Off The Press
April 2, 2013
Robbers can take from us, but can’t break us
Dear thieves who broke into our offices and robbed us,
You came in the night and took most of our computers. You rifled through everyone’s personal belongings and took what you wanted.
Kathleen R. Merrill
Press managing editor
Many people here were already uncomfortable about our move from our longtime home on Front Street to this business park. You made all of that worse.
Off The Press
March 26, 2013
More than longevity is needed to be sourdough
Being new to the community, I wonder how to blend in and be thought an old timer or at least a regular. I have discovered that how one does this varies among geographic areas of the country.
In Alaska, you were either a chechako (newcomer) or a sourdough (old timer). How you made the transition depended on who you asked. Most of the explanations are rooted in old Alaska, before the advent of modern roads and air travel. Some say you had to have missed the last boat out at least once, which meant you had been there through at least one winter. Others say you had to have relieved yourself in the Yukon River.
Joe Grove
Press proofreader
Off The Press
March 19, 2013
Memories move with us from Front Street
The boxes are packed, the old files emptied. It’s the last week on Front Street for The Issaquah Press and we’re going to miss it.
Unless you’ve been here for more than a couple decades, you are one of many who think 1) The Issaquah Press Building is very, very old and 2) the building is owned by The Press.
Debbie Berto Press publisher
Neither is true. The building is only 25 years old and the newspaper has never owned it.
Off The Press
March 12, 2013
Want a tax deduction for reading this column?
Are you staring at your 1040 form this month wondering where all your income went?
Just in case you are in the 1 percent of taxpayers that have been slammed by this year’s repeal of your tax cuts, don’t think we here at The Issaquah Press can’t try to help you get a little of it back, with our thoughts about new tax loopholes that should help make ends meet.
Greg Farrar
Press photographer
I polled some of our employees on their ideas. If the American people can get Congress to put these on the books, it would benefit the 1 percent, the 99 percent, the 47 percent and all the other percenters that are out there.
Off The Press
March 5, 2013
It’s a milestone poker party for River Bil
Milestones. There are many ways to observe and celebrate them. At the Elks Lodge, among the poker crowd, we host a tournament.
The milestone in question is a celebration of longtime member Bill Weimer’s 80th birthday. Or, as we affectionately call him, River Bill. More about that in a minute.
Weimer remains the only old-timer who still plays at the Elks what is called the easiest card game to learn, yet the hardest to master, Texas Hold Em. It was from another old-timer, Dallas Cross, who recently moved to Idaho, that Weimer received his moniker, River Bill.
David Hayes
Press reporter
Off The Press
February 26, 2013
The road less taken leads to the woods
I wonder where that road goes? With that question, I am off on another of Robert Frost’s roads less taken, as I explore Issaquah, my new home. With the scarcity of streets laid out in grids, discovery is the best way to learn my way around, especially being map challenged.
Joe Grove
Press proofreader
Sometimes, I leave the house on my motorcycle with my only intent being to take the next right turn or the next left turn. The most amazing find on these serendipitous trips has been the frequency with which roads lead to a trailhead or series of trailheads.
Too many years too late, I realize I am in a hiker’s paradise.
Off The Press
February 19, 2013
Getting hired doesn’t have to be this hard
I’ve just finished hiring a new reporter for The Issaquah Press.
It never ceases to amaze me, when we advertise for help, the strange and sometimes ugly replies we get from people. Last week, I thought maybe a kind of list of do’s and don’ts might help people in their job search. Of course, these aren’t concrete rules, but as a hiring manager, these are some things I look for. Or not.
Kathleen R. Merrill
Press managing editor
1. “Dear sir or madam.” Don’t write that. If you can’t take the few minutes it would take to learn my name and put it on your cover letter, how can I be sure you’ll check out the things you should if you worked here?
Off The Press
February 12, 2013
Adding spice to another Salmon Days
As you may have read on our front page two weeks ago, the Salmon Days Festival has chosen this year’s theme, “Streaming Live,” for the city’s annual October blast of fishy fun. Swimming through a crest of water that looks like an oscilloscope wave is a school of high-tech, rainbow-hued coho salmon, with their fins leaving trails of pixelated bubbles in their wake.
One of the unsung heroes of Salmon Days is Mirrormont resident Robin Dale Spicer, who frequently suggests the theme and always provides the artistic creativity for the logos, the pins, the festival clothing — the “look” of the event.
Greg Farrar
Press photographer
For “Streaming Live,” Kelley quotes Spicer saying, “‘It just came into my head. It seems perfect and I can’t think of anything else.’” Kelley calls it “colorful and powerful, she was so right.”
Off the Press
February 5, 2013
This time, the obituary write-up was personal
I have a newfound respect for the fine work the Flintoft’s Funeral Home family does.
David Hayes
I’ve always thought handling service arrangements for recently deceased loved ones with distraught families had to be one of the hardest jobs imaginable.
While I’ve helped my fair share of families through the obituary-writing process here at The Press, in my 13 years, it never crossed my mind that one day I’d be writing one for my own father.
Our recently departed, former sports editor, Bob Taylor, God bless his soul, used to write about his own battle with cancer as a marathon. It was a long race, with many ups and downs and many helping hands along the way guiding him and praying for his recovery.
Off the Press
January 29, 2013
Relationships change due to social media
Warren Kagarise
Press reporter
The Issaquah Press is not the largest Twitter presence in Issaquah.
The most-followed title goes to Issaquah-based medium Margaret McElroy. The getaway masterminds at Costco Travel rank near the top, too.
The newspaper, at more than 5,100 followers at last count, is not the largest Twitter presence in Issaquah, but it is quintessential to the conversation.
Behind the jumping salmon avatar, I answer questions, offer encouragement and, yes, respond to criticism amid the daily stream of information.
I am grateful to dedicated group of followers on Facebook and Twitter, and I am often humbled at the importance readers place on a personal relationship with the newspaper.
