Articles by Carol Ladwig
Welcoming pets and owners
Dog lovers explore Carnation’s new off-leash park
By Carol Ladwig • July 29, 2011 4:24 pm

Carnation dog-lovers gathered Wednesday, July 27, in a celebration of dogs, their humans, and small-town community spirit. They came to cut the ribbon to the city’s new off-leash dog park, or rather to watch a handful of dogs lick the peanut-butter-covered ribbon instead of chewing through it.

Finally, Ann Estrin-Wassink, who led the dog park project, decided to break the ribbon and let the dogs into the eight-acre park next to the city’s wastewater treatment plant and vacuum station. Then the festivities and the tail-wagging began in earnest.

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North Bend proposes new taxing district, sales tax hike for infrastructure
North Bend proposes new taxing district, sales tax...
By Carol Ladwig • July 29, 2011 3:54 pm

A proposed sales tax increase in North Bend was applauded at the city’s July 19 public hearing on the issue.
“I came tonight to support 100 percent your proposal,” North Bend resident Sherwood Korssjoen told the North Bend City Council. “It gives us an opportunity to free up … resources for some of the future projects that will bring significant benefits to the region, especially given that we have so many people coming in from outside of the community.”
The increase, from 8.6 to 8.8 percent, is expected to raise about $400,000 specifically for road projects listed on the city’s six-year transportation improvement plan. Because it’s a sales tax, non-residents will also help pay for the city infrastructure that they also use and enjoy.

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Raechel Femling meets with Dr. Alan Johnson at Snoqualmie Ridge Medical Clinic. Femling
Breaking the cycle: From cops to rehab, Snoqualmie...
By Carol Ladwig • July 26, 2011 2:21 pm

It took only minutes for the thief to smash the windows of five cars, grab what he could and disappear.
The burglary happened in broad daylight July 18 at Snoqualmie’s Point Park trailhead.
The victims on the trail were less than 100 feet away, but couldn’t hear the sound of shattering safety glass. The thief probably knew he wouldn’t be caught in the act.

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Teachers air budget frustrations with Snoqualmie Valley school board
Teachers air budget frustrations with Snoqualmie Valley school...
By Carol Ladwig • July 24, 2011 5:29 pm

School starts in the Snoqualmie Valley School District on August 30, but there’s no budget yet, and negotiations are still on for teacher contracts.

Frustrated by perceived disrespect, about 50 district teachers attended the Snoqualmie Valley School Board’s July 21 meeting to hear the budget proposal for the 2011-12 school year. They waved signs that read “Respect” and “Invest in Quality,” asked pointed questions, and some became very emotional as they talked about poor management decisions and the future of their careers.

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Chasing the high: As drug use patterns change in Snoqualmie Valley, responders find there is no ‘typical’ addict
Chasing the high: As drug use patterns change...
By Carol Ladwig • July 19, 2011 3:26 pm

She was 16 and already using meth, so why try heroin?

Her boyfriend was using it, and wanted her to, but she wasn’t interested, until the day that her friends held her down and injected her with the opiate.

She liked it immediately, and started using it, heavily.

“In my teen years, I would use almost two grams a day,” said Raechel Femling, who still has a black mark on her arm from that day, 14 years ago.

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Michevous skater boar Snort will entertain the crowd as part of the North Bend Block Party
North Bend Block Party | Powerful porkers to...
By Carol Ladwig • July 19, 2011 6:24 pm

Pigs will fly on Saturday, July 23, when Valentine’s Performing Pigs come to the North Bend Block Party. The Community Stage is where Petunia the Vietnamese pot-bellied pig will amaze party-goers by jumping through hoops and other unlikely piggie feats, and she’s not even the star of the show.
Nellie, billed as “The World’s Smartest Pig” when she performed on Letterman and Leno, is the finale of the Valentine’s half-hour show, says owner Steve Valentine.

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North Bend Block Party | Creative costumes, doggie Olympics showcase hot dogs
North Bend Block Party | Creative costumes, doggie...
By Carol Ladwig • July 19, 2011 6:12 pm

Cathie Linden is expecting at least one Lady Gaga at this weekend’s festivities, and hoping for a Justin Bieber, too.

“This year, I’ve asked people to get creative with their costumes,” she said, “so I asked a friend to bring her dog as Lady Gaga.”

But dogs dressed up as pop stars are only part of the full day that Linden, owner of U Dirty Dog, is planning for dogs and their owners who come to the North Bend downtown Block Party. There will also be grooming demonstrations give-aways, and the much anticipated doggie olympics, with events like bobbing for hot dogs, and the loudest “speak.”

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Kathie Cassady mounts her white horse for a day on the Cracker Trail in Florida. Her team
Riding along history: Snoqualmie woman follows Florida’s historic...
By Carol Ladwig • July 12, 2011 2:40 pm

With a higher vantage point, you can generally see things better. Kathie Cassady of Snoqualmie knows this is especially true if your vantage point is atop a beautiful white horse.
From this position, Cassady was able to see centuries’ worth of Florida’s history on a prayer ride she and her Glory International teammates made across that state in February, and parallels to life in the Valley.

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Kathy Wheeler
Senior renewal: Sno-Valley Center seeks temporary home as...
By Carol Ladwig • July 5, 2011 5:04 pm

During a water break, fitness instructor Paige Denison had to tell her exercise class about her last 10K race. Looking pointedly at one student, she described how someone flew past her at the end of the race. “Annie’s great-granddaughter skunked me!” she announced.

How old was she, the class wanted to know. Annie said she was 14. Her fellow exercisers were impressed, but not quite enough to rib their teacher about it, until Denison admitted “Not that it doesn’t happen, I’m just not used to it being one of your great-grandchildren!”

Everyone grinned, and then went back to work, building abdominal muscles and getting hearts pumping.

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Plug and drive: North Bend prepares for electric-car surge
Plug and drive: North Bend prepares for electric-car...
By Carol Ladwig • July 5, 2011 5:03 pm

Getting ready for a possible surge of electric vehicles on state highways, the North Bend City Council weighs in this month on local green-car standards.

The council will vote July 19 on an ordinance that would match state standards for electric-car infrastructure development. The law defines terms and updates zoning for charging stations and battery exchange facilities.

“It doesn’t require that the city do anything, it just requires that we allow electric vehicle charging infrastructure within the city,” said City Planner Mike McCarty.

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Displaying some of their latest trophies
High-tech hardware: Mount Si students in awards spotlight...
By Carol Ladwig • July 5, 2011 5:01 pm

Snowboards, skis, and movie posters line the walls of Joe Dockery’s Mount Si High School classroom, where dozens of this year’s award-winning films got their start.

The posters came from the North Bend Theatre, which showed the films at the Wildcat Film Festival in May. The skis and snowboards, they’re mainly for inspiration.

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Snoqualmie impact fee wrangle continues as school board approves 2012 charge, debates annex delay
Snoqualmie impact fee wrangle continues as school board...
By Carol Ladwig • June 30, 2011 4:47 pm

Snoqualmie Valley School District’s latest construction proposal says a freshman campus is coming in 2013, and calls for the impact fees to pay for it.

But the district’s Board of Directors appears willing to delay opening of a Mount Si High School annex, even as it renews efforts to push the city of Snoqualmie to collect the hiked current-year impact charge.

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