Options abound to recycle old Christmas trees
December 31, 2012
NEW — 2 p.m. Dec. 31, 2012
Christmas is history, and residents ready to pitch old Christmas trees can do so in different ways.
Chip trees — minus tinsel and other decorations — into landscaping material or ground finer into a composting soil amendment.
Customers tired of evergreens dropping brown needles can set out trees for yard waste collection on regular yard waste collection days.
Haulers do not collect trees decked in flocking or decorations. Contact garbage haulers for details; CleanScapes and Allied Waste — a local name for national company Republic Services — serve Issaquah.
Fire causes $30,000 in damage to Issaquah Highlands home
December 28, 2012
NEW — 11:20 a.m. Dec. 28, 2012
Firefighters responded to a house fire in the Issaquah Highlands just after 8 p.m. Thursday.
Eastside Fire & Rescue reached the empty home in the 1600 block of Northeast 24th Street at 8:22 p.m., five minutes after the call reached 911 dispatchers. Firefighters could see smoke and flames from the street, and worked to extinguish the fire in a second-floor bedroom and protect nearby residences.
Overall, eight units responded to the scene in the highlands neighborhood, and firefighters had the blaze under control by 8:43 p.m.
Firefighters estimated the damage at $30,000 overall — $20,000 for the structure and $10,000 for the contents damaged in the blaze. The fire did not cause any injuries.
Issaquah milestones from 2012 reflect challenges, changes
December 25, 2012
Backhoes from Santana Trucking & Excavating dig June 26 at the southeast corner of the intersection of Northeast High Street and Highlands Drive Northeast, as construction starts on the Issaquah Highlands retail center. By Greg Farrar
Challenges — whether economic, political or social — defined the year.
City OKs buildings up to 125 feet tall in business district
December 25, 2012
Redevelopment plan calls for more than 7,000 residences
City leaders raised the building height limit to 125 feet in the business district and raised the stakes for redevelopment in the decades ahead.
The roadmap to redevelopment — a document called the Central Issaquah Plan — also creates a framework to add more than 7,000 residences on about 1,000 acres stretched along Interstate 90.
In a series of decisions reached Dec. 17 after years spent re-envisioning the business district, a relieved City Council adopted the Central Issaquah Plan, but delayed action on a key piece until at least April.
“It’s the right plan at the right time,” Councilman Fred Butler said. “It will not happen overnight, but when the time is right, we will be ready.”
City Council approves pact to transform gravel quarry to urban village
December 25, 2012
The gravel quarry carved into the hillside below the Issaquah Highlands is poised to transform into businesses and homes in the next 30 years, after the City Council approved a landmark development agreement to reshape the area.
The landowner and quarry operator, Issaquah-based Lakeside Industries Inc., proposed the pact last year for about 120 acres on both sides of Highlands Drive Northeast. The council approved the development agreement Dec. 17, despite concerns about building height, traffic congestion and contamination in the Lower Issaquah Valley Aquifer, a key drinking water source for the city.
“There was a lot of push and pull, a lot of compromise, and I think it’s an agreement that both is good for my family and is also good for the city of Issaquah, and that we will live to see a development on this site that enhances the city,” Lakeside Industries CEO Tim Lee said before the unanimous council decision.
Snow causes few disruptions for Issaquah residents
December 25, 2012
Snow crept into forecasts in recent days, but aside from a dusting in higher-elevation neighborhoods and a delay for Issaquah School District students, winter weather did not cause significant disruptions in the area.
In response to slushy conditions on roads and some snowfall overnight, school district administrators delayed the start of school two hours Dec. 18. The day before, as forecasters issued a winter weather advisory for Western Washington, Issaquah and King County road crews prepared for snow.
Who’s News
December 25, 2012
Swedish/Issaquah receives patient satisfaction honor
The Swedish/Issaquah emergency room was recently named a 2012 Summit Award Winner by Press Ganey Associates.
The ER received the award by achieving and maintaining patient satisfaction scores in the 95th percentile or above for at least three consecutive years. The Swedish/Issaquah team also won in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
The Press Ganey Summit Award is the health care satisfaction industry’s most coveted symbol of achievement bestowed annually. The Swedish/Issaquah ER is one of 114 health care facilities in the country to receive the prestigious honor in 2012, and one of only 101 to receive it for achieving and sustaining excellence in patient satisfaction.
Habitat for Humanity affiliates complete merger
December 18, 2012
Habitat for Humanity of East King County — builder of residences in the Issaquah Highlands — and Habitat for Humanity of Seattle/South King County merged to form Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King County.
In Issaquah, the East King County affiliate built the 10-unit Magnolia Village complex in the highlands. Habitat for Humanity of East King County dedicated the final residences in the complex in April.
Central Issaquah Plan proposes shift from suburban to urban in business district
December 11, 2012
Issaquah, circa 2040, could sport a skyline.
The central business district is on the cusp of change, as city leaders plan for redevelopment on about 1,000 acres stretched along Interstate 90.
Nowadays, suburban sprawl dominates the landscape — traffic-clogged streets unfurl next to strip malls. Residents live elsewhere and climb into cars to reach the area’s amenities. Underfoot, 75 percent of land in the area is encased under parking lots.
Imagine, instead, buildings up to 125 feet tall, storefronts and residences arranged along tree-lined sidewalks, and perhaps decades in the future, a station on the regional rail network.
Lakeside Industries development pact could transform quarry site
December 11, 2012
The gravel quarry on a hillside below the Issaquah Highlands, plus land adjacent to the highlands, could someday transform into businesses and homes, if city leaders approve a long-term agreement to redevelop the site.
The landowner and quarry operator, Issaquah-based Lakeside Industries Inc., proposed a 30-year development agreement last year for about 120 acres on both sides of Highlands Drive Northeast. The proposed pact is scheduled to reach the City Council on Dec. 17, as officials consider a plan to remake the area.
The land under consideration is zoned for mineral resources and single-family residences. The development agreement could change the designation on some areas to urban village, the same rules used for the highlands and Talus.
