Eastside Fire & Rescue extends burn ban
September 25, 2012
Continued dry conditions have led Eastside Fire & Rescue leaders to extend the regional burn ban until Oct. 20, officials announced Sept. 21.
The moratorium affects Issaquah, Sammamish and North Bend, in addition to rural fire protection districts 10 and 38. In the Issaquah area, Fire District 10 encompasses Klahanie, May Valley, Mirrormont and Preston. The burn ban was due to expire Sept. 30.
“We remain in a serious situation for the potential of a wildfire and with many resources east of the mountains, we need to take these unusual steps to limit the risk,” EFR Fire Marshal Bud Backer, a deputy chief for the agency, said in a statement.
EFR’s moratorium is in addition to a burn ban imposed by the King County fire marshal until further notice.
Skyline High School to close Thursday over mass shooting threat
September 20, 2012
NEW — 12:45 a.m. Sept. 20, 2012
Students and parents were panicking late Wednesday and into the early morning hours of Thursday after someone posted on the Internet that Skyline High School would be targeted for a mass shooting.
After conferring with Sammamish Police, school officials decided to close the school.
“This is always one of the hardest situations to deal with. You take it as seriously as you possibly can but with social media, that kind of stuff is easy to put out there,” Issaquah School District spokeswoman Sara Niegowski said. “There is no way to say this is not credible, so the absolute safest thing to do is close the campus tomorrow and give police time to track down this individual and make sure that everyone is safe.”
Rowley Properties welcomes new employees
September 4, 2012
Ryan Scarnhorst and Marta McKie recently joined the Rowley Properties team.
Scharnhorst joined in April as a property accountant (residential and commercial). He is a certified public accountant and notary public, and holds a master of professional accountancy and a Bachelor of Arts in business from the University of Washington.
Scarnhorst’s most recent position was as controller for Fourpoints Outdoor, a multimillion-dollar advertising company.
Scarnhorst lives in Issaquah with his family and he’s also the treasurer for the South Cove Homeowner Association.
McKie joined in July as a residential property manager. She will be responsible for the Wildwood Apartment Homes, Kelkari and North Bend rentals, RV/storage and overall customer service. McKie’s most recent position was as the community manager for the Klahanie Homeowners Association.
McKie has 13 years of experience in operational and functional management for property and apartment communities.
She lives near Issaquah with her miniature greyhound, Rocket.
Valley Medical Center executive identified in plateau drowning
August 21, 2012
Barbara Mitchell
Valley Medical Center identified the woman from a recent Sammamish Plateau drowning as hospital executive Barbara Mitchell.
Mitchell, 66, served as senior vice president of human resources and marketing at the Renton hospital. Police said she left for a walk and then drowned Aug. 8 in Rainbow Lake at Issaquah-Pine Lake Road Southeast and Southeast 44th Street near Klahanie.
Investigators said Mitchell lived within a mile of Rainbow Lake.
Sammamish wants Issaquah to contribute more for plateau fire stations
August 21, 2012
Issaquah could pay a larger share to keep Eastside Fire & Rescue stable, after officials in neighboring Sammamish asked for other partners to contribute more to correct perceived inequity in funding Sammamish Plateau fire stations.
Mark Mullet
The stations in question receive large portions of funding from Sammamish, but most incidents handled by crews at the stations occur in Issaquah.
Sammamish City Manager Ben Yazici met with representatives from Issaquah and Fire District 10 in recent weeks to discuss potential solutions to the funding issue.
(Fire District 10 is the EFR partner serving residents in Klahanie, May Valley, Mirrormont, Preston and Tiger Mountain in the Issaquah area, plus Carnation in rural King County.)
The discussion is centered on funding for Station 83, at 3425 Issaquah-Pine Lake Road S.E., and Station 81, at 2030 212th Ave. S.E.
Issaquah-headquartered EFR determines the bill for partners based on the assessed value of property in each city or district.
Voters could decide dollars for Eastside Fire & Rescue, emergency services
August 21, 2012
The source of dollars underpinning emergency response agencies throughout King County — including Eastside Fire & Rescue — is poised to go before voters next year.
In late July, leaders from the county, cities and emergency response agencies recommended a six-year renewal for the countywide Medic One/EMS levy. The existing levy is due to expire Dec. 31, 2013, and the task force urged leaders to put the property tax measure on the ballot again.
The annual property tax levy provided almost $1.4 million for the 2012 EFR budget. The amount each agency receives is derived through a formula based on assessed values and call volumes in the agency’s service area.
“It’s very important” as a funding source, EFR Deputy Chief Bud Backer said Aug. 2.
Valley Medical Center executive identified in Sammamish Plateau drowning
August 16, 2012
NEW — 1 p.m. Aug. 16, 2012
Valley Medical Center identified the woman from a recent Sammamish Plateau drowning as hospital executive Barbara Mitchell.
Barbara Mitchell
Mitchell, 66, served as senior vice president, human resources and marketing, at the Renton hospital. Police said she left for a walk and then drowned Aug. 8 in Rainbow Lake at Issaquah-Pine Lake Road Southeast and Southeast 44th Street near Klahanie.
Investigators said Mitchell lived within a mile of Rainbow Lake.
Mitchell worked at Valley Medical Center since 1999, initially as director of human resources, and then rose to vice president of human resources and, later, to senior vice president, human resources and marketing.
Under Mitchell’s leadership, Valley Medical Center garnered Best Workplace recognition for Valley Medical Center for 10 consecutive years. The honor saluted a high level of excellence in staff training and involvement, benefit enhancement and recruitment in a competitive industry.
Issaquah Valley Trolley is back on track, poised to return
August 14, 2012
The historic Issaquah Valley Trolley Car No. 519 undergoes renovation at the Gomaco Trolley Co. facility in Ida Grove, Iowa. Contributed by Gomaco Trolley Co.
Quietly, after a decadeslong coal and timber boom fueled expansion, passenger rail service to Issaquah ceased 90 years ago.
Woman drowns in Sammamish Plateau lake
August 14, 2012
Police said a 66-year-old woman drowned in a Sammamish Plateau pond in the Klahanie area Aug. 8.
Sgt. Cindi West, King County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, said the woman drowned in Rainbow Lake at Issaquah-Pine Lake Road Southeast and Southeast 44th Street before 7:45 p.m. The woman’s family called police after she failed to return from a walk and missed a medical appointment.
Police do not suspect foul play in the incident.
Officials at the King County Medical Examiner’s Office did not release the woman’s name by Aug. 13, pending notification of additional family members.
Trash strike causes confusion for Issaquah customers
August 7, 2012
Drivers for the garbage hauler in most Issaquah neighborhoods fielded questions in late July as a strike paralyzed another hauler and led to festering containers on street corners in many King County cities.
The strike did not affect either contract hauler operating in Issaquah, but drivers for CleanScapes received questions from customers along collection routes. Many customers assumed the drivers to be nonunion replacement drivers for Waste Management.
CleanScapes drivers, members of Teamsters Local 174, operate under a contract signed last year. The company operates under a single labor agreement with garbage, recycling and yard waste drivers.
