April 2014

CONNECTIONS FR

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ISSAQUAH HIGHLANDS COMMUNITY NEWS www.ihwebsite.com | facebook.com/highlands.council

Blakely Hall Art • 100 Years Ago • Volunteer of the Month WHAT’S INSIDE? 4 5 6 10 13 13 14 15 16 19

Highlands Council Blakely Hall Art Gallery Living Green Feature Volunteer of the Month 100 Years Ago Fashion Sportshound Arts & Entertainment What’s Happening Fitness & Health

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HY - Youth Board Ask Kari Wits and Tidbits IHCA Budget News IHCA Community HFN News Schools Spotlight Living Green Resident Profile

Photo by: Marc Steingrebe

April 2014

ECRWSS POSTAL PATRON 2550 NE Park Drive Issaquah, WA 98029

PERMIT NO. 83 ISSAQUAH, WA U.S. POSTAGE PAID PRSRT STD

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April 2014

Issaquah Highlands Connections

Issaquah Highlands Connections

FROM THE EDITOR Dear Neighbors, Words will not be enough to express my delight over this issue of Connections. My husband and I moved here almost ten years ago, full of our own ‘greenie’ ideology.

Rob was inspired by the four-star built green homes, Port Blakely’s environmental stewardship, and the strong commitment to recycling and waste reduction. He has been recycling since he was sixteen, back before it was popular.

“Everyone threw their trash out their car windows back then,” he recalls.

For me, it was the progressive land-use plan that preserved ¾ of Issaquah Highlands as open space and parks. Suburban Sprawl had haunted me as it crept over my homeland, paving a swath from Bellevue to Bothell. As Rob and I shopped for a home, work considerations focused our attention on the Eastside. Issaquah Highlands cinched the deal. Sold!

This issue of Connections only scratches the surface of “Living Green” in Issaquah Highlands. There is so much to cover! But we have compiled stories that inspire and motivate, describe and educate. We have arranged events to elevate your expertise. And we have discovered ‘magical connections’, such as the fact that our featured artist at Blakely Hall, Farshad Alamdari, is also a renowned sustainability expert.

Please enjoy this issue and treasure it. Keep it in your files, because if you ever sell your Issaquah Highlands abode, this issue will tell our “Living Green” story better than any other. Surely the new homeowner will be happy with its contents.

Yours Truly, Nina Milligan, Crofton Springs Editor of Connections - Highlands Council Communications Manager Highlands Council is the publisher of Connections, producer of community-wide events such as Highlands Day, owner and manager of Blakely Hall, liaison with the greater community.

The Cover: Designed by our own Julie Clegg, the photo was taken by Marc Steingrebe. Marc is a long-time resident who volunteers in many capacities from trails building and maintenance to starting up the IH Mountain Bike Club. The logo was designed, and the slogan trademarked, by Port Blakely Communities, the founding master developer of Issaquah Highlands.

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April 2014

Issaquah Highlands Connections

HIGHLANDS COUNCIL

Supporting Sustainability as a Core Value

Highlands Council Partners to Bring Educational Programming to the Community in April

by Christy Garrard, Director and Dahlia Park Resident Environmental sustainability is a core value of Issaquah Highlands Community. Sustainability is also a core value written into the By-Laws of the Highlands Council. This issue of Connections reminds us of what it means to be a part of the Living Green mantra. We all work towards learning to live an environmentally conscious lifestyle.

This month we continue our community-building partnership with the City of Issaquah and CleanScapes to bring educational programs that support our community-wide sustainability efforts. On Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22nd we will host TWO showings of the awardwinning, Jeremy Irons documentary TRASHED at Blakely Hall. The FREE documentary will be offered at 1:00pm and again at 7:00pm. Each show will include an expert panel discussion.

Saturday, April 26th is Keep Issaquah Beautiful Day. Volunteers can check in at the Downtown Shell Station at 9am for an assignment around the city. The Issaquah Highlands Community Garden Committee is hosting a volunteer work party at the Vista Gardens (located under the power lines from Trail Head Vista off Park Drive) on this date from 10am – 2pm. Anyone interested in helping spruce up the community garden and surrounding area can come out ready to get dirty! This is a great opportunity for students fulfilling volunteer hour obligations.

Learning to live an environmentally conscious lifestyle takes time and focus. We hope you will invite a neighbor and plan to participate in one or all of the educational and volunteer opportunities offered this month.

Highlands Day: Art Outside Sunday, July 20th, 2014 Sponsor and Booth Packets are now available!

See IHWebsite.com

Now Hiring – Highlands Council Student Intern, Class of 2016 Application Deadline: April 18th

The Highlands Council Student Intern Program is a two-year commitment for one rising high school junior (Class of 2016). To apply the student must be a resident of Issaquah Highlands, commit to working two hours per week beginning in June 2014 through May 2016 in the Highlands Council office at Blakely Hall as well as all day on festival days (Highlands Day and Green Halloween Festivals).

Applications are being accepted through April 18th. Download the application at www. ihwebsite.com or for more information Christy.G@ihcouncil.org Responsibilities include: • Greet and assist residents and guests in person and via phone or email. Conduct facility tours. Ensure the hall is neat, clean and organized. Perform various administrative tasks as needed.

• Recruit and manage student volunteers from area middle and high schools for community events as applicable and directed by event planning staff.

• Help with pre-event and day-of festival tasks including set up, volunteer management, ticket sales, and clean up.

Successful candidates possess: • the ability to be flexible • are highly organized with a strong orientation to detail/quality work • strong interpersonal and speaking skills • Ease, enjoyment and experience in dealing with the public • professional demeanor and level of confidentiality Applications can be dropped off at the Highlands Council office inside Blakely Hall or emailed to Christy.G@IHCouncil.org

Graduating or Know Someone Who is?

We want to honor all our community’s graduates in the June issue of Connections. Please email Nina the following information along with a photo of the graduate (does not have to be a school photo).

Nina.M@IHCouncil.org Name: IH Neighborhood: School: Post Graduation Plans:

Issaquah Highlands Connections

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BLAKELY HALL ART GALLERY

New show in April - Women of Persia - Faces of the Ages

Farshad Alamdari is a Persian native and a lifelong observer of profound, beautiful subtleties.

This penchant drew him to both architecture and painting. Farshad developed an interest in painting very early in life. He taught himself to paint, reproducing works of Iranian, Dutch, English, and American masters. These masters included Abbas Katouzian, Rembrandt, Pieter Claesz, John William Waterhouse, John Singer Sargent, and Robert Henri. Katouzian and Singer Sargent have been especially influential in informing Farshad’s own artistic vision, creative approach, and stylistic technique.

As a young man, Farshad relocated to England to further his education where he earned a Ph.D. in Energy and the Built Environment.

Farshad currently serves as Chief Scientist for Sustainability PATH, based in Bellevue, where he works to drive innovation and improve sustainability in the built environments and in systems. He has developed, implemented and led new research, bringing rigorous science to solve the challenges facing the built environment. It is magical to have such a leader in sustainability be our Blakely Hall artist during our de facto “Living Green” month in Issaquah Highlands.

Even as he cultivated a rich and fulfilling professional career, his creative orientation and passion for painting remained strong.

Following his relocation to Seattle, he refocused his attention on artistic pursuits. He further

enriched his prowess in oil painting by enrolling in painting workshops with noted artists, and undertook atelier training at the Gage Academy of Art in Seattle.

“The paintings in Women of Persia convey the often hidden yet subtly evident strength, resilience, and progress embodied by Iranian women in Persian history.” Farshad Alamdari.

Farshad’s still-life and figure paintings are inspired by his broad range of experiences and a lifetime of observing artistic dimensions in the people and objects around him. His distinctive style reflects this unique orientation to the world, while also respecting the classic elements of the masters who influenced his development and evolution as an artist. Farshad’s still-life works feature simple but timeless objects. His figure paintings are notable for their unique combination of texture and contrasts of light and color, surrounded by negative spaces.

“The Women of Persia series was inspired by the greatest influences in my life—three amazing and extraordinary women—my mother, my wife, and my daughter. Collectively, they reflect a stirring cycle of survival, progress, and triumph in the struggle for gender equality.”

Farshad Alamdari

Women of Persia – Faces of the Ages Show begins April 1, 2014 at Blakely Hall A Solo Exhibition of Paintings by Farshad Alamdari Exhibition, Reception and Artist Talk Saturday, April 19, 2014, 6:00-8:00 pm

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April 2014

Did you know that 1,520 acres of Issaquah Highlands is open space and parks? Now, that’s ‘living green’!

When Issaquah Highlands was first conceived it was mostly forested though also partly mined. It comprised 2,200 acres of Grand Ridge, a summit in the venerable Issaquah Alps. But as part of King County it was destined to be fully developed as single-family homes on five-acre lots.

Instead, Port Blakely Communities teamed with the City of Issaquah and King County to employ King County’s Countywide Planning Policies to condense the development onto twenty percent of its space and dedicate the rest to open space and parks. The largest green swath is the 1,400 acres that make up King County’s Grand Ridge Park. This park stretches from Central Park east and north all the way to Duthie Hill Mountain Bike Park.

To the south and west surrounding and uphill of the Issaquah Preston Trail is open space owned by the city of Issaquah.

The best part of living green is being green. In this month’s feature stories you will discover how green we are as well as how green we live.

Issaquah Highlands Connections

nation’s most important industries: from fishing and energy, to timber and recreation, to technology and green building. I am honored to help preserve that heritage for our children and grandchildren.”

You can help by signing an online petition, submitting a support letter, telling your friends, or contacting your representatives in Congress. Voice your support at www.greenwayheritage.org.

It’s Not Easy Being Green

by Sarah Games, Timmaron

It all started with 52 sample-size containers of paint. Month after month, room after room, I hadn’t noticed how many cans had proliferated until deep cleaning the garage on a late-summer morning. I spent a half-hour sitting on my garage floor Googling paintdisposing options on my laptop computer before concluding that it wasn’t going to be as simple as dropping off a box at Goodwill. I became so frustrated at not finding a quick and convenient way to dispose of paint that I slammed my computer shut and went for a walk.

The Green Around Us

by Nina Milligan and Amy Brockhaus, Mountains to Sound Greenway The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust works to conserve and enhance the landscape across the Cascade Mountains from Seattle to Ellensburg. The area’s alpine peaks, wilderness lakes, and lush forests are linked by road, rail, and trail to both rural towns and city high-rises. The 1.5 million-acre landscape has sustained generations through an abundance of natural resources. Today, the Greenway’s scenic beauty is the backdrop for the daily lives of millions of residents, who live, work, and play in communities deeply rooted to the land around them.

The Issaquah Highlands community exemplifies the balance between people and nature that is present across the Greenway. In the early 1990s, the area that is now Issaquah Highlands was originally envisioned to become populated with single-family homes on five-acre lots. Instead, Port Blakely Communities created a high-density urban village, integrating homes, businesses, and public services, while leaving 1,400 acres of the 2200-acre development as open space. That land remains for all to enjoy as King County’s Grand Ridge Park.

To communicate the national significance of the Greenway, and ensure Issaquah and the other communities in the Greenway remain wonderful places for generations to come, a bipartisan campaign led by Congressman Dave Reichert and Senator Maria Cantwell is underway to ask the U.S. Congress to recognize the Mountains to Sound Greenway as a National Heritage Area.

“The Mountains to Sound Greenway legislation is so important because it is such a clear illustration of Washington State’s influence on the nation’s history and the movement to keep America green, clean, and pristine,” said Reichert. “The Mountains to Sound Greenway is a unique and beautiful gem that has played a vital role in many of our

It was a glorious day in the Highlands, the kind that takes away every bad thought. As I entered the trail behind Forest Ridge my disappointment lent itself to contemplation and awe for the beauty surrounding me. I thought about the paint cans at home, and the chemicals inside them and numerous other household products. I thought about how my family wouldn’t find it acceptable if I decided to just dump the toxic and caustic materials on the living room floor; and similarly that Mother Earth probably wouldn’t appreciate it either. I emerged from the forested trail ready for change and, fortunately, I didn’t have to wait very long: As I walked past Blakely Hall I saw a flyer for an upcoming talk by Zero Waste Home author, Bea Johnson, hosted by Highlands Council, the City of Issaquah’s Office of Sustainability, and CleanScapes. I didn’t know anything about the topic, but no matter. I walked home, grabbed the car keys, and drove to CleanScapes to purchase the book. Two hours later I had all but assured my family that times were a changin’...

Home is where you start from. -T.S. Elliott (imprinted in the concrete at YWCA) It took two months to functionally replicate Johnson’s extreme green home. The process began with my reducing everything that wasn’t fundamentally utilitarian. I donated up to 90% of our family heirlooms, decorations, furniture, clothing, and jewelry. One neighbor

Issaquah Highlands Connections asked if we were moving; another if I were leaving my husband.) Next I started replacing disposable items with reusable options. I cut up a flannel bed sheet to make washable tissues. I started carrying reusable containers to TCBY (containers from QFC’s olive bar are proportionally equivalent to TCBY’s) and Top Pot Donuts (a baking sheet!) I bought glass jars to fill at PCC’s bulk department. Instead of adding to the already plentiful bounty of the Issaquah Highlands trick-ortreating experience, I redistributed some of my kids’ collected loot.

More important: I learned to refuse. I called catalog companies and charity organizations requesting to be removed from their mailing lists. I opted not to give out goody bags at my son’s birthday party and 75 percent of our holiday gifts were purchased second hand or gifts from the Issaquah Highlands Consignment and Buy Nothing Project Facebook groups, Small Threads, or Half-Price Books.

It has been a tremendous blessing to discover how little we really need to secure material satisfaction.

“Environmentalism is the conservation of nature for its own sake. Sustainability is the conservation of ecological and social systems necessary to sustain the quality of human life for generations to come.” Chantal Stevens, Vista Park Committing to “living green” requires sacrifices and a mastery of mindfulness: I’ve lost my carefree consumeristic spirit.

Most consumer awareness is limited to the use of an item. An authentically green consumer will also consider a product’s history (what kind of harmful chemicals or processes went into this product?) and its future (what’s the potential environmental degradation if I throw this away?). Gone are the days I can step into a store and admire a beautiful dress without contemplating its origin and the sustainability of its composition, question the working conditions where it was made, or count the environmental impact of transporting it to me. Although I am as impressed by fashion trends as any Kardashian, the answers to these two questions usually (but not always!) kills my excitement and willingness to participate in the consumer culture.

“Once you start Zero Waste living, you never turn back.” Suzane James, Village Green Green Living isn’t always about sacrifice and loss. Our savings rate has doubled in recent months allowing us to allocate more towards future college educations and additional mortgage payments. I direct more of my energy and effort to others and find this a far more gratifying use of my time than when I scoured Pinterest or apartmenttherapy.com for the perfect spring centerpiece or paint combination. I’ve met amazing, like-minded community and civic leaders such as Nina Milligan and Chantal Stevens, who inspire and motivate me to create an even better, friendlier, and more ecologically sensitive Issaquah Highlands. But above all, I’ve gained hope from watching the children of our community. Every week I’m encouraged by the eagerness of seven and eight-year-old Grand Ridge students showing me they can sort recyclables better than I can. Recently I was touched when a 5th grader showed me a note she courageously read to all her classmates letting them know they were slacking on their responsibility to recycle smartly and keep a clean lunchroom. Could it be they intuitively understand something we don’t? If the chips of climate change and environmental degradation don’t fall in our favor, at least allow me to live with the consolation that I gave it my all for them: our future.

I realize it’s simply not possible for all residents to become “eco-warriors”. It is not easy being green! But there are countless easy and effective ways each of us can support a healthier, greener Issaquah Highlands. I always believe that even one simple change can have a big impact.

• If you drink coffee at Starbucks or Ladro’s, request to have your beverage served “for here.” If you must order it togo, commit to bringing along a reusable tumbler. Keep many in your vehicle.

• When you are planning your day or week, take a few extra moments and see if you can bundle up errands. Taking care of everything at once will afford you more time and money as you drive less.

• Attend the Sustainable Issaquah and CleanScape “Conscious Consumers” discussions series at the CleanScapes retail store in Gilman Village. If you can’t make the meetings, join Conscious Consumers Seattle on Facebook to share or learn tips and suggestions for sustainable and mindful consumerism throughout the Puget Sound region.

• Instead of leaving the Highlands for a day of entertainment and family fun, enjoy a “Drive Free Highlands Day.” Walk with your family down the Forest Ridge trail, around the pond, past the interactive landscaping next to Marshals (fun for active preschoolers), through Civilized Nature (to say “hello” to Ricky, the cockatoo) before getting a cup of coffee, lunch, or watching a movie.

• Buy or borrow a copy of Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson.

• Review CleanScape’s website for residential recycling and teach your children to sort the recyclables for you. Then take your children to Ben and Jerry’s when they finish as a reward.

• Join the “Meatless Monday” campaign and enjoy the health benefits of substituting nutrient-rich plant proteins.

YWCA Green

by Linda Hall, Community Enterprise and Services Director at the Y-Family Village The YWCA Family Village in Issaquah Highlands is a great example of the intersection between green building and affordable housing. In fact, at the Built Green 4-Star level with over 500 points, and LEED Gold certified, it’s one of the greenest affordable housing projects ever certified by the Master Builder’s Built Green program.

But how did all of that planning during design and construction impact the people who use the spaces?

The YWCA wanted to make it easier for all to manage the three waste streams and made sure the units themselves had designated space for recycling. When residents move in they are provided with recycling bins and compost bags. Many applicants already compost and are glad they will be able to continue to do so in our community.

The low-flow fixtures and energy efficient systems throughout have resulted in even lower than projected water, gas and electric use – saving environmental and financial resources. Living green also means using green products in our cleaning and maintenance.

According to Ryan Driver, Maintenance Professional who also lives on site, residents comment they like the fact that we are striving to be GREEN and make an effort to tell their friends and relatives about what they are learning.

My favorite part of being green? Watching the children as they tend to the flowers and vegetables in the spaces set aside specifically for them to do that.

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Greeniacs Issaquah Highlands is full of people who moved here because of the sustainability ethic, who walkthe Earth Day-talk, who put their money where their environmentalist mouth is and who really live sustainability. Here are just three examples of the extraordinarily green people who call Issaquah Highlands home. We call them Greeniacs.

Patrick Byers, Ashland Park Patrick’s firm, Outsource Marketing, has been recognized by King County every year since 2006 as a Best Workplace for Recycling.

Every team member signs a Green Pact committing to reduce reuse and recycle. And his firm’s Responsible Marketing Blog shares commentary regarding sustainable marketing practices. Patrick was the first resident in the Highlands to own a Chevy Volt.

I asked Patrick: “Why is being green important to you?”

I’ve always tried to be responsible, but it became significantly more important once my kids were born.

We’ve made a mess of our planet, and our water, land and air are all at risk. It sounds cliché, but it’s true: It’s important because I want a better world for my kids.

“What do you think is the single easiest green thing a neighbor could do?”

Easiest? Start small. Use CFL’s. Walk more. Don’t warm up the car in the morning. Use reusable bags. I’m not sure I could recommend one thing – it’s really about getting started. It’s kind of like changing eating and exercise habits. We all know what we’re supposed reduce, reuse, and recycle — we’ve heard it our whole lives. We just need to start doing it. Once you start, it gets easier and you can build on what you’ve accomplished.

Mark Mullet, Highlands Drive Mark was the first person in the State of Washington to take delivery of a Tesla. His was the first residence in Issaquah Highlands to employ roof-top solar power. The combination of solar panels and an electric car enables him to drive to Olympia and back on the power of the sun.

I asked Mark: “Why is being green important to you?”

We should take care of the earth for the benefit of Mother Nature and for humans. We live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. It would be a shame to destroy this natural beauty and deprive future generations of these wonderful gifts.

“What do you think is the single easiest green thing a neighbor could do?”

The easiest thing is to find a way to use not something for a couple minutes and then throw it away. My wife Sabath does this better than I do. She brings her own reusable packaging to the grocery store to get flour and rice. She always puts containers in our kid’s lunches that we can wash in our dishwasher. Another idea is to ask to receive bills electronically instead of by paper to reduce waste.

Chantal Stevens, Vista Park Co-Founder of Sustainable Issaquah; Past Trustee for the Board of PCC Natural Markets; Past Executive Director of Sustainable Seattle and of the Starflower Foundation, an ecological restoration organization; and current Executive Director of the Community Indicators Consortium, that provides resources to improve the quality of community life. She is Issaquah Highlands Community Garden Committee Chair. She grows her own organic food in the community garden, walks or takes the bus most everywhere, shops at local coops like the Grange and PCC. I asked Chantal: “Why is being green important to you?”

My parents raised me to be considerate of nature and to use resources wisely. I hope I’ve passed on those values to my children as well. In our crowded, hectic, overexploited world, we need to protect what is left to be protected and to prevent further degradation of our air, water and soil.

“What do you think is the single easiest green thing a neighbor could do?

Choose an activity, business or hobby you can walk to: And then, walk there!

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April 2014

Fresh, Local, Sustainable: Earth Day at the Market

Issaquah Highlands Connections

Celebrate Earth Day at the Issaquah Farmers Market!

The market returns Saturday, April 19, 2014. Join us for opening day, as well as an Earth Day celebration including some of our partners, such as Seattle Tilth and the Master Gardeners.

In addition, you can browse farm-fresh fruits and vegetables — including many organic items — fresh-cut flowers, baked goods, specialty cooking mixes, handmade arts and crafts, and more.

Explore the Pickering Garden, and learn how to grow organic, sustainable produce in your own backyard.

In addition, Saturday, April 26, 2014, includes a celebration of Arbor Day. Join us to plant trees along Pickering Trail near Issaquah Creek. The market runs from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at Pickering Barn, 1730 10th Ave. N.W. To learn more about the market and seasonal events, please visit issaquahwa.gov/market. Use #FreshFromIssy to share your photos and stories.

Then on April 26th Matt Mechler and Alan Haywood are doing an Arbor Day event at the market where they will have a community tree planting (similar to what they did last year).

City of Issaquah’s Recent GREEN Awards • • • • • • • • • • • •

Best Workplaces for Waste Prevention and Recycling U.S. News and World Report - Best Healthy Places to Retire U.S. Chamber of Commerce Siemens Sustainable Community Award Finalist King County Green Globe Award Smart Communities Award for Livable Communities King County Green Globe Award Forest Stewardship Council Project of the Year (for zHome) Seattle Business Magazine - Green Washington Award WSRA - Innovative Recycler of the Year ASHRAE Technology Award (for Fire Station 72) Built Green Hammer Award (for Issaquah Highlands Family Village) ICMA Local Government Excellence Award (for zHome)

Issaquah Highlands GREEN Awards and Recognition Highlights

Issaquah Highlands • In top 5 standout sustainable green communities in the U.S. by Yahoo! Homes • Named Top 10 Best Green-Built Neighborhood in the U.S. by Natural Home Magazine • Gold Nugget Awards: Award of Merit, Green Sustainable Community of the Year • Green Sustainable Community of the Year, Pacific Coast Builders Conference • Environmental Excellence Award from the Kiwanis Environmental Committee, AdoptA-Wetland Committee.

• Sustainable Community of the Year, Pacific Coast Builders Conference • Two Green Globes®, Green Building Initiative (GBI) • Leadership Award for Green Building to Port Blakely Communities, City of Issaquah • Swedish/Issaquah: “Building of the Year” by Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.

• Nat’l Assoc of Home Builders, Silver Award, Masterplanned Community of the • Built Green™ Idea Home: Nat’l Assoc of Home Builders Silver Award • Built Green™ Idea Home: Pacific Coast Builders Conference. Gold Nugget • Master Builders Association, Puget Sound’s Highest Rated Built Green™ YWCA Family Village • Built Green Conference Award for Outstanding Affordable Housing • Puget Sound Regional Council Vision 2040 Award • Gold Nugget Award of Merit for a Green Sustainable Residential Community • Green Globe Award for Community Leadership in Green Building zHome • Built Green Hammer Award • Development of the Year Award by Northwest ENERGY STAR Homes • Green Globe Award for Community Leadership in Green Building • Design & Build Award from Forest Stewardship Council • First Salmon-Safe certified residential project in Washington Other • Port Blakely Communities Office Building: LEED* Gold Certification • High Streets Buildings (Block 8): LEED Certification • Blakely Hall: LEED Silver • Fire Station #73: LEED Silver (This partial list focusing on the GREEN awards is no way exhaustive; rather it is just a sampling.) *LEED - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, by the U.S. Green Building Council

Lake Sammamish State Park Earth Day Free Day

Visit Washington state parks for free. The Discover Pass is not required to visit a state park on designated free days. Please note: A Discover Pass is still required to access lands managed by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife during State Parks free days. For more information, please visit www.discoverpass.wa.gov.

Issaquah Highlands Connections

April 2014

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April 2014

Issaquah Highlands Connections

VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH: KIMBERLY KAPUSTEIN

Kimberly Kapustein Volunteer of the Month – April 2014

scholarship. All this was possible through hard work and the charity of others.

Charity came in many ways: a partial tuition gift; a few extra hours of work at the bakery; a friend’s parent sharing information about a scholarship– all was charity that shaped my early education.

But it was not until I had my first real job in Philadelphia that I understood how I could make a difference for others. For instance, I found I could share my expertise and love of wine to create the Philadelphia branch of the Wine Brats.

This 2000-person wine club had wine tastings, wine maker dinners, art events, and auctions with a two-fold mission – introducing wine to the 20-something masses and fundraising for charity at our events.

Seeing the changes we made with Wine Brat funds in the Philadelphia area, I wanted to continue to volunteer after moving to Atlanta. This led to an eight year volunteering stint, from co-chair to chair, cook and dishwasher for the Share our Strength’s Taste of the Nation events. This charity taught children all about food, from planting to table.

Kimberly Kapustein volunteering at Highlands Day 2013

“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

This was one of the first quotes I remember from English class. Why? Because as the only child of a single mom in Connecticut, it spoke to my experiences on the receiving end of many “compensations” people had granted me throughout my life.

My mom always believed that education was the answer for everything. She motivated me to learn. I attended summer camps in Vermont, summer courses at Choate and Rensselaer Polytechnic, summers in France working on an archeological dig for college credit and finally attending college on a four-year

I brought this commitment to service with me when we moved to Issaquah in 2007. At first I just helped with the Cooking Club, then the Wine Club. But I am now on my fourth Green Halloween® Festival and fifth Highlands Day! Volunteering has a positive effect on the whole community. For instance, Highlands Council engages the volunteer community in their event planning, which fosters event support and attendance. Also, by using volunteers from throughout the Highlands community, Highlands Council can be sure that event goals are “in tune” with what the community wants, and not just what organization members think they want.

Today the Emerson quote describes the “compensations” I receive as a volunteer, the added pleasure and satisfaction I feel when I help others. There is a beautiful compensation to living in the Issaquah Highlands community.

Kimberly lives in Summit Park with her husband Howard and children David and Sydney who attend Grand Ridge Elementary School.

CleanScapes Green

2014 Earth Month Store Event Calendar Saturday 4/1: Wacky Crayon Recycling event kick off- all month long we will be collecting crayon bits and pieces to support our local partner, Wacky Crayons, in their crayon recycling efforts. Anyone who brings crayons into the CleanScapes store will receive a limited edition crayon (one per family).

Saturday 4/5: Kids activity- in store 11-2 Thursday 4/10: Say “Yes” to reusable bags! Receive 15% off our fashionable and very functional reusable bags. Varity of sizes and styles for everyone.

Saturday 4/12: Kids activity- in store 11-2 Monday 4/14: Green your spring clean, receive 15% off all cleaning related supplies and books.

Tuesday 4/15: Reduce, reuse and rethink the way you pack lunches 15% off all food storage items. Saving money has never been so appetizing!

Wednesday 4/16: Walk and roll Wednesday, anyone who walks or bikes to the store will receive 15% off their purchase today only!

Thursday 4/17: Bad habits are disposable, good ones are reusable. Drink up 15% off all reusable water bottles today.

Saturday 4/19: Earth Day At The Market- 9am-2pm at Pickering Barn. Don’t have a breakdown over composting - it’s easy and fun at CleanScapes! 15% off all composting containers, bags, and a full line of compostable plates, bowls, forks, and even toothbrushes – made from non GMO corn!

Sunday 4/20: Noon-3pm InterConnection Electronic Recycling Event. Each person that brings in an electronic or computer related item to recycle will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift certificate!

Tuesday 4/22: “Trashed” Movie Event- Blakely Hall 1pm and 7pm showing. Panel discussion to follow.

Saturday 4/26: 9am – Noon Downtown Issaquah has an annual Earth day clean up! Join our team and local residents; meet at the Historic Shell Station on Front Street at 9am sharp.

11am-2pm- Wacky Crayon recycle event. Last day to bring in your crayon bits and pieces to be recycled into Wacky Crayons. Each person who donates received a special edition Earth Month Wacky Crayon.

Wednesday 4/30: Conscious Consumption Workshop- 7-8:30pm at the CleanScapes store. Learn practical ways to reduce your waste

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Adopt “Tellina” If someone told us it was possible to support farmers and ranchers who strive to be economically prosperous, ecologically sound and socially equitable, while healing our bodies from illnesses and promoting healthy aging, most of us would jump for joy.

In Washington State organizations like the Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network are doing just that. They work to help our schools and local community use and support the local farms that conscientiously tend the land while producing the clean foods that sustain the people of that land.

The wonderful thing is, this is not only possible for ourselves but our animals as well. Ask your local pet store about foods that only use sources from sustainable farms. Not only will you be supporting a better tomorrow, you will find those foods provide the clean, healthy nutrients for your pets that can heal and support their bodies as they thrive and age. You may be pleasantly suprised that sustainable ingredients bring health and vitality to your pets, providing for lowered veterinary visits, and imporvment or elimination of skin, allergy, digestive, thyroid, pancreatic, dental, joint, and behavior problems you may have been dealing with for years.

Check out a healthy, sustainable lifestyle for your pets.

Age: Born 8/15/13

Breed: Domestic Shorthair Tellina is curios about everything and loves to explore. She loves the laser pointer, is good with “cat savy” dogs and might even be convinced to have another cat friend to share her toys with.

A playful girl looking for a new family.

Available for adoption through MotleyZoo.org

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Issaquah, 1914 - 100 Years Ago

by Dr. Paul Dean, Kirk Park

If you were one of the approximately 1,000 residents in Issaquah Washington in 1914 you would have had your own notable events to speak of. The Issaquah and Superior Coal Mining company was finally in full swing, meaning that the local economy was booming. This wasn’t the first coal boom in Issaquah. There was a long history of coal mining in town, in fact, it was said that the first really good sack of coal ever brought into Seattle was the coal mined by L.B. Andrews in Issaquah in 1863. 25 years later the immense body of coal began to make its way to market via the Seattle Lake Shore and Eastern Railroad and brought to the surface by the Seattle Coal and Iron Company. The first president of the coal and iron company was early resident D.H. Gilman. The coal mine, one of the largest and richest fields in the country, averaged over one hundred thousand tons of coal per year from 1892 till its closure in 1904.

pastor work in Issaquah wasn’t showing fruit he took up a second church in nearby Monohon (now extinct small town located on the east side of Lake Sammamish). This second job turned out to be too much. Rev McNemee ran himself ragged trying to get two churches off the ground and suffered a nervous breakdown in late 1904.

The church he worked on in Issaquah survived, however.

It limped along until 1923 when it joined forces with the local Baptists and became Issaquah Community Church.

The church wasn’t the only struggling organization in town in early Issaquah. Schools also struggled to raise money and find suitable locations. Early classes were held in various farm buildings until the settlers built a modest school on the hillside of the Pickering farm.

Gustav Konstantin von Alvensleben Issaquah high school wasn’t much of a priority for Issaquah parents though. Because of the need for teen workers, Issaquah High at this time graduated few students, and then usually young women. The first class in 1911 gave only 3 diplomas, and in 1914 only graduated one.

While there were shortages of High School students in 1914, there was plenty of coal. In 1912 the mine was reopened by the Issaquah and Superior Coal Mining Company. Based on the innovative labor practices suggested by foreign investors, including Gustav Konstantin von Alvensleben, godson of Kaiser Wilhelm, the mine was modernized and restarted. The success of the mine caused a boom in construction in Issaquah, perhaps building more than the previous two decades combined. By 1914 the mine was bringing 80,994 tons of coal to the surface each year.

According to local Methodist pastor Rev. A.J. McNemee, Issaquah in this time period was a contentious, rowdy, scene. He could find few interested in Church, but the nine saloons in town found plenty of patrons. The saloons were great places to blow off steam and complain about the dangerous working conditions in the mines, and perhaps even discuss plans for one of the three strikes that took place between 1903-1904. These contentious battles with the workers combined with with the fluctuations in the coal market, led to the shutdown of the mine in 1904. By 1914 the Issaquah town marshal had enough business to get rid of the old wooden jail and constructed a new structure behind the Town Hall (now the Issaquah Historical Society Museum). This solid cement structure had two rooms and prevented drunken loggers from kicking down the door and escaping.

The coal mining boom that encouraged Issaquah Residents in 1914 fell victim to events outside its control. When World War I started the British seized the assets of German nationals living in their territories. The investor that controlled the Issaquah and Superior Coal Mining Company lived in Canada in 1914. His close connection with the German Kaiser was well known, and the British Government seized his assets. His downfall and the resulting lack of capital would eventually doom the mine, but that wasn’t yet known by the citizens of tiny Issaquah in April of 1914. One hundred years ago this month.

The Deans (Paul, Kathryn, Nathan, Carolyn, Alaina, and Lizzie) moved to the Highlands in 2006.

Paul’s interest in history started in his youth. He studied History at Cedarville University in Ohio and earned a M.A. and PhD in U.S. Diplomatic History with minor fields in Latin America and SE Asia from WSU.

In the midst of labor disputes and jailbreaks, Rev. McNemee tried to make a go of it. Since his

Let’s Talk Fashion - Make Up

by Sree Dadisetty, Forest Ridge Is it only me or does this happen to everybody? Every time I go to a drug store to buy something very important, like cough medication or migraine tablets, I end up buying a bunch of other stuff, like a lip gloss, nail polish, mascara etc. Maybe it’s the BOGO 50% off deals or the alluring clearance sales, but I end up buying a bunch of stuff that I never needed in the first place. OK, maybe I am exaggerating and make it sound like an addiction, but you know what I am talking about, right?

Lately that has been changing.

I have been very proud of myself for not giving in to temptations and buying random stuff. That was until I stepped into our Ulta Beauty store. All I wanted was a lip balm that did not have petroleum jelly.

Surely a beauty store would have it. On one of my routine walks I took a small detour to step into Ulta.

Then I lost all my new-found restraint. From the friendly sales associates to the wide range of products, I was in paradise. Ulta had everything! Somehow I convinced myself that I needed to pick up a few things for spring and end up buying ten! But no regrets. I am now done with my spring beauty shopping in one stop. Here are my must-have beauty picks for this season: 1.

Modern Muse Eau de Parfum: With its sparkling florals and sleek, sensual woods fragrance, it’s my favorite perfume for this spring. $58

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Lash Dash Faux Lashes - Scintillate: Emphasize your eyes with these lashes from the Kardashian Kroma Collection. $6.49

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PHILOSOPHY Eye Hope - Advanced Anti Aging Eye Cream: It’s never too early to start an anti-aging skin care routine. My friendly sales associate assured me that this was one of the best in the market. $50

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ESSIE Spring 2014 Nail Polish Collection - Fashion Playground: This season mint is back again and seen all over the runway. I am in love with this shade from Essie. $8.50

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Ulta Salon Formula Nail Lacquer - Encore Pink (CR): Pink, pink, pink is all the rage this season. Starting from baby pink to hot pink. There is no shade you can go wrong with.

Isn’t this shade adorable? $6.00

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KARDASHIAN BEAUTY K24 Prime Golden Make Up Primer Gelee: Well, it’s a face primer and it was shining crazy, so had to get it. You can’t blame a girl for getting something sparkly. $14.99

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REVLON ColorBurst Lipgloss: Red is my favorite lip color and I was running a little low on my current lip-gloss, hence stocking up. $7.99

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EOS Smooth Sphere Lip Balm: And finally the product that I came in to buy. This balm with no Petroleum Jelly is amazing; it’s not sticky but works great, not to mention the cute packaging.

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BUTTER LONDON Lippy Tinted Balm: Remember pink is “in” this season and nothing like a hot pink lipstick to make a statement. $20

10. PHILOSOPHY Miracle Worker Miraculous Anti-Aging Moisturizer with spf 50+: No matter if it’s sunny or not, SPF is a must. Try out this new moisturizer with a higher spf 50, just in case sun decides to show up. $60 Sree Dadisetty moved to Issaquah Highlands in 2012. She is delighted to be walking distance from the excellent shopping at Grand Ridge Plaza. Equally valued are Issaquah Highlands’ beautiful settings for photo shoots which she frequently uses in her fashion blog: IThinkILoveItToo.com.

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Karate: My Personal Journey

by Aadit Desai Mehta, Seventh Grade, IH Sportshound and HY Board Member It was the spring of 2006; I was four and a half years old. I had attended one karate trial class and seemed to have really enjoyed it. However, I refused to go again due to a previous knee injury. My mom let my knees heal completely but I still declined to go since I associated my previous injury with the karate class. She tried to convince me multiple times, especially since I had shown keen initial interest. Then, my mom decided to “help” me in her own way! She kept aside three of my favorite toys for ten days, to entice me to try out three more lessons. After that, the decision to continue further would be mine. I really enjoyed the classes and have continued with karate ever since. As we both look back upon it, I’m glad that she did it, as otherwise I would not be where I am today.

My parents wanted me to learn karate, not only for its self-defense skills, but also for the leadership skills and self-discipline it would teach me. I continue to learn all those values and more, for the past eight years and counting, including the value and importance of ethics. Karate has had a tremendous influence on my life. It has instilled great values such as exhibiting good judgment, not caving under peer-pressure, good study habits, and the value of determination.

The type of Karate I learn is Shudokan, which was developed in Japan by Kanken Toyoma (1888-1966). I have had many different Senseis (teachers) and they all bring a unique teaching style to the table. Some are strict, some are funny; they all have different backgrounds, but they all are highly qualified and motivated to teach. As of now, I am a red belt, and training to become a black belt. The path to becoming a black belt is long and arduous, especially the last six months of training just before the ‘final exam’ for the black belt. My focus is to now refine the katas (detailed patterns/sequences of movements that represent a fight) I have learned and perform them to the best of my ability.

Even though it has been a lengthy journey, I know that it will all be worth it in the end, as I will have gained self-defense, experience, and much more.

-Aadit “Sportshound” Mehta

Aadit learning his moves; Posing with Sensei Ken of Karate West.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

From Bellevue to Broadway, Megan Hilty is a Smash

by Molly and Marty Fisher, Ashland Park

Regardless of whether you hail from the imaginary Land of Oz or the real Northwest Emerald City, there’s no place like home. But if you’re lucky enough to claim roots in both places, your name has to be Megan Hilty.

Hilty is the multi-talented Bellevue native who burst onto the Broadway scene in 2004 playing Glinda the Good Witch in the blockbuster musical Wicked. Just two months after graduating college at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, she picked up the magic wand as the understudy to Kristin Chenoweth, the original Broadway Glinda, eventually took the lead role and then followed her own yellow brick road to a successful acting, concert, film, television, and recording career.

Growing up with so many cultural alternatives in the Northwest, Hilty learned early not to put limits on her possibilities.

“I was so lucky to grow up in a place where arts are so celebrated,” said Hilty, known more recently for her starring roles in the TV shows Smash and Sean Saves the World. “Seattle is a really happening place and I was exposed to so much there.

“I was training to be an opera singer, but when I was 16 I realized that the career of an opera singer really doesn’t get going until at least 30. I didn’t want to wait that long so I made the change to musical theatre. There’s nothing like performing in front of a live audience.”

There’s also no place like home to perform in front of a live audience and celebrate your birthday.

Hilty had a Totally Wicked 33rd birthday celebration on March 29 in a performance with the Seattle Men’s Chorus for their Spring Concert at McCaw Hall in Seattle.

Totally Wicked features the music of Stephen Schwartz with performances of Schwartz’s popular Broadway hits from Wicked, Pippin and Godspell and movies like Pocahontas, Enchanted and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It also includes Schwartz’s 2012 choral piece “Testimony,” originally performed by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. Schwartz worked with Seattle’s Dan Savage on “Testimony” and the piece and was inspired by the widely-recognized It Gets Better campaign.

It’s fitting that Hilty celebrated both her birthday and Schwartz’s work on the same night since her star was born with the role of Glinda. The role was the perfect road to happily ever after as both Hilty and Glinda are beautiful, ambitious, and very popular.

“Getting that role was life-changing in every way,” Hilty proclaimed. “It was wonderful and terrifying at the same time and I owe everything I have to that job. It was the biggest thing on Broadway at the time. It was incredible.

There was all of this pressure because Kristin (Chenoweth) set such a high standard for the role.”

In addition to her Broadway run as Glinda, Hilty won critical acclaim in the iconic Dolly Parton role of Doralee in Broadway’s 9 to 5, being nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical, the Drama League Award for Distinguished performance, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.

She also has developed a very active film voiceover career for Disney and has made numerous guest appearances on hit TV series like Bones, CSI, Ugly Betty, The Closer and Desperate Housewives.

Her latest project, Sean Saves the World was cancelled in January after only 13 episodes.

“All shows close,” Hilty says. “I knew it was a possibility when I signed up to do it. I moved my entire family out to L.A. from New York, but there were so many good reasons to do it that it didn’t matter. It was different from Smash in every way. It was comedy, I got to work with Sean (Hayes), and I got to perform in front of a live audience. It was a really great experience.”

“I performed with the Seattle Men’s Chorus for their Christmas concert a few years ago and I had fun with them,” said Hilty. “It’s so great to get back home to celebrate my birthday with my family and friends.

Hilty already has moved on to her next role in a Warren Beatty film as an actress under contract to Howard Hughes. She’ll also be heard this summer as the voice of Flo in the Disney Jr. original animated movie Lucky Duck.

“I love going to the Pike Place Market to get a maple-glazed bacon donut! It’s so much like New York. I love being out with all of the people.”

She clearly doesn’t need any help either finding or following the yellow brick road.

Trashed

by Paul Slater, Crofton Springs This April 22nd we celebrate the 43rd Earth day. Even at my advanced years, I don’t need to look this fact up on Wikipedia, as it turns out that the very first Earth day was my very first day on Earth. I believe that this makes me exactly the same age as the planet, although I may have that bit wrong.

In any case, to mark the event this year, Highlands Council will be showing at Blakely Hall a recent environmentally themed documentary, called Trashed. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012, and had a limited release here in the US. As you might expect from the title, Trashed is about the impact that trash has on our environment.

The guide on our journey is Jeremy Irons, who also acted as Executive Producer on the film. The writer and director is Candida Brady, making her first feature length documentary, and surprisingly for a low budget documentary, the score is by the legendary Vangelis (he of Chariots of Fire fame).

Trashed is something of a Globetrotting affair, starting in Space, from where our planet still looks undeniably

beautiful, but rapidly descending into the more depressing earthly reality of a massive dump in Lebanon, where we see people and animals scavenging among the undoubtedly dangerous and toxic environment our industrial world has created. From there Irons racks up the airmiles as we touch many parts of the developed and developing world, from Yorkshire to Iceland. In each case, we are confronted with the visible effects of decades of lack of attention to the environment. Even our spectacular Puget Sound doesn’t escape attention, with reference to the Grey Whale that washed ashore in 2010, containing more than 20 plastic bags, surgical gloves, even a golf ball.

Perhaps the most controversial part of the film deals with dioxins. Incinerating waste can create dioxins as a byproduct, though the problem has been significantly reduced in recent years. To illustrate the effects of dioxins, Irons takes us to Vietnam and causes us to revisit the tragedy of Agent Orange, the herbicide used in the Vietnam War with tragic consequences that still linger today, through tragic birth defects. Somewhat belatedly, the film makes it clear that the levels we are talking about in most environments today are nowhere near the terrible toxicity that occurred in Vietnam, but the message from the filmmaker is clear – dioxins are deeply dangerous, and we allow them into our environment at our peril.

As the Vietnam passage clearly illustrates, Trashed definitely belongs in the category of an overtly polemic documentary. As with Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine, Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” and even Morgan Spurlock’s “Super-Size Me”, the audience is left in no doubt as to the opinion being shared. Such documentaries can be very liberating for the filmmaker, who through this format can speak impassionedly on a subject they care about, and be freed from the requirement to treat both sides of an argument artificially equally.

But these same documentaries are devilishly difficult to make well. Caught up in a desire to sell his or her case, the filmmaker can resort to cherry picking evidence, or even appearing to pass off personal opinions of scientists as scientific fact. Many people watching these documentaries are already converts to the point of view and will barely notice the deception; the few that are not will be instantly turned off.

I would recommend you take the short walk up to Blakely Hall to go and see it (please don’t drive – it will be Earth Day after all). If you consider yourself an environmentalist, put your skeptic’s hat on, and begin to research the relative dangers of different methods of disposing of trash in our environment. If you long for the days when plastic bags in Issaquah really were made of plastic, listen with an open mind to some of the arguments made in the film.

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WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE HIGHLANDS Artist Talk and Reception

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Women of Persia - Faces of the Ages Saturday, April 19th, 6 - 8pm Show begins April 1, 2014 at Blakely Hall A Solo Exhibition of Paintings by Farshad Alamdari See page 5 for details.

Exhibition Reception and Artist Talk Saturday, April 19, 2014, 6:00-8:00 pm

Book Club

A Do you enjoy reading AND sharing with friends? The book club is a great place to meet neighbors and explore a variety of books. We take turns hosting—all opinions are welcome! Please bring a snack to share. Dates sometimes change, so be sure to email lindsey8@gmail.com to get on the distribution list.

Chinese Heritage Club

Saturday, April 5th, 7:30 - 9:30pm Blakely Hall

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This club promotes and preserves Chinese cultural heritage awareness among the next generation for many local families. We welcome everyone interested in a neighborhood celebration for many traditional Chinese/ American festivals right at Issaquah Highlands.

Contact Hailain (lian_lhl@hotmail.com) or 425-633-0242.

Computer classes YWCA Family Village

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Free computer classes are provided in the computer lab.

Contact Sondi at slind@ywcaworks.org

Cub Scout Issaquah Highlands Pack 680 F

Come join Cub Scouts – A year round values-based program for boys grades 1-5 and is considered one of the premier organizations that help youth build character and prepares them for adulthood. Scouting is learning by discovery and discovery by doing. It’s fun, friends, and family where skills are learned, confidence is built, and stories are born. For more information or if you would like to join Cub Scouts, please contact Pack 680 via email at scoutpack680@gmail.com or join us at our next meeting.

Electric Vehicle Group Monday, April 7th, 7pm Blakely Hall

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Issaquah Electric Vehicle Group - now forming!

An Eastside chapter of the Electric Vehicle Association is forming, meeting on the first Monday of each month at Blakely Hall. Guest speakers at the April 7th kick-off meeting include State Representative Chad Magendanz.

Welcome all EV enthusiasts and those who are just wanting to know more about EVs. Questions? Contact Jennifer Northern at jgnorthern@yahoo.com

ESL Classes – FREE!

Movie Night by Timberlake

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English as a Second Language YWCA Family Village Mornings ~ 9:30am -12:30pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday

Friday, April 25th, 6:30pm Blakely Hall

Open Mic Night

Free Please contact Andi Wolff at awolff@rtc.edu or 425.235.2352 (ext. 2117) to register.

Frisbee Fundraiser Event

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Saturday, April 5th, 9:15 am – 4:00 pm Central Park Fly for Life – An Ultimate

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A friendly Frisbee competition for ages 8 on up, beginners to seasoned league players! Enjoy great play & fabulous food while raising money for TRIO Northwest, supporting organ & tissue donors, recipients & their families. Individuals and teams welcome. Adults-$20; Youth:$15.

Find out more and register @ https://flyforlife.eventbrite.com

Garden Committee

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Monday, April 21st, 6:30-8:30pm Blakely Hall

6:30PM Guest Speaker: Master Gardener: Mary Machala TOPIC: Building and Amending Soils 7:30PM Regular Business Meeting The Community Garden Committee meets monthly to help Highlands Council manage Issaquah Highlands community gardens. Members provide a forum to support all gardeners in the community. You don’t have to have a plot in the community garden to join! Container pots gardeners and yard landscapers welcome! Contact Chantal at Garden.

Committee@ihmail.com

Latino Club

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No Latino Club in April due to Spring Break Blakely Hall

The Latino Club welcomes everybody who would like to celebrate and learn about Latino traditions. There will be activities for kids, adults and seniors. Open to all – join the fun! Interested? Contact Alicia Spinner alispinner@yahoo.com. Next meeting, May 1 & May 8

Map Your Neighborhood Information A Wednesday, April 23rd, 6:30pm Blakely Hall

Map Your Neighborhood (MYN) is a program offered through the Issaquah Citizen Corps Council and the City of Issaquah that helps Issaquah neighborhoods prepare for disasters. We would be happy to help you organize a neighborhood party. Attend this informational session. No rsvp required. Contact Stu Linscott 206-715-2878.

Mountain Bike Club

A T F Open to all skill levels. Contact Marc for more information: 425-837-8367 or msteins@msn.com or Find “Issaquah Highlands Mountain Bike Club” on Facebook See page 21 for information.

COMMUNITY MEETINGS IHCA Architectural Review Committee Tuesday, 4/1, 6:00 pm IHCA Office IHCA Finance Committee Meeting Tuesday, 4/16, 5:30 pm IHCA Office

Communication Committee Thursday, 4/24, 10:00 am Blakely Hall

HFN Advisory Group Wednesday, 4/16, 7:00 pm Blakely Hall

Meetings are subject to change.

Visit www.ihwebsite.com for calendar updates or sign up for your weekly email bulletins at ihwebsite.com

IHCA Board of Directors Meeting Wednesday, 4/23, 5:30 pm IHCA Office

For City of Issaquah governance meetings, see www.ci.issaquah.wa.us

IHCA Budget Ratification Meeting Wednesday, 4/23, 7:00 pm IHCA Office

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First Fridays, April 4th, 7:00pm Sign up 7:30pm Show Blakely Hall

Open to all Acoustic instruments, singer-songwriters, acapella vocalists, pianists, poets, and Stand-up comedians.

For more information contact Cindy at zumbawithcindy@gmail.com

Pet Club

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Third Thursdays, April 17th, 7:00 - 8:00pm NOTE: Meeting will be at Civilized Nature

The Pet Club is a friendly gathering for those who enjoy learning and sharing information, stories, and experiences about animals. Enjoy seminars, discussions and activities about nutrition, health, behavior, training, social responsibility, safety and play. Bring your ideas for what you would like to discuss and share. IHPetclub@gmail.com

Photography Club

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Third Saturdays, April 19th, 10:30 - 11:30am Blakely Hall

Enjoy monthly meetings with guest speakers, share and discuss your work with others, and participate in an online community throughout the month. Open to everyone, even if you don’t live in the Issaquah Highlands. IHPC will focus on creating opportunities for members to display their work.

See the Flickr Group (http://www.flickr.com/groups/ihphotoclub/) and contact the group’s coordinators to join the club. Scott Moffat and Ravi Naqvi at ihpc@outlook.com

Playgroup

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Wednesdays, 10:00 - 11:30am No playgroup on 4/9 due to Spring Break Blakely Hall

Moms, dads, caregivers and their children (newborn - 4 years old) are invited to come to the Issaquah Highlands Playgroup for fun, friendship, support and socializing. We talk, laugh, sing, play, read stories and blow bubbles! We hope to see you there! Information, contact Alicia alispinner@yahoo.com. We are also on Facebook! www.facebook.com/IssaquahHighlands.coopplaygroup

Poker Night

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April 24th, 7:00pm Blakely Hall

Love watching the World Series of Poker on TV? Want to win a chance to go to Vegas and play on TV against the world’s best players? Join us the last Thursday of each month for a $20 buy-in, No-limit Texas Hold ‘em tournament! If you are a novice wanting to network or a salty vet looking for some steep competition you’ll love our monthly club! Contact Henry hlh1969@hotmail.com.

Want to Start a Club?

Contact:

Christy Garrard, Director/Special Event Planner christy.g@ihcouncil.org, 425-507-1107

Are you getting the Community E-Letter on Thursdays?

Sign up at ihwebsite.com

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WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE HIGHLANDS Resident Orientation

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Thursday, April 3rd, 7:00 - 8:30pm Blakely Hall

Resident Orientation is hosted by Highlands Council and the Issaquah Highlands Community Association. Learn more about community governance and social aspects of Issaquah Highlands living. If you are new to the community this orientation is for YOU. Even If you have lived here for some time and need some “orientation”, please join us! Get your questions answered. RSVP to Brianna at Brianna.E@ihcouncil.org or 425-507-1107

The Rovin’ Fiddlers

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Every Other Tuesday, 7:00 - 9:00pm Issaquah Highlands Fire Station

Our musical group is made up of primarily fiddle players of varying backgrounds and abilities, all working toward the goal of learning Irish and other Celtic tunes, along with occasional Old Timer and Quebecois tunes. Informal.

We share and learn a new tune every other week and then practice our old material in a jam session. Other welcome instruments for accompaniment are guitar (chords available for most tunes), drum, flute or whistle. We attempt to learn the new tunes by ear in a traditional manner, however, sheet music is usually provided.

Interested? Email Ken at ken_w_neville@yahoo.com

Running Club

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The Highlands Running Group is a community for Runners who share in the passion of group runs! Weather permitting, we will typically meet up in front of the tennis courts at Central Park on Saturdays at 8:00 am. If you are interested in joining us or have questions, please contact Joey at jbc224@cornell.edu, so he can add you to the distribution list.

See http://on.fb.me/008CZ2

Russian Highlanders

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April 20th, Annual BBQ, 3 - 7pm See Facebook for monthly event information

Russian Highlanders is a club for those who live here, just moved in or planning to move to our beautiful community.

Meet other Russian-speakers in your community for friendship! Gather with others who share the same goals and interests as you. Join Russian Highlanders Facebook page to see what activities are planned -- dining out, movies, kid play dates or just go out to have a fun. The possibilities are endless... http://www.facebook.com/ groups/rusisshigh/ Please follow the FB page for schedule changes or location of meetings.

Wednesdays, 3:45 - 5pm Lower Community Room YWCA Family Village

This is a tutoring group for students of all grades! Come with your homework ready to learn but also have some fun!

High school students from Issaquah High will be here to provide tutoring and group activities.

Speaking in Public Class Youths and Adults K T A

Teenagers

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Kids

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Fun for the whole family

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Friday, April 11th, 7:00 - 8:30pm Blakely Hall

Come out and meet your fellow wine lovers in the Highlands! Are you a wine enthusiast, connoisseur, or just a fan? We usually get together the second Friday of each month to discuss and enjoy wine. If interested please send an email to Dianne at danielsondd@yahoo.com to RSVP.

Yarns & Threads Group

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Saturday mornings 9:30-11:30am Lower Community Room YWCA Family Village

Wednesdays & Fridays, 9am Blakely Hall

All ages 8 years and older are welcome! Let your voices be strong and mighty! Join professional mentors and learn the importance of developing solid communication skills. Drop ins are welcome or register with David Hall at orator@live.com or 425.427.9682

All knitters, crocheters, and stitchers are welcome.

Beginners are welcome as instruction in knitting and crocheting is available. For more details of questions, please contact Cathie Coulter at Catherine.coulter@ihmail.com

Teen Easter Egg Hunt

Zumba Class

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Friday, April 18th, 7pm - 10pm Blakely Hall and Village Green Park

For middle and high school students (student I.D. required) sponsored by Highlands Youth (HY) Advisory Board and Highlands Council. Bring I.D., a flashlight, something to collect eggs in and $5 (benefitting the HY Board). See page 20 for details.

Tennis Group - Ladies Meet Up

A The IH ladies tennis group is a non-competitive group so all levels are welcome - even if you haven’t played in a while and are feeling a bit rusty. Meet and connect with other IH women tennis players and come to have fun and stay or get fit! We’ll be playing on Thursdays and Saturdays at 10 am at Central Park when the weather is dry.

We also have a Facebook group page. Please join us there too! https://www.facebook.com/groups/570656519667143/.

“Trashed”

A

T

Tuesdays (7:00pm) & Saturdays (9:00am) Cancelled 4/22 Blakely Hall

Get Ready - Get Fit - Go! Ditch the workout and join the fitness party at Blakely Hall! Zumba Fitness is the Latin and world rhythm and dance based fitness party that will change the way you think about working out. Grab your workout clothes, your water bottle, and join the party! Free class but please bring a non-perishable food item to donate to the food bank! For additional information, email (Cindy) at zumbawithcindy@gmail.com

A

Tuesday, April 22nd, Earth Day Two Shows: 1pm & 7pm Blakely Hall

Cleanscapes, Highlands Council and the City of Issaquah’s Office of Sustainability present “Trashed”with Jeremy Irons. This award-winning film will open your eyes to the full extent of our global trash crisis. Suitable for audiences over 13. A free event.

Programming is appropriate for the following groups.

A Adults T

Wine Club

Volunteering?

Are you a High School or College student looking for community service hours? Do you need a volunteer project to add to your resume? The YWCA has an opportunity for YOU! Currently we are looking for volunteers who would like to create and host School Break Activities for the kids as well as after school tutoring and activity at the Family Village. Contact Sondi at 425-270-6807 or slind@ywcaworks.org for more information and getting started on volunteer opportunities at the YWCA Family Village.

CALENDAR SAVE THE DATE

Community Garage Sale Saturday, June 21

Highlands Day Sunday, July 20 HOLIDAYS

April Fool’s Day Tuesday, April 1

National Walk to Work Day

Earth Day

Passover

OTHER FUN THINGS

Friday, April 4

Tuesday, April 15

National High Five Day Thursday, April 17

Easter

Sunday, April 20

Tuesday, April 22

April Birthstone Diamond

Zodiac Signs Aires – Taurus

Famous April Babies: Doris Day, Marlon Brando, Gregory Peck, Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses S. Grant, Jane Goodall

April Fool’s Day has origins way back in Medieval times. Today we know it as a day to have fun with playing practical jokes on one another. In some parts of Europe the day is celebrated by sticking paper fishes on the backs of friends and family and shouting “April Fish!” Wouldn’t this tradition be apropos for us citizens of Issaquah? Let’s honor our friend the fish this year with this old fashioned way of celebrating April Fool’s Day.

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Issaquah Highlands Connections

Issaquah Highlands Connections

April 2014

FITNESS & HEALTH

Relay for Life: Endurance Ready

by Erick K. Harada, DPT, Highlands Physical Therapy

Spring is finally here and that means nicer weather! If you are thinking of participating in one of the local run/walks coming up (i.e. Relay for Life) you will want to make sure your body is ready for the increased physical demand that is required. If you have not been as physical as you were planning this past winter, preventative exercises are in order. Just like running events, walking events can take a toll on your low back and legs. I have compiled a few exercises to help prevent plantar fasciitis and low back pain.

Towel Scrunches

Low Back Stretch

Calf Stretch

1. With both feet resting on towel, slowly bunch up towel by curling toes.

1. With hand behind right knee, pull knee in to chest until a comfortable stretch is felt in lower back and buttocks. Keep back relaxed. Hold 30 seconds.

1. Stand with right foot back, leg straight and forward leg bent.

Keeping heel on floor, lean into wall until stretch is felt in calf.

Hold 60 seconds.

2. Perform for 1 minute.

Repeat 2 times, 2-3x/day.

2. Repeat 3x/side.

Perform 2-3x/day.

2. Repeat 3x/side.

Perform 2-3x/day times per set.

Start with these exercises today and continue them through your event. Remember to warm up prior to any stretching to avoid injury. If you have any pains while performing these exercises, contact your local physical therapist. Have fun and stay healthy.

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Issaquah Highlands Connections

Issaquah Highlands Connections

April 2014

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GREAT MATTRESSES, GREAT PRICES, WITH GREAT SERVICE

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Hypoallergenic and natural options available

A no-pressure, family owned mattress store

425 295 7684 • 485 Front St North, Issaquah WA 98027 Located Next to Darigold • Also located in downtown Redmond

Encompass Pediatric Therapy Services Offered • Speech & Language Therapy • Social Communication Skills • Occupational Therapy • Feeding Therapy • Autism Spectrum Disorder • Physical Therapy • Child & Family Counseling • Wired for Reading

Back Row: Annalisa Roy, SLP; Darlene Logan, OTR/L; Missy Budworth, SLP Front Row: Kim Hall, OTR/L; Jen Cramlet, SLP

encompassnw.org

Pediatric Therapy Office 209 Main Avenue S. North Bend, WA 98045 425.888.3347

BACKFLOW TESTING

AQUA CONTAINMENT COMPANY INC Licensed Bonded Insured Issaquah resident since 1980 22 years testing experience Multiple assembly/neighbor discounts available 2014 special mention this ad when you call and receive $5.00 off the testing cost patricia nelson 425-392-1523 Issy027@comcast.net

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April 2014

ASK KARI Dear Kari, My ex-sister in law is getting married again. I like her very much and we are still friendly, as we talk a few times a year. I am not attending her upcoming wedding, as is it a destination wedding in Mexico. I am wondering if I should send her a gift instead. What do you think? Do you think it be will offensive to my brother if I do, as their marriage ended because she had an affair? (It was with someone different from who she is marrying.)

- Still Friendly Dear Still Friendly, You did not mention how close you are with your brother and whether he has moved on from his relationship with his ex-wife. I will assume that he has and you are more concerned about proper etiquette versus causing poor family dynamics. I think it is perfectly fine to send a gift to you ex- sister in law. At this point you truly are just friends and friends send friends good wishes and sometimes gifts when they have a joyous occasion in their lives.

- Kari Dear Kari, I work at a great tech company and I job share my position. My job share partner is not following company policy and frequently chooses unprofessional actions that affect how the company views us as a team and employees. What can I do to stop her from making poor choices and save my professional life?

- Worried Worker Dear Worried Worker, I would start by making a list of the situations that are not working for you in the role that you both perform. Stick to the most important points such as following policy and procedures vs. petty disagreements that may have occurred in the past. Then, ask to meet with your partner and share your concerns. Document the topics covered and the date/location of meeting. Ask your colleague for a commitment to make changes and allow some time to pass to see the change happen. If changes occur, compliment your colleague on their teamwork approach.

If not, ask for time with you manger and human resources to report your continued concerns.

You are in a tough position since you must interact with you job partner on regular basis; the best way for you to be perceived as being professional is to act professional during the whole process.

- Kari Dear Kari, My son who is twenty recently told me he is gay and that his best friend is actually his boyfriend.

I feel like he has been hiding the truth from me, as a few times in the past I asked him if he was gay and he denied it. I feel like I have always been supportive of him and would have welcomed knowing his sexual orientation earlier. Also, I feel like he should have told me about his relationship status with his boyfriend instead of pretending they were just friends. How can we move forward and how can I accept his new relationship - Confused Mom Dear Confused Mom, It can be hard when our children hide things from us. Your son may have been scared and unsure about how best to share his sexual orientation and his relationship with you. I suggest that you give him the benefit of doubt. Recognize that his telling you the truth was not an easy process, and move forward. Also, remind him that you love him and always will, but need to be included in his important life details and not only selected parts. Then, invite him and his partner to dinner and begin to get to know them as a couple. Good luck.

- Kari Kari O’Neill, MSW, LICSW, is a licensed independent clinical social worker and a resident of Issaquah Highlands.

This column is for entertainment purposes only. If you are in crisis and in need of support please contact the Crisis Clinic at 866-427-4747.

Issaquah Highlands Connections

Issaquah Highlands Connections

April 2014

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WIT & TIDBITS

A Little Trash Talk

by Tami Curtis, Summit (or Two Slides) Park

I saw a YouTube video the other day that made me fall off my chair in laughter and conscious surprise. The video is about me, about my friends, and about my neighborhood. It is a rapidfire five-minute episode of one man’s explosively misdirected but well-intended attempt to save the dwindling rainforest, but his admirable intentions fall flat and do more harm than good. In his own comfortable suburban realm, this 30-something-year-old main character tries to “Do Good”. He drives a Prius, recycles, spends time with family, gives to charity, and tries to be a good docent of planet Earth. He’s a bit of everyone. He’s trying. Except this gentleman flies off the handle and stops doing good in a reaction to the rainforest decimation.

He decides to singlehandedly go and try to save the rainforest. It is disastrously comical. In the attempt to save millions of acres of wilderness he quits his job, abandons his wife and child, and nearly kills himself trying to be the hero. Not Good. There’s a point to the story and there’s a brand awareness that’s being proffered. I’ll get to that later. Let’s talk about our everyday attempts to Do Good.

I like how some fast food places are taking us by the hand and offering us an easy way to Do Good. Chipotle and Costco display well-marked bins that describe exactly what items go in which bin. Plastic cups here, tortilla chip bag there. Easy. I just did a “Do Good”. Of course there’s that nagging guilt-trip-sign labeling the Scorn Bin called “Landfill”, like “Hey Planet Killer, this is where you dump your Bambi-Death-Uranium-half-life fork you used for 60 seconds while polishing off your veggie burrito, you slime ball.” Sometimes I just feel like singing “I Do Good, I Do Good” in the face of the “Landfill” sign, and file away my compost and recycling with zest.

Other places like Starbucks could stand to offer a waste sorting tutorial though, sanctimonious or not. There is no “Paper cups go in compost” “Sugar packets in recycling”, “Lids go in the Planet-killer-Bambi-death bin”. I still hover over the waste bins at Starbucks with my wooden stir stick going “Bambi killer” or “Earth goddess food”? A picture would be nice, too. Yeah, I’m that simple – especially when I haven’t had my coffee yet.

Highlands resident Lacey Leigh is known to “Do Good”. She excels at it, as a matter of fact.

Being one of over 13 million household drinkers of single-serve K-Cup® coffee, the Ashland Park Leighs have sorting the pod waste down to a science. It took some research to determine their sorting solution for those plastic cup/aluminum foil/paper filter combo pods, but the

need was there, considering they went through at least 14 per week. Without being divided up, the coffee pods can only be thrown in the trash. In a simple six-step process (as seen in the illustration), this tuned-in family dissected a K-Cup® and discovered four separate entities that could be deposited into two bins. First comes the aluminum foil lid (recycling), then they spoon out the spent coffee grounds (compost), next they extract the paper filter (compost), and finally after rinsing the residue they chuck the plastic cup into recycling (we hope). Too much for so little? Well, if Costco is trying, so should we, right? Or at least we should spend a minute here and there thinking about where our waste is going.

I’ve been guilty of throwing the pizza box into the recycling instead of compost, and I’ve been dinged brownie points for slipping a pasta box into recycling even though it has that clear plastic window still stuck to the face. I discovered at the CleanScapes store at Gilman Village that there actually are people standing at conveyor belts who will pick up my slack and peel off that stuck piece of cellophane for me down at the Materials Recovery Facility in Tacoma. With that little nugget of information I have enough guilt to buckle down and peel my own commercial products into their waste components. And while I’m at it, I can Do Good by purchasing items labeled “Rainforest Alliance Certified” encircling a picture of a frog, which was the point of the whole funny video. Support from suburbia where you can Do Good. Check it out for yourselves! http://youtu.be/3iIkOi3srLo A two-slide park resident (Summit Park), Tami Curtis is mother of two middle school boys and can be seen running all over the Highlands with Lacey Leigh. Her very supportive husband, Glenn is a great fan and sounding board of her Celtic band, The Fire Inside.

Standing Against Racism

by Sondi Lind, YWCA Family Village

In 2011, the YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish decided to take a public Stand Against Racism on the last Friday of every April. The Stand Against Racism is a national movement led by the YWCA. Our goals: to call attention to the legacy of discrimination and how it affects our lives, to stand up for the dignity and respect of all people, and to commit to helping eliminate racism in its many forms.

Led by the YWCA USA, this annual event brings together hundreds of thousands of people across the nation, from all walks of life to raise awareness that racism still exists.

During the past three years, people’s Stand has taken many forms - from reading a Pledge together out loud, discussing recent news article, posting signs about how racism impacts our community to events with cultural performances.

During 2013, I attended a showing of the DVD “Unnatural Causes” sponsored by the YWCA Family Village Mental Health where I learned about hidden racism in the health care systems and was surprised to learn that even at the same education and income levels, African Americans (& in many cases, other persons of color) typically have worse health and die sooner than their white counterparts.

Taking a day to Stand also means taking a day to celebrate our cultures and we did just that last year at the YWCA Family Village Issaquah. Last year, residents were asked to take a stand through food and dress. Residents enjoyed a potluck dinner by bringing dishes to share that represented their heritage or a food culture they enjoyed; residents were encouraged to come dressed representing any ethnic culture they desired. Also, residents were asked to submit any thoughts or stories about racism and cultural identity through drawings and words and these pieces were laminated and used as table center pieces at the event. The kids were also involved when they decorated cut-outs of people and the cutouts were then linked together by hands showing people of all walks of life standing together.

Stand Against Racism Celebration Friday April 25th from 5:00-7:00pm Village Commons at the YWCA Family Village The YWCA believes that individuals and whole communities must be engaged in a conversation about racism, and the Family Village Issaquah staff will be reaching out to community members throughout 2014 to help us host those conversations. We look forward to future conversations.

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Issaquah Highlands Connections

ISSAQUAH HIGHLANDS COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

Issaquah Highlands Community Association 2014 - 2015 Budget The adopted 2014-15 Issaquah Highlands Community Association (IHCA) assessment will be $894, which is the same amount as the 2013-14 budget.

The IHCA Finance Committee comprised of IHCA Treasurer David Ngai, IHCA Board Member Walt Bailey, Jane Gu, Linda Liaw, Alex Garrard, Cecily McDonald, and Melody Greene developed the 2014-2015 budget. The IHCA staff provided financial statements and other supporting documents to members of the Finance Committee. The IHCA is a nonprofit organization and our budget is developed according to Washington State Law and the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&R’s) for IHCA. The Finance Committee works throughout the year analyzing monthly financials including a yearly forecast. The Committee began preparing the 2014-15 operating budget at their meeting in January. The draft budget was presented to the IHCA Board of Directors at the February 26th Board meeting. The proposed fiscal year July 2014 - June 2015 operating and reserve budget was approved and adopted by the IHCA Board of Directors.

2013-2014 Assessment Operating Fund Reserve Fund 2014-15 Assessment

Annual $894 $2 ($2) $894

Semi-Annual $447 $1 ($1) $447

Monthly $74.50 $0.20 ($0.20) $74.50

2014-15 Budget Overview Income: $ 2,925,014 Expenses:

Landscape, Utilities & Operations

Community Management & Administration

Accounting

$ 1,416,786 $ 1,158,581 $ 143,047

Total Expense $ 2,718,414 Capital Reserves:

$

206,600

Earth Day Every Day – Green Power Comes to Issaquah Highlands

Income includes annual base assessments, late fees, shared costs income, non-member income, and other income. The net increase in the operating fund offsets the net decrease in the reserve fund keeping assements (per owner) the same. The anticipated owner occupied unit count estimated for the 2014-15 Budget is 3,006 in comparison to 2,873 for the 2013-14 Budget.

Notable Increases: • Other Income – Additional management fee for High Street Center.

• Landscaping Expenses – Increase in landscape contract rates and supplies for expanded coverage areas as well as additional work hours for seasonal landscape crews.

• Rent, CAMS, and Storage - Square footage increase plus annual rate increase.

• Pet Waste Services – Rate increase and additional stations/supplies.

• Insurance – Expected rate increase and addition of High Street Center liability policy.

• Contingency Fund increased to build-up Operating Reserve.

Notable Decreases: • Community Patrol –Discontinued service.

• Collection/Bad Debt Expenses – Declining trend in delinquent accounts.

• Administrative Personnel – Staff reductions and reclassifications.

The IHCA 2014-2015 Budget Ratification Meeting will be held at 7:00pm on April 23, 2014 at the Issaquah Highlands Community Association Office (1011 NE High Street). Per the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) and the IHCA governing documents, a quorum is not required at the meeting for the budget to be ratified. The budget will be ratified unless 75% of the entire membership (not just homeowners present at the meeting or by proxy) votes to reject the budget approved by the Board of Directors. If you do not plan to attend the meeting, you may cast your vote in 3 other ways: • Email: You may send an email to budget@ihcommunity.org. Email must contain your full name and street address.

• US Mail: Send your vote with your full name, street address and signature to: IHCA – Budget 1011 NE High St, Suite 210 Issaquah, WA 98029 • Proxy: You may assign your vote to be cast by someone attending the meeting via proxy. Please visit www.ihwebsite.com for the required proxy form.

All votes via email, US Mail and completed proxy forms must be received no later than April 16th, 2014.

Meet the Team | Joon Chang

by Russ Ayers, Issaquah Highlands Community Association

It seems so obvious with a community motto of ‘living green’. Electric meters managed by IHCA have recently joined Puget Sound Energy’s ‘Green Power’ Program. Thirty lowerdemand meters joined the program in January with the balance enrolled in time for Earth Day. Issaquah Highlands has some 85 (and increasing) electric meters powering the community’s pathway lights, irrigation pumps and controls and all those holiday lights. Now 100% of the electricity used to power them is provided by wind, landfill gas or agricultural waste. IHCA joins Ben & Jerry’s, PCC Natural Markets and Rodda Paint as Issaquah businesses participating in Green Power.

Here in the Pacific Northwest much of our electricity is provided by hydroelectric projects which have dammed most of the region’s rivers. Previously considered a relatively green power source, such projects are one of many impediments to the endangered salmon so closely linked to the region (and especially Issaquah, with the most-visited urban salmon hatchery in the state). This relatively cheap source of electricity exacts a toll on fish and streams. Perhaps the recent dam removal projects on the nearby Elwha and White Salmon Rivers will guide us to new and more effective salmon recovery projects in the future.

For more information about Green Power and how to enroll your own home, visit www.pse. com and click on Green Power. PSE also offers Carbon Balance, allowing customers to offset part or all of their fossil fuel use through verified carbon offsets.

Joon Chang has worked with Issaquah Highlands since June 2010. He is a licensed CPA in the state of Washington. Joon works full-time as the accounting manager overseeing the financial reporting, accounts receivable, accounts payable, taxes, and annual audit. Joon has over eight year experience in Association Management, along with banking, real estate, retail, and wholesale industry backgrounds. Outside of the accounting profession, in 1997, Joon started a fast food Korean “Bulgogi” restaurant at Crossroads Shopping Center in Bellevue and operated for nine years, but obviously he is now much more contented working as an accountant at Issaquah Highlands.

Joon has lived in Sammamish the past 15 years with his wife, Hannah and two sons, 16 year old Jonathan and 14 year old Peter. Prior to moving to Seattle, Joon grew up in Maine and graduated from Babson College near Boston Massachusetts. Hannah is a 4th grade school teacher in Sammamish. Jonathan is active playing the violin with the Bellevue Symphony Orchestra and soccer at Eastlake High School. Peter plays both Select and AAU basketball and is a rising star. In his free time, Joon enjoys seeing both Jonathan and Peter compete “to win” in sports. He also likes reading and taking family road trips to appreciate the great outdoors.

Issaquah Highlands Connections

April 2014

2013-14 I S S A Q U A H H I G H L A N D S C O M M U N I T Y A S SAdopted O2013-14 CBudget I A TEstimated ION Ops Travel, Meals, & Training Contra-Dedicated Operations TOTAL REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE

2,600 (5,150) 204,061

Issaquah Highlands 2014 - 2015 Approved Budget

2,600 (6,485) 194,106

For the Fiscal Year July ACCOUNTING 1, 2014 - Jun- Accounting 30, 2015 Dedicated Staff Wages 155,600 157,101 Issaquah Highlands 2014-15 Approved Budget Payroll Taxes - Accounting IHCA Board of Directors Approved February 26,Fiscal 2014 For the Fiscal Year July 1, 2014 - Jun 30, 2015 For the Year July 1, 2014 -14,030 Jun 30, 2015 13,982

Issaquah Highlands 2014-15 Approved Budget

OPERATING FUND INCOME Late Fees Fee & Fine Income Escrow & Resale Cert Fees Collection Legal Fee Income Interest Income Owner Base Assessments Assoc. Mmgt Fees - Non-members Accounting Fees - Non-members Operations Income - Non-members Landscaping/Irrig Income - Non-members Grand-Glacier LLC SC Subsidy Shared Costs Agreements Income TOTAL INCOME

19,000 6,500 9,350 48,000 1,000 2,568,685 0 0 0 0 10,890 141,505 2,804,930

24,149 18,980 11,819 35,967 1,095 2,602,238 537 762 1,719 4,755 20,895 141,808 2,864,725

19,000 6,500 9,350 36,000 1,000 2,687,364 24,000 0 0 0 0 141,800 2,925,014

EXPENSES LANDSCAPE & UTILITIES Utilities - Storm Water Fees Garbage Electric - Streetlights, Feature Electric Landscape - Contract Monthly Landscape - Non-contract (goats) Irrigation-Water Irrig Elec Park & Supply Pumps Irrig Maint & Repairs Landscape Supplies Landscape Equipment (useful life > 1 yr) Safety Equip & Supplies Equipment Rental Irrig Non-Potable Maint/Mgmnt Landscape - Fleet Equip, Repair & Maint Dedicated Staff Wages - Landscape Payroll Taxes - Landscape Worker's Comp - Landscape Medical Insurance - Landscape 401K Expense - Landscape Lndscpe Travel, Meals, & Training Staff Uniforms & Equip Lndscpe Communications,Computer,Misc Contra-Dedicated Landscape TOTAL LANDSCAPE & UTILITIES

720 26,000 34,650 268,324 36,000 135,800 20,800 23,000 112,400 6,700 6,000 11,820 9,000 20,700 314,586 29,270 22,100 65,705 3,920 4,750 5,900 3,900 (20,675) 1,141,370

705 25,760 34,650 268,324 36,000 135,800 21,592 23,000 112,400 6,700 6,000 11,820 9,000 20,700 345,674 29,136 20,372 62,543 4,635 4,750 5,956 3,900 (68,788) 1,120,629

720 27,000 37,000 304,715 36,000 142,195 26,926 23,000 122,414 6,700 6,000 11,820 9,000 20,700 322,779 29,779 24,529 66,497 4,911 4,750 6,200 3,900 (18,875) 1,218,660

25,320 18,000 12,357 1,000 12,450 3,500 14,600 9,249 80,550 7,230 3,276 18,160 2013-14 920 Adopted Budget 2,600 (5,150) 204,061

28,469 8,765 12,358 1,000 12,450 3,500 14,600 9,248 80,550 7,135 2,702 16,307 2013-14 Estimated906 2,600 (6,485) 194,106

36,129 0 12,357 1,000 13,450 3,500 14,600 11,334 78,591 7,195 4,058 16,970 2014-15 Budget 892 2,600 (4,550) 198,126

ACCOUNTING Dedicated Staff Wages - Accounting Payroll Taxes - Accounting Worker's Comp - Accounting Medical Insurance - Accounting 401K Expense - Accounting Contra-Dedicated Accounting TOTAL ACCOUNTING

155,600 14,030 720 18,150 3,900 (56,700) 135,700

157,101 13,982 729 18,672 4,569 (54,450) 140,603

163,418 14,661 757 21,004 4,807 (61,600) 143,047

Worker's Comp - AccountingIHCA Board of Directors Approved February 720 26, 2014 729 Medical Insurance - Accounting 18,150 18,672 2013-14 2013-14 401K Expense - Accounting 3,900 4,569 Adopted(56,700) Budget Estimated Contra-Dedicated Accounting (54,450) $894 Assessments TOTAL ACCOUNTING 135,700 140,603 OPERATING FUND INCOME COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT Late Fees 19,000 24,149 Occupational & Technical Training 22,090 22,090 Fee & Fine&Income 6,500 18,980 Company Management Training 5,900 5,900 Escrow & Resale Cert&Fees 9,350 11,819 Other Admin - Dues Subscriptions 2,838 2,838 Collection Legal Fee Income 48,0000 35,9670 Travel Reimbursement Interest Income 1,000 1,095 Dedicated Staff Wages - Community Admin 416,710 394,296 Owner 2,568,685 2,602,238 Payroll Base TaxesAssessments - Community Admin 35,900 32,286 Assoc.

Mmgt Fees - Non-members 0 537 Worker's Comp - Community Admin 1,471 1,312 Accounting Fees - Non-members 0 762 Medical Insurance - Community Admin 44,330 41,377 Operations Income - Non-members 0 1,719 401K Expense - Community Admin 12,500 12,113 Landscaping/Irrig Income - Non-members 0 4,755 Legal Services 15,000 15,000 Grand-Glacier LLC SC Subsidy 10,890 20,895 Legal Collection Services 48,000 36,337 Shared Agreements Income 141,505 141,808 Audit &Costs Tax Services 8,000 8,000 TOTAL INCOME 2,804,930 2,864,725 HR/Payroll Services 13,500 14,040 Computer Services 41,128 41,128 EXPENSES Reserve Study 4,000 2,000 LANDSCAPE & UTILITIES Contra-Dedicated Staff Comm Assn (37,675) (35,878) Utilities - Storm Water Fees 720 705 Committee / BOD Expense 4,800 4,800 Garbage 26,000 25,760 Public (Community) Relations 4,550 4,550 Electric - Streetlights, Feature Electric 34,650 34,650 Computer Expense (Hardware) 14,309 14,309 Landscape - Contract Monthly 268,324 268,324 Software Licensing 45,169 45,169 Landscape 36,000 36,000 Supplies - Non-contract (goats) 15,000 15,000 Irrigation-Water 135,800 135,800 Photocopies 12,246 12,246 Irrig Elec Park & Supply Pumps 20,800 21,592 Postage 12,648 12,648 Irrig & Office Repairs 23,000 23,000 Rent,Maint CAMs, & Storage 126,249 126,249 Landscape Supplies 112,400 112,400 Communications 10,000 10,000 Landscape (useful life > 1 yr) 6,700 6,7000 Answering Equipment Service 1,560 Safety Equip & Supplies 6,000 6,000 Office Utilities 5,880 5,881 Equipment 11,820 11,820 B & O TaxesRental 250 257 Irrig Non-Potable Maint/Mgmnt 9,000 9,000 Property Tax 11,830 11,830 Landscape - Fleet Equip, Repair & Maint 20,700 20,700 Bad Debt Expense 46,700 35,027 Dedicated Wages - Landscape 314,586 345,674 Directors &Staff Officers Insurance 28,689 31,549 Payroll - Landscape 29,270 29,136 GeneralTaxes Liability, Property, Auto Insurance 43,623 41,661 Worker's 22,100 20,372 Bank FeesComp - NSF - Landscape 400 441 Medical Insurance 65,705 62,543 Federal Income Tax- Landscape 2,000 2,000 401K ExpenseExpense - Landscape 3,920 4,635 Contingency 50,000 50,000 Lndscpe Travel, Meals, & Training 4,750 4,750 Contingency Fund Reserve 50,000 50,000 Staff Uniforms & Equip 5,900 5,956 TOTAL COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT 1,119,595 1,066,456 Lndscpe Communications,Computer,Misc 3,900 3,900 Contra-Dedicated (20,675) (68,788) TOTAL EXPENSES Landscape 2,600,726 2,521,793 TOTAL LANDSCAPE & UTILITIES 1,141,370 1,120,629 NET INCOME BEFORE RESERVE CONTRIBUTION 204,204 342,931 REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE Pet Service Supplies 25,320 28,469 Less:Waste Reserve Contribution 204,204 204,204 Community Patrol & Monitoring 18,0000 8,765 CASH FLOW - OPERATING FUND 138,727 Holiday Lighting - Contract 12,357 12,358 Signs Expense, 1,000 1,000 RESERVE FUNDMaint. & Repair Maintenance & Repair 12,450 12,450 RESERVE INCOME 2013-14 2013-14 Parks/Trails Lighting Maint. & Repair 3,500 3,500 Reserve Contribution 204,204 Adopted204,204 Budget Estimated Maintenance Supplies 14,600 14,600 Interest Income - Reserves 4,000 6,000 Drain Cleaning 9,249 9,248 CapitalLine Assessment 11,125 30,000 Dedicated Staff Wages - Operations 80,550 80,550 TOTAL RESERVE INCOME 219,329 240,204 Payroll Taxes - Operation 7,230 7,135 Worker's - Operations 3,276 2,702 RESERVE Comp EXPENSES Medical Insurance Operations 18,160 16,307 2013-14 2013-14 Street Trees - One -Time Partial Replace 401K ExpenseStations - Operations 920 Adopted Budget Estimated906 Trail Exercise Replace Ops Travel, Meals,Replace & Training 2,600 2,600 Mailbox Housings Contra-Dedicated Operations (5,150) (6,485) Bark Park - Install Mall Shelter TOTAL REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE 204,061 194,106 GMC Truck TOTAL RESERVE EXPENSES 187,420 181,470 ACCOUNTING Dedicated Staff- Wages - Accounting 155,600 157,101 CASH FLOW RESERVE FUND 31,909 58,734 Payroll Taxes - Accounting 14,030 13,982 Worker's Comp - Accounting 720 729 Medical Insurance - Accounting 18,150 18,672 401K Expense - Accounting 3,900 4,569 Contra-Dedicated Accounting (56,700) (54,450) TOTAL ACCOUNTING 135,700 140,603

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT Occupational & Technical Training Company & Management Training Other Admin - Dues & Subscriptions Travel Reimbursement Dedicated Staff Wages - Community Admin Payroll Taxes - Community Admin Worker's Comp - Community Admin Medical Insurance - Community Admin 401K Expense - Community Admin Legal Services Legal Collection Services

22,090 5,900 2,838 0 416,710 35,900 1,471 44,330 12,500 15,000 48,000

22,090 5,900 2,838 0 394,296 32,286 1,312 41,377 12,113 15,000 36,337

24,890 6,860 3,095 3,700 405,352 34,265 1,249 50,784 11,591 15,000 36,000

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT Occupational & Technical Training Company & Management Training Other Admin - Dues & Subscriptions Travel Reimbursement Dedicated Staff Wages - Community Admin Payroll Taxes - Community Admin Worker's Comp - Community Admin Medical Insurance - Community Admin 401K Expense - Community Admin Legal Services Legal Collection Services

IHCA Board of Directors Approved February 26, 2014 2013-14 Adopted Budget $894 Assessments

REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE Pet Waste Service Supplies Community Patrol & Monitoring Holiday Lighting - Contract Signs Expense, Maint. & Repair Maintenance & Repair Parks/Trails Lighting Maint. & Repair Maintenance Supplies Drain Line Cleaning Dedicated Staff Wages - Operations Payroll Taxes - Operation Worker's Comp - Operations Medical Insurance - Operations 401K Expense - Operations Ops Travel, Meals, & Training Contra-Dedicated Operations TOTAL REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE

2013-14 Estimated

2014-15 Budget $894

22,090 5,900 2,838 0 416,710 35,900 1,471 44,330 12,500 15,000 48,000

22,090 5,900 2,838 0 394,296 32,286 1,312 41,377 12,113 15,000 36,337

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2014-15 Budget 2,600 (4,550) 198,126

163,418 14,661 757 21,004 2014-15 4,807 Budget (61,600) $894 143,047

19,000 24,890 6,500 6,860 9,350 3,095 36,000 3,700 1,000 405,352 2,687,364 34,265 24,000 1,249 0 50,784 0 11,591 0 15,000 0 36,000 141,800 9,000 2,925,014 14,000 39,284 2,000 (42,375) 720 6,300 27,000 4,550 37,000 16,309 304,715 48,043 36,000 18,000 142,195 13,950 26,926 14,000 23,000 151,547 122,414 10,000 6,7000 6,000 6,418 11,820 684 9,000 12,100 20,700 40,000 322,779 34,704 29,779 45,744 24,529 537 66,497 2,500 4,911 50,000 4,750 68,500 6,200 1,158,581 3,900 (18,875) 2,718,414 1,218,660 206,600 36,129 206,600 0 12,357 1,000 13,450 2014-15 3,500 206,600 Budget 14,600 5,000 11,334 17,880 78,591 229,480 7,195 4,058 16,970 2014-15 10,000 892 Budget 13,550 2,600 25,000 (4,550) 22,000 198,126 40,000 110,550 163,418 118,930 14,661 757 21,004 4,807 (61,600) 143,047

24,890 6,860 3,095 3,700 405,352 34,265 1,249 50,784 11,591 15,000 36,000

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April 2014

Issaquah Highlands Connections

ISSAQUAH HIGHLANDS COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

IHCA Rights of Spring

Discover the Value of Composting

Annual Rites of Spring – Groundskeeping Equipment Back on the Job

Do you ever wonder how much food you throw out yearly? According to King County, nearly 30% of all residential waste that ends up in the landfill is food scraps and food soiled paper.

That’s more than all the recyclable material currently in the garbage waste stream!

by Russ Ayers, Issaquah Highlands Community Association

With the arrival of Spring the return of most noisy – and potentially dangerous – landscape maintenance equipment is underway. Residents are reminded that the equipment operators are primarily focused on doing the job for which we’ve hired them. Their personal protective equipment such as safety glasses and hearing protection ‘cocoon’ them while they work. As a result they are not always aware of your approach or presence, especially if you approach them from behind. Keep yourself safe and keep away from active work areas. Crossing the street is often a great way to reduce risk (and noise exposure).

Work schedules have been set to minimize work in school zones during peak hours; however, it is not possible to completely eliminate work/resident schedule conflicts. Contract work hours are governed by city ordinance so work occurs from 7 am to 5 pm weekdays only. In most cases, the crews are finished for the day before 4. Saturday work hours run from 9 to 5 but are not generally used by IHCA staff or contractors. Private landscape maintenance vendors must also adhere to these rules.

Earth Day as Practiced at Issaquah Highlands Most people know April 22 is Earth Day. Now celebrated globally, Earth Day arose in 1970 as a popular response to the unregulated pollution and environmental degradation that was occurring in the United States at the time. That same year several federal environmental laws were passed, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act. The Environmental Protection Agency was established that year as well.

Forty-four years later at Issaquah Highlands Earth Day continues to be observed through the many Built Green homes, LEED projects and Zero Energy Project (zHomes). In many of our outdoor spaces the spirit of Earth Day is observed every day, too. For instance, almost half of our irrigation water is drawn from stormwater runoff detained here in the larger community detention ponds. All irrigation is rigorously managed and maintained with most scheduling driven by weather conditions (see related article).

IHCA protects birds, bees, fish and many other classes of animals as well as humans, by prohibiting the use of many pesticides. Pesticide use is limited with all IHCA contractors adhering to the community’s Integrated Pest Management plan and its pesticide restrictions.

Among the many restrictions are a ban on the use of synthetic insecticides and fungicides.

Many herbicides are also restricted and those that are permitted are used lightly by industry standards. It really is possible to garden, even on a large scale, without these products. A key here which anyone can follow is to abandon the unattainable goal of ‘pest free’ and adopt reasonable tolerance levels instead.

At Issaquah Highlands, we encourage local birds to feed on crane fly larvae rather than using chemicals to kill both the larvae and the birds. Along the way we’ve prevented the application of literally tons of insecticides to our parks and common areas. When insect populations do exceed thresholds, we apply bacterial insecticides or predatory nematodes – naturally occurring enemies with nil toxicity to non-target life. We plant many native and proven ‘good doer’ plants so there is less pest pressure, relying instead on natural controls and the plants’ own resistance to attack.

The community mulching program helps discourage weeds, retain soil moisture and improve the growing conditions in our landscapes. We aerate all turf every year to improve the health and growing conditions for the grass, improve irrigation penetration and reduce runoff. Last year we retrofitted 2,025 streetscape sprinkler nozzles with a high-efficiency model which eliminates runoff and reduces water use by 40%. Another 925 nozzles were retrofitted to higher-efficiency gear-drive nozzles. Even the goats we hire every summer are a green and cost-effective alternative to hiring people with machines for the mowing and collection of high grass from our steep slopes.

Issaquah Highlands is home to the first Salmon-Safe certified urban neighborhood at the zHomes Zero Energy Project. Our landscape contractors are chosen for their ability to adapt to our lower-input maintenance standards so the lighter touch extends beyond zHomes to contracted common areas across the site. Our in-house crew maintains pond areas and open spaces with an eye to sustainability, too. Examples include the seasonal work we perform on invasive species and brush, requiring no herbicides to manage re-growth of cut trees. Herbicide use in most open spaces is mostly ‘post-emergent’ which has a lighter environmental footprint. We also test new products including a newer herbicide derived from plants – pelargonic acid – a chemical used in trans-dermal medicine patches and food. Issaquah Highlands is ‘working green.’

ISSAQUAH HIGHLANDS PUBLIC NOTICE NO. 13-006 A home business application has been submitted to the Issaquah Highlands Community Association (IHCA) Board of Directors from the owner at 2134 NE Morgan Lane, a single family home. The business application is for a personal training business which would operate at 6:00 a.m. two days per week and at 9:30 a.m. two days per week. The public comment period will be April 1st, 2014 through April 15th, 2014. Residents may provide their comments on the business application via email to homebusinessapp@ihcommunity.org. This public notice and the application are posted on the Issaquah Highlands at www.ihwebsite.com. The public notice is also published in the April 2014 issue of Connections and in the weekly e-blasts to the community during the comment period.

by Elizabeth Szorad, CleanScapes

As food decomposes at the landfill, methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is released into the atmosphere. Some landfills capture a portion of the gas, but given the amount of methane produced in a landfill, even an efficient capture system releases methane. In King County, Cedar Hills Regional Landfill uses a capture system to convert methane into energy, reducing overall emissions by 63%.

Methane is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas emitted in the United States. Ultimately, these gases have profound impacts on the environment at a global scale, contributing to the effects of climate change. Composting is an easy and convenient way to reduce your environmental impact and you don’t even need to have a garden to participate.

Composting organic matter, such as leaves, branches, and food scraps produces a soil-enriching product, perfect for supporting gardens across King County. This is a natural way to improve soil quality and give your vegetables and plants a boost in productivity. According to the EPA, compost acts as a natural repellent to pests and disease, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers and chemical pesticides! Compost helps soil retain moisture allowing for less water intensive gardening and can be used to help prevent erosion on hillsides, creeks, lakes, rivers.

Issaquah residents can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by taking advantage of compost collection service. If you subscribe to garbage service, compost collection is provided at no additional charge. Free kitchen containers are available for Issaquah residents at the CleanScapes Store in Gilman Village. Use the container to collect food scraps and food-soiled paper products in your kitchen before emptying into your outdoor compost cart.

If you are worried about the odor, sprinkle the container with baking soda or rinse it out with vinegar. Utilizing your compost cart is an easy way to reduce the amount of food waste going to the landfill and help close the loop!

Composting is a better alternative than the landfill and has a tremendous opportunity to reduce your environmental impact. So, next time you are mowing your lawn or have apple cores, banana peels or other food scraps, place those items into your food & yard waste curbside bin.

Challenge yourself this spring and take advantage of a food waste kitchen container to scrape all your dishes into!

IHCA Board of Directors adopts new rules The IHCA Board of Directors voted to adopt the following rule changes at their February 26, 2014 meeting.

Animals.

Raising, breeding or keeping animals, livestock, or poultry of any kind is not allowed, except that a reasonable number of dogs, cats, or other usual and common household pets may be permitted in a Unit, subject to the Board’s authority to establish rules and regulations with respect to keeping such pets. Dogs must be kept on leash and under control of a responsible party at all times when not contained within the boundaries of the Unit. Pets shall not be allowed to roam free. Owners must clean up after and properly dispose of pet waste. Owners shall take sufficient steps to prevent their pets from unreasonably disturbing others and shall be responsible for any damages caused by their pet or the pet(s) of any guest or tenant. Pets which, in the sole discretion of the Board, make objectionable noise, endanger the health or safety of, or constitute a nuisance or inconvenience to the occupants of other Units shall be removed on the Board’s request. If a pet owner fails to honor such request, the Board may remove the pet.

If a pet has been deemed vicious or potentially vicious by the King County Regional Animal Services or other governing agency, the pet shall be removed immediately from the community.

Political signage.

One (1) Political Sign shall be permitted on a Unit at a time; provided, the Political Sign shall (i) not be more than five (5) square feet in size, (ii) be a maximum height of four (4) feet if posted in the ground, (iii) be of professional quality and design, and (iv) not obstruct line of sight for any traffic or traffic signals and signage. The term “Political Sign” means a sign which advocates for one particular candidate, political party or ballot measure. The period in which Political Signs may be displayed shall be in accordance with state and local law. No Political Signs shall be placed on street frontages, common areas, facilities or grounds.

These rule changes will become effective May 1, 2014.

Issaquah Highlands Connections

April 2014

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HIGHLANDS FIBER NETWORK

Internet Safety and Awareness

by Pat Sarles, ISOMEDIA, Highlands Fiber Network ISP Malicious software, “malware,” is on the rise, endangering your computer and your personal information. Malware can be used to disrupt computer operations and/or gain access to your computer and personal information. Computer viruses, ransomware, worms, bots, trojan horses, rootkits, keyloggers, dialers, spyware, adware, malicious BHOs, and rogue security software are all types of malware. More are being created daily! The McAfee quarterly threats reports show malware increasing from about 70 million catalogued sites in September 2011 to over 160 million in September 2013. This means that home and business computer users need to use all of the security tricks available to protect their computers.

While viruses copy themselves and spread damaging processes to other computers, spyware interacts with your computer to report your usage, pop ads up, access your system remotely and send Spam to others.

Ransomware locks up your computer and requests payment to regain access. Sending payment doesn’t cure the problem! As the variety of malware increases, the complexity of the tools needed to protect your computer must increase.

This requires continual updates. Microsoft’s free Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool, McAfee, AVG, Norton, and other retail systems and/or the many free anti-malware tools available on the Internet may be combined to create a secure system. The following tips may help you protect your network.

• Don’t click on odd or suspicious links in websites, phone messages, or emails. Provide personal information only if you are sure that it is a legitimate request and a secure website.

• Update your operating system regularly, using an automatic update system, if possible. Updates often fix program glitches that could allow malware infiltration.

• The importance of installing up-to-date anti-malware software cannot be stressed enough. We recommend using an automatic update feature. Find a program that is comprehensive, protecting your computer from viruses, spyware, and other malware. McAfee and AVG have very effective programs.

• Activate the security feature in your home wireless network to prevent unauthorized access. Consult the device manual for configuration instructions.

Try reboot if there is a problem connecting. This may save you a tremendous amount of time and effort.

• Installing a firewall helps prevent malicious persons or software from gaining access to your computer. Anti-malware features may be included.

A firewall developed specifically for your system, retail or free firewalls, or special routers are available on the Internet.

• Some signs of a malware attack are decreased speed; difficulties starting up or opening programs; freezing or crashing; missing or altered files; pop-up ads and warning messages; programs that run, turn off or reconfigure themselves; or emails being sent from our computer without your knowledge.

• The first step in troubleshooting is the Reboot Reflex.

Close all open programs, turn off your computer and router, then restart your computer. This often solves nonmalware problems. Malware problems may require a technical support expert.

The keys to positive Internet and computer experiences are security and maintenance. Contact HFN’s 24-hour support center at 425-427-0999 or support@hfnservices.com for any issues within your HFN network.

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April 2014

SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT

Issaquah Schools - So Green

As spring and Earth Day (Tuesday, April 22) approach, we are all thinking green. This is one color trend that’s timeless and here to stay beyond the “it & in” fads. Going green has become a common goal among our Issaquah schools with an emphasis on recycling and composting.

Many provide outside dumpsters and recycling bins for external school activities to promote recycling. All secondary schools participate in hazardous materials management, and elementary schools offering ceramic arts abide by the same standards. Some schools even have their own garden on site! All feeder schools have converted to electronic “kid mail” via enews, emails, and websites instead of paper notifications placed in backpacks.

Here are some additional “Green” things that are happening among our four feeder schools for Issaquah Highlands: • The photo shows Principal Dayna Bailey of Pacific Cascade Middle School proudly showing off the school’s garbage compacter, which has helped reduce the number of garbage pick-up days. Of course, intensive recycling and composting are what enabled the school to complete a Level Two in the King County Green Schools Program.

• Grand Ridge Elementary completed a Level Two in the Green Schools Program as well, and takes recycling to a whole new level: battery recycling program, fluorescent light bulb recycling, ink cartridge recycling, and even small electronics recycling! Students participate in a Waste Watchers program and proudly wear their aprons while monitoring the garbage/composting/ recycling rules for lunchroom disposal. Their onsite composting for the GR Grizzly Patch Garden has earned them accolades from the King County Solid Waste Division.

• Clark Elementary has maintained at least a 40% recycling rate through vigilant recycling and composting practices.

• Issaquah High School has started a school-wide education program about recycling and the adverse impact that waste has on our environment. Many teachers use online “drop boxes” for student homework to help reduce paper waste.

APRIL EVENTS

Grand Ridge Elementary 4/7 - 4/11

Spring Break: No School

4/7 - 4/11 4/24 4/25

Spring Break: No School 2nd Grade Concert IHS Play School Field Trip: Hansel and Gretel in the IHS Auditorium

4/7 - 4/11 4/29

Spring Break: No School MSP Testing – 6th & 8th Grade

Clark Elementary

Pacific Cascade Middle School Issaquah High School

4/7 - 4/11 Spring Break: No School 4/17 Senior Graduation Announcements Delivered During Lunches 4/18 PTSA Meeting: 9:30 – 11:30am in the IHS Main

Office Conference Room

Issaquah Highlands Connections

Issaquah Highlands Connections

April 2014

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LIVING GREEN

Taming Nature

by Shelly Hawkins, Crofton Springs neighborhood “I don’t like formal gardens. I like wild nature. It’s just the wilderness instinct in me, I guess.”

Walt Disney

Don’t Be Left in the Dark on Energy Efficient Lighting

by Cassandra Schoenman, CleanScapes

As of January 1st 2014, the United States banned the manufacturing of incandescent light bulbs due to the fact that they no longer meet current energy standards. So, the next time you find yourself in the hardware store looking for replacements, you will only have the option of compact fluorescent or LED lights.

Why the ban? Incandescent bulbs emit light by generating heat and only 10% of that energy produces visible light. For this reason, incandescent bulbs are gradually being phased out. By making the change to an alternative bulb you will save money on your electricity bill, money on bulbs per year, and help the environment.

Here is some information to help know more about CFL and LED bulbs: After years of gardening in pots on a window ledge, under lights, or on a deck, I got my first real garden when I moved to Bellingham, Washington over two decades ago. No longer limited by space, I decided to create a wilderness garden in a backyard that was filled with just about every kind of invasive weed and grass. Creating the garden on one-quarter acre of hard-packed clay ended up requiring lots of additional time, work, and raised beds.

Compact Fluorescent (CFL): These bulbs are easily distinguishable by its shape: tubular, or the “curly” helix. A 9 watt compact fluorescent bulb will use less energy, and less expensive per year compared to the standard. The upfront cost of a CFL bulb is about $2.50 per bulb, verses $0.84 for the standard incandescent, but will last much longer.

• How long will they last? The average lifespan ranges from 6,000 hours to 15,000 hours, or 4-8 years.

I made no attempt at garden design or planning. My goal was to replace as much weedy grass as I could with something else. Trees, shrubs, vines, and wildflowers were set free to tangle with the weeds and grass. Vegetables, herbs, and flowers were planted in raised beds. What I learned from this experience was that a big garden requires a lot of work, and that a wilderness garden requires a lot of taming and a husband willing to do most of the hard stuff.

Although I was told that growing plants close together cuts down on weeds, I discovered that closely packed plants allow weeds to hide under foliage and makes the weeds difficult to dig out without damaging my beloved plants. I learned that slugs love to nibble on the underside of leaves, which enables them to gain nourishment as they hide from me. When I put straw between my plants to cut down on weeds, the slugs flourished under the straw, and the fierce Bellingham winds eventually blew away the straw anyway. The local raccoons trashed my pond and bird feeders, the local deer ate the roses in the front of my house, my compost bins were filled with mice, and the birds got the ripest blueberries and raspberries. Ah, the wilderness!

After a few years of this, I came to realize that my plans for a backyard wilderness garden might have been unrealistic, but I soldiered on.

When I moved to Issaquah Highlands and “downsized” nine years ago, I first gardened in pots with some success on my sunny west-facing deck and shadier east-facing porch, and then rented a community garden plot for more space. Although I remembered to plant the taller plants to the north of the shorter plants, I used a casual approach to gardening and planted everything in a freeform pattern instead of in rows. I planted my vegetables and flowers too close together, and forgot to rotate them each year to avoid disease and cut down on insects. When I remembered to plant in rows and rotate my plants, I finally had enough leftover veggies to drop off at the Issaquah Food Bank.

In Issaquah Highlands, April is a month of serious gardening. Vegetable seeds you might want to start planting in early April are beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, chard, hardy herbs, lettuce, peas, radishes, and spinach. Late in the month, you can plant cabbage, more peas, and runner beans. Remember not to plant the seeds too close together, because thinning closely planted seedlings is a lot of unnecessary work.

Happy gardening!

• What about the mercury? CFL bulbs contain about 4 milligrams of mercury per bulb, but this is only a health hazard is improperly disposed of, or if the bulb breaks.

On the bright side, using CFL bulbs will reduce the total mercury emissions due to the energy savings they provide. CFL bulbs will overall reduce the demand for electricity, which reduces the amount of coal burned in power plants and reduces emissions of mercury when the coal is burned. Bulbs will only release mercury when broken. (Editor’s note: 30% of PSE energy comes from coal.)

• Where can I recycle? There are responsible locations to take non-working CFL bulbs in Issaquah for free such as:

o CleanScapes Store located in Gilman Village who hauls them to Total Reclaim in Seattle. For more information recycling call 425-392-0285 or visit them on the web at www.cleanscapes.com/store.

o Issaquah Highlands Communication Association office at 1011 NE High St.

o Issaquah Home Depot and Lowes hardware stores have bins for recycling CFL bulbs

Light Emitting Diode (LED): LED bulbs are much smaller in size compared to other bulbs, as well as the most energy efficient, but will have the largest initial cost. A 6-watt LED bulb will cost around $25, but will not have to be changed as regularly; the yearly cost for an LED bulb is around $22.76.

• How long will they last? The average lifespan ranges 15,000-30,000 hours, which can be up to 25 years.

• Can you recycle? No, but LED lights use less energy for heat (they are cold to the touch), which makes replacing non-working LED bulbs less of a hand burning hazard.

LED bulbs also contain no mercury, so they can simply be placed in the trash.

Other Ways to Save: • Educate: Bring a new light to your friends and family about the importance of energy saving by keeping lights off when not needed. Maybe burn a candle when it’s cold, or open the blinds to let natural light into your home.

• Save $: Good news from Puget Sound Energy: when shopping for new CFL and LED lighting look for the PSE logo on merchandise in these Issaquah stores and receive an instant rebate at the register: o Bartell Drugs: CFL bulb and showerhead discounts o Costco: CFL bulb and fixture and LED bulb discounts mail-in rebate o Fred Meyer: CFL bulb and LED bulb and showerhead discounts. o Front Street Red Apple Market. CFL and LED bulb discounts. o Lowe’s. CFL bulb and fixture, LED bulb and showerhead discounts. o The Home Depot. CFL bulb and fixture, LED bulb and showerhead discounts. o Walgreens. CFL and LED bulb discounts.

What about color? Sometimes finding the right color of lighting is difficult. The levels of light are measured on a temperature scale referred to as Kelvin (K). The lower the number will look more in the yellow tones; the higher the number will be bluer.

• If you miss the color of incandescent bulbs – shop for LED or CFL bulbs in the 2700-3000K range.

• For a whiter light: shop for 3500-4100K range.

• For bluer white light: shop for 5000-6500K range.

If you are ever unsure about what temperature lights look best in your home or looking for ways to have better lighting, visit local lighting professionals at Illuminate Contracting LLC on Front St for a home or business consultation.

Living green will be much brighter and longer this 2014, and far into the future by making the easy transition to more energy efficient CFL or LED lights and make incandescent a thing of the past.

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April 2014

Issaquah Highlands Connections

RESIDENT PROFILE: KENNY LEROY You may know him from his quietly elegant table service at Sip Restaurant, or you might have met him at our big annual Community Garden meeting. Either way you are likely to remember his heartfelt smile and enthusiast talk about organic gardening. A seven-year resident of Issaquah Highlands, Kenny Leroy and his family now live in Sunset Walk: his wife, Huyen and daughter Vyvian. His son Keith, has gone off to college. For this Living Green issue of Connections, we thought you would enjoy getting to know him better.

What do you like best about Issaquah Highlands?

Like everyone else, we like the convenience of restaurants, the movie theater, grocery store, shops and hospital. Moreover, it feels like we are living in a small village of France or Italy but with the addition of many outdoor environment activities. I really like the four seasons.

Where are you from?

My parents are from Vietnam but I grew up in Paris, France. I go back from time to time because I miss the butter, cheese and yogurt. I grew up spreading a lot of butter on my breakfast toast and dipping it in my black coffee.

Why did you get involved in the Community Garden Committee?

I’m a gardener at Sunset Walk. At the first garden meeting of the year Chantal, our President, asked me to be Vice Chair of the committee. I thought, “Why not?” It would be fun to meet other gardeners and learn from each other.

How is it that you are so knowledgeable about organic gardening?

Well, I’m far from an expert! I just started to learn by

Photo by: Vyvian Luu

reading and going to special events like Seattle Tilth classes, and by volunteering. My first organic plant actually started in my tiny patio with a cherry tomato plant. I got really excited when it produced those sweet cherry tomatoes! I could go out in my patio and pick them out fresh and prepare them right there in my kitchen.

What do you think is special about gardening?

I think it is universal: gardening sooths the mind. It’s a stress reliever.

Do you like to cook at home?

It is mostly my wife Huyen who cooks and I get to enjoy her delicious cooking. She likes to make Pho or Vietnamese crepe stuffed with bean sprouts, herbs, beans, shrimp and meat. I usually don’t cook with her; she needs her own space in the kitchen. Every time I come in the kitchen to help she loses track of what she was going to do. So she tells me, “Honey, can you go out in the garden and pick me some basil and cilantro?” Yeah, I get to go play in my garden.

What do you do in your spare time?

On my day-off, I like to garden, watch a K-drama (Korean Drama) movie with my wife, or read about organic gardening or investing in the stock market.

What does your future hold?

I would like to work for an organic farm and learn more about it. For now, I have started some indoor heirloom plants and herbs from seed. This is my first experience growing from seed indoors. I would like to see more organic farming to take place not only in Washington but in every state. We all deserve to eat foods free of pesticides and herbicides. If everyone supported organic farming, it would help everyone in the end!

Monthly resident profiles are produced by Nina Milligan, Resident and Communication Manager for Highlands Council

Issaquah Highlands Connections

April 2014

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DIRECTORY Connections is published by the Highlands Council.

Our mission is to foster the development of a vibrant and caring community committed to service, diversity, and well-being.

Connections

Connections is printed and mailed every month to every Issaquah Highlands residence as well as local Issaquah residents and businesses. For article submissions and advertising sales, contact Nina Milligan at nina.m@ihcouncil.org or 425-507-1111 Size

BW Color

Mini (text only): 3” x 3”

$50

ISSAQUAH HIGHLANDS COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION esponsible for: • Property Management R • Enforcement of CCRs, Rules, Regs • Architectural Review • Common Area Landscape

Funded by: • Annual IHCA Assessments • Neighborhood Assessments

GOVERNING BODY Board of Directors Jim Young, President Andrea Gregg, Vice President Walt Bailey, Secretary David Ngai, Treasurer Dan Eyman, Member Jitendra Vats, Member Dan Vradenburg, Member

HIGHLANDS COUNCIL esponsible for: • Community Events R • Blakely Hall Community Center • Facility Rentals • Connections Newspaper • www.ihwebsite.com

Funded by: • Sponsorships/Grants • Advertising • Community Enhancement Fees (¼ of 1% on sale of home) • 12¢ per sq. ft. retail/commercial

GOVERNING BODY

Rectangle Vert: 3” x 4.625”

$75

$150

Rectangle Horz: 4.625” x 3”

$75

$150

Square: 4.625” x 4.625”

$125

$195

Quarter Page: 4.625” x 6.25”

$150

$275

Half Page Vert: 4.625” x 13”

$275

$495

MAIN PHONE: 425-427-9257

Board of Trustees hcbot@ihmail.com Larry Norton, President John Thompson, Vice President Linda Hall, Treasurer Philip Nored, Secretary Susan Terry, Member Patrick Byers, Member Ray Besharati, Member

Half Page Horz: 9.625” x 6.25”

$275

$495

Full Page: 9.625” x 13”

$595

$950

1011 NE High Street Suite 210 Monday–Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm

STAFF

Ads are due by the first Friday of the month for the following month’s publication.

Print ads must be submitted electronically in .eps, .tif or .pdf format with all fonts embedded. For best results with newspaper printing, please avoid small text in color or reversed out of color. Do not use a built black of CMYK combined.

Instead, please setup all black as “K” only. All files must be in CMYK (not RGB). Resolution should be a minimum of 200 dpi. Please allow for 15-20% gain. Graphic design services are available.

WEBSITE ADVERTISING AVAILABLE! www.ihwebsite.com Content and advertising in Connections does not necessarily reflect the opinions/views of the Highlands Council or staff.

Rental Facilities Blakely Hall Award-winning Blakely Hall has a feeling and comfort of a lodge. It is a wonderful place for parties with 70 or more guests, fund raisers, galas, and any type of reception. Blakely Hall can accommodate up to 230 guests. In addition to the atmosphere Blakely Hall will give you, there is a patio with outdoor seating and BBQ grill that is available for rent.

Blakely Hall Meeting Room The Conference room is perfect for your meeting or seminar.

It is private. It can accommodate up to 46 guests. A screen is provided as well as comfortable conference chairs and tables that can be configured to your liking. A projector is available for rent. There is a wash station, and a countertop to place your refreshments.

To inquire about booking facilities at Blakely Hall, please contact Brianna at 425.507.1107 or email brianna.e@ihcouncil.org Fire Station Meeting Room The Fire Station 73 meeting room is great for community or group meetings. It comes with tables and chairs. It can accommodate up to 85 guests in a meeting setting or comfortably 30 guests. There are two whiteboards for writing down your ideas and agenda. There is also a television with a DVD player for your instructional videos. Because this is a city building they do not allow religious, partisan, or for-profit meetings to take place in this facility. To inquire about booking the Fire Station Meeting Room, please contact Fire Station #73 at 425.313.3373.

STAFF

Sarah McKee, Executive Director sarah.m@ihcommunity.org, 425-507-1120 Rachel Garrett, Director of Community Operations rachel.g@ihcommunity.org, 425-507-1115 Erika North, Community Manager erika.n@ihcommunity.org, 425-507-1121 Jennifer Fink, Community Manager jennifer.f@ihcommunity.org, 425-507-1113 Russ Ayers, Landscape Manager russ.a@ihcommunity.org, 425-507-1130 Crystal Bentley, Office Manager crystal.b@ihcommunity.org, 425-507-1119 Joon Chang, Accounting Manager joon.c@ihcommunity.org, 425-507-1117 Homeowner Account Inquiries payments@ihcommunity.org, 425-507-1119 Escrow Payoffs accounting@ihcommunity.org, 425-507-1123

Emergency: 9-1-1 Issaquah Police (non-emergency): 425-837-3200 WA Dept of Fish & Wildlife: 425-775-1311 Emergency Contact Number For after-hours emergencies not involving police and fire response or gas or water main breaks, contact IHCA at 425-223-8887

Highlands Fiber Network Frank Pineau, General Manager FPineau@HFN.org Support: 425-427-0999 HighlandsFiberNetwork.com

MAIN PHONE: 425-507-1107 Blakely Hall 2550 NE Park Drive Monday–Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm Christy Garrard, Director/Special Event Planner christy.g@ihcouncil.org, 425-507-1110 Nina Milligan, Communications Manager nina.m@ihcouncil.org, 425-507-1111 Brianna Eigner, Blakely Hall Coordinator brianna.e@ihcouncil.org, 425-507-1107 Michele McFarland, Finance Manager michele.m@ihcouncil.org, 425-507-1108 Julie Clegg, Creative Coordinator julie.c@ihcouncil.org Keith Luu, Events/Administrative Assistant, keith.l@ihcouncil.org Vyvian Luu, Intern vyvian.l@ihcouncil.org

Community Services at Blakely Hall • Notary Service by Appointment • Fax Sending & Receiving Fax sending, local $.50 per page Fax sending, long distance $1.00 per page Fax receiving, $.50 per page • Limited B/W Photocopying, $.05 per page • Lost and Found

www.facebook.com/highlands.council Weekly E-Letter: Sign up at ihwebsite.com

Governing Body Board of Directors Larry Norton Allen Enebo Tim Underwood Charlie Herb

www.ihwebsite.com

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April 2014

Issaquah Highlands Connections