City and Issaquah schools anticipate better planning for new school
November 20, 2008
New 2:57 p.m.
Staff from the city and the Issaquah School District say the district’s new elementary school should open in the fall of 2010, on time.
The issue of improved communication and timing for the school’s completion, currently known as Elementary 15, or E15, popped up briefly in a meeting between the Sammamish City Council and Issaquah School Board Nov. 17. Read more
Police suspect flasher is gone
November 19, 2008
In late September, Redmond police were looking for a man who flashed several women on the East Lake Sammamish Trail.
He appears to have left his job and the area, Redmond officer Jim Bove said. Read more
A pair of champions
November 18, 2008
Eastlake freshman Katie Kinnear (left) and Skyline junior Andie Taylor each won a state title in one of their respective events. Taylor broke her own state 200-yard IM record set at the district meet with a time of 1 minute 58.23 seconds. Kinnear surprised many when she won the 100-yard butterfly race in 54.73 seconds, earning All-American status.
Adopt a salmon
November 18, 2008
Project seeks to help endangered salmon
A male Kokanee salmon
The gray wolf. The spotted owl. The Kokanee salmon?
If things aren’t done to improve the Kokanee salmon’s habitat, it will soon join the list of endangered species in Washington state.
This is why the Bellevue/Issaquah chapter of Trout Unlimited is working on a new project to scientifically track the Kokanee salmon in Lake Sammamish to learn more about this unique-to-the-area fish. Read more
What’s next for library?
November 18, 2008
Bond’s failure could leave prime location open
The bond’s failure puts the library’s future into question.
Anybody want to buy a library?
With the defeat of the parks bond Nov. 4, the future of the existing Sammamish Library has become cloudy. Read more
Traffic plan works at Catholic
November 18, 2008
The gloom-and-doom predictions of traffic snarls at Eastside Catholic High School have not materialized.
Traffict flows well at Eastside Catholic’s driveway. Photo by Christopher Huber
“We have not seen any of the problems with the school relative to traffic,” Sammamish Police Chief Brad Thompson said.
As the school was going through the approval process, there were concerns that adding a third high school to 228th Avenue would create monstrous back-ups.
The school was designed with a long driveway, to accommodate cars queuing up with students; a traffic light at the entrance also helps to keep things moving.
“With that driveway, the traffic is backing up on our campus,” said Patti Finley, communications director for the school. Read more
Police chief to stay
November 18, 2008
Sammamish Police Chief Brad Thompson was not appointed as police chief at the University of Washington.
Issaquah schools are technology leaders
November 18, 2008
The Issaquah School District placed ninth in the nation for its use of technology for districts that serve more than 15,000 students.
It’s Sammi time
November 18, 2008
Nominations for the 2009 SAMMI Awards are now open. The eighth annual awards ceremony will happen 7 p.m. March 14, 2009 at Eastlake High School. SAMMI Awards of Distinction celebrates and honors those who make unselfish contributions, and inspire others to contribute to the quality of life in Sammamish. Read more
Weed them out
November 18, 2008
Lakeshore residents remove invasive plants
This story is the first in a series about attempts to help preserve the environment by fighting invasive plants.
Trip Rumberger handles an unwelcome garden weed in his backyard. Rumberger is one of many Lake Sammamish shoreline residents tending to a significant weed problem in the area. Photo by J.B. Wogan
King County weed control experts say nonnative species are the second biggest factor affecting native plants and animals on the threatened or endangered species list.
Bill Way, a Sammamish resident with property along Lake Sammamish, owns an environmental consulting firm that helps shoreline residents in east King County combat erosion and the spread of noxious or non-native invasive weeds.
“With a waterfront property, it’s a constant battle against weeds,” said Mark Garff, one of Way’s employees and a landscape architect for The Watershed Company. “Every wave that washes up on your shoreline is potentially bringing in a seed or a part of a plant that can land on your shore and can root.”
Garff said such plants are a major problem for Lake Sammamish. Non-native invasive weeds are aggressive, out-of-towners that crowd out native plants, disrupting food chains and the local ecosystem. Those weeds also kill off native plants that serve as stabilizing buffers between land and water, removing a key component to erosion control. Read more
