Mirrormont, nature-loving neighborhood, thrives at 50
January 29, 2013
Linda Shepherd (in blue sweater at end of table), Mirrormont Pea Patch director; Paul Baer (in white striped shirt), community association president; and other pea patch users and caretakers, enjoy a potluck dinner Jan. 25 at the home of Gerard and Loretta Jancoski. By Greg Farrar
Located just 10 minutes from downtown Issaquah, nestled at the base of Tiger Mountain, sits a neighborhood unlike any other in this community.
Issaquah innovators earn business honor
January 29, 2013
Innovation in Issaquah is exemplified by a leading apparel manufacturer, a revolutionary process to transform garbage into fertilizer and a theater renowned for fostering Broadway-bound musicals.
Issaquah Chamber of Commerce and city leaders announced the Innovation in Issaquah honorees — apparel manufacturer SanMar, WISErg, a manufacturer of garbage-to-fertilizer harvesters, and the nonprofit Village Theatre — at a Jan. 24 ceremony and luncheon.
Leaders from the chamber and City Hall recognized the entrepreneurs’ accomplishments through the Innovation in Issaquah contest, a showcase for local businesses offering unique services. Honorees demonstrate innovation in product development, services, systems or strategies.
Local springer spaniel prepares for Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
January 29, 2013
Breeder hopes springer spaniel’s last finish ranks as best
Finn, a 6-year-old springer spaniel, contentedly observes houseguests while lying next to an ottoman at the High Point neighborhood home of owner Bobbie Daniel. By Greg Farrar
Officially, his name is American Canadian Grand Champion Darkover Don’t Dream It’s Over. But Bobbie Daniel knows him simply as Finn.
Daniel, of High Point (just east of Issaquah), has bred nearly 30 champions since the 1980s, mostly springer spaniels. However, she sees Finn as her best chance to have a champ at the Super Bowl of dog shows, the 137th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Feb. 11-12 at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
Daniel has bred her current, successful bloodline of springers, and named each after characters from the television show “Grey’s Anatomy.” Finn was a character who briefly appeared in the first couple of seasons. Other than a fine pedigree, she said, Finn has two things going for him — at age 6, this will be his last show.
Students express mixed feelings about Skyline lunches
January 29, 2013
A standard public school is expected to serve lunch on a daily basis under specific dietary regulations. However, whether students actually like the options provided is not something that is enforced.
Sampurna Basu
Skyline High School
Skyline High School has many daily options for lunch, ranging from the featured hot lunch of the day to a wide array of salads. In addition, there is a Student Store where students can purchase Yoko’s Teriyaki and other lunch choices. All meals are strictly regulated by the Issaquah School District so each serving size is no more than 300 calories.
At the average lunch table, varied responses come in reaction to these seemingly fair conditions.
Virginia Mason Medical Center CEO touts innovation
January 29, 2013
Dr. Gary Kaplan sought to streamline health care and create a safer — and more inviting — environment for patients upon assuming the CEO post at Virginia Mason Medical Center in 2000.
“We said, ‘Should we just focus on being victims of this system? Can we just complain and go to Congress and say, “Give us more money,” or should we actually focus on our circle of concern and our circle of influence — things we can actually do something about?’” he recalled Jan. 24 at the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce’s Innovation in Issaquah luncheon.
So, Kaplan, a practicing internal medicine physician at the hospital, set out to apply the Toyota Production System, or Lean, to health care management with goals to rein in high costs and improve quality, safety and efficiency to deliver better and more affordable health care.
Salmon Days Festival is ‘Streaming Live’
January 29, 2013
2013 Salmon Days Festival logo
Salmon Days Festival organizers adore puns. For the next festival theme, expect a blend of homespun and high-tech.
The theme for the October celebration is “Streaming Live” — a nod to instantaneous communication and salmon habitat.
“Even after 44 years, our Salmon Days Festival promises to be more current than ever,” Robin Kelley, lead Salmon Days organizer, said in unveiling the theme Jan. 24. “Innovation and interpretation, pixilation and Pinterest, in the cloud, going viral, browsing and blogs. This year’s theme is today and looking to the future.”
‘Fiddler on the Roof’ sets Village Theatre sales record
January 29, 2013
Eric Polani Jensen stars as Tevye in Village Theatre’s record-setting production of ‘Fiddler on the Roof.’ By Jay Koh/Village Theatre
Theatergoers embraced “Fiddler on the Roof” and propelled the classic musical to a Village Theatre sales record.
The spectacle centered on the godfearing milkman Tevye played at the downtown Issaquah theater through November and December, and then shifted to the Everett Performing Arts Center.
In Issaquah, a record 32,726 audience members attended the show, including more than 14,000 single-ticket buyers — a significant number for a playhouse reliant on seasonal subscribers.
In Everett, “Fiddler on the Roof” set more milestones. The show reached the revenue goals before opening night — a first for Village Theatre’s Snohomish County stage — and broke the sales record for single-ticket revenue two weeks before “Fiddler on the Roof” closed Jan. 27.
Organizations host father-daughter dances for Valentine’s Day
January 29, 2013
Dads, it’s time to ask your daughters to dance.
Liberty High School is inviting elementary school students and their fathers to a Daddy Daughter Dinner Dance in the Liberty Commons on Feb. 8.
Studies abroad take Liberty High School sophomore to Sweden
January 29, 2013
Clarie Good, 15, a Liberty High School sophomore, experiences Sweden as part of a study-abroad program. Contributed
Claire Good, 15, a sophomore at Liberty High School, spent fall far away from home, studying abroad at the International School of the Gothenburg Region in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Claire, who has always had dreams of traveling and studying abroad, was encouraged by her father Jerry Good, who has also traveled.
“Developing friendships at a young age with people in other countries, by living in their country, creates a lifetime of rich memories that remain vivid in your mind forever,” Jerry Good said.
In Gothenburg, Claire lived with her father’s friend from college, Håkan Nilsson, and his wife Ellen Boonprasit, who is Thai. Claire, who is half Thai herself, felt at home with the couple.
King County Metro Transit works to ease bus crowding
January 29, 2013
King County Metro Transit is gathering public input on proposed schedule and route changes to routes along the Interstate 90 corridor, including routes serving Issaquah.
The shift is meant to ease crowding and improve travel times on peak commute routes.
The routes under consideration for changes include routes 210, 211, 214, 215 and 218 — routes serving Issaquah. The list also includes Sammamish-to-Seattle Route 216 and Eastgate-to-Seattle Route 212.
