City leaders select architect for downtown parks
May 25, 2010
City parks officials picked a Seattle landscape architect to plan the “crown jewel” of the municipal parks system — a network of parks at the confluence of Issaquah Creek and the East Fork in downtown Issaquah.
The confluence area includes three contiguous properties: Tollë Anderson, Cybil-Madeline and Issaquah Creek parks. City leaders refer to the area as the “crown jewel” of city parks.
The city selected The Berger Partnership, the firm responsible for redevelopment at Warren G. Magnuson and Cal Anderson parks in Seattle. Officials announced the deal May 24.
“We take our role as stewards of the environment seriously and continuously strive to achieve balance between people and nature,” Guy Michaelsen, a partner and the landscape architect, said in a news release. “The opportunity for Confluence Park to celebrate this balance is unparalleled — Issaquah had great foresight to acquire this natural treasure in the heart of its increasingly vital downtown.”
City leaders requested proposals from landscape architects in January; the city Parks & Recreation Department received 16 responses. Staffers culled the list to the five top-scoring firms, held interviews and then invited the final three firms to participate in a conceptual design competition. Staffers and community members then picked The Berger Partnership.
Though architects sketched a conceptual plan for the parks, the final plan will be developed with input from residents about the features park-goers want. But geography and preservation requirements will limit the parks to passive recreation, such as walking trails.
Issaquah voters approved money for development of the confluence area parks in a 2006 parks bond. The measure passed with 76 percent of the vote.
Work starts on East Sunset Way interchange next month
May 25, 2010
State Department of Transportation officials last month awarded a $1.3 million contract to a Bellevue contractor to widen and upgrade the cramped East Sunset Way approach to Interstate 90.
Construction on the project should start next month and wrap by fall. Crews will widen the narrow roadway from a single lane in each direction and remove concrete barriers alongside the lanes. The temporary support wall near the roadway will be replaced. Workers will also reconfigure storm water retention ponds down the hill from the roadway.
DOT officials picked Tri-State Construction to complete the long-planned project. The department budgeted $3.5 million for the project, but bids arrived far below estimates.
Most of the work will take place off of the roadway, but the project could require up to 60 nighttime lane closures.
Crews completed most of the interchange in 2003, but left the East Sunset Way stretch undone in order to connect to the planned Southeast Bypass. City Council members canceled the proposed 1.1-mile roadway across Tiger Mountain in 2008, after 12 years of planning and $4 million.
Prepare for Memorial Day travel delays
May 25, 2010
Road crews will take a break for Memorial Day weekend, but drivers across Washington should prepare for added travel time during the traditional summer travel kickoff.
Work at most state Department of Transportation construction projects around the state will move off highways from noon May 28 until the morning of June 1. But drivers should still prepare for shifted lanes, detours and reduced speed limits near worksites.
Check the transportation agency website for the most-traveled — and delay-prone — routes: Interstate 90, Interstate 5 at the Canadian border, I-5 through Lewis County and U.S. Route 2.
Or call the 24-hour traveler information hotline, 511, for information.
Drivers should also expect additional traffic on U.S. 2 through Stevens Pass and I-90 through Snoqualmie Pass on May 28 and 31.
Drivers headed through Snoqualmie Pass can expect higher-than-normal traffic the afternoon of May 28, the morning of May 29 and the afternoon of May 31. Memorial Day marks the busiest day of westbound travel on U.S. 2 each year.
Travel on Puget Sound-area highways will increase May 27, with peak travel times from noon – 9 p.m. May 28 and early May 29. On Memorial Day afternoon, traffic returning to the region will peak just before noon and continue into the late evening.
Travelers using other forms of transportation might not be immune from delays.
Expect longer-than-typical waits at ferry docks and Canadian border crossings most of the holiday weekend. Travel times should be much lighter May 26 and the morning of May 27 and June 1.
Memorial Day means no school
May 25, 2010
There is no school for Issaquah School District students May 28-31 in observance of Memorial Day weekend.
Check your child’s individual school calendar and schedule for limited school-related events and activities.
Lest we forget
May 25, 2010
Click here to view The Issaquah Press’ Veterans Section.
Use new website for Internet speed tests
May 25, 2010
If promised blazing download speeds feel more sluggish than providers promised, the reason might be geographic.
Test Internet download and upload speeds against advertised speeds on a new website launched by the state Department of Information Services.
The department launched a new section of the Washington Broadband Mapping Program on May 21. New features include a statewide interactive map, and a speed test application to allow users to test actual Internet download and upload speeds against the speeds advertised by Internet service providers. Find the map here.
The interactive map includes 13 data layers, including population density, median household income and education level. The layers can be toggled on and off, all the way down to the census block level.
The department prepared the map to show the areas of Washington most in need of increased broadband infrastructure, adoption and training programs.
State dollars and a National Telecommunications and Information Administration grant funded the website and the mapping program.
Issaquah Police officers will be recognized for anti-DUI effort
May 25, 2010
Issaquah Police officers will be honored June 1 for stepping up patrols to spot intoxicated drivers.
The officers — Andy Rohrbach, Ryan Raulerson, Brian Horn and Tom Griffith — will be recognized alongside other officers, deputies and troopers assigned to the enhanced DUI patrols, known as X-52 patrols.
Rohrbach coordinates the DUI patrol emphasis for the Issaquah Police Department.
The ceremony will be at 10:30 a.m. June 1 at the King County Chinook Building, 401 Fifth Ave., Seattle.
Statewide, law enforcement officers arrest more than 40,000 motorists for driving under the influence each year.
Public Health – Seattle & King County and the King County Traffic Safety Coalition organize X-52 patrols in north King County, and the South King County Target Zero Task Force organizes patrols in the southern part of the county.
King County Target Zero Task Force leaders will honor the Issaquah officers.
Money for the X-52 patrols comes from the state Traffic Safety Commission. Target Zero is a plan to eliminate traffic deaths and traffic-related serious injuries in the state by 2030. Learn more about the plan here.
Level three sex offender moves into Newcastle neighborhood
May 25, 2010
King County Sheriff’s deputies held a meeting at Newcastle City Hall on May 20 to inform residents in the city and the surrounding school districts about a newly registered Level 3 sex offender.
Joseph Pershing Hemmert, 64, lives in the 7000 block of 122nd Avenue Southeast.
A Level 3 offender is most likely to re-offend.
Hemmert was convicted of molesting an 8-year-old at a roller skating rink in 1965 and was released in 1968. In 1970, he was convicted for luring two minor girls away from a store and molesting them at his home. He was released in 1972. In 1990, he was convicted for molesting two 7-year-old boys and a 6-year-old girl at his home. He was released in 1993.
He has been known to target children between the ages of 5 and 12 and frequents areas where children congregate.
Hemmert is 5 feet, 8 inches and weighs about 250 pounds. He has green eyes and gray hair.
The Issaquah School District sent out an e-mail notice to families in the area, because Hemmert lives just outside the district boundaries.
Immediate questions should be addressed to the King County Sheriff’s Office Offender Community Awareness Program at 206-205-7948.
For more information, or to use the sex offender search tool online, go to the sheriff’s office website.
King County will release data for apps
May 25, 2010
In the near future, King County residents could track crime statistics, find the nearest county park and check bus schedules on their smart phones — due to a measure adopted by the King County Council last week.
The council adopted legislation May 17 requiring the county to publish data sets online. The measure sets up the possibility for people and businesses to disseminate county data to the public through the Web and smart phone apps.
The legislation requires the county to produce by Aug. 1 a list of the data sets being considered for online publication. The county should post the data online by Nov. 1. King County plans to hold a public data workshop as well. Officials will announce the date next month.
Councilman Reagan Dunn — who represents unincorporated King County south of Issaquah, Bellevue and Newcastle — sponsored the ordinance.
“Political leaders like to talk about what a smart region we live in and how we are going to harness their knowledge to improve government,” he said in a news release. “This legislation will allow developers and the media to use King County data in new and innovative ways. In the process, our citizens get access to more information and our government becomes more transparent.”
King County Executive Dow Constantine praised the measure.
“This effort will help King County expand the work we’re doing on regional open government initiatives,” he said in the release. “By collaborating with local developers to find new uses and platforms for county data, we hope to help create applications that provide richer information and better service for all county residents.”
The Drawing Board Art Instruction honored
May 25, 2010
The Drawing Board Art Instruction recently received a 2009 All-Star Award from Constant Contact Inc., a leading provider of e-mail marketing, event marketing and online survey tools for small organizations.
The Drawing Board Art Instruction, 26850 S.E. 152nd St. in Issaquah, was selected for meeting Constant Contact’s best-practice standards for the use of Email Marketing throughout 2009.
