Sen. Cheryl Pflug ranks high for missed votes, annual tally shows
April 20, 2010
State Sen. Cheryl Pflug ranked No. 4 for the number of missed votes during the just-concluded legislative session, a tally released last week shows.
Pflug, a Maple Valley Republican, represents Issaquah and the 5th District in Olympia. The senator missed 78 votes. Senators held 538 votes during the 60-day regular session and a nearly monthlong special session.
Pflug said she missed some “routine” votes due to nighttime law-school classes.
Cheryl Pflug
“It wasn’t anything important,” she said last week. “I am there (in Olympia) all the time.”
WashingtonVotes.org — a nonpartisan organization set up to provide plain-English explanations of bills and legislators’ votes — compiled the tally.
State Rep. Glenn Anderson, a Fall City Republican, missed 18 votes during the session. State Rep. Jay Rodne missed the least votes of all 5th District lawmakers. Rodne, a North Bend Republican, missed a mere five votes.
Besides Issaquah, the district also includes Sammamish, Snoqualmie and parts of unincorporated King County.
City seeks Hall of Fame nominees
April 20, 2010
Nominate outstanding citizens for the Issaquah Hall of Fame, the annual honor bestowed by city leaders on someone who has made a lasting contribution to the community.
Every spring, the mayor and City Council president select the honoree. Mayor Ava Frisinger and Council President John Traeger will evaluate nominees on several criteria, such as civic-mindedness, leadership and service.
Frisinger and Traeger will also evaluate the role a person plays in drawing positive attention to Issaquah and fundraising for the public good. Length of service will be a factor in the decision as well.
Send the name of the nominee and a brief summary of his or her contributions to the community to: The Office of the Mayor, P.O. Box 1307, Issaquah, WA 98027-1307. Or submit the nomination via e-mail to mayor@ci.issaquah.wa.us.
The nominations must be received by May 3. Call 837-3020 or e-mail mayor@ci.issaquah.wa.us to learn more. Evaluators will maintain confidentiality throughout the selection process.
The recipient or recipients will be announced at the 31st Annual Community Awards Luncheon on May 18.
Past honorees include Harriet Fish — the historian who led the drive to name a ferry after Issaquah — environmentalist Ruth Kees and, last year, Issaquah Highlands mastermind Judd Kirk and Issaquah Valley Trolley backer Barb Justice.
In a separate honor, the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce named Frisinger as Citizen of the Year at the 2009 luncheon.
Rescuers locate injured mountain biker
April 20, 2010
King County Search and Rescue workers located a mountain biker early April 19 who had gone missing near Lake Tradition.
Issaquah Police searched the area for the 41-year-old man late April 18, and then asked the rescue group for assistance. Searchers located the man at about 1:15 a.m., just off a steep trail west of Lake Tradition.
The mountain biker had sustained head injuries due to a fall from his bike. Eastside Fire & Rescue crews transported him to Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue. His condition could not be determined by press time.
The police became involved after hikers noticed the mountain biker’s cell phone on a trail near Lake Tradition on the High Point Trailhead, and notified a friend of the man who then contacted police.
Local former astronaut hopes to land space shuttle for museum
April 20, 2010
Issaquah resident and former astronaut Bonnie Dunbar will step down as CEO of The Museum of Flight in July to focus on acquiring a decommissioned space shuttle for the Seattle museum.
NASA will retire the three orbiters by next year. Museums across the nation hope to net the shuttles Atlantis and Endeavour. The space agency has promised the shuttle Discovery to the Smithsonian Institution.
Gov. Chris Gregoire and state legislators offered support — and $3 million — to help land a shuttle for Washington. The Museum of Flight plans to add exhibition space, called the Space Gallery, to house a shuttle.
“Thanks to the governor and Legislature, the state’s capital budget included $3 million for a Space Gallery to house the space shuttle and other space exploration artifacts,” Dunbar said in a news release. “It brings us to three-quarters of our goal which we expect to reach soon. In the meantime, we are hard at work on a design for the gallery.”
Dunbar will step down as CEO on July 1. Michael Hallman, a museum trustee and a former Boeing and Microsoft executive, has already started handling day-to-day operations for the museum. Read more
Find state park info on Twitter
April 20, 2010
The next time a tourist wants to find information about bird watching in a state park, he or she might turn to Twitter for the latest information from the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission.
Officials announced the launch of a second commission Twitter account last week. The latest account, @WaStatePks_NEWS, features state park announcements and event notifications.
The commission took to the microblogging site several months ago to update followers about winter recreation and Sno-Park notifications. The news account will be most active during the spring and summer recreation season. Followers will receive updates about upcoming concerts and festivals and park events, as well as boating program announcements, volunteer updates and commission meeting notices.
The winter recreation season begins in December. Follow the winter recreation account @WaStatePks_WNTR for announcements throughout the 2010-11 winter season.
Tweets from the news account will occur less often during the winter. Parks tweeters said the arrangement should provide parkgoers with desired seasonal information at the peak time of interest.
Tent City 4 needs volunteers
April 20, 2010
Help Tent City 4 pull up stakes in Issaquah and relocate to a Kirkland church April 24.
The homeless encampment needs volunteers to help disassemble the camp and load tents and other materials onto trucks. Work starts at 8 a.m. Tent City 4 should depart Community Church of Issaquah, 205 Mountain Park Blvd., for Kirkland by 1 p.m.
Organizers ask for volunteers to wear work gloves and bring a hammer to help disassemble the wooden platforms on which the tents sit. Volunteers will also be needed to transport Tent City 4 residents to the Kirkland church where the encampment will move: Lake Washington United Methodist Church, 7525 132nd Ave. N.E.
Volunteers can arrive at the site on the morning of April 24 or plan ahead by contacting camp organizer Paul Winterstein at pwinterstein.tc4@gmail.com. Contact Winterstein to learn more.
The encampment relocates across the Eastside from church to church. Tent City remains at a site for about 90 days. Residents settled in the Community Church parking lot in late January.
Tent City 4 shelters up to 100 adults at a fenced site with 24-hour security; about 80 residents reside at the camp on a typical day. Organizers do not allow children to live at the encampment. Residents undergo warrant and sex offender checks before they are allowed to enter the camp; strict rules ban offenders, drugs and alcohol.
State auditors find no finance problems with library system
April 20, 2010
State auditors found no problems with the way the King County Library System conducts business. Reports released last month show no problems with how the Issaquah-based system handled public dollars and other assets.
The state conducted accountability, financial and performance audits of the library district. The accountability audit focused on the areas of payroll, personnel and travel.
Auditors described the mechanisms in place to protect public assets as adequate. The system also followed internal procedures in place to safeguard public resources.
The state team examined 2008 documents for the most recent reports. The state audits the district every year; auditors uncovered no problems in the past eight audits. Auditors released the reports March 12.
King County Council members appoint a board to oversee the third-largest library system in the nation. The system included 1,200 employees and a $94 million budget during the audit period.
The system serves more than 1.2 million customers at 44 libraries. More than 20 million items circulated through the libraries.
The state also released a separate audit of the Issaquah Library Capital Facilities Area, a special taxing district. The district contracts with the King County Library System to operate the Issaquah Library and oversee the building.
Auditors found no problems with the way Issaquah Library Capital Facilities Area officials handled district finances. The audit uncovered no instances of noncompliance or issues required to be reported under government auditing standards. Auditors examined financial records for the period from January 2006 to December 2008.
County offers free earthquake retrofit permits
April 20, 2010
Some unincorporated King County residents may qualify for free home earthquake retrofit permits if their home has a wood-frame construction, lightweight roof and a reinforced concrete foundation. Other criteria call for the home to be situated on a relatively level lot and two stories or less in height. Find the complete criteria for a free permit at www.kingcounty.gov/property/permits.
Contact Paula Adams at 206-296-6682 to learn more about earthquake retrofit permits.
Free permits can usually be issued over the counter if residents submit a complete application. Homes that do not meet criteria can also receive a permit, but the process takes more time and the applicant must pay permit-review fees.
“I hope more people will take advantage of this important program,” department Director John Starbard said in a news release. “Our region dealt with the impacts of the Nisqually earthquake in 2001 and, although that event was not of the same magnitude as more recent international earthquake disasters, modern building codes minimized the physical and economic damage of the 2001 quake for the benefit of the entire region.”
Cascade Ridge principal resigns
April 20, 2010
Colleen Shields, principal at Cascade Ridge Elementary School, announced her resignation April 5 after two years at the school.
“It is with extremely mixed emotions that I am announcing my decision to accept a new leadership position in the State of California beginning July 1,” she wrote in a letter to the community. “This new position allows me to be closer to members of my family and to support my husband’s current employment situation.”
Shields was hired in 2008. She came to the school with 11 years as an elementary school principal and 12 years of experience as an elementary school teacher.
“Cascade Ridge has thrived under Colleen’s leadership. She and her staff expect every student to achieve remarkable things — and they do,” Superintendent Steve Rasmussen said. “She has a heart for students and elementary education. We will certainly miss her.”
District officials will use the survey results to help hire a new principal for the school with help from a committee, which will include faculty members and parents.
Issaquah Valley Grange honors David Waggoner as its man of the year
April 20, 2010
David Waggoner seems to be the community’s go-to guy when a volunteer is needed. Take last year, for example.
Waggoner of course accepted the offer when U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert asked him to serve on the board of volunteers of the Honor Flights Project. The project flies World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., to view the national memorial for the war.
“I was honored to give my time and effort to get as many of them back to D.C. as we could,” said Waggoner, 66, himself a veteran of the Vietnam War.
Because of his selfless efforts helping those in the community, the Issaquah Valley Grange is honoring him with its Man of the Year award for 2010 next week.
For a man who seemingly was never short on time to volunteer for one group or another, Waggoner was surprisingly short of words when it came to being honored for his efforts.
“I am humbled by the man of the year,” he said. “I have never been one before. I have no other words to say.”
