When three blue book collection bins appeared in North Bend, Penny Humphrey did not think to give them a second thought. As President of the Friends of the North Bend Library, Humphrey was more concerned with organizing library programs with money earned from the library’s annual two-week book sale. Normally, the friends fill more than…
Churches, businesses hit with white supremacist graffiti
A swastika and other white supremacist graffiti were drawn in spray paint on the side of the Church of the Nazarene in Snoqualmie June 9. As shocking as that may have seemed to some, however, the act is actually anything but unusual. According to officials in the Valley, church vandalism is running rampant this summer….
Arson scars Snoqualmie Depot, City Hall
Officials say three downtown Snoqualmie fires in one night were the work of an arsonist. The fires were reported in the early morning hours of June 30. The first fire was reported just after 2 a.m. at the Snoqualmie Depot of the Northwest Railway Museum on Railroad Avenue. The fire was set inside a plastic…
Students happily return to boomerang lessons
Ian Raley-Silva noted the direction of the wind before bending his right arm behind his head and flicking his boomerang into the sky. It took an impressive loop, spinning back to earth and into Raley-Silva’s waiting hands. Raley-Silva is one of 12 seventh- and eighth-grade students attending Two Rivers School. Like many of his classmates,…
Local rowers place at national championships
Locals helped the Sammamish Rowing Association place in four different categories at the U.S. Rowing Youth National Championships in Cincinnati, Ohio June 10-14. Both SRA’s Women’s Youth Lightweight Eight and the Men’s Youth Pair advanced to the Grand Final, where they finished in fifth and sixth place, respectively. The Women’s Youth Pair and the Men’s…
Major project to start at the falls
Puget Sound Energy is planning a major update to Snoqualmie Falls Park that will focus on education and interpretation, but the work will force closures of the popular tourist site beginning in September. PSE does not have the dates set for when the park will be closed. When a construction contractor is selected for the…
Railway Museum set to break ground on its train shed
The Northwest Railway Museum will break ground soon on its train shed, the museum’s newest and largest facility. Pending receipt of a notice to proceed from the county, Wick Constructors of Seattle will begin work on a 25,000-square-foot exhibit building within a week. A formal groundbreaking will probably be scheduled for August, Museum Director Richard…
Changes coming to Snoqualmie Falls plant
Puget Sound Energy received approval of an amendment on June 1 to its operating license for the 111-year-old Snoqualmie Falls hydroelectric generating plant that will allow the utility to undertake a substantial upgrade of its facilities. “Snoqualmie Falls is a scenic and cultural treasure that’s also been giving our region clean, renewable, carbon-free energy for…
Snoqualmie Valley schools cut nine teachers
Snoqualmie Valley School District issued cuts to nine teachers May 13. The district’s expenditure reduction plan, a blueprint for the 2009-2010 budget, required that the district shave 19.5 certified teachers, but attrition lowered the number the district had to release. Of the nine teachers, two of them were part-time. The district would not say how…
Suburban Cities Association stays neutral on I-90 tolling
To toll or not to toll? That was one of the questions facing the Washington State Legislature that was not answered when it adjourned April 26. The Legislature approved a plan to toll the State Route 520 floating bridge over Lake Washington, but it avoided making a decision on tolling the Interstate 90 bridge. This…