At least six teams of Kittitas County Search and Rescue personnel are combing Snoqualmie Pass in search of four women who lost their path while snow-shoeing in the Gold Creek area. The women called 9-1-1 Sunday, Dec. 27 at about 4:30 p.m. for help.
When the city of Snoqualmie celebrated Gloria McNeely Day last February on the occasion of her 90th birthday, the nearly 70-year resident assumed that was the pinnacle of her recognition as a community leader and volunteer. That’s why she was “totally blind-sided, and still in a state of disbelief” when Mayor Matt Larson presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award and key to the city.
Packages stolen from doorsteps and outdoor lights and ornaments that have been torn down are clear signs that the Grinch is visiting the Valley this season.
Police in North Bend and Snoqualmie have received a few reports of holiday vandalism this month.
With a little creativity and a lot of flour, 11-year-old Dylan Riley made more than $2,000 to help children in Africa.
Julie Moshay is a reluctant hero, an avoider of the spotlight. She likes being on the team, and if she has to lead, it’s going to be by example.
When someone gave her a “World’s Best Waitress” pin to wear on her apron, she added a small “in Training” label to the bottom of it.
Her actions may be the only reason that truck driver Ralph Snyder is still driving around, but she’s not comfortable being called a hero.
“I understand why people say ‘I just did what anyone would have done,’ because that’s what I was thinking!” said Moshay, recounting how she saved Snyder’s life on Sunday, Dec. 12.
Doug Ostgard played in a pit orchestra for legends like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Johnny Mathis. He’s been a professional musician in Las Vegas, and was part of rock band Heart’s 1980 world tour. His musical career has spanned more than 30 years, but it wasn’t until this year that he fulfilled a longtime dream.
“I always told myself ‘Some day, I’m going to make my own Christmas record,'” Ostgard said. Now, he has.
A Santa hat, that’s what I need, I’m thinking. Definitely, a big, furry hat. OK, I’ll take any hat, and some mittens would be nice.
It’s cold and drizzling, and I’ve learned that I can’t sustain any kind of musical rhythm with the Salvation Army bell in my left hand (my right hand is staying warm in my pocket). But no one’s complaining about my technique, and they’re still putting money in the kettle, so I’m happy.
By the time Harold Erland comes back with his coffee, I’ve seen a mother teaching her little daughter about giving, and another woman make good on her promise to “be right back” with a donation. I’ve also failed to take anyone’s photo as they made their contributions.
“You know why?” Erland asked me. “They don’t want a picture because the Bible says ‘when you give, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,'” quoting Matthew 6:3.
Erland had something there.
Two adults and a child were rescued from the roof of their vehicle Sunday afternoon on Southeast Reinig Road, near 396 Drive Southeast in North Bend. The vehicle had stalled in rising floodwaters.
A 9-1-1 call came in at 3:32 p.m. from a person on flood patrol for King County. The caller reported that a vehicle was submerged, with three people standing on the roof. Police and fire personnel from North Bend were dispatched to the scene. The Snoqualmie Fire Department was also called, but the call was cancelled while the responders were en route.
Police and Fire arrived and determined that the vehicle was partially submerged, but the water was rising and the vehicle was becoming bouyant.
Mount Si and Cedarcrest High School students have donated hundreds of pounds of food and other essentials in the past month, as part of their traditional collections for people in need.
Although the schools no longer face each other on the football field, groups at both high schools are in the midst of their annual “Foodball” food drives, an event named for the annual Valley Cup football game between Mount Si and Cedarcrest. The event isn’t a contest between schools, but it still stirs the competitive spirit in both districts. Elementary schools vie to raise more donations of food and cash than their high schools, and at the high schools, students compete by class, and by period.
Students at Mount Si High School are talking about solutions to school problems, and they’ve started with bullying. Last week, Mount Si hosted its first open forum for students to freely discuss the issue, led by students Chace Carlson and Cassady Weldon.
Carlson and Weldon, also student representatives on the Snoqualmie Valley School Board, reported on the forum at the Dec. 9 board meeting. Their findings were both expected and surprising.
“Obviously, there’s still bullying and harassment going on. People see it every day,” Carlson began.
Victims were both students and teachers, and so, in a sense, were the bullies. Carlson said some students mentioned hearing their own teachers complaining about other teachers, similar to the way student cliques bash other students.
From a visual sweet spot directly in front of the commons stage, Twin Falls Middle School Assistant Principal Marty Barber looked straight down the Middle Fork sixth grade hallway. With a turn of his head, his view shifted to the seventh and eighth grade wings.
In an era when bullying and school safety are at the forefront of many parents’ minds, Barber or any other administrator can be aware of most of what’s going on in the school at a glance.
“That’s the design brilliance,” said Barber, who led a group of parents on a tour of middle school features meant to be incorporated into a planned new Snoqualmie Ridge Middle School.
The tour, held Wednesday, Dec. 8, was part of a series of informative meetings on bond concepts being held by the Snoqualmie Valley School District.
North Bend has a balanced budget going into 2011, but the city still needs to shave $100,000 off its payroll commitments.
On legal assurance that the city will be able to amend the budget in the future, council members approved the $18.9 million budget on Tuesday, Dec. 7, by a vote of five to two.
While two council members, David Cook and Alan Gothelf voted against the budget, none of the council was satisfied with it.
Gothelf said the council had not set priorities correctly and was concerned that “we’re balancing the budget on public safety.” The preliminary budget included a 7 percent increase in the law enforcement fund, to $1.6 million, but a 33 percent cut to the overtime allocation.
City Council members gave unanimous support to bringing a $5 million bond issue before voters at its Dec. 7 meeting. The bond, to build a new, shared fire station with Eastside Fire & Rescues’s District 38, will be on the Feb. 8 ballot.
Council member Dee Williamson noted that the existing fire station in North Bend has been found unstable and is expected to collapse in an earthquake the size of the 2001 Nisqually quake, “which was nothing,” he said. “In my opinion, this is a must.
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