Issaquah nonprofit organization hosts pet adoption fair Saturday
August 27, 2010
NEW — 6 a.m. Aug. 27, 2010
Help a pet find a new home — and a dog receive medical attention — during a fundraiser and adoption fair Saturday.
Issaquah-based People United for Pets, or PUP, a nonprofit organization, needs to raise $2,500 to help a Chihuahua-terrier mix named Peso receive knee surgery.
In addition to the fundraiser, the organization has planned a pet adoption fair at Petco, 975 N.W. Gilman Blvd., from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday. Learn more about the event here.
PUP hopes the surgery helps Peso become a better candidate for adoption. Dr. Thomas Fry, at Cascade Veterinary Specialists, has agreed to perform the procedure.
More chinook reach Issaquah Salmon Hatchery
August 26, 2010
Chinook salmon swim in Issaquah Creek near the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery. By Larry Franks
NEW — 5 p.m. Aug. 26, 2010
Chinook salmon started to trickle to the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery on Wednesday, about a month after the first salmon reached Issaquah Creek.
The latest arrivals appeared at the hatchery a year to the day after the first chinook returned in 2009.
“This is really more on target with our normal first arrival,” Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery Executive Director Gestin Suttle said Thursday afternoon.
City parks picnic to go ahead in rain or shine
August 26, 2010
NEW — 10 a.m. Aug. 26, 2010
Bring ideas for the latest additions to the city parks system to a picnic — in rain or shine.
The city-hosted picnic at Tollë Anderson Park, 595 Rainier Blvd. N., starts at 5 p.m. Thursday. The city Parks & Recreation Department has tents ready to shelter picnickers from inclement weather.
The parks department planned the picnic for the 15.5-acre site in order for people to understand the terrain at Tollë Anderson, Cybil-Madeline and Issaquah Creek parks.
The city plans to spend up to $1.6 million to complete the plan and build the initial phase. Issaquah voters approved money to develop the parks in a 2006 bond. Conservation rules and requirements attached to land donations limit how the creekside parks can be developed.
Bare all Saturday at Nudestock music fest
August 26, 2010
NEW — 6 a.m. Aug. 26, 2010
Take it off Saturday at Nudestock, the annual music fest at Fraternity Snoqualmie, the nudist campground nestled in the Tiger Mountain forest.
Nudestock runs from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. The lineup includes the bluesy Mary McPage Band, the eclectic Kim Archer Band, Fraternity Snoqualmie member band Spicey C’eetoe — yes, the members perform nude — and Wired! — a Snohomish County outfit specializing in rockabilly and classic rock.
Find a complete list of Nudestock activities at the campground’s website. Call 392-NUDE (6833) for more information.
First-time visitors to Fraternity Snoqualmie receive a free one-day membership; return visitors pay regular day fees of $15 per person. Children can attend if accompanied by their parents, at no additional fee. The campground requires photo identification for admittance.
Brown Bear offers free car washes Thursday
August 25, 2010
NEW — 2 p.m. Aug. 25, 2010
Brown Bear Car Wash has decided to treat drivers to free car washes Thursday as the chain turns 53.
Get a free “Bear Essential” car wash in the automated tunnel at the Issaquah location, 22121 S.E. 56th St. The free offer runs from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Brown Bear has washed almost 79,000 vehicles for free during the annual free car wash days to celebrate the company’s founding.
Victor Odermat opened the first Brown Bear in Seattle in 1957. The chain has since expanded to 38 locations throughout Washington.
Washington Conservation Corps needs a few good men and women
August 25, 2010
NEW — 6 a.m. Aug. 25, 2010
The state Department of Ecology needs outdoors enthusiasts to help protect the environment and offer relief in the aftermath of natural disasters.
Backed by a $1.9 million federal grant, the agency plans to add 180 Washington Conservation Corps members statewide.
The agency needs people ages 18 and 25 years to fill the positions for the upcoming service year — Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, 2011. Apply for a position here.
Established in 1983 as a response to the sour economy, the program became affiliated with the federal AmeriCorps program in 1994 and then expanded.
Bellevue College declares interest in opening Issaquah Highlands campus
August 24, 2010
UPDATED — 6:30 p.m. Aug. 24, 2010
Bellevue College is interested in buying 20 acres in the Issaquah Highlands for a potential extension campus, the college president announced Tuesday — a week after the City Council opened the land under consideration to denser development.
The announcement kicks off a comprehensive review by Bellevue College leaders. The college — the third-largest educational institution in the state — intends to determine how the site could meet its long-term needs.
“Our main campus is reaching the limit of how much we can expand our classroom space,” college President Jean Floten said in a statement. “If we don’t take action now, we could easily end up boxed in by our own property boundaries, not to mention the growing traffic congestion all around us. We need to be able to keep expanding with the community.”
Highlands residents protest plan to preserve Tiger Mountain
August 24, 2010
Despite opposition from Issaquah Highlands residents, City Council members decided last week to take steps to add more residences to the community and breathe life into the moribund effort to bring businesses to the hillside neighborhood.
City leaders intend to allow up to 550 more residences in the highlands in order to preserve 102 forested acres on Tiger Mountain near Issaquah High School. The deal, part of a complicated transfer of development rights, aims to set aside about 140 acres — the Park Pointe land and another 43 acres adjacent to the highlands.
The council OK’d the measures in a unanimous decision after members offered a forceful defense of the plan to preserve Park Pointe.
Port Blakely Communities, the developer responsible for the highlands, owns 78 acres in unincorporated King County near Central Park. The proposed transfer calls for Port Blakely to preserve 43 acres and open the remaining 35 acres to construction. The city then intends to annex the 35-acre parcel.
Updated development rules could boost chances for highlands retail
August 24, 2010
Long after slick sales brochures and pitches from real estate agents promised the chance to live, work and play in the Issaquah Highlands, the neighborhood may become more appealing to businesses.
Or maybe not.
Milestone development measures passed by the City Council last week loosened the rules for parking and signage in the highlands — sore spots for potential tenants. Read more
Iraq war challenges Issaquah family
August 24, 2010
Mother, daughter endured tense days while sons, brothers served in Iraq
Every day apart turned into a waiting game.
Terri Aahl hung the stars and stripes outside the Squak Mountain home she and her teenage daughter share each day.
Terri Aahl (left) talks about her two sons’ simultaneous deployments in Iraq as daughter Allison looks on. By Greg Farrar
Sustained by prayer, she passed the hours until the evening news started; she could watch until the somber music played to introduce segments about the Iraq war.
Like thousands of other mothers across the United States, Aahl had a son serving in sun-blistered, strife-torn Iraq.
But she bore a more ponderous burden than most. Sons Matt and Marshall Cusick served in Iraq at the same time.
