Issaquah sustainability ‘report card’ indicates successes, shortfalls
September 2, 2010
NEW — 10 a.m. Sept. 2, 2010
The inaugural sustainability “report card” from the city touted Costco carpools, the Sustainable Issaquah community garden and affordable-housing construction in the Issaquah Highlands as signs of “green” progress.
The city released the report Wednesday. City staffers collected data to answer the question: How sustainable are we?
“The report shows us many positive signs — including an increase in Issaquah’s natural open spaces,” Mayor Ava Frisinger said. “Commuters are also making fewer drive-alone trips, volunteerism is strong and participation in the arts is increasing.”
Buy concert concessions to help new community group
July 20, 2010
NEW — 1 p.m. July 20, 2010
Help members of the Aktion Club — a group of civic-minded adults with disabilities — raise money for community projects at Concerts on the Green.
Aktion members will serve concessions during the 7 p.m. concert. Mr. Miyagi, a band playing ’80s and ’90s classics, performs Tuesday on the Issaquah Community Center lawn.
Aktion resulted from collaboration between the Kiwanis Club of Issaquah and AtWork! The nonprofit organization helps people with disabilities learn skills and find jobs.
Aktion launched last month; 12 adults with disabilities joined the group at the inaugural meeting. The organization provides members with opportunities to participate in community events and projects.
Before the school year starts, Aktion members will help Kiwanians collect supplies and stuff backpacks for needy children.
If you build it, they will come
July 13, 2010
Issaquah Flatland Community Garden proves to be a popular, helpful, healthy addition to the city
Andrew Merges (left) and his wife Angela tend to their personal bed in the Issaquah Flatland Community Garden. By Tim Pfarr
For someone who lives in an apartment or condominium, it may seem the only way to have a personal garden is to dump a bunch of soil in the bathtub, buy an ultraviolet lamp and install some tomato plants. Well, it’s time these people got word there is such a thing as a community garden, and that bathing can once again ensue.
Just a couple of blocks north of Issaquah Valley Elementary School, one can find the Issaquah Flatland Community Garden. The project came to life in May 2009 thanks to many volunteers and a partnership between Sustainable Issaquah and the company AtWork!, which helps people with disabilities be productive, integrated and contributing members of their communities.
The garden on the site of the AtWork! Issaquah office turned out to be hotter than jalapeños when it opened, its 24 beds filling almost instantly.
“The community garden kind of rose to the top as a low-hanging fruit,” said Chantal Stevens, Sustainable Issaquah co-founder. “Everybody wanted one.”
Dennis Wajda, AtWork! employment consultant and community liaison, agreed.
“We never had to go door to door or hang anything,” he said. “People just came.”
He said volunteers worked expediently in ripping out part of the AtWork! lawn, installing the garden and building a fence around it.
“Literally, in one month, it went from looking like that grass to this,” Wajda said, motioning to the garden and the grass that still surrounds it.
Each 4-by-15 bed costs $40 per year, and the cost covers watering. Gardeners must also bring their own plants. Of the garden’s 24 beds, six are designated “community impact beds,” and the produce they yield goes directly to the Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank. Read more
King County honors Issaquah’s top recyclers
June 24, 2010
NEW — 6 a.m. June 24, 2010
Efforts to recycle batteries, toner cartridges, cooking oil and construction materials earned Issaquah agencies and businesses kudos from the King County Solid Waste Division.
The county has recognized the Issaquah municipal government, the Issaquah School District and three Issaquah businesses — Pogacha, Rowley Properties and Timber Ridge at Talus — as Best Workplaces for Recycling and Waste Reduction.
Community Calendar
June 15, 2010
Events
It’s Fathers Day at the Issaquah Farmers Market from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. June 20 at Pickering Barn, 1730 10th Ave. N.W. A PCC cooking demonstration by Chef Olaiya Land is from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. The Fidgety Feet Jazz Band performs from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. in the market courtyard.
Car show comes to church Eastridge Church hosts a Father’s Day Weekend car and motorcycle show, with a chili cook-off, activities for children and more, June 19 at 24505 S.E. Issaquah-Fall City Road. The gates open at 8 a.m. and all cars and motorcycles must be registered by 10:30 a.m. to be eligible for awards. Weekend services will feature cars and bikes from the competition. Registration for the car and motorcycle show is $20, but admission is free. The first 100 registrants will receive a free dash plaque or kickstand plate and T-shirt. Go to http://EastridgeToday.com/carshow. File
The Kiwanis Club of Issaquah and AtWork! kick-off Aktion Club for adults living with disabilities at 6:30 p.m. June 17 at Gibson Hall, 105 Newport Way S.E. This event is open to any adult living with any kind of disability anywhere in King County, their family members, staff, teachers, advocates and others who care about people with disabilities. Aktion Club will hold events and activities in the greater Issaquah area. Aktion Club seeks to inspire other Kiwanis clubs to sponsor Aktion Clubs in their communities in the coming years. Call 274-4001 or e-mail chrisb@atworkwa.org.
Don’t miss the newest addition to the Fenders on Front Street Father’s Day Car Show — an amateur chili cook-off. Local chili aficionados are invited to cook their best batch of chili for the competition. Individuals and teams welcome. The cook-off will be held in conjunction with Fenders on Front Street on June 20 in downtown Issaquah. All cook-off participants must register in advance. Call 503-8258 or e-mail mycheflynn@gmail.com.
Celebrate and help raise funds for the Reach Eastside Performing Arts Center and Reach for the Sky July, a summer performing arts camp serving marginalized youth in the Greater Issaquah Valley, from 7-10 p.m. June 26 at the Reach Eastside Performing Arts Center, 80540 S.E. 84th, Suite 1, Preston. There will be live music by Zone B, featuring Issaquah resident Rich Payne, a silent auction and a no-host bar. Call 222-7050.
Highlands Day 2010 is from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. June 28 at Village Green and Blakely Hall, 2550 N.E. Park Drive. There will be pony rides, train rides, games and prizes, a kid and dog parade, great food, a visit from the goats and more. Read more
Community Calendar
June 8, 2010
Events
It’s Get Educated! Day at the Issaquah Farmers Market from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. June 12 at Pickering Barn, 1730 10th Ave. N.W. King County Search & Rescue Clinic: “Back Country Mistakes & How to Avoid Them” is from 10–11 a.m. in the Hay Barn. Seattle Tilth Educators Talk: “Edibles in the Landscape,” by Sue Hartman, is from noon – 1 p.m. in the Hay Barn. Trainwreck performs acoustic rock from 9 a.m. – noon in the Market Courtyard.
Summer depot hours The Issaquah Train Depot has added summer hours from 4-8 p.m. Thursdays through Aug. 26. It is also open from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Call 392-3500. File
Eastside Mothers and More meeting is at 10 a.m. June 12 in Spring Hall, East Shore Unitarian Church, 12700 S.E. 132nd St., Bellevue. The topic is Birds and Bees and Kids: How To Talk To Our Kids About Sex. Go to www.eastsidemothersandmore.org.
The Kiwanis Club of Issaquah and AtWork! kick-off Aktion Club for adults living with disabilities at 6:30 p.m. June 17 at Gibson Hall, 105 Newport Way S.E. This event is open to any adult living with any kind of disability anywhere in King County, their family members, staff, teachers, advocates and others who care about people with disabilities. Aktion Club will hold events and activities in the greater Issaquah area. Aktion Club seeks to inspire other Kiwanis clubs to sponsor Aktion Clubs in their communities in the coming years. Call 274-4001 or e-mail chrisb@atworkwa.org.
Eastridge Church will host a Father’s Day Weekend car and motorcycle show, with a chili cook-off, activities for children and more, June 19 at 24505 S.E. Issaquah-Fall City Road. The gates open at 8 a.m. and all cars and motorcycles must be registered by 10:30 a.m. to be eligible for awards. Weekend services will feature cars and bikes from the competition. Registration for the car and motorcycle show is $20, but admission is free. The first 100 registrants will receive a free dash plaque or kickstand plate and t-shirt. Go to http://EastridgeToday.com/carshow.
Don’t miss the newest addition to the Fenders on Front Street Father’s Day Car Show — an amateur chili cook-off. Local chili aficionados are invited to cook their best batch of chili for the competition. Individuals and teams welcome. The cook-off will be held in conjunction with Fenders on Front Street on June 20 in Downtown Issaquah. All cook-off participants must register in advance. Call 503-8258 or e-mail mycheflynn@gmail.com.
Highlands Day 2010 is from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. June 28 at Village Green and Blakely Hall, 2550 N.E. Park Drive. There will be pony rides, train rides, games and prizes, a kid and dog parade, great food, a visit from the goats and more.
Eastlake High School is sponsoring its summer cheer camp, to benefit the cheerleading program, from 9 a.m. – noon July 13-16, with a performance for friends and family scheduled for the last day. Register at www.ehscheer.org. Read more
Who’s News
June 1, 2010
AtWork! official earns national certificate of achievement
Jane Kuechle, chief development officer for AtWork!, has been awarded a National Certificate of Achievement in Community Rehabilitation Management by the Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators.
To receive the certificate Kuechle, of Issaquah, successfully completed more than 60 hours of instruction in financial management, marketing, human resources and leadership for rehabilitation programs. The Community Rehabilitation Management Certificate Series is taught by training specialists and instructors through the Center for Continuing Education in Rehabilitation at the University of Washington’s School of Rehabilitation Medicine Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center Northwest.
AtWork! is a 47-year-old private nonprofit company, based in Bellevue and Issaquah, that provides employment services to people with disabilities throughout King County, by helping them learn marketable skills; find and keep good jobs in the community; and earn wages and benefits that help them escape poverty.
Officials urge Waste Management, union to resolve garbage strike
April 21, 2010
UPDATED — 5:10 p.m. April 21, 2010
King County leaders urged a quick settlement to the strike against Waste Management by garbage haulers represented by Teamsters Local 174.
County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn sent a joint letter to Waste Management and the union Wednesday.
Waste Management trash haulers represented by the Local 174 went on strike Wednesday morning. The company picks up garbage in most of Issaquah, except for the Greenwood Point and South Cove neighborhoods. Altogether, Waste Management serves more than 1 million customers across King and Snohomish counties.
Press Editorial
March 30, 2010
City should not own a human services campus
The idea of bringing human service nonprofit agencies together in one location to best serve the clients is not a new idea. It has been tried and proven successful at the Family Resource Center in Redmond. Read more
Community calendar
March 16, 2010
Carey for charity Comedian Drew Carey will be the keynote speaker at the fifth annual Celebration of Youth Luncheon to support Friends of Youth, from noon – 1:15 p.m. March 25 at the Bellevue Hyatt Hotel. Go to www.friendsofyouth.org.
- Malarky’s, 1025 N.W. Gilman Blvd., hosts Issaquah singer/songwriter Jeremy Owens, and will serve corned beef and cabbage and other drink specials, including green beer, black and tan, and Guinness. Call 392-6356 for times.
- Gaslamp, 1315 N.W. Mall St., offers corned beef and cabbage and drink specials all day. Call 392-4547.
- Joker Pub, 5614 E. Sammamish Parkway S.E., Suite A, offers corned beef and cabbage and drink specials all day. Call 392-1225.
- Pogacha, 120 N.W. Gilman Blvd., hosts Seattle musicians The Cutters playing Celtic music from 4 p.m. on, an Irish menu (including corned beef and cabbage, Irish stew and Bailey’s Irish cream cheese cake) and other drink specials. Call 392-5550.
- Wear green into any Chipotle in Washington on St. Patrick’s Day and receive a free order of guacamole with your burrito, tacos, bowl or salad. The Issaquah Chipotle is at 775 N.W. Gilman Blvd. Call 837-9100.
Aegis of Issaquah hosts a St. Patrick’s Day Craft Bazaar from 4-6 p.m. March 17 at 780 N.W. Juniper St. There will be local vendors and a buffet of traditional Irish food and green beer. The Comerford School of Irish Dance will perform from 5-5:30 p.m. Tickets for food and drinks are $1 to benefit the staff’s Potato Soup Foundation. Call 392-8100. Read more
