Roundabout will remain open Sunday; city delays paving
March 19, 2010
NEW — 11:24 a.m. March 19, 2010
The roundabout at East Lake Sammamish Parkway and Southeast 43rd Way will remain open through the weekend.
City officials had planned to close the roundabout Sunday for paving, but weather has delayed the project.
Officials plan to pave the roundabout from 3 p.m. March 28 to 5 a.m. March 29. The entire roundabout will be shut down for the duration of paving.
If the alternate date falls through, crews will pave the roundabout April 4-5 or April 11-12.
Check the city Web site or 1700-AM radio station for updates. The latest information — as well as detour routes — will also be located on electronic message boards near the roundabout.
Scouts will pick up donated food Saturday
March 19, 2010
UPDATED — 10:54 a.m. March 19, 2010
Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts will pick up items needed for the Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank during a Saturday food drive.
Scouts delivered door hangers about the most-needed items to residences in Issaquah and across the Puget Sound region March 13. Scouts will return Saturday to pick up donations as part of the Scouting for Food campaign.
Scouts delivered bags through Issaquah, Sammamish, Cougar Mountain, North Bend, Fall City, Snoqualmie and the Renton Highlands.
Otters will make new elementary school home
March 18, 2010
NEW — 6 a.m. March 18, 2010
The newest Issaquah School District elementary school will be the home of the otters.
Issaquah School Board members recently approved the mascot for Creekside Elementary School. The board also approved colors for the new school — brown, silver and blue. The colors represent the woods and water of otter habitat.
School officials made their final recommendation to the board after asking the community for submissions; they received more than 60 mascot and color entries.
Conservation district voters elect new board member
March 17, 2010
NEW — 11:44 a.m. March 17, 2010
King Conservation District voters elected Renton resident Max Prinsen, a conservation district associate supervisor and president of a wetland-conservation group, to the district board Tuesday.
Prinsen pulled ahead of four other candidates — including former Issaquah wetland biologist Kirk Prindle — to win a three-year term on the five-member board. Prinsen received about 42 percent of the vote; Prindle placed fourth in the race.
The district promotes sustainable use of natural resources, and provides information and voluntary technical-assistance programs to landowners. The all-volunteer governing board includes three members elected by district residents and two members appointed by the state Conservation Commission.
Seattle bank forecloses on Park Pointe
March 16, 2010
A Seattle bank foreclosed on the developer behind Park Pointe last week, and took control of the Tiger Mountain land near Issaquah High School where the developer wanted to build hundreds of residences.
Meanwhile, a federal judge dismissed the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case tied to the developer, Wellington Park Pointe LLC.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Karen Overstreet dismissed the case after attorneys for the developer withdrew a plan to finance and build Park Pointe. Court documents dated March 3 allowed Regal Financial Bank to proceed with the foreclosure.
“The parties wish to avoid incurring additional attorneys fees, in what has been a very expensive matter, and what in all likelihood would be a very expensive trial,” the documents state.
Cities name regional fire district, animal control top concerns
March 16, 2010
Issaquah and Sammamish city council members met last week for a wide-ranging discussion about the challenges faced by the neighboring cities.
Talk about Klahanie Park, how the cities will provide animal-control services after June 30 and the future of emergency services dominated the March 9 meeting at Sammamish City Hall.
With county-run animal shelters set to end June 30, members of both city councils said no proposal exists yet to provide the services now handled by King County Animal Care and Control. Although, representatives from both cities said staffers continue to work on a solution.
A solution could result in a regional partnership among several cities, or individual cities could commission animal-control officers. Federal Way officials, for instance, announced a plan to form a city animal-services agency.
County outlines solution for Klahanie Park
March 16, 2010
Under a new proposal offered by King County, Issaquah could still receive Klahanie Park if the city someday annexed the surrounding neighborhood — even if Sammamish acquired the facility in the meantime.
King County Parks Director Kevin Brown offered a proposal to transfer ownership of the park to whichever city annexes Klahanie. Sammamish has proposed a takeover of Klahanie Park in unincorporated King County, but the offer has riled neighborhood residents.
If Issaquah ever annexes Klahanie — and if neighborhood residents vote for the proposal — Issaquah receives the park alongside the neighborhood.
New design envisioned for downtown park
March 16, 2010
Issaquah landscape architect Dar Webb re-envisioned Pedestrian Park. Downtown boosters hope the proposal launches a discussion about the future of the park. Contributed
Advocates for downtown Issaquah want to transform the space between Jak’s Grill and Mandarin Garden from a blah concrete expanse into a vibrant park for pedestrians, musicians and festival vendors.
Michael Johnson, events director for the DownTown Issaquah Association, asked Dar Webb, a landscape architect and a downtown tenant, to re-envision the space known as Pedestrian Park. Webb presented a park lined with trees, planters and public art.
“That place would be unbelievably packed if we opened it up like this,” Johnson said.
The proposal received a warm reception from the city Arts Commission when Johnson and Webb presented renderings and discussed the idea March 8. However, any proposal to remake the park must go through the public process for all city projects.
The proposal presented last week merely shows how Pedestrian Park could be improved. Any eventual upgrades to the park will look different from the renderings Webb prepared.
Johnson said he hopes the proposal will encourage business owners, city officials and residents to re-envision the space. Read more
Salmon Days named top festival in Washington
March 16, 2010
For the second consecutive year, the Salmon Days Festival reeled in — pardon the puns — a boatload of awards, including the top festival honor in the state, event organizers announced last week. Read more
Rescued eagle takes flight at Pine Lake
March 16, 2010
A bald eagle takes flight over Pine Lake March 9 after it was released. By Christopher Huber
A rescued bald eagle is flying free again after being released from the Ek family’s Pine Lake waterfront home March 9.
The male eagle spent nearly a week recovering from a range of injuries at an aviary in Arlington, according to its rescuers — Tim Brown, of Snoqualmie, Dennis Brown, of Sammamish, and various Pine Lake residents.
“Now he’s checked out and now he’s going back home to his mate,” said Tim Brown, a raptor specialist who calmed and handled the bird after the eagle injured itself March 2.
Pine Lake neighbors and other community members gathered on the Eks’ lawn to watch the eagle’s quick but much-anticipated exit.
“It was exciting to see the eagle — looks like he’s back to full strength,” Sammamish Mayor Don Gerend said. “It’s very encouraging to see the natural species thriving on our lake up here.”
At about 4:30 p.m. March 2, the eagle became entangled in a rope tied between the Eks’ dock and shoreline. It had captured a duck in the middle of the lake, but could not carry the weight, said Dennis Brown, an across-the-lake neighbor. He noticed the bird struggling in the shallow water after swimming to shore with its wings. That’s when he hopped in his canoe and came to help.
“I had never seen anything like this happen,” he said. Read more
