids have stepped up and said, ‘Enough is enough,’” Baker said. “Where are the parents?”

North Bend

Stolen checks

At 1 p.m. Aug. 5, a woman returned home to the 400 block of Healy Avenue to find her kitchen window open and her screen door on the ground. She did not see anything missing, so didn’t call police. Three days later, the manager at a grocery store called her to say her daughter had cashed two blank checks from the woman’s account. The woman went to her bedroom and saw that blank checks from Chase, a box of checks from Snoqualmie Credit Union and her driver’s license were missing. The woman then called police.

Car prowl

At 8:57 a.m. Aug. 7, a man reported his vehicle had been broken into in the 1200 block of Southwest 12th Place. The man said he had left the vehicle outside his girlfriend’s house for the night. The vehicle had a damaged rear window held together with duct tape. Stolen items included a GPS system, an in-dash DVD player, motorcycle-riding gear, an MP3 player, a subwoofer and an amplifier.

Public intoxication

At about 11:30 p.m. Aug. 6, Officers found 44-year-old Thomas Elliott McKenzie intoxicated at William Henry Taylor Railroad Park. He was arrested for possession of an open container of alcohol in a public place and for entering a city park when prohibited.

Fraud

On Aug. 6, a woman reported her Key Bank account was used fraudulently and $99 had been taken. She didn’t know how someone obtained her account number. The account has been closed.

Arrest

At 11:28 a.m. Aug. 8, officers stopped a purple Mazda pickup truck near the corner of East Third and Main Avenue North, and arrested the driver, 37-year-old Dean Moore. Moore had outstanding warrants for fourth-degree assault, driving under the influence and resisting arrest.

Snoqualmie

Drunk driving

At 12:14 a.m. Aug. 14, an officer saw a car northbound on Snoqualmie Parkway traveling 59 mph in a 40 mph zone. The officer stopped the car on Douglas Avenue. After submitting the driver to tests, the officer arrested the man on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. An inspection of the vehicle yielded a glass with traces of wine in it and two empty wine bottles. The man was booked into the Issaquah Jail.

Drunk driving

At 1:18 a.m. Aug. 15, an officer discovered that the vehicle in front of him had an expired registration. He stopped the vehicle and the driver told the officer the car belonged to one of his passengers. The officer smelled alcohol on the driver’s breath and after submitting the driver to sobriety tests, he arrested him on suspicion of driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license. The driver was booked into the Issaquah Jail.

Bear

At 3:12 a.m. Aug. 16, an officer received a call from a person who said there was a bear next to his vehicle. The officer showed up at the 7500 block of Cottonwood Drive Southeast and chased the bear out of the trash.

Public drinking

At 1:44 a.m. Aug. 19, an officer contacted two people exiting a tavern drinking from a glass. The people admitted to sneaking out and were issued an infraction for drinking in public.

Items in the police blotter come from local police reports.

The trial of the man charged with robbing a North Bend bank last fall is scheduled to begin Sept. 1.

The man, Warren Richardson, has been charged by King County prosecutors with robbing two banks, including Sterling Savings Bank in North Bend in early November.

“If convicted on these charges, he’s looking at several years in prison,” said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecutor’s Office.

Richardson pleaded not guilty to the charges during his Dec. 1 arraignment. He has been held on $250,000 bail since his arrest.

Richardson confessed to detectives from the King County Sheriff’s Office after they tracked him down at Harborview Medical Center Nov. 16 for an unrelated medical issue, according to court documents.

The suspect told police he’d robbed the banks because “he was broke with no job,” according to court documents.

However, the two robberies netted only about $2,340, some of which was rendered useless after a security dye pack exploded.

Richardson has an extensive criminal history, according to court documents. He was previously convicted in four robberies of financial institutions in 2001, and has also been convicted for criminal trespassing, negligent driving, fourth-degree assault, driving while intoxicated and theft.

He allegedly walked into North Bend’s Sterling Savings Bank shortly before closing time Nov. 6, and told a teller, “I’m here to rob you,” witnesses told police.

The teller asked him if he was joking, and he said no.

As the teller gathered up the cash from her till, he told her to hurry up, and threatened to pull a gun, which witnesses never saw, according to court papers.

According to police, witnesses said he was surprised at the small amount of cash — approximately $358 — in mostly small bills and asked, “Is that it?”

A witness outside the bank told police he saw the suspect flee, but police were unable to locate him.

Three days later, a man with a similar physical description walked into Frontier Bank in the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard, and reportedly demanded the teller give him all of her money, specifically $10 and $20 bills.

The bank told police the man made off with $1,982 in cash, much of which was ruined when a security dye pack went off outside the bank.

Richardson posted a $250,000 bail after his arrest.

His last known address is in Seattle, according to prosecutors, but he had lived in North Bend, North Bend Police Chief Sgt. Mark Toner said.

North Bend police helped track Richardson down.

“It’s the tips from the locals that led us to the guy,” Toner said.

He credited photos of the suspect running in local newspapers with helping bring in tips.

One local resident identified the man in the photos as Richardson, according to court documents.

Det. Mike Mellis, of the King County Sheriff’s Office, arrested Richardson at Harborview, where he confessed to both robberies after being read his rights, court documents said.

Dan Catchpole: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com.

Established candidates led in early results from the Aug. 17 primary election.

The Si View Metropolitan Parks District’s $6.7 million bond measure staked a large lead in early returns, with more than 62 percent of votes cast for the measure. The district includes North Bend and parts of unincorporated King County.

Congressman Dave Reichert pulled ahead of a crowded field, including the Democrat, former Microsoft and Drugstore.com executive Suzan DelBene. Reichert, a former King County sheriff, led DelBene by 46 percent to 29 percent in King County. Districtwide, Reichert, a former King County sheriff and Auburn resident, opened a big lead against DelBene: 47 percent to 27 percent.

Democrat Tom Cramer garnered 9 percent. Republican Tim Dillon, a Yarrow Point councilman, took 5 percent despite being endorsed by The Seattle Times, along with DelBene. Longshot candidates rounded out the field.

DelBene is seeking to become the first Democrat to represent the 8th Congressional District, which sprawls across King and Pierce counties. Both the Democrats and Republicans have highlighted the district as vulnerable.

Though Reichert has come close to defeat in the past, political analysts said he has a stronger hand in November.

Dino Rossi — the Republican nominee for governor in 2004 and 2008 — trailed U.S. Sen. Patty Murray on election night. Rossi is due to face the Democrat in November in another contest drawing national attention.

Statewide, Murray led Rossi by 46 percent to 33 percent in a crowded primary. Republican and former Super Bowl star Clint Didier, with the backing of Sarah Palin and Tea Party activists, took 12 percent of the votes counted.

Murray amassed 30 percentage points over Rossi in King County — nearly 59 percent to 27 percent. Didier took 7 percent in King County.

The Republican contest in the Senate race likely attracted more GOP voters, said Todd Donovan, a political-science professor at Western Washington University. That edge in turnout could be smaller in the November general election.

In the race for King County District Court judge, Newcastle attorney Donna Tucker and Redmond City Prosecutor Larry Mitchell surged past Mercer Island attorney Ketu Shah.

Tucker pulled in nearly 45 percent, and Mitchell garnered about 34 percent. The candidates face off in the November election. Shah trailed at about 21 percent.

The county created the position last year to address a growing caseload.

The bustling court handles traffic infractions, misdemeanor criminal offenses and some civil cases. The district includes Snoqualmie, North Bend, Issaquah, Sammamish, Bellevue, Redmond, Woodinville and parts of unincorporated King County.

The results remain unofficial until the county Canvassing Board meets Sept. 1 to certify the election. Final results should be posted to the elections website by noon Sept. 1.

The elections office started to receive marked ballots days after the office mailed blank forms to voters in late July. The agency starts processing ballots upon receipt, but law prohibits elections staffers from tabulating results before 8 p.m. on Election Day. In the run-up to the deadline, staffers opened ballots and reviewed voter signatures in a secure location at the elections office in Tukwila.

If a signature problem arises, staffers contact voters to resolve the issue in order for the ballot to be counted.

Warren Kagarise: 392-6434, ext. 234, or wkagarise@isspress.com. Dan Catchpole contributed to this report.

The Boeing Classic will be open for free to all spectators for the first day of competition, Aug. 27.

The gates open at 9 a.m. The tournament will be kicked off with a low flyover by a Boeing 777 jet airliner at 11:20 a.m.

The free admission is being co-sponsored by Golf Galaxy, a nationwide golf store.

“Creating a partnership with the Golf Galaxy has been a great opportunity, because we are like-minded in wanting to engage and reward golf enthusiasts in this area,” Tournament Director Michelle DeLancy said in a news release.

The North Bend City Council has confirmed the appointment of Maryann Nelson as the city’s new finance director.

She follows Elena Montgomery, who retires Sept. 1 after 20 years of working for the city.

Nelson has a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Washington, and more than 20 years of experience in banking. She has served as the chief financial officer for three local banks.

Off in a corner of Railroad Days, away from the commotion, two students from Mount Si High School were engineering change.

Amy Robles and Addison Brothers waited for people to trickle over to their spot at the United Methodist Church parking lot. In the meantime, they spoke about their alma mater and how they wanted it to shed its reputation as a nest of bullies.

Students and Supporters Against Bullying at the high school is still in its infancy, having been created in May, but Brothers said he believes it can help stop bullying at Mount Si.

“If not stop it, we want to put a serious dent on it and let everybody know we are not going to let it continue,” he said.

Brothers, a junior this coming school year, said he has bullied and been bullied during his time at Mount Si.

“My hair used to be longer, so kids would say how I looked like a girl. I had a lot of female friends, so I was called gay,” he said.

A self-described bookworm, Brothers said his lack of athleticism also made him a target.

But this is problem goes beyond just one boy. Mount Si, Brothers said, has become known among KingCo league schools as the “hick school,” and the violence problem just adds to it. Something needs to be done and students can’t do it alone, he said.

“We’re trying to see if the administration will work with us,” Brothers said. “Bellevue High School has a peer-mediation program and we want to see if we could implement that here.”

Other ideas include bringing experts on bullying prevention to talk to the students and train teachers.

Bullying is not just physical violence, said Shayne Allen, a senior and one of the founders of the anti-bullying group.

“It’s not the classic shoving some kids head down the toilet. It’s jokes and stuff like that by staff and children,” he said.

Teachers’ attitudes regarding bullying vary from student to student, Brothers said. If a student has a good grade point average or is a star athlete, and is doing the bullying, he or she gets treated differently, he said.

One teacher who swung by the booth applauded the students.

“I have a family member that is gay,” said Christine Kjenner, a math teacher at Mount Si High. “I don’t think he’d be welcome at the school by some of the population. We are trying to increase the awareness and this is a really positive step.”

Ron Stettler, a 67-year-old resident of North Bend, said students around here inherited an icy attitude toward people who are different from past generations.

“You got to get face to face with it,” he said of bullying. “You have to stand up and face the music.”

Brothers agreed.

“There’s a point where it’s part of high school, a part of life,” Brothers said. “But it’s gone too far.”

Allen echoed Brothers’ words.

“We know students who go home from school in tears,” he said. “You shouldn’t have to do that. High school should be the best time of your life, not the worst.”

The group encourages anyone in the community to join its page on Facebook. The group encourages anyone in the community to join its page on Facebook. Log on to Facebook, then type on the search bar “MSHS Bullying.” A link to the group’s page will appear. Click on “Join Group.”

If the school’s administrators keep their word and work on stopping bullies, the group will remain in an observing role, Allen said.

If they don’t keep their word, he added, “We will get loud again. This is for us, our younger brothers and sisters.”

Sebastian Moraga: 392-6434, ext. 221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com. Kirsten Johnson: 392-6434 or isspress@isspress.com.

Established candidates took the lead in early results for the Aug. 17 primary race for Position No. 2 in the 5th Legislative District. Incumbent state Rep. Glenn Anderson, a Republican, staked a large lead ahead of Democratic challengers David Spring and Dean Willard.

Anderson, a Fall City resident, received 58 percent of the votes counted. Spring, a North Bend resident, garnered 25 percent. Willard received 16 percent, despite having raised more campaign money than Anderson and Spring combined.

Voters had seen Anderson’s and Spring’s names on previous ballots. They ran against each other in 2008, when Anderson beat Spring with 51 percent of the vote, with 2,201 votes.

The district includes North Bend and Snoqualmie, plus parts of Maple Valley, Sammamish, most of Issaquah and unincorporated King County.

District voters sent Anderson to Olympia in 2000 and re-elected him in subsequent elections.

Democrats have made no secret of their desire to unseat Anderson. At Willard’s campaign kick-off, state Rep. Geoff Simpson told attendees that “there is no one in the Legislature who is more despised by Democrats” than Anderson.

Willard, an information technology consultant and a former executive at Bellevue-based T-Mobile, was backed by the party establishment. His campaign raised more than $75,000 – and spent more than $67,000. Anderson raised $50,000 and spent $25,000. Spring raised and spent about $4,000.

But when ballots were tallied, voters picked Anderson and Spring.

The primary election’s results won’t affect Anderson’s message, which has focused on encouraging job growth by paring back state government and cutting government spending to balance the state budget.

“People are frustrated by government,” he said.

Anderson said he wants to bring more high-tech and manufacturing jobs — and revenue — to the state by reducing business regulation.

“We don’t want a Wild West framework, but right now, nobody understands the rules,” he said.

But the state also has to make deep spending cuts to avoid a “California-style meltdown,” he said.

The state faces a projected $3 billion budget shortfall during the next two years. That comes after the Legislature had to close a $2.8 billion budget shortfall this year.

Spring is focused on school funding, as he was in his 2008 campaign. He is the only candidate to have a child in a public school in the 5th District.

The Legislature took a small step toward increasing state money for public schools this spring when it redefined — and broadened — what the state was required to pay for. But the law did not allocate more money for schools. Anderson co-sponsored the law.

“If I beat Glenn this fall, it will be for the same reason I got more votes than Dean in the primary — namely that I support school funding, including Initiative 1098, while Glenn opposes it,” Spring said.

He credits his strong showing in this election and in 2008 to volunteers concerned about school funding.

“The election in the 5th District is not about the Republican or Democratic party. It is about whether we will fairly fund our public schools,” Spring said.

District voters last elected a Democrat — former state Sen. Kathleen Drew — in 1992. Dino Rossi edged out Drew four years later. Republicans rode to victory in ensuing elections for the statehouse seats.

While Anderson led the field by a large margin, that lead might not be as big in November, said Todd Donovan, a political-science professor at Western Washington University.

“The only big deal on the primary ballot was the Republican U.S. Senate contest. That makes it likely that more Republican voters than usual were mobilized,” he said. “In November, that mobilization edge might not be there — at least not as much.”

Campaign spending can change the voter pool characteristics, as well.

As candidates spend more money before the general election, that “wakes up the peripheral voters,” Donovan said.

Dan Catchpole: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com.

To partially pay for growing infrastructure costs, Snoqualmie residents will now have to pay a $20 fee on every vehicle registered in the city.

The fee, approved by the district’s board of directors Aug. 23, is going to be levied as part of the city’s Transportation Benefit District. The fee is expected to bring in an estimated $62,000 for the city to use for transportation infrastructure improvements.

The city has an extensive laundry list of proposed improvement projects. The final list will be set by the transportation district board.

The cost of any of the proposed projects far exceeds the revenue the fee would raise. The cheapest project — improving the intersection at Meadowbrook Avenue and state Route 202 — would cost an estimated $150,000. The most expensive on the list — the Tokul Road roundabout — is estimated to cost nearly $6.6 million. The list also includes street maintenance, with an estimated $25 million price tag.

The transportation district board, which is made up of City Council members, will select the final list of projects that money from the fee could be used on. The city would pick where to actually spend the money.

Street maintenance was a higher priority for some board members.

“I suspect the Tokul Road roundabout is not one where I’m interested in putting TBD money,” board member Charlie Peterson said.

However, some board members raised concerns about raising a new tax, including Bryan Holloway. Snoqualmie has not trimmed its general budget as much as other cities have in recent years, so he questioned whether there is a need for a new tax.

“We don’t have the money to rebuild our streets, which is the paramount project right now,” Peterson said, adding that there is nowhere to take the money from.

“Our streets are deteriorating so badly I feel this is the only avenue we have to repair them,” he said.

The board is also concerned that King County could beat it to the money. Whichever entity adopts the fee first can collect the money.

That’s one reason the board decided not to send the fee to a public vote. A transportation benefit district can create a fee up to $20 without voter approval.

Another reason for not going to voters was cost, which could be as much as $20,000, Holloway said.

Some residents expressed concerns about the additional expense.

“All these little nickel-and-dime things are taxing us to death,” Douglas Hoeger said, adding that he doesn’t necessarily oppose the fee, but would rather see it included in the general budget.

That would make it more transparent to residents, he said.

One woman asked the board to take more time and provide more information for the public on how the money would be used.

Only seven cities in Washington have enacted transportation benefit districts since the law was passed in 2007, according to the Washington Department of Licensing website. They are Burien, Des Moines, Edmonds, Lake Forest Park, Olympia, Prosser and Shoreline.

Dan Catchpole: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com.

Established candidates outpaced challengers in the early election results.

The primary set up a showdown for a 5th Legislative District seat in the state House of Representatives, a competitive congressional race and a chance to elect a judge to the King County District Court bench.

In the 5th District, state Rep. Glenn Anderson, a Republican, outpolled Democrats Dean Willard and David Spring. Anderson has 58 percent of votes counted, Spring polled 25 percent and Willard polled 16 percent.

Unless Willard pulls ahead as ballots trickle in during the days ahead, the race will be a rematch of the 2008 contest between Anderson and Spring.

The district includes North Bend and Snoqualmie, plus parts of Maple Valley, Sammamish, most of Issaquah and unincorporated King County.

District voters sent Anderson to Olympia in 2000 and re-elected the Fall City resident in subsequent elections.

In Snoqualmie Valley, Si View Metropolitan Park District’s $6.7 million bond measure staked a large lead in early returns, with more than 62 percent of votes cast for the measure. The district includes North Bend and parts of unincorporated King County.

Congressman Dave Reichert pulled ahead of a crowded field, including the Democrat, former Microsoft and Drugstore.com executive Suzan DelBene. Reichert, a former King County sheriff, led DelBene by 47 percent to nearly 27 percent. Democrat Tom Cramer garnered just under 10 percent. Republican Tim Dillon, a Yarrow Point councilman, took 5 percent despite being endorsed by The Seattle Times, along with Suzan DelBene. Longshot candidates rounded out the field.

Observers expect a close election, as DelBene seeks to become the first Democrat to represent the 8th Congressional District, which sprawls across King and Pierce counties. Though Reichert has come close to defeat in the past, political analysts said he has a stronger hand in November.

Dino Rossi — a former Issaquah representative in the state Senate and Republican nominee for governor in 2004 and 2008 — trailed U.S. Sen. Patty Murray on election night. Rossi is due to face the Democrat in November in another contest drawing national attention.

Murray amassed 30 percentage points over Rossi in King County — 58 percent to 27 percent. Statewide, Murray led Rossi by 46 percent to 33 percent in a crowded primary. Republican — and former Super Bowl star — Clint Didier took 12 percent of votes counted with the backing of Sarah Palin and Tea Party activists. He managed 7 percent in King County.

Newcastle attorney Donna Tucker and Redmond City Prosecutor Larry Mitchell surged past Mercer Island attorney Ketu Shah in the race for District Court judge.

Tucker pulled in about 45 percent and Mitchell garnered 34 percent. The candidates face off in the November election. Shah trailed at about 20 percent.

The county created the position last year to address a growing caseload.

The bustling court handles traffic infractions, misdemeanor criminal offenses and some civil cases. The district includes Issaquah, Sammamish, Bellevue, Redmond, Woodinville and parts of unincorporated King County.

King County Elections plans daily updates until all ballots have been counted.

The results remain unofficial until the county Canvassing Board meets Sept. 1 to certify the election. Final results should be posted to the elections website by noon Sept. 1.

The elections office started to receive marked ballots days after the office mailed blank forms to voters in late July. The agency starts processing ballots upon receipt, but law prohibits elections staffers from tabulating results before 8 p.m. on Election Day. In the run-up to the deadline, staffers opened ballots and reviewed voter signatures in a secure location at the elections office in Tukwila.

If a signature problem arises, staffers contact voters to resolve the issue in order for the ballot to be counted.

Because the student is a minor, neither he nor any of the other minors associated with the case will be named.

During the Nov. 6 incident, a student was punched and kneed in the face while in the boys’ locker room after standing up for a friend, who was being bullied for reportedly being gay.

King County Juvenile Court Judge Chris Washington, who heard the case without a jury, said that based on testimony “it seems there was an agreement between these two individuals to fight,” and said that while he did not condone the behavior, it appeared to be a fight and not an assault.

The state appointed prosecuting attorney Lena Smith to the complaining witness for the Aug. 10-11 trial. The respondent’s family hired private attorney Jim Conroy.

Two minors and the complaining witness testified at the trial, answering questions about exactly what happened that day in the boys’ locker room. The respondent — the minor who threw the punches — did not testify.

A student who witnessed the incident testified first, saying he remembered the respondent hitting the complaining witness at least once in the face.

The student who allegedly bullied the student recounted that the complaining witness had heckled him before the incident. The respondent, who was also in the locker room but did not know the boys, walked toward the complaining witness, exchanged words and then both of them got into a fighting stance, the student testified.

The respondent then punched the complaining witness and left the boys’ locker room, he said. The student said he then found the nearest teacher.

The complaining witness was the last person to testify. Smith subpoenaed the student who had allegedly been bullied, but he did not come to the trial, prosecutor spokesman Dan Donohoe said.

The complaining witness, a 14-year-old freshman at the time of the incident, said some of his memory was fuzzy because of the concussion he had sustained. He also had a fractured eye orbit, a broken tooth and bruises.

The complaining witness said he remembered the alleged bully taunting his friend, “So, I stuck up for him,” he said.

He admitted he does not remember the event clearly.

“I’m not a fighter. It’s not who I am. It’s not what I do,” when asked by the defense about his reputation at school.

He said he recalled hearing something hit the ground — the respondent’s backpack — and “the next thing I remember is my friends pulling me off the floor.”

He was later taken in an ambulance to Overlake Medical Center.

The complaining witness was known to provoke fights and had provoked one with his client by saying, “I’ll fight anybody,” according to witness testimony. Washington agreed that it sounded like a fight, and said that because the complaining witness might have tried to get up after he was punched, the respondent would have thought the fight was still happening, explaining why he kneed the complaining witness in the face, too.

Smith disagreed, saying that the respondent had not even been involved in the verbal exchange, and had introduced himself to the situation, asking what was going on when he could have walked away.

“This is simply not a locker-room brawl,” Smith said. “This case is about a swift, violent and brutal response to a 14-year-old freshman.”

However, Washington said it sounded like the fight was mutual and not a second-degree assault, proclaiming the respondent not guilty.

“I would like to thank all of the witnesses for telling the truth,” the respondent’s father said after the trial.

Peggy Johnson, the complaining witness’ mother, broke down in tears when the verdict was announced. She said her son had stuck up for his friend and then “was beaten unconscious and then beaten some more while he was down.”

She said Smith had not spent much time consulting with her family before the trial, and the bullying that led to the incident was not discussed.

The state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the federal Department of Justice is looking into how Mount Si handled the incident. Meanwhile, Johnson said her son will not return to Mount Si this fall.

“The evidence will come out if it didn’t come out here,” she said. “This is not done. This is so wrong.”

Laura Geggel: 392-6434, ext. 221, or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.