Best-dressed rabbits
February 16, 2009
Kirsten Dovey with her rabbit Neffie dressed as Cupid, Courtney Ferry with her rabbit dressed up as a cow and Charlotte Roma with her rabbits dressed as a boy heading to bed with his cat were named Grand Champions in the rabbit costume contest Feb. 8 at Pickering Barn.
Claire Bartlett, who dressed her rabbit Tortellini as a pot of rabbit tortellini; Jaden Kelly and Nicole Gallagher, who dressed their rabbits for a redneck wedding; and Sara Bluhm, who dressed her rabbit as the king of Hawaii, won Grand Reserve Champion ribbons for second place. By Stacey Dovey
Updated shoreline proposal available for public review
February 16, 2009
Since it was introduced in 2007, the city’s Shoreline Master Program has undergone significant progress. Read more
Concert for Holly
February 16, 2009
Holly Connor, a 4-year-old who suffers from a rare developmental disease, is as curious as other children her age, despite being born blind. Contributed
For many, sight is a given, and most of us will never know what it’s like to wonder things looks like.
But for one local family, sight is a gift and something their 4-year-old daughter doesn’t have.
That could change with your help, said her parents Katie and Dan Connor.
Favorite local Village Theatre actors and musicians, including Dan, will take to the stage in a one-of-a-kind benefit concert, Let the Curtain Rise, for Holly Connor at the theater Feb. 23.
Holly Connor was born Nov. 22, 2004, without complications. But within four months, her parents had a feeling something was very wrong.
“She just wouldn’t look at us,” Katie Connor said. “Whenever we’d call her name or get close to her, she wouldn’t look directly at us.”
After taking her to a pediatric ophthalmologist, doctors told the Connors that Holly was blind.
“I didn’t think it was anything that drastic, but she was blind and that was it,” Katie Connor said. “I cried for a long time.”
Holly underwent an MRI, which showed that during the pregnancy her brain hadn’t developed properly. A lack of hormones during the pregnancy affected her eyes by not creating the proper amount of nerves to form on her optical disk. Holly has both septo optic dysplasia and panhypopituitarism as a result. Read more
Amateur astronomers squak for stargazing
February 16, 2009
David Harris (left) and Gil Drynan, founding members of the Squak Mountain Telescope Gang, open a meeting Feb. 12 at the Issaquah Brewhouse with a ‘squaking,’ using PowerPoint slides to welcome their out-of-this-world gathering. By Greg Farrar
The only stars visible inside the Issaquah Brewhouse were those projected onto a plastic screen, but that detail didn’t stop members of the Squak Mountain Telescope Gang from voicing their approval.
The amateur astronomers squawked with delight and hoisted their pint glasses. Squawking — the sound — is not to be confused with “squaking,” defined by the Telescope Gang as “a meeting of a group with no members held on occasion in a darkened place where very little is accomplished.”
Squak Mountain resident David Harris, a self-styled Founding Fellow with an unruly mane of silver hair, describes the dozen-year-old group as “a lot of silliness. Absolute silliness.” His neighbor, Squak Mountain resident Gil Drynan, another Founding Fellow, said traditional astronomical societies were a tad too formal. Read more
Local landscapers display their style at garden show
February 16, 2009
“Self Preservation and peace of mind. Take your space and make home that place. Bailouts, meltdowns, corruption and scandal disappear; only you control what happens here.”
Community calendar
February 16, 2009
Events
Mountains to Sound Greenway is hosting multiple volunteer events for trail maintenance in the rugged Squak Mountain State Park Feb. 21. Events usually run from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., with half-day options also available. Great for individuals, families, groups, and work teams — no experience required. Find out more or sign up at www.mtsgreenway.org or call 206-812-0122. Read more
Skwim on in
February 16, 2009
The City of Issaquah Parks and Recreation Department hosts Family Skwimage from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Feb. 20 at Julius Boehm Pool. Skwim is played in the deep end of the pool with a soft disk, goals and fins. Fees are $10 per family, $4 per adult and $3 per youth. Learn more or register by calling 837-3300 or going to www.issaquahparks.net. File
Jenelle ‘Nellie’ (Cox) Bales
February 16, 2009
Jenelle Bales
Jenelle “Nellie” (Cox) Bales, of Sammamish, died peacefully Jan. 24, 2009, at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. Read more
Esther Anne Stables
February 16, 2009
Esther Anne Stables, a longtime former Issaquah resident, died peacefully early in the morning Jan. 30, 2009, in Anacortes after spending the previous evening surrounded by loved ones. She was 94. Read more
Businesswoman consigns for hospice charity
February 16, 2009
Ankhasha Amenti holds a high school photo of her mom, Mary Morris. Amenti believes her mom’s spirit looks over operations in her consignment store. By David Hayes
When a home gets cluttered with items owners no longer have the space or need to retain, disposal is accomplished usually through garage or yard sales, listings in the classifieds or selling via eBay.
Ankhasha Amenti suggests a third alternative to clearing out your clutter — consignment. And if you consign at her Issaquah store, Ankhasha’s Consignments, there’s the added opportunity of doing it for a good cause. The net proceeds of sales go to the Providence Hospice of Seattle.
“I encourage this, especially if they’ve ever been touched by the kind services of a hospice,” Amenti said.
Normally, items brought to Ankhasha’s that get sold return 50 percent back to the consigner. However, if the items are donated to the store, 100 percent of proceeds are donated to the hospice.
Amenti said she figures only about one of 25 consigners donate their used items. Read more
