County budget finalized Council cuts proposed roads fee. Page 2 Tree time Group continues annual tree sale tradition. Page 6 Checkmate Elementary students take up chess. Page 7 Local team digs deep Youth soccer team comes together. Page 8 Police blotter Page 10 November 29, 2012 VOL. 4, NO. 48 Mount Si football team ends historic season Page 8 Your locally-owned newspaper, serving North Bend and Snoqualmie, Washington Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Kent, WA Permit No. 71 POSTAL CUSTOMER By Michele Mihalovich The city of North Bend made two decisions that would change the course of its his- tory. First, in 1999, it imposed a 10-year moratorium on all new construction that required water rights. Three years later, it hired Crazy Tie Guy. The city named Ron Garrow as its first public works direc- tor, and brought him on spe- cifically to find a solution to the water problem. And if he could do it, they were willing to overlook his propensity for donning silly ties. Garrow didn’t use a divining rod to find a new water source, but he did use knowledge gleaned from his University of Washington master’s degree in civil engineering, with an emphasis in water resource management, and his work with the cities of Fife, Milton and Federal Way. Tapping into that experi- ence, he knew to not look for water in loose, sandy soil down by the river, and instead point- ed the drill right on the city’s public works property, set atop hard rock. The Centennial Well was dug in 2008, and the final Crazy Tie Guy is setting sail Dec. 4 By Michele Mihalovich North Bend Public Works Director Ron Garrow, aka Crazy Tie Guy, demonstrates with the sailboat model what he plans to do after his Dec. 4 retirement. By Michele Mihalovich North Bend Police Chief Mark Toner knows the city has a homeless problem. He knows citizens are con- cerned about the gauntlet of sometimes scary people who line the bridges by the river trails. He knows city leaders want some- thing done about the homeless sleeping in tents by the rivers. What he didn’t know was what could be done about it. What started out as a road- side conversation about the local homeless population later turned into an impromptu com- munity meeting of more than 30 folks trying to come up with some kind of solution. Toner, with the help of Pastor Pete Battjes at North Bend Community Church, organized a Nov. 6 meeting through word- of-mouth and a string of emails. Toner told the Star he had had no idea whether anyone would show up, or if too many people would show up. He didn’t know if they were going to be in the “let’s help the homeless” camp or the “let’s run ‘em out of town” camp. But after the first meeting, he said, “I was extremely impressed with the significant and diverse turnout. From what started as a small roadside conversation a few weeks ago with four others to having nearly three dozen energetic and compassionate citizens show up eager to offer input, support and resources is another great demonstration of the high level of community involvement people in our area consistently show.” The first meeting focused on who is homeless, and what the community can realistically do to help. Toner knows the group of about 24 homeless who live in the tents along the river, but others who turned out figured there were probably 80 regulars if you count the car campers — people sleeping in vehicles on the city streets or private parking lots every night. Both are illegal in North Bend. The next question the group tried to answer was how it could help immediately. Talk turned to Frosty, a local river camper often seen walking around town with plastic bags on his feet. Toner recounted finding Frosty during January’s snow and ice storm down by the river with nothing but a sheet over his shoulders. Focus on homeless is uniting the community By Sarah Gerdes For Snoqualmie Valley resi- dents, the annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony is the kick-off for holiday activities and celebrations in the Valley. Another tradition in the Valley is attending the annual Community Nativity Christmas Concert, a nondenominational, interfaith affair that involves internationally celebrated recording artists alongside local student performers. This year, the 12th annual event is at 6 p.m. Dec. 8 at the North Bend building of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. “Christmas is a time for fam- ily, community and friends to gather together, and we are honored to be able to share in a little bit of this by hosting and providing the venue for such a wonderful event,” said Lind Stapley, a presiding counselor in the Bellevue South Stake that oversees the LDS congregations for the Snoqualmie Valley. “It’s a time and a place for us to come together, feel the love for Christmas concert is coming See CONCERT, Page 2 See GARROW, Page 3 See HOMELESS, Page 3
Transcript
County budget finalizedCouncilcutsproposedroadsfee.
Page2
Tree time Groupcontinuesannualtreesaletradition.
Page6
CheckmateElementarystudentstakeupchess.
Page7
Local team digs deepYouthsoccerteamcomestogether.
Page8
Police blotterPage10
November 29, 2012
VOL. 4, NO. 48
Mount Si football team ends historic season
Page8
Your locally-owned newspaper,
serving North Bend and Snoqualmie,
Washington
Prsrt StdU.S. Postage
PAIDKent, WA
Permit No. 71
POSTALCUSTOMER
1
By Michele Mihalovich
The city of North Bend made two decisions that would change the course of its his-tory. First, in 1999, it imposed a 10-year moratorium on all new construction that required water rights. Three years later, it hired Crazy Tie Guy.
The city named Ron Garrow as its first public works direc-tor, and brought him on spe-
cifically to find a solution to the water problem. And if he could do it, they were willing to overlook his propensity for donning silly ties.
Garrow didn’t use a divining rod to find a new water source, but he did use knowledge gleaned from his University of Washington master’s degree in civil engineering, with an emphasis in water resource management, and his work
with the cities of Fife, Milton and Federal Way.
Tapping into that experi-ence, he knew to not look for water in loose, sandy soil down by the river, and instead point-ed the drill right on the city’s public works property, set atop hard rock.
The Centennial Well was dug in 2008, and the final
Crazy Tie Guy is setting sail Dec. 4
By Michele Mihalovich
North Bend Public Works Director Ron Garrow, akaCrazyTieGuy,demonstrateswiththesailboatmodelwhatheplanstodoafterhisDec.4retirement.
By Michele Mihalovich
North Bend Police Chief Mark Toner knows the city has a homeless problem.
He knows citizens are con-cerned about the gauntlet of sometimes scary people who line the bridges by the river trails. He knows city leaders want some-thing done about the homeless sleeping in tents by the rivers.
What he didn’t know was what could be done about it.
What started out as a road-side conversation about the local homeless population later turned into an impromptu com-munity meeting of more than
30 folks trying to come up with some kind of solution.
Toner, with the help of Pastor Pete Battjes at North Bend Community Church, organized a Nov. 6 meeting through word-of-mouth and a string of emails.
Toner told the Star he had had no idea whether anyone would show up, or if too many people would show up. He didn’t know if they were going to be in the “let’s help the homeless” camp or the “let’s run ‘em out of town” camp.
But after the first meeting, he said, “I was extremely impressed with the significant and diverse turnout. From what started as
a small roadside conversation a few weeks ago with four others to having nearly three dozen energetic and compassionate citizens show up eager to offer input, support and resources is another great demonstration of the high level of community involvement people in our area consistently show.”
The first meeting focused on who is homeless, and what the community can realistically do to help.
Toner knows the group of about 24 homeless who live in the tents along the river, but others who turned out figured there were probably 80 regulars
if you count the car campers — people sleeping in vehicles on the city streets or private parking lots every night. Both are illegal in North Bend.
The next question the group tried to answer was how it could help immediately.
Talk turned to Frosty, a local river camper often seen walking around town with plastic bags on his feet.
Toner recounted finding Frosty during January’s snow and ice storm down by the river with nothing but a sheet over his shoulders.
Focus on homeless is uniting the community
By Sarah Gerdes
For Snoqualmie Valley resi-dents, the annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony is the kick-off for holiday activities and celebrations in the Valley.
Another tradition in the Valley is attending the annual Community Nativity Christmas Concert, a nondenominational, interfaith affair that involves internationally celebrated recording artists alongside local student performers.
This year, the 12th annual event is at 6 p.m. Dec. 8 at the North Bend building of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“Christmas is a time for fam-ily, community and friends to gather together, and we are honored to be able to share in a little bit of this by hosting and providing the venue for such a wonderful event,” said Lind Stapley, a presiding counselor in the Bellevue South Stake that oversees the LDS congregations for the Snoqualmie Valley. “It’s a time and a place for us to come together, feel the love for
Christmas concert is coming
See CONCERT, Page 2See GARROW, Page 3
See HOMELESS, Page 3
NOVEMBER 29, 2012 SnoValley Star PAGE 3
3
I’m your Hometown AgentHappy 237th Birthday Marines!!
Si, hablo español
Andy Lee Moreno425-451-4400 800-206-161611422 NE 21st StreetBellevue, WA [email protected]
water rights were approved in 2009, which put an end to the city’s imposed moratorium, he said.
Garrow said finding a new water source was his greatest achievement as a public works director. Since then, the city annexed a huge chunk of rural King County, houses are being built, a new pharmacy is being constructed, and who knows, maybe one day North Bend will get that new hotel it’s always dreamed about.
But it was a different achievement that brought him the most personal satisfaction — convincing an anti-roundabout City Council to approve the traffic circle at North Bend Way and Southeast Cedar Falls Way, rather than put-ting in a traffic light.
Garrow said he used to live in Bermuda and in Europe, where round-
abouts are heavily utilized.“I knew they worked
great and knew a round-about at that intersection would work great as well,” he said, but the council was pretty set on a traffic light.
It wasn’t until a public hearing, with about 25 members of the public say-ing they wanted to give a roundabout a try, that the council finally relented and approved the newfan-gled traffic control device.
“And every single one of those councilmembers have come up to me and said how great that round-about is,” Garrow said, adding that more will be gracing the city soon.
Garrow is also credited with securing $7 million in grants for street capital improvement projects; $1 million in grants for water capital improvement projects; $5.8 million in loans for water/sewer capital improvement proj-ects; starting a pavement preservation program for city streets; and coordinat-
The group agreed that an emergency, overnight shelter was needed — especially since the rains had begun — even if it was just for the winter.
“The purpose is to save lives,” said Paula Matthysse, a Fall City woman who showed up for both meetings. “There are a lot of fragile people out there in the woods, and some people don’t even have tents. I think about them every time the skies open up with the rains.”
The assignment for everyone in attendance was to go to his or her church, family and friends, and see if anyone was willing to offer this no-frills, emergency over-night shelter just for the winter months.
They were also asked to find out whether any churches would allow car campers use of their park-ing lots at night.
The second meet-ing on Nov. 20 brought many of the same people, but a few new faces as well, including King County Commissioner Kathy Lambert.
She said after the meeting that she showed up because the topic of
homelessness is near and dear to her heart.
Lambert said she had to go into hiding years ago with three of her children to escape a domestic violence situa-tion and they stayed in her car for a couple of days until family were able to take her in.
“Homelessness can happen to anyone,” she said. “Homeless people have amazing stories. And they just need some-one to reach out and help.”
Lambert said it was wonderful coming to the community meeting where so many were will-ing to step up and possi-bly change lives.
While no one came to the second meeting with a definite location sugges-tion, others agreed to hit the streets, make some phone calls and check on possible buildings.
Lambert and North Bend City Attorney Londi Lindell strongly encouraged the group to seek out faith-based locations, because they wouldn’t have to apply for a conditional use permit, which could take a year or two to get approved.
Someone said a local church was going to check with its board of directors to see if the church parking lot could
be used for car campers. And a third meeting was scheduled for Nov. 27 at North Bend Community Church.
But the community gatherings also resulted in a Thanksgiving feast.
Toner said more than 40 people showed up, but only a handful of those were “homeless.”
“We really wanted those guests to feel wel-come and involved, so we insured that guests and volunteers ate together and interacted,” he said about the meal served at Mount Si Lutheran Church in North Bend. “During the meal, I looked up and saw all the tables full with a nice mix of everyone … If we separated them out, it may deter them from coming again.”
Toner said after the second community meet-ing that he was thrilled about how things were moving.
“The fact that so many came back is huge,” he said. “This is a fantastic example of grassroots work, and with this kind of involvement I have high hopes that we will succeed in our efforts.”
Michele Mihalovich: 392-6434, ext. 246, or [email protected]. Comment at www.snoval-leystar.com.
ing the overlay of many street segments, including portions of North Bend Way, Main Street and Park Street. He also devel-oped the city’s Incident Command System and opened the Emergency Operations Center as inci-dent commander for sev-eral local disasters.
And all the while, wear-ing an appropriate, yet crazy tie. Budget hearings meant dusting off his Daffy Dollars and Bugs Bunny Bucks tie. The day the Star interviewed him, he wore a Dilbert tie. And on his last day as pub-
lic works director, he’ll sport a tie with sailboats — what he hopes to be boarding often as a retiree.
Garrow works as a vol-unteer for the Red Cross and hopes to continue the emergency work that gets him out of bed late at night.
He also told the Star that the Federal Emergency Management Agency recently contacted him and asked him to be on its reservist list.
Garrow said the list basically makes him avail-able for federal disasters, like the recent Hurricane
Sandy that hit the East Coast. It’s unknown what tie he’ll pick for respond-ing to natural disasters.
North Bend will honor Garrow at the Dec. 4 City Council meeting at 7 p.m.
if you’d like to see his sail-boat tie.
Michele Mihalovich: 392-6434, ext. 246, or [email protected]. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.
GarrowFrom Page 1
HomelessFrom Page 1
cleanup on about 1,500 miles of roadway in unin-corporated King County.
The fee proposal arrived about a year after Constantine unveiled a tier system to rank roads in unincorporated areas.
Rather than enact-ing the fee and creating a transportation benefit district in unincorporated areas, officials plan to lobby state legislators for a comprehensive state transportation package to address road maintenance.
“The proposal to enact a transportation ben-efit district was a small solution to a very large problem,” Councilman Joe McDermott, Budget Leadership Team chief, said in a statement. “You will find the county in Olympia with a diverse and committed group of allies asking for a dedi-cated and adequate fund-ing source for roads and transit.”
Countywide, crews con-ducted about 20 percent less snow and ice removal this year, due to a lack of staffing. The county could cut plowing and sanding further during future win-ter weather, depending on resources.
The shortfall stems
from annexations of unincorporated areas into nearby cities, lower prop-erty valuations and a dip in gas tax revenue caused the fund to drop 25 per-cent, from $128 million to $96 million. Since 2010, the county Road Services Division has eliminated about 200 positions.
Local property tax rev-enue and a separate roads levy support the County Road Fund. The county collects $2.25 per $1,000 in assessed value through the levy.
Criminal justice system saves the county money
Officials said the $7.6 billion county budget allo-cates $685 million to the general fund — the source of dollars for elections, law enforcement and other basic government functions. King County Council budget team members said 73 percent of dollars from the fund go toward public safety and criminal justice pro-grams.
The budget does not dip into cash reserves or the county’s rainy day fund.
Councilwoman Kathy Lambert, North Bend and Snoqualmie’s representa-tive on the council and a budget team member, said using more efficient practices in the criminal
justice system saved the county money.
“With better coordina-tion, savings in one depart-ment will have a ripple effect among the sheriff’s office, courts, prosecu-tors and jails, while also improving outcomes for those caught up in the criminal justice system,” she said in a statement.
The spending plan pre-serves funding and staffing for King County District and Superior courts, and the King County Prosecutor’s Office.
The budget allocates funding to ensure the King County Sheriff’s Office has sufficient resources to maintain and replace the commissioned officers for patrol, as the agency faces a growing number of retirements.
The council raised some fees in the budget, includ-ing building permit and surface water management fees.
Officials included $1.3 million in onetime funds to support domestic vio-lence shelters, legal aid, services for sexual assault survivors, post-incarcera-tion education and hous-ing services.
The budget includes support for gang inter-vention programs and to improve educational opportunities for offenders transitioning from incar-ceration.
BudgetFrom Page 2
By Michele Mihalovich
Every neighborhood is bound to have a troublemaker or two. And that is true, even if your neighborhood is a homeless camp in North Bend.
North Bend Police Chief Mark Toner and the Star walked along the Snoqualmie River South Fork trails on Sept. 27 in search of the chronically homeless who live in tents along the river.
Turns out, that group was just as upset about a recent incident — in which a couple who came down to fish were told by a man with a machete that they didn’t belong there, and not to come back — as the rest of the public.
“I would have told them to knock it off,” said Joey, a man in his early 50s who didn’t give his last name. “There’s always people who come down here, drinking and causing trouble for the rest of us.”
There are some regulars
Toner confirmed that some of the people causing trouble are not part of the homeless com-munity living in tents on the Tollgate Farm property.
They have homes, but they come down to the river and drink and when they cause
trouble, they get lumped in with the homeless living down there, he said.
Toner said about 20 to 24 reg-ulars live along the river, but he added that during the summer,
that number tends to double.He said that for the most part,
the regulars, many of whom are dealing with mental illnesses, are quietly living in the forests and don’t bother anyone.
“I tell them they have to keep a clean camp, and try to keep out of sight,” Toner said. “And they know that if two homeless
Detour aheadLake Alice Road closes temporarily.
Page 2
Budding author Valley woman publishes her first novel.
Page 6
Heartbreaking lossMount Si football team loses first game of season.
Page 8
Fundraiser next weekSchool’s custodian is stricken with leukemia.
Page 9
Police blotter
Page 10
October 18, 2012
VOL. 4, NO. 42
Tiny dancerPage 7
Your locally-owned newspaper,
serving North Bend and Snoqualmie,
Washington
Prsrt StdU.S. Postage
PAIDKent, WA
Permit No. 71
POSTALCUSTOMER
1
By Michele Mihalovich
Two North Bend area teens have been charged with multiple counts after a five-hour vandal-ism spree that included fires, damage to vehicles and stolen property.
Jarred M. Burklund, 18, and Charles Daniel Naub, 15, were each charged with one count of felony second-degree attempted arson, one count third-degree theft, one felony count second-degree burglary, one count sec-ond-degree malicious mischief and three counts third-degree malicious mischief, according to charging documents from the Superior Court of Washington for King County Juvenile Department. The nonfelony charges are gross misdemeanors.
Burklund was 17 at the time of the incident, which police say began at 10:15 p.m. Aug. 6, and ended about five hours later.
In a probable cause state-ment, investigators say Burklund and Naub began the evening by stealing 10 peaches from QFC and then threw them at cars in the Chaplin’s Chevrolet lot. They then walked to Si View Park, pulled a metal parking post out of the ground and tossed it through an office window and kicked sprinkler heads, breaking them off at the ground.
Burklund and Naub walked across the street to a residence and covered two cars with con-struction adhesive and a white foamy substance, according to
Two area teens charged with multiple felonies
By Michele Mihalovich
A youth organization is ask-ing the city of Snoqualmie to allow a temporary, overnight, emergency homeless shelter, but neighbors who live by the proposed shelter have con-cerns.
Friends of Youth, based in Redmond, is the primary pro-vider of housing to homeless youth on the Eastside, Terry Pottmeyer, CEO of Friends, said at a public hearing with Snoqualmie’s hearing examiner Oct. 8.
She said the organization has been offered a grant to open an overnight shelter for three months.
The shelter, which would operate from 8:30 p.m. to 8
a.m. for up to eight home-less 18- to 24-year-olds, is being proposed at Friends’ existing counseling building at 7972 Maple Ave. S.E. in Snoqualmie’s historic down-town district.
Pottmeyer told Ron McConnell, the hearing exam-iner, that there has been a sig-nificant increase in homeless-ness among young people 11 to 24 years old over the past couple of years in Washington, and that a lack of resources has created challenges, espe-cially in the Snoqualmie Valley.
She said that during the three months of operating an emergency overnight shelter,
Neighbors are leery of proposed youth shelter
No easy solutions to North Bend homeless problems
See TEENS, Page 2See SHELTER, Page 2
By Michele Mihalovich
Joey, a homeless man who has lived by the Snoqualmie River in North Bend for about 20 years, agrees to be interviewed at his camp Sept. 27.
See HOMELESS, Page 3
OCTOBER 18, 2012 SnoValley Star PAGE 3
3
StressDepressionLife TransitionsLoss and GriefRelationship Problems
Everyone Needs a Little Help Now and Then...
Patty Groves, M.A., L.M.H.C.Issaquah Creek Counseling Center
people cause trouble, it could mean all of them have to move and give up their fake homes, which is all they have. So, they are really good about policing themselves.”
Joey has been living in the woods near North Bend for 20 years, after he and his wife divorced and drugs and alcohol got the best of him.
No one walking along the main trail by the river could have spotted his camp. He was living in a blue tent on one side of a 4-foot-wide tree.
A 27-year-old woman named Sunny was living in a tent on the other side. And they had draped a tarp around the backside of the camp, and brush and trees camouflaged the camp from any onlookers from the river.
Quietly living in the woods, being invisible to society, is how Joey prefers things. And that’s why keeping the peace in his neighborhood is impor-tant to him.
“But I’m like the sher-iff,” he said. “I can’t be everywhere at once. I can’t stop everything from hap-pening.”
The fact remains, how-ever, that incidents are happening, and the public
is letting their city officials know about it.
No easy solution
North Bend City Administrator Londi Lindell said there is no easy solution.
“Councilmembers are compassionate and want to do the right thing,” she said. “But at the same time, there is a concern about public safety. The council will always err on the side of citizens’ safety.”
Lindell said she recently received a call from a woman who had taken her daughter to the river, but had to leave because there was a group of homeless adults and some teenagers getting drunk under a bridge.
“She felt very uncom-fortable and didn’t feel safe,” Lindell said. “It appears that there are some homeless who are interfering with recre-ational opportunities in North Bend.”
A couple of council-members also said they had concerns about the group of homeless who hang out all day at the park near the depot, she said.
They thought maybe other users were being dis-couraged from using the park because of their pres-ence, she said.
To try and address
the situation, Lindell has asked Toner to “please use the tools in your toolbox. I told him that if people are breaking the law, we need to enforce those laws.”
Long-term camping under a bridge, or any publicly-owned property, does violate city laws, she said, adding that provid-ing alcohol to underage youth is also against the law.
Toner said his deputies do enforce the laws when they see they are being broken.
Not everyone is homeless
With regards to people in the park, Toner said it
is a public park and every-one has a right to be there, so long as they are not violating laws.
But he also reiterated the fact that not everyone hanging out at the park, or down at the river, is home-less.
Toner said resi-dents of
the Mount Si Transitional Center near the park often come and sit at the pic-nic tables wearing their pajamas or with a blanket wrapped around their shoulders.
“Anyone driving by the park might get the impres-sion that those people are homeless, when in fact, they aren’t,” he said. “But everyone is getting labeled as homeless.”
Toner said the matter is further complicated by the fact that North Bend doesn’t have a homeless shelter for men.
“So, I could chase off the homeless who are liv-ing in tents by the river, but where are they sup-posed to go?” he asked.
Lindell said that per-haps directing the home-less to services in the greater Seattle area would be appropriate.
“There are facilities there that provide for the homeless, services such as shelter, food and counsel-ing,” she said.
North Bend has a lim-ited amount of financial resources, but it does what it can by providing fund-ing to organizations that help the homeless, Lindell said.
Last year, the city of North Bend provided near-ly $90,000 to organiza-tions in the area that help those vulnerable popula-
tions, she said.Toner said he often asks
the homeless who are liv-ing in tents, “What can we do? How can we fix this? Some are happy with the way things are. Some want help finding a job or get-ting counseling, and I try to put them in touch with people who can help.”
Toner asked Joey if he would go to a shelter in Seattle.
Joey rubbed his ankle, which was wrapped in gauze from what he said was a recent cougar attack.
“I’m not a city person at all, you know that,” he told Toner. “But I’ve been out here a long time. I’m getting too old to live out here. If North Bend had a shelter, I’d go. Or Bellevue, maybe, I would go there.”
Michele Mihalovich: 392-6434, ext. 246, or [email protected]. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.
HomelessFrom Page 1
“So, I could chase off the homeless who are living in tents by the river, but where are they supposed to go?”
— Mark TonerPolice chief
Thanks for help with our sale
The Friends of the North Bend Library wish to thank the community for donating used books, CDs and DVDs through-out the year for our annual book sale.
We also wish to extend our gratitude to all those who helped with setup, to the North Bend librarians who assisted us throughout the sale and to everyone who pur-chased books.
The money raised stays in the North Bend Library. It helps fund library enhancements as well as programs for children, teens and adults. All programs are open to the public, free of charge and held at the North Bend Library.
Keep in mind that we always have a selection of used books, movies and 2012 magazines for sale on the shelves just inside the doors of the library.
Anyone interested in becom-ing a member of our Friends of the North Bend Library group is
invited to join us at our month-ly meetings, the second Monday of each month at 10 a.m. in the meeting room at the North Bend Library.
Thank you again for support-ing the Friends of the North Bend Library book sale. You are appreciated.
Nancy DohertyNorth Bend
More hospital beds are needed
This is in response to Herschel Backues’ letter (Sept. 20 issue) regarding the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital. In his letter, Backues stated that the hospital is a “drain on the Valley taxpay-ers.”
The hospital district is pri-marily supported by nontax revenues with more than $30 million in annual revenue. The new hospital will be entirely paid from revenue, not taxes. The new facility will not change the current tax rate of 50 cents per thousand for residents (only $15 per month for the average home).
Backues also wrote that “the new, proposed hospital will cost
approximately $100 million.” In actuality, the capital cost of the new hospital is approximately $38 million, which is set by con-tract.
Cost overruns, if any, will be borne by the developer per our agreement.
Our patient volume is con-strained by the size of our cur-rent facility, which has only 14 inpatient rooms, forcing us to double-up patients when we can. In the event that a patient needs to be isolated, all of the beds may not be utilized. The new hospital will have 25 rooms, making it possible to utilize all 25 beds at any given time.
We will also expand existing services and update technology, including the emergency depart-ment, lab services, imaging and diagnostic services, and accom-modate an enlarged primary and specialty care clinic.
It is evident from the increased patient volumes that Valley residents want and need a new hospital. Isn’t it time to put the same old, misleading argu-ments to rest?
Rodger McCollum, superintendent King County Hospital District No. 4
“Well, she missed the bus again this morn-ing and said, ‘Grandpa, you’ll have to take me to school.’ And I said, ‘OK, Honey, get your books.’ So she got her little backpack with the books on and I walked her to school.”
“All the way to school? How far is it from your farm?”
“Eight miles, boys. Eight very long miles.”
He grinned. “Several times people stopped
and offered us rides, but I just
said no thanks, and explained that it was an object lesson. Gina just mumbled that she hated object lessons, but she kept walking. Walked all the way up the canyon and didn’t sit down once.”
“How about Grandpa?” Dud asked.
“He didn’t sit down, either. Hey, how would it look?”
“No wonder you’re tired, Bert.”
“Well,” he said, grinning. “I don’t expect I’ll ever need to do this again. I believe the lesson got learned just fine.”
Brought to you by the personally inscribed new book “Home Country,” at www.slim-randles.com.
OpinionPAGE 4 SEPTEMBER 27, 2012
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A. They fixed something that was not broken.B. It was a necessary improvement.C. I still don’t know what motivated the decision.D. It’s a gamble but one that I think might just work out.
Vote online at www.snovalleystar.com.
Please don’t think we’re heartless when we say it’s time to do something about the homeless camps near North Bend.
We learned in this week’s police blotter that a husband and wife ran into a very disturbing situation Sept. 10.
The man reported to police that he and his wife were walk-ing along the trail by the solid waste plant to go fishing when five homeless males and two homeless females told them that they live down the trail and that there was no fishing there.
The man assured the group that he and his wife were going past the tents to a location farther downstream. As the husband and wife passed the group, he said one of the men got on a walkie talkie to report to someone that they were coming down the trail.
The man said they later encountered another homeless man with a large knife attached to his belt.
He said the man with the knife told him and his wife that they didn’t belong there and not to come back to the area.
The man reported to police that they were not specifi-cally threatened, but did feel intimidated and wanted to report the incident to police.
We know the economic downturn has had devastating effects. People lost jobs, homes, apartments and health insurance.
But to set up camp on public lands and then tell people they cannot fish, that they don’t belong there and not to come back is completely unacceptable.
Earlier this summer, we learned of a group on an orga-nized hike in that same area who say they had to practi-cally step over two homeless men who were sitting on the trail drinking whiskey and playing cards.
Homeless people who intimidate others do not earn our compassion.
The time has come for the city of North Bend and King County Sheriff’s Office to designate a homeless camp where peo-ple can live in peace — and we can take back our public trails.
It was that magic time of morning for those of us at the Mule Barn; the time when we’re so full of coffee we can’t walk, and it’s time to decide whether to order lunch there or go home. That’s when Bert walked in. Kinda limped in, actually. He made his way over and sat down and turned his coffee cup right side up.
“I’m hurting boys,” he said. “That’s a fact. ‘Course Maizie told me it was a fool thing to do, but you know how she is, so I did it anyway.”
“What’s that, Bert?”“Grandfathering, that’s what.
But what the heck, guys, you gotta do it, don’t you? I mean, we owe it to the kids to start them on the road ... yes, that straight and narrow road leading to a fulfilling future, filled with ...”
“Bert,” said Doc, “you get tat-tooed with a phonograph nee-dle? Just tell us what happened.”
“My granddaughter, Gina,” he said. “She’s 8 now, you know, and she’s been staying with us for a while. Well, she’s the best girl you ever met, but it’s hard to get her up on time. Seems like every other day she fools around and misses the school bus, and then we have to drive her to school. I just got tired of that, and figured I’d teach her a lesson.
4
Another try for lakesAlpineLakesbillre-intro-ducedincongress.
Page2
Who will pay?PossibleEFRfundingchangesraisetempers.
Page3
Police blotterPage5
California dreamin’NeilSimonplaycomingtotheBlackDog.
Page6
A pair of Mount Si
wrestlers go to statePage10
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February 14, 2013
VOL. 5, NO. 6
Happy Valentine’s
Day!
Native studies in arts and crafts
By Michele Mihalovich
Two Renton men were charged with first-degree attempted robbery when they tried stealing cash from the truck stop in North Bend at gunpoint.
Randy Joseph Peters, 21, and Tanner M. Neal, 20, were charged Jan. 23 in King County Superior Court.
Charging documents say Peters, who is known as R.J. to friends and coworkers, used to work at the TA Truck Stop until he quit late last year.
At 2:30 a.m. Jan. 12, Peters went to the truck stop and was talking to the clerk and then, about an hour later, Neal entered the store carrying a
handgun and backpack and told the clerk, “Give me the money from all three tills,” according to charging docu-ments.
A video surveillance cam-era at the truck stop showed the clerk emptying the first cash register and getting ready to move on to the second one, when another employee entered the store to refill his soda, according to the docu-ments.
The clerk took the opportu-nity of the distraction to run into the truck stop office with the backpack and lock the door and call police, at which point Peters and Neal left the
Two charged in attempt to rob truck stop
By Michele Mihalovich
North Bend Police Chief Mark Toner has been making the rounds at the homeless camps around town, letting people know that the city will start fin-ing folks $100 if they are caught camping on city property.
On Jan. 15, the City Council unani-mously adopted a new law pro-hibiting camp-ing in public parks, public rights of way and other public lands, effective Jan. 28.
At the council meeting, City Administrator Londi Lindell cited public safety as the No. 1 reason for the new law.
She said the city has received complaints about people feeling intimidated when they went to
hike or fish on public lands and encountered homeless camps.
Lindell also cited large amounts of garbage being left at camps, illegal “human waste dis-posal and urination,” and pub-lic health risks associated with discarded hypodermic needles
and other drug paraphernalia as reasons for the new law.
Special per-mits for groups such as Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts will be available for overnight camp-
ing in city parks.Toner has said that about 24
regular homeless people have set up camps near the Snoqualmie River at Tollgate Park.
He said he wanted to give them a heads-up first about the
North Bend camping ban is now in effect
By Michele Mihalovich
The Snoqualmie Valley Winter Shelter, which opened Dec. 23 at the North Bend Community Church, is moving to Mount Si Lutheran Church on Feb. 15.
Paula Matthysse, who helped organize the shelter and serves as a supervisor, said it had always been the hope that the shelter would be hosted by multiple faith communities in the Valley.
That follows the same model used by Congregations for the Homeless in Bellevue, which hosts a winter shelter at a differ-ent church each month, accord-ing to Executive Director Steve Roberts.
That organization has com-mitted $14,000 in staff, training
and operations costs to help get the temporary winter shelter in North Bend up and running.
Matthysse said that from Dec. 23 through the first week of February, the shelter has served 561 meals and provided 348 overnight stays to people without shelter in Snoqualmie
Valley.Michael
Small, a vol-unteer with the shelter, said that since the shelter has opened, more than 1,900 vol-
unteer hours from 100 people have been logged.
“All of us from the shelter have been pleasantly surprised by the great amount of sup-port from this community,” he said. “The shelter has been able, through all of its many partners,
North Bend shelter moving to new church
“Since the shelter opened, I haven’t received a single complaint about the homeless,”
— Mark TonerPolice chief
See BAN, Page 2
See SHELTER, Page 5
“Three members of the shelter have been able to find jobs.”
— Michael SmallVolunteer
See CHARGED, Page 3
By Sebastian Moraga
Carver Bruce LarsonandoneofhismanypupilsFeb.6,LuciaDiaz.DiazandherfellowexchangestudentsfromthePeruviantownofChaclacayovisitedLarsonandothercarversattheirSnoqualmieshopandtriedtheirhandattheancientart.
PAGE 2 SnoValley Star FEBRUARY 14, 2013
2
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new law, and said he was grateful that the group did have a place to go since volunteers and church organizations opened the
Snoqualmie Valley Winter Shelter on Dec. 23.
Toner said he has not had to issue any $100 citations to any homeless people since the law went into effect.
“They heard it was coming and knew it was going to happen,” he said,
adding that he’s only had to tell a couple of people twice to pack up.
Toner said he thinks the new law will probably result in some unintended consequences — like homeless people being very visible in town dur-ing the day because they
have nowhere to go after the shelter closes at 8 a.m.
He said there’s already been an uptick at the library, and a couple of weeks ago, police had to kick some people out because of suspected drug activity.
The shelter has been an effective tool in reducing citizen complaints about the homeless, he said.
“In fact, since the shelter opened, I haven’t received a single com-plaint about the home-less,” he said.
The shelter offers a hot meal every night. Toner said that has reduced shoplifting complaints and
it has helped reduce gar-bage, because food wrap-pers aren’t getting tossed outside at camps.
But, the temporary shel-ter is slated to close at the end of March, and Toner said he doesn’t know what will happen then.
He said he is trying to direct people to shelters in Bellevue and Seattle, but he said the closed shelter, along with the camping ban, could mean an increase in break-ins at vacant homes — or peo-ple will just try to camp again.
“I really don’t know what’s going to happen,” Toner said.
Paula Matthysse, one of the organizers who helped get the shelter opened, said, “There is, of course, great concern about where people who have been camping closer to town will go. The wild areas of Snoqualmie Valley are not safe. We need to engage in a rich conversation about public health and safety that applies to everyone, especially those living unsheltered or in substan-dard housing in our com-munity.”
Michele Mihalovich: 392-6434, ext. 246, or [email protected]. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.
BanFrom Page 1
Sen. Patty Murray, Congressman Dave Reichert and Congresswoman Suzan Del Bene last month reintroduced the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Additions and Pratt and Middle Fork Snoqualmie Rivers Protection Act into the House and the Senate.
The legislation is identical to the Senate bill that passed the Energy and Natural Resources Committee last session.
“We are happy to see the continued bipartisan leadership from Sen. Murray and
Congressman Reichert for this popular piece of legislation,” Tom Uniack, Washington Wilderness Coalition’s Conservation Director, said in a press release. “We also are pleased to see newly elected Congresswoman Suzan Del Bene join the effort as an original co-sponsor of the legislation.”
The legislation would protect an additional 22,000 acres of wil-derness adjoining the existing Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, and would add 10 miles of
Alpine Lakes Bill reintroduced in U.S. Congress
See LAKES, Page 3
Photo by Lillian O’Rorke
Looking northwest fromRattlesnakeRidge,fogsettlesonSnoqualmieValleyJan.19.Above it all
By Michele Mihalovich
Gina Estep is not just North Bend’s Community and Economic Development director. She’s also a world-class athlete after competing with more than 3,000 others in the 2012 Barfoot & Thompson World Triathlon Grand Final in Auckland, New Zealand, in October.
Estep, 39, placed 12th in her
age group class against 46 other women with a time of 1:19:43. She also had the best time of any of the women from the United States.
“This was absolutely so excit-ing, and a huge compliment to even be able to participate and run alongside people who are so driven in life,” Estep said.
What she found most inter-esting, she said, was the high-energy atmosphere of incredibly driven individuals from so many cultures being brought together for the competition.
Estep said athletics has always been a part of her life.
“Growing up, it was part of our family lifestyle to always be
Funding ideas wantedTribe is accepting grant applications.
Page 3
Firefighters wanted EFR is seeking volunteer firefighters.
Page 3
Readers wantedLocal author publishes first e-book.
Page 6
Competitors wantedYouth wrestling league hosts tournament.
Page 8
Artists wantedStudents use newly learned computer skills to make comic strips.
Page 10
January 3, 2013
VOL. 5, NO. 1
Local man sketches
portraits of the fallenPage 11
Your locally-owned newspaper,
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By Michele Mihalovich
For 30 years, Joey has slept in a tent in the damp woods along the Snoqualmie River, battling bears that wanted his food and black mold that threatened to eat holes in his tent.
But on Dec. 27, Joey, was warm and dry and all smiles.
He and about 10 other homeless ate hot lasagna cooked by volun-teers before turning in for the night at North Bend’s first homeless shelter.
“This place is a blessing right now to quite a few of us,” Joey said, referring to the cold, wet and snowy weather that has moved into the Snoqualmie Valley.
Paula Matthysse, one of about 30 dedicated volun-teers who helped organize the temporary shelter, sat in the
corner of North Bend Community Church where the shelter is being hosted and took in the scene.
Some of the homeless sat in the kitchen eat-ing their meals and chatting with volunteers. Others had already laid down on mats spread out on the church floor.
“If someone had told me back at that first meeting that I’d be sitting here, spending the night at a home-less shelter created by the community,
I would have told them they were crazy,” she said.
Matthysse showed up Nov. 6 at that first community meeting with a friend.
“I wanted to get away from all the election coverage and I thought it was great that the
How to helpq To donate,
mail a check to Congregations for the Homeless (write SVWS in the memo line on your check), 2650 148th Ave. S.E., No. 202, Bellevue WA 98007
q Sign up to bring food at www.takethema-meal.com/meals.php?t=ILAY4803.
Homeless in the Valley are invisible no more
By Michele Mihalovich
Joey, who has been living in the woods along the Snoqualmie River for 30 years, enjoys a hot lasagna dinner at North Bend’s first homeless shelter, which opened Dec. 23.See HOMELESS, Page 2
North Bend planner is a world-class athlete
Contributed
Gina Estep (right) poses with friend Stephanie Haner, of Carnation. The two women com-peted in the 2012 Barfoot & Thompson World Triathlon Grand Final in Auckland, New Zealand, in October.
See ESTEP, Page 3
PAGE 2 SnoValley Star JANUARY 3, 2013
2
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community was starting to have a conversation about the homeless in this area,” she said.
“But to think I’d be here – today – I think God put the right people at the right place at the right time that day,” Matthysse said.
Getting started
The Snoqualmie Valley Winter Shelter opened its doors Dec. 23, not even two months after that first meeting.
The core group of vol-unteers comes from a mixed bag of communi-ties: church members, vet-erans groups and the River Outreach. Some have day jobs as real estate agents, and a handful, such as Matthysse, have experi-ence working with the homeless.
But they banded together, meeting nearly every week, trying to save the lives of the vulnerable population of homeless people who sleep in tents or cars throughout the Valley.
Matthysse knew she had to come up with a shelter proposal before she could approach fund-ing agencies for money, and the group agreed they needed a no-frills over-night shelter for about 40 people. They hoped it would provide one hot
meal a day and stay open at least until March 7.
Once that was in place, the money started rolling in.
United Way donated $5,000 toward the shel-ter. Congregations for the Homeless in Bellevue com-mitted $14,000 in staff, training and operations costs. NBCC offered up its church to host the shelter.
Members of the Cascade Covenant Church in North Bend pooled their money to purchase 40 mats.
When organizers learned that the mats wouldn’t be available in time for the open-ing, a Seattle shelter and the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital loaned mats to the shelter.
The hospital is also making medical and men-tal health care staff avail-able when needed.
As people donated blan-kets, a Blanket Brigade was created to launder them. Organizers created an advisory group to handle some of the day-to-day decisions. They then cre-ated a website, Facebook page and an online sign up sheet to organize bring-ing in meals and breakfast.
Neighborhood concerns
In order to secure a temporary use permit from the city of North Bend, organizers held two public meetings with neighbors to address any concerns about the church hosting a shelter.
Contributed
Pastor Tom Kemp, who has served at the Transport for Christ Mobile Chapel at the truck stop in North Bend for 20 years, began passing out small bags of Christmas cookies to truck drivers Dec. 15. Kemp said he’s been passing out the 150 dozen cookies, made by members of the Church on the Ridge in Snoqualmie, for several years. He said the church figures that if truckers are at a truck stop around the holidays, then they definitely aren’t home eating fresh-baked cookies.Kemp said some truckers tear up at the thoughtful little package of homemade goodness, and some tell him, ‘This is the only gift I’m going to get this year.’
Pastor delivers holiday goodness to truckers
The neighbors were a bit nervous, raising a laun-dry list of concerns: What are you going to do about people who are drunk or on drugs? Will you let sex offenders stay here? Kids will be walking to school just as the homeless are leaving the shelter in the morning. Is that even safe?
“Those are all valid concerns, and we under-stand those concerns,” said Matthysse. “But these people are already living in your community. There are families sleeping in cars. The assumption that the homeless are crimi-
nals, or jobless and just loitering isn’t an accurate view. I invite you to come to the shelter when it opens and share a meal with these people. Listen to their stories.”
One man who showed up at the Dec. 15 public meeting said he remem-bered the same kinds of concerns from neighbors when Two Rivers School, an alternative high school, was trying to open.
“The thought then was that this neighbor-hood was going to turn into a lawless, dangerous place,” he said. “That
did not happen. This is another opportunity to show our kids that we’ll jump through hurdles to help others no matter how uncomfortable it makes people. I fully support this.”
After listening to the community’s fears about the types of people who might be staying at the shelter, volunteer Mary Cordova, spoke up.
“These are veterans, kids and moms,” she said. “Not all homeless are drug users and criminals. But all of these people need to be loved on. They need to be safe and they need to know there is hope.”
Brent, a homeless man who was also staying at the shelter Dec. 27, under-stood the neighbor’s fear — but he had a request.
“This is unchartered ter-ritory for us, as well as the people who live near here and the people who got the shelter started. We’re all just trying to figure it out,” he said.
“But one of the worst things people can do is profile the homeless,” Brent said. “You just never know who is stand-ing beside you, or what that person has gone through in life. Before you make a judgment, you should really get to know them. Because you if don’t, that’s not only a disservice to the person next to you, it’s a disser-vice to yourself.”
Michele Mihalovich: 392-6434, ext. 246, or [email protected]. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.
HomelessFrom Page 1
and Cottage Grove. At 8 years old, the world’s horizon is Thompson Ridge, rather than the Pacific Ocean. But that doesn’t make the world any less fascinating.
Those little boys knew that, after lunch, those people would get back on that bus (they even have a restroom on the bus, you know) and they would go out of town in a diesel rush and cross the bridge on Lewis Creek and then disappear. But
they know that bus will be going right past their grand-parents’ house in about two hours. They asked and they know. The people on that bus might be able to look out and see Grandpa’s dog Sadie as the bus goes by.
I wonder what Sadie’s doing right now? If I were on that bus right now, I could get off there and see. And someday I will. Someday I’ll get on and ride and I’ll know what’s out there. I’ll know…
Brought to you by Slim’s award-winning book “A Cowboy’s Guide to Growing Up Right.” Learn more at www.nmsantos.com/Slim/Slim.html.
OpinionPAGE 4 JANUARY 10, 2013
Here’s what ‘can do’ attitudes can accomplish
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What’s the biggest lie people say during the New Year’s holidays?
A. Sure, bring the kids.B. I can’t wait for the snow.C. My diet starts tomorrowD. I just get better with age.
Vote online at www.snovalleystar.com.
A pack of dedicated volunteers set a Dec. 15 goal for opening an emergency winter shelter for the homeless.
Paula Matthysse, one of nearly 30 volunteers who met weekly since Nov. 7, admitted that date was kind of a moving target.
So much had to be organized. They had to find a place to host the shelter; find sleeping mats and blankets and then storage for the mats; organize evening meals and a light breakfast; train staff and volunteers; secure a tempo-rary use permit from the city of North Bend; organize two public meetings with neighbors; allay citizen fears about the homeless; develop partnerships with organizations that could help, like the Snoqualmie Valley Hospital and Congregations for the Homeless; and find money.
Check. Done. Did it and done that. Somehow this group, which wants to do anything to save the lives of homeless people of the Snoqualmie Valley, managed to accomplish just that.
North Bend Community Church, which is hosting the temporary shelter, opened its doors Dec. 23.
Anyone who attended those weekly meetings knows that the Dec. 23 opening was a Christmas miracle.
“I don’t know if something’s in the water here or what, but I’ve never seen anything come together so quickly,” said Congregations for the Homeless Executive Director Steve Roberts, who has been helping the volunteers. “This community is just wonderful.”
And we agree. Those committed volunteers should be proud of themselves. They came together, facing chal-lenges from several fronts, but they never gave up. Other communities could learn a thing or two from this group. Number one, never give up on something you believe in.
Now comes the next challenge … running the shelter and keeping it open until at least March 7.
The shelter still needs help from the community — whether it’s a commitment of time, a pledge of money or making a meal. Learn how you can help at www.facebook.com/SnoqualmieValleyWinterShelter.
Finding bliss in the squalor of poverty
Earth is the home of us all, but as I live in a small tent in a windy and rainy, forested area of North Bend, I am considered homeless. My moneyless life consisted of writing outdoors for the entirety of the day and cre-ating music during the night.
Writing tirelessly, since we humans are gifted with two hands to share the burden of writing. Perhaps my idle attitude toward paying work is a trait to be frowned upon, and so I am deserving of my fate.
An angry, drunken roommate and my joblessness have led me here. But the gain of wisdom hinges not on riches. Paper and pens are still plentiful and learn-ing is always free. Time moves forward and no matter our cir-cumstances, we may all seek to reach the sky eventually. My odd perspective follows.
Surrounded by a landscape of such fascinating natural beauty, most ride interchange-
able vehicles to their next seem-ingly all-important destination. The journey has been forgotten. Convenience fosters ease of attaining the result. But it is in the action performed that we learn and grow most, not its completion. There is more to the mind than the little section governing the spoken internal voice.
Much that we observe becomes memory, although we may not consciously register it at the time. The sensation of nature is a kindness to the eter-nal witness hidden within each of us. Here, of all places, we are blessed by wild splendor of a sort beyond boring unbroken fields and endless buildings.
My homelessness, thankfully, clarifies what is necessity and what is superficial. For me, to find bliss in the squalor of pov-erty allows contentment in all states of higher comfort I may ever experience.
All things are relative. A child raised to be happy with noth-ing appreciates much more of
what they obtain than one who has always had everything. My exposure to this is better having just turned 24, than in my elder years. What we find normal is a changeable point on an infi-nite scale, and the scale is kept throughout life.
Max DeGrootNorth Bend
Criminals are the problem, not guns
Two days after the Sandy Hook school shootings in Connecticut, there was an inci-dent in San Antonio that could have ended up as yet another tragedy. But it did not.
It was not a lead story on the national networks either because the mainstream media would rather focus our attention on guns being the reason for what happened in Connecticut. They only report shootings by crimi-nals, not stories where a gun was used in self-defense.
There were two little boys down at the Doughnut Hole Café the other day, standing outside, just waiting. They didn’t have long to wait. The Greyhound bus pulls up just about 1 each afternoon, give or take a little.
When the bus pulled up and parked and the brakes went whoosh, those two little boys had eyes like saucers. They took in everything, from the mud on the tires to the snow clinging to the mud flaps.
The driver stepped down and helped her passengers out, proudly wearing the Greyhound uniform. She had pride in her eyes, too, as we all know how that mountain can get when it’s snowing.
It’s always been that way. There have always been little guys watching and wondering as the people get off for their lunch stop. Where are these people from? What was it like up on the mountain? I wonder if I could drive the bus someday when I’m grown.
When we’re small, our world and our view of it tends to be smaller as well. The exotic places of the world — to an 8-year-old — aren’t Singapore or Nairobi or Calcutta. The exotic places tend more toward Smithfield and Riverbank and Oakdale
4
See LETTERS, Page 5
in the sun, hunting yet another year. An actual deer for the freezer is simply gravy on this feast.
After lunch, Dud decided to try a different location, so he returned to the pickup and left a dif-ferent note. He got home about 9 p.m. and raved to Anita about the wonders of the day in the woods.
“You left me that note, Dud,” she said, “but I don’t even know where that is.”
“No. But the sheriff’s depart-ment does, and search and res-cue knows, and both Doc and Steve know.”
She still looked puzzled. “You’re a good outdoorsman, though, aren’t you?”
“Well, yes I am. That’s why I left the notes. Anyone can twist an ankle or fall up there.”
He smiled at her. “Hunters have an old saying, Honey. If you take crutches with you, you’ll never break a leg.”
Brought to you by the national award-winning book “A Cowboy’s Guide to Growing Up Right.” Read a free sample at www.slim-randles.com.
OpinionPAGE 4 NOVEMBER 29, 2012
More questions than answers about homeless
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WEEKLY POLLHow do you feel about the redrawing of middle school
boundaries?
A. They pushed it on us, like they pushed the freshman learning center.B. They seem fair. We have to learn to adapt.C. I disagree with the final decision, but I respect the
process.D. None of this is fair.
Vote online at www.snovalleystar.com.
We are impressed by the compassionate gathering of folks who are showing up at community meetings about the homeless, organized, in part, by North Bend Police Chief Mark Toner.
The focus of these meetings is what can we do to help the homeless in North Bend, in the Snoqualmie Valley really.
We’ve heard about the group of chronically homeless who live in the woods by our rivers, but we also learned about people who live in their vehicles and call the Safeway parking lot in North Bend home; and the people who live in campers and tents all year long in Fall City; and teenagers who’ve been kicked out of the house and live under bridges, or on friends’ couches if they’re lucky.
But when you get 30 people together to find a solution, a lot of questions come up that are hard to answer.
Where will we put them? Will it just be for winter or year round? Should a shelter be open all evening or 24/7? Will there be case managers on hand to help with services like mental illness, health issues, job placement and tran-sitional housing needs? Will we provide food or show-ers? Who will staff a shelter and train volunteers? Are we going to turn away people who are drunk or who have criminal records? How are we going to pay for this?
But the people who come to these meetings have not been deterred by all the questions. They are answer peo-ple.
Being homeless is no fun, but being homeless in the winter can be a matter of life and death. And as one woman at the meeting said, “You don’t want that to hap-pen here. It changes a community.”
The community can’t turn its back on the problem when a life is at stake. Organizers and community mem-bers are trying to find a warm, dry place for the homeless in order to save lives. It’s a simple yet complex concept, and we hope they succeed.
Thank you to voters for passing levyWe would like to thank Snoqualmie voters
for passing city of Snoqualmie Proposition 1, the Public Safety Operations, Streets and Parks Maintenance Levy.
Approval of this levy was critical to support cur-rent levels of public safety in Snoqualmie, main-tenance of the city’s parks and trails system, and maintenance of safe streets.
Your yes vote will ensure that all Snoqualmie citizens continue to benefit from these services and enjoy the high quality of life our community has built.
Jim Schaffer, Chelley Patterson and Dave BatteyCo-chairs, Keep Snoqualmie Safe Committee
Real threats are out thereA friend of mine relayed a story about a gentle-
man who had a concern with “threatening-looking dogs” “off leash” on local trails the other day. No attack mentioned, just that the dogs were threatening looking.
I am a newcomer to the Valley. I have only lived here for 13 years. I use various trails and mountains in the area, on an almost daily basis.
I have never been threatened, or seen any threatening-looking dogs on these trails. I have, however, been threatened by a man with a machete, and seen coyotes and bears on the trails. I have read about murderers, escaped convicts,
cougar attacks and burglaries on the trail.I suggested to my friend that he should re-
evaluate his perception of what is a real threat, and what is “threatening looking.” Additionally, I suggested that the gentleman rescue a dog and assimilate it into our semi-country community, rather than be an antagonist.
Howard W. ClarkNorth Bend
Citizens can make a difference by contacting their elected representatives.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D), 511 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-3441; http://cantwell.senate.gov; 915 Second Ave., Suite 512, Seattle, WA 98174; 206-220-6400
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D), 173 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510; 202-224-2621; http://murray.senate.gov; Jackson Federal Building, Room 2988, 915 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98174; 206-553-5545
Coffee always tastes perfect before daylight on the open-ing day of deer season, Dud Campbell thought as he sat in near-total darkness in his kitch-en. He was being extra quiet so as not to awaken Anita. Turning on a flashlight on the kitchen counter, he wrote:
Honey, I’ll be up Pine Canyon, hunting up a feeder creek 1.4 miles to the right. The truck will be at the campground. Doc and Steve both know the area I’m hunting. I’ll be back no later than 10 p.m. unless I call.
An hour later, Dud quietly got out of the pickup and left a note under the windshield wiper:
Hunting to the west between
here and the ridge. Should be back here no later than 9 p.m.
Dud Campbell
Dud was sitting on a rock outcropping as the sun rose, feeling the warmth spread from inside out as another great day of anticipation came. He smiled, and then prayed. He always did during hunting season.
His prayer wasn’t wishing for success, but simply expressing gratitude for this special time. This was the success. Sitting here
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Share your views
communityPAGE 6 AUGUST 2, 2012
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By Sebastian Moraga
All it takes is two words and Patricia’s heart cringes.
The words are as harmless as they come, but they remind her, a grown woman not using her real name, of her situation. She’s homeless. So when people she meets during the colder months tell her to stay warm, “it hits me right in the heart,” she said.
“I don’t know what they should say instead, what I do know is I see my brothers and sisters out there in the cold,” she said.
Homeless for months. Janie has struggled to make ends meet. Starting in 2011 she lived in downtown Seattle homeless shelters for a year after she lost her job.
Her homes have included the YWCA, the Union Gospel Mission, Share Wheel and the Snoqualmie Valley’s River Outreach.
She has found help through the River Outreach, which fights
homelessness in the Valley.To the outreach’s Brian
Busby, the question of what Jesus would do does not belong on a wristband. In fact, it’s not a question at all for him.
“For us, it’s about Christ, No. 1,” he said. “Jesus told us we should love God and love oth-ers, and this is the way we do it.”
Busby has spearheaded the outreach’s search for toiletries, clothes and food for homeless people for months.
“It’s been amazing to see God’s work,” he said.
The work continues from noon to 4 p.m. Aug. 4 with a free barbecue for customers of the Mount Si Helping Hand Food Bank. It will give those in need a chance for a free meal, Busby said.
He added that he knows that eradicating homelessness in the world is a nearly impos-sible task. He said that’s not his goal. Changing one person’s life would be gratifying enough, he
added. Sometimes, homeless people
appear in his neighborhood near the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River. Their pres-ence made his commitment more urgent, he said.
“I can’t really sit in my home, when it’s right underneath my nose,” he said.
The homeless population fluctuates in the Valley, given its nomadic nature, so it’s hard to know if the work is making an impact.
“They may be passing through, they may be resident homeless people, they may have just lost their jobs,” he said. “We don’t get specifics. If there’s a need and it looks justified, that’s what we do.”
Owen Rooney helps the out-reach discern whose needs are real, Busby said.
“Some of these guys are rough customers, some of them are legit, some of them just take the stuff and sell it,” Rooney said. “That’s where it’s been a
bit of a challenge to be not judg-mental.”
As time goes by and faces become more familiar, the out-reach tries to establish trust with its visitors.
That trust needs to expand into the community, Busby added.
“People might be a little bit uptight about helping someone who is on drugs or someone who might not need it,” he said. “My thought is, ‘If they are cold and they need a coat, let’s give them a coat. If they are drunk, let’s come back later and talk to them, and maybe steer them in the right direction.’”
Patricia agreed. “We are human,” she said.
“We do judge.” More so in the Valley than in
Seattle, she added.Sometimes that steering in
the right direction never hap-pens. Most homeless keep mov-ing, if they are not from the area, so there’s no time to estab-lish a relationship.
Furthermore, there’s only so much a church, a police beat, a community or an outreach like his can do on its own, Busby said.
Change happens when every-one does a little bit.
“Homelessness is solved when people stop looking the other way,” he said, or stop at offering comments like stay warm.
“You know you need more than that,” Busby told Patricia, and she agreed.
“Is that selfish? Absolutely,” she said, her voice breaking. “But I’m scared to go out into beautiful North Bend and sleep on the bench across the street, ‘cause it’s cold and dangerous out here nowadays.”
On the other hand, people’s generosity makes it easy to remain hopeful.
“It’s been a blessing for me to see God provide these items,” Busby said. “I barely have to ask and these things just come in. This tells me we are doing good and it’s the right thing to do.”
Valley group fights to help feed and shelter homeless people
By Sebastian Moraga
To math wizards, 3.14 equals pi. To computer wiz Aaron Roberts, pie equals inspiration.
Standing in a checkout line at Costco the day before Thanksgiving 2010, Roberts looked at the serpentine queue in front of him, looked at the two huge pumpkin pies in his cart and thought there had to be a better, quicker way to get the pies to his wife.
Enter QThru, a phone appli-cation coupled with an in-store kiosk that allows shoppers to scan products as they shop.
“It’s a downloadable applica-tion for smartphones,” Roberts said of his invention. “If you download it, you enter your cred-it card information by scanning the credit card. Then you enter the CVV number, once that’s entered they can begin to shop.”
The CVV number is a card security code located in the back of credit and debit cards.
After entering the CVV, cus-tomers may scan products as they shop. If they decide they don’t want to buy the item after all, they swipe again and delete it. They may also drop an item quantity down to a zero.
For alcohol purchases, the application suspends approving the purchase until an attendant verifies age. Once he or she does, the attendant enters a sep-arate barcode, which approves the transaction. For products that don’t have a scanable code
on them, like produce, shoppers may print a separate barcode at another kiosk, Roberts said.
When they finish, Roberts said, they check out at a kiosk by entering a personal identifi-cation number that secures the credit card information. After scanning a quick-response code (also known as a QR code), their
card gets charged.An attendant then compares
their receipt with what they carry, the way they do at Costco exits, and then the customer goes home.
He added that the product is still in its pilot stages.
“We will remain in a beta period for the next few months and will open it up to general
availability,” he wrote in a sub-sequent email.
The application is available to some smart phones like iOS for Apple, but not for Android yet. The application is free, but the stores are still testing the feed-back they get from consumers.
“We have had lots of custom-ers asking about it, since the kiosk
is right up front,” said Jessica Brookman, manager of the IGA supermarket in the Snoqualmie Ridge neighborhood. “Everyone is wondering what’s going on.”
QThru, Brookman said, has selected people in the area who have shown interest in the application. It’s not available for customers yet.
“We’re making sure all the kinks are worked out,” she said.
Brookman said she did not think the QThru application meant a threat to the livelihood of checkstand cashiers.
“There’s always going to be people who want to go through the line,” she said. “There’s always the comfort of dealing with a live person. There’s also people who want to get in and out, and that’s who this application is for.”
Roberts praised Snoqualmie’s IGA store owner Tyler Myers for his willingness to try out QThru.
“The toughest part is getting people to believe in the idea, to embrace the idea,” Roberts said. “We were lucky to find the owner of the IGA supermarket on Snoqualmie Ridge. Lots of grocery owners are risk-averse.”
The store’s size, its proximity to many users of mobile technology and the owner’s willingness to try the application made Snoqualmie a prime location, Roberts said.
The goal is to make QThru a pivotal part of a more complete shopping experience, he added, teaching shoppers about nutri-
Snoqualmie supermarket is launching pad for phone app
By Sebastian Moraga
QThru, a downloadable application that scans products as you shop, is being tested at the IGA supermarket on Snoqualmie Ridge. Computer expert Aaron Roberts developed the idea to help customers avoid long lines at check stands.
