Salmon Days Festival spawns street closures
September 27, 2011
Motorists should prepare to brake for salmon Oct. 1-2 as more than 100,000 people migrate to Issaquah for the Salmon Days Festival.
The festival and the opening Grande Parade spawn road closures on streets in the historic downtown and the business district. Motorists should prepare for daylong closures on both festival days.
Issaquah remains in same County Council district under proposal
September 27, 2011
Issaquah remains in the same King County Council district under a plan released Sept. 27 from the citizen panel responsible for redrawing the local political map.
The proposal, like the existing arrangement, keeps Issaquah proper inside District 3 and most rural areas south of city limits in District 9. The plan also shifts some areas southeast of Issaquah from District 9 into District 3.
The proposal for redrawn King County Council districts keeps Issaquah in District 3. Contributed
(The county is carved into nine districts, each represented by a single council member.)
In a unanimous decision Sept. 26, King County Districting Committee members agreed to release a final proposal for public comment and review. The plan must be approved by Jan. 15 for the 2012 elections.
Under the law, districts must be drawn as contiguous areas and be as nearly equal in population as possible. The population data cannot be used to favor or disadvantage any racial group or political party.
“This redistricting plan was carefully drafted to balance population, meet legal requirements and incorporate the public input we received,” committee Chairman Terrence Carroll, a retired King County Superior Court judge, said in a statement. “I greatly appreciate the committee members’ hard work and their willingness to come together to find solutions that serve the people of King County.”
Citizens can comment on the proposal at a public hearing Nov. 1. The committee gathered input at a series of public meetings before releasing the proposal. The next hearing is the last step before the committee acts on the proposed map.
Northwest Burn Foundation to raise funds at Salmon Days
September 27, 2011
Visitors to the Salmon Days Festival can help local burn victims through the Northwest Burn Foundation’s annual fundraising event, Give Burns the Boot.
Manning first aid stations set up around the festival site, Eastside Fire & Rescue volunteers will pass a boot to raise money for burn survivors.
“We not only collect money for the Northwest Burn Foundation, but we also provide burn prevention information to the public,” said EFR volunteer firefighter Anita Sandall, this year’s Burn Foundation coordinator for local firefighters.
Minor earthquake shakes areas south of Issaquah
September 27, 2011
Seismologists recorded a magnitude-3.2 earthquake south of Issaquah last week, but the minor tremor did not cause any damage or injuries.
University of Washington seismologists said the minor earthquake occurred at 1:22 p.m. Sept. 22. Scientists pegged the earthquake’s epicenter near Lake Desire in rural King County, about eight miles southwest of downtown Issaquah.
King County Sheriff’s Office deputies did not respond to any calls related to earthquake-related problems or damage, spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart said.
Kiwanis funds community aid through Salmon Days dinners
September 27, 2011
Key and Builders club members were among those helping out at last year’s Kiwanis Salmon Days booth. Contributed
Thanks to the great weather during last year’s celebration, the Kiwanis Club of Issaquah sold 2,500 pounds of salmon in the course of the city’s annual Salmon Days Festival event.
The community service club even ran out at about 3 p.m. the second day of the festival, according to incoming Kiwanis President Glenn Hall, who is running the group’s booth at this year’s Salmon Days.
Hall said all that fish translates to volunteers having served up about 2,200 dinners at the 2010 Kiwanis booth. Complete with coleslaw and a drink, over the years, the dinners have helped the Kiwanis raise an average of about $17,000 annually.
Hall said he believes the local Kiwanis have offered dinners every year since the inception of Salmon Days. Kiwanis organizers hope the weather this year again will be of the sunny, dry variety and they have upped their usual Salmon Day fish order to 2,500 pounds.
In past years, the Kiwanis ordered 2,000 pounds of fish and then bought more on Saturday depending on sales. The fish is grilled over alder.
Change comes to Issaquah bus routes Oct. 1
September 27, 2011
King County Metro Transit riders should prepare for changes soon as transportation planners adjust routes between Issaquah and Seattle.
Issaquah routes receive some shuffling in the latest service plan from the mass transit agency. Under a service plan starting Oct. 1, Route 211 runs from hospital-dense First Hill in Seattle to the Issaquah Highlands Park & Ride. Metro Transit is also adding trips departing First Hill for the highlands at 3:05 and 5:30 p.m.
Port of Seattle race could shape region’s economic engine
September 27, 2011
In November, voters in King County, including those in Issaquah, will be asked to choose from among four candidates hoping to serve as commissioners for the Port of Seattle.
The port includes both the seaport in downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac International Airport. According to the port’s annual report for 2010, the port collected $75.6 million in property taxes in 2009. The projection for 2010 was $73.5 million. Those collections come from all King County residents, including those in Issaquah.
“The port is an economic engine for the entire county, not just the city of Seattle,” said Charla Skaggs, corporate media officer for the port.
Both Skaggs and other port officials said thousands of jobs depend directly and indirectly on port operations.
According to what is billed by the port as an independent report released in 2009, the port was directly and indirectly responsible for 190,000 jobs in the Puget Sound region. Port facilities generated more than $17 billion in revenue for businesses who deal with the port or the port tenants who operate the maritime terminals. All in all, those employers and employees pay about $867 million in state and local taxes.
Prosecutors crack down on ATM skimming
September 27, 2011
Federal authorities urged consumers to remain vigilant for devices attached to ATMs for skimming — using high-tech equipment to steal bank account information.
Thieves install high-tech devices on ATMs to collect account information and personal-information numbers from consumers. The setup usually includes a tiny camera aimed at the ATM keypad to record consumers’ entries and a storage device to record the numbers from thousands of cards.
Skyline High School dances resume after student ‘problem solving’
September 27, 2011
In an email newsletter sent to the families of Skyline High School students, school officials said they had concerns about what they considered inappropriate behavior at school dances.
With that in mind, the letter also states school leaders had “put a hold on dances while the Associated Student Body and the student body did some problem solving.”
The school’s next dance would be the annual homecoming slated for Oct. 14. But the school newsletter claims that event was never definitively cancelled.
District students score above state average on Washington math tests
September 27, 2011
As Issaquah School District students headed back to class Aug. 30, state education officials were releasing the first results of a newly required math test.
The state also put out final numbers on which schools were able, or not able, to meet annual improvement goals set out by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Last spring, Washington students in algebra and geometry classes took a state test immediately at the end of their course work. The system is known as “end of course,” or “EOC” testing. It replaced the standardized math test students formerly took near the end of the school year.
