Many thanks
May 23, 2012
Thanks to the valley
I just want to comment on how lucky we are to live in such a tight community. I have lived in several cities and neighborhoods in the Puget Sound region and have never experienced the level of friendliness and support that I have seen here.
Our community has been through its challenges over the past few months as described in last week’s SnoValley Star. I know I was feeling a bit down May 5 when my family arrived at Centennial Field for Mary Miller’s heart photo. When we got there, the group was in a celebratory mood, just happy to be together in such a beautiful place. It really was a magical experience! Read more
Letters
May 10, 2012
Suppression and safety
I am dumbfounded by groups in America stating they are suppressed by the government and corporate greed. Gratefulness is being lost to entitlement, compassion to self-absorption. I am asking for us all to take a closer look at what we have here and what suppression looks like outside the comforts of America.
Imagine living in a small town in the mountains where an army comes in and wipes you out. Imagine soldiers taking your house, killing your neighbors, forcing your family into labor, raping your sister. Or maybe your small town is wiped out, everyone who does not run is killed and everything is burned up. You are alone: no family, friends, church, community, and certainly no government to help. That is government suppression.
I’m not sure why, we in America aren’t informed much about these tragedies. Maybe because there’s not enough drama or human lives lost, there is no easy solution or someone has decided it’s not our concern. I have been informed and I can’t ignore it. We have the capacity to create a community for those in Burma whose community has been annihilated.
The Snoqualmie Valley Alliance is financially supporting the Bueng Klueng Hostel in Thailand. The hostel provides shelter, food, clothing, medical care, education, safety and hope to children who have lost their families because they existed in that small town the Burma Army wiped out. Only $18,000 per year is needed to operate the hostel, which can care for 50 children.
Bite of the World is an annual fundraising event showcasing food from around the world, music, and silent and live auctions. This year, 100 percent of all proceeds go directly to the Bueng Klueng Hostel. More information on the Bite of the World and donation opportunities can be found at www.svaonline.org. You can also find more information about Burma from the Free Burma Rangers by visiting their site at www.freeburmarangers.org.
Wendy Eckman
North Bend
Letters
April 26, 2012
Thanks, vendors
Thank you to the vendors, volunteers and the community for their support and help with the recently held Mount Si Senior Center Fashion Show, Generations of Volunteers.
Creating, planning and implementing any fundraising event are a great deal of work and take the commitment of many people to make it all happen. Everything has to be in place and time-lined so all of the pieces come together.
Without the support of the community and the volunteers, this event would not have happened. We are very fortunate that so many people support the senior center and once again thankful to the Snoqualmie Valley Women in Business who “created the path” for this event last year.
We netted more than $8,500 for this event, and the money will be used to provide more programs and activities for seniors. We are already talking about next year and implementing new ideas. If you would like to serve on the Fashion Show committee, please call the senior center at 888-3434.
BJ Libby, executive director
Mount Si Senior Center
Letters from March 22, 2012
April 22, 2012
Study, then decide
I have given a lot of thought to the most recent 3-2 vote by the school board regarding the annexation of Snoqualmie Middle School as a freshman campus by 2013. I have received numerous emails and calls from many parents who know of my interest in this topic and who know I attend most meetings. Here is my stock answer: You cannot complain about a decision if you do not become involved. Read more
letters
April 18, 2012
Do you really want motor sports in Snoqualmie?
I know many of you are aware that the city of Snoqualmie is in the process of annexing the old Weyerhaeuser mill site. The King County Council is scheduled to vote on, and likely to approve, the annexation April 23.
What many of you may not be aware of is this annexation is based on an agreement between the city, county and property owners, called an interlocal agreement.
You can read the agreement on www.yoursnoqualmievalley.org. Annexation through an interlocal agreement has only been done one other time in King County. The typical method of annexation is by voting, whereas the citizens get to decide if they want annexation.
Unfortunately, in this case, the citizens have no say. I find this especially troubling considering the amount of opposition expressed by so many people over the past year.
To better understand why the county is interested in annexation, I recently met with King County Council staff members. The county believes that, in general, annexation is good for the community and will foster growth.
To be clear, it is not annexation per se that is troubling to so many, but rather the use of the old Weyerhaeuser Mill Site after annexation as a motor sports facility, and the disregard in the interlocal agreement of known environmental contamination and known flooding concerns associated with the property.
What I learned is that King County Council members are unaware of these greater issues and are unaware that the overwhelming majority of Snoqualmie residents are opposed to the development of a motor sports facility in Snoqualmie.
To better inform the King County council, I request that you fill out our survey. This is your chance to make your voice heard. Go to www.yoursnoqualmievalley.org for a link to the survey. We will share the results with the King County Council members prior to their vote.
Warren Rose
Snoqualmie
Letters
April 11, 2012
Happy retirement, chief
How does one know when one is getting old?
Well, one sure way is when an ex-student retires!
Not too shabby, retiring Snoqualmie Police Chief Jim Schaffer!
Friday night TV might be less exciting than flagging down a DUI, but now you can kick back with a bowl of popcorn and a beer.
And sleep in without guilt.
Way to go!
Peter Melvoin
Emeritus: Bellevue College
North Bend
Letters
April 4, 2012
Freshman campus a bad choice
There’s no logical reason the freshman learning center is a good idea from a financial, logistical or common sense standpoint.
I believe the school district is wasting taxpayer money. Why would you take a recently solved crowding issue at the middle schools and put it back into place to solve the high school’s crowding problems? This decision will require money to build modular classrooms at a brand new Twin Falls, which will then sit empty and wasted when a planned third middle school is opened in three years. What about the cost to bus kids from the ninth-grade campus to sports at the high school? What about the cost of retraining and or hiring new staff for the ninth-grade campus, staff that might have to be let go if this doesn’t work out? What about all the time (and money, because time is money) to plan this new model? What about the cost to remodel SMS into a ninth-grade campus? It’s clear the three board members and superintendent are oblivious to these costs, or don’t care about wasting taxpayers’ dollars.
Principal John Belcher said in the meeting, “Right now, students go from big-dog-on-campus to invisible. With the freshman center, they would then go from big-dog-on-campus to very-big-dog, and we can’t do that in the current format.” What do you think is going to happen to those ninth-graders when they end up at high school? Being “Big Dog on Campus” should never weigh into a decision about education.
Has anyone asked the kids, parents or district staff members what they think? The transition for ninth-graders is going to be even more difficult after having gone from a shared campus to a campus to themselves back to a shared campus. What about the ninth-graders that do sports? What is life going to be like getting on a bus, driving to the high school to participate in sports with high school students that they don’t have any daily social interaction with?
I hope this ninth-grade campus doesn’t happen, because if it does, I believe it will be a failure.
Bradley Johnson
Snoqualmie
Letters
March 28, 2012
Thanks for the help
Mountain Creek Tree Farm and the Kassian family would like to show their appreciation by thanking all the people that came out to our farm and helped after a flood on Tate Creek Feb. 22 that brought hundreds of tons of sands and gravel in over 1,000 Christmas trees.
Seeing the extent of the damage from the flood, our friend Marie Hearing contacted her brother-in-law John Hearing, scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 945 and told him of our disaster.
In turn, he helped organize with Kim Ferree, executive officer of Venturing Crew and Scout Troop 115 to come to our farm on March 17 to help remove the sand and rocks around the trees.
There were about 50 people in all, which included scouts, venturing crews, the Mayor of North Bend, Ken Hearing, his wife, Marie, the Mayor of Snoqualmie, Matt Larsen, his wife, Jenifer, and some parents of the scouts.
The following scout troops and Venturing crews were in attendance: Venturing Crew 115 and Boy Scout 115 of Snoqualmie, with executive officer Kim Ferree and wife Anita, Boy Scout troop 466 of North Bend, Venturing crew 954 of Covington, with advisor John Hearing, Boy Scout Troop 945 of Covington with scoutmaster John Hearing.
Jenifer Larsen and Anita Ferree prepared the food that we provided for lunch. My sister Sharon Posey baked cookies for them and was on hand to help out where she could.
They were a very hard-working crew with shovels, hoes and rakes cleaning the gravel and sand away from the trees, sometimes two to three feet deep.
They pushed wheelbarrow-loads of dirt into one field where the water had washed away the dirt leaving the roots exposed, and covered them with fresh dirt.
They cleaned between 300 and 500 noble and Turkish firs and may have helped to save the Christmas trees for us.
Again, we want to thank all of you that helped and want you to know how much your hard work was very appreciated by this family.
The Kassian family
Marilyn, Bill, Craig, and Cary
Letters
March 15, 2012
Thanks for the caucus support and coverage
On behalf of all of the people of the 5th District, I would like to thank you for your coverage of the caucus, both in getting the word out through the two articles you published before the caucus and your focus on the people who went to vote. It was heart felt. Regardless of which candidate you support, your individual vote does matter.
We are in a year where how we vote will decide which direction our state and nation will move for decades to come.
I hope all of the energy and enthusiasm demonstrated now will continue through the November elections. It is an honor to serve with all the great people of the 5th District.
Bob Brunjes
5th District GOP chairman
School board is losing trust of this voter
While I have lived in Snoqualmie for 13 years, most of the school bonds have failed. Often, it was because taxpayers believed the board was asking for more than it needed.
A few years ago, voters said “yes” and passed a bond to build a much-needed third middle school, Twin Falls.
Last year, voters were presented with another school bond. This time to turn Snoqualmie Middle School into a freshman learning campus and build a replacement middle school, voters said “no.” Twice.
Unfortunately, this week our school board voted to take away our third middle school, turning it into a freshman learning campus anyway.
While I do not oppose the idea of a freshman learning campus, I do not like the idea that they used our money to build a third middle school, only to take it away to create something voters rejected twice.
Letters
March 1, 2012
Thank you for approving Proposition 1
On behalf of the board of commissioners for King County Fire Protection District 10, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the voters of the fire district for supporting and successfully passing Proposition 1: Construct and Remodel Fire Stations and Acquire Firefighting and Life Saving Equipment proposal.
It was a difficult decision for the board to ask our neighbors for their approval of a revenue bond during these tough economic times. But, the need was there.
The most important need was to relocate Station 78 to a more central location in May Valley to improve response times to a larger portion of the service area. In addition, there is a need to strengthen our volunteer stations in Maple Hills, Tiger Mountain and Lake Joy to aid in accomplishing their mission and attract more volunteers.
When the board considered the favorable bond market and construction climate, the need coupled nicely with opportunity.
The board of commissioners appreciates the trust you have demonstrated in approving Proposition 1 and pledges to not squander that trust and to wisely steward these funds to provide you the best value for your emergency service dollar.
Rick Gaines
Fire District 10 commissioner
