CARING CONLEY
GRAPPLING TO STATE
Volunteers honor organizer’s memory — Page 5
All three high schools have qualifiers — Page 8
The IssaquahPress
Issaquah’s only locally owned newspaper
www.issaquahpress.com
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Arborist loses job to budget cuts after 30 years with city By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com After what will be 30 years on the job at the end of March, Issaquah City Arborist Alan Haywood will vacate his long-time position. Haywood did not directly criticize Issaquah Mayor Fred Butler or the city administration in general. But he was clear he was not overly happy with the situation. “My position was eliminated,” Haywood said. “It was a budgetary decision.” Haywood said the decision was made to cut out the arborist spot as the city debated its 2015 budget last year. He is being allowed to stay with the city until he reaches the 30-year mark, an important milestone for pension purposes. “I don’t know how much I want to get into this,” Haywood said of his leaving the city. “It certainly doesn’t feel good.” Butler said the decision to remove the arborist spot was an
“expenditure efficiency” placed in the budget that was presented to and ultimately approved by the City Council. Even without a full-time arborist, Issaquah will be able to maintain its long-time Tree City USA standing, said Warren Kagarise, city communications coordinator. The city has held the title of Tree City USA since 1992. Kagarise said a current gardener on the parks maintenance team is a certified arborist. Additionally, the city will contract for certain arborist services as needed. The arborist spot is not the only job eliminated by the city recently. The city’s Julius Boehm Pool is undergoing extensive renovations. “As part of the pool’s renovation,” Butler said, “we looked at our staffing levels.” He said the city took the opportunity to “right-size, if you will, See ARBORIST, Page 2
Timber Ridge at Talus to expand by 145 homes $154.5 million Phase II gets underway Resort-style Continuing Care Retirement Community Timber Ridge at Talus is adding 145 independent living apartment homes, expanding its onsite Briarwood Health Center with 26 assisted living/memory care apartments and nine private transitional care suites in addition to new community amenities including an indoor swimming pool and auditorium, to be completed in fall 2016. Timber Ridge’s 184 Phase I apartment homes are 95 percent occupied. The $154.5 million Phase II, now under construction, is more than 80 percent reserved. Timber Ridge is built on 10 acres at Talus, a 630-acre master planned urban sanctuary situated at the base of Cougar Mountain. Timber Ridge represents the first senior living community in the nation to be awarded Silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design by the U.S. Green Building Council and features sustainable design elements while adhering to the nationally established building standards approach to conserving
energy. Phase II will be designed along the same environmentallyfriendly guidelines. “We will continue to create Timber Ridge from natural materials and resources with environmental guidelines that will ultimately benefit residents and remain sustainable through the lifetime of the community,” Jill White, marketing and sales director for Timber Ridge, said in a news release. Phase II residents have the choice of 15 different apartmenthome floor plans from one- bedroom and two-bedroom plus den apartment homes. All residences will feature patios or balconies offering scenic views and range from approximately 700 to 2,273 square feet. Timber Ridge currently has 184 independent living apartments. Timber Ridge is also expanding its HealthyLife Services Center, including the wellness fitness area and dining room, and building new underground parking exclusive to residents. Timber Ridge also features the Briarwood Health Center currently offering skilled nursing, which includes 36 transitional care beds, 32 of which are private suites. Phase II will include the addition of 12 memory care apartments, 14 assisted living apartments and nine additional skilled nursing beds.
Contributed
Timber Ridge at Talus is adding 145 independent living apartment homes and expanding its onsite Briarwood Health Center in addition to new community amenities including an indoor swimming pool and auditorium, to be completed in fall 2016.
Contributed
Klahanie resident Dennis Broadwell uses a ladder to cross a crevasse on Mount Everest in 2011. Broadwell is leading another expedition to the world’s highest mountain starting in March.
TOP OF THE WORLD Klahanie man prepares to climb Mount Everest By Neil Pierson npierson@sammamishreview.com Four years ago, Dennis Broadwell came within about 2,000 vertical feet of the top of the world before making the difficult decision to turn around. This spring, the Klahanie resident is planning to make a second attempt at summiting Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak at 29,029 feet. It’s a task that has proven difficult at best, and deadly at worst — more than 200 climbers have lost their lives on Everest over the past century, including 16 Sherpas buried in an avalanche at the base camp last spring. Broadwell doesn’t express much worry, and said he climbs to attain a “shared experience” in which his team bonds through adversity. “It’s not only us doing these adventures and doing these things that, for most people, seem dangerous, but we’re sharing experiences with people, pushing ourselves on the mountain, kind of a healthy
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Dennis Broadwell (third from right) led a previous expedition to Mount Everest in 2011 through his company, Mountain Gurus. lifestyle,” he said. ‘Not the right day’ A professional mountain guide since 1997, Broadwell nearly ascended Everest in 2011. One of his climbing partners reached the top, but due to a minor illness, Broadwell stayed behind, a few thousand feet below. When he tried to summit a day later, another partner was having trouble breathing, and Broadwell
DISPATCHES FROM EVEREST
AN ONGOING COLUMN BY KLAHANIE RESIDENT DENNIS BROADWELL AS HE ASCENDS THE WORLD’S TALLEST MOUNTAIN
THIS WEEK: PREPARING FOR THE JOURNEY
See EVEREST, Page 2
Investigation into threatening letter left at school winding down By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com The King County Sheriff’s Office has or is about to put into the inactive file the investigation into who left a letter threatening violence at Pacific Cascade Middle School. Principal Dana Bailey made that announcement in an update on the investigation placed into a recent school newsletter. The letter threatening several staffers by name was found in a school hallway Dec. 17. As a precaution, the school was evacuated and closed. It remained closed for three days just prior to the district’s normal winter break. The school reopened in January, the same time as other district buildings following the break. In the newsletter and in com-
ments made later, Bailey said police did find fingerprints on the computer-generated note. However, those prints did not match any school staff, all of who are fingerprinted upon being hired. The prints also did not match any juvenile or other adult with prints on file. While the case may about to become inactive, Bailey said the prints from the letter would stay on file indefinitely as the suspect faces multiple charges of felony threatening. Should the perpetrator ever be fingerprinted for a job or any other reason, his or her involvement with the letter should come to light. King County Sheriff officials did not immediately return a phone call asking for comment. Bailey said she feels all that could be done to find those behind the letter has been done.
“There is literally not one more thing I can think to do,” Bailey said. “It is an uncomfortable feeling that this was not solved.” But Bailey added Pacific Cascade has been operating normally and it is time for everyone to move on. Even as the school does move on, Bailey noted in the newsletter that a project to place cameras in the school is also moving forward. She said the school would receive better and more cameras outside the building than originally planned. There previously was no camera in the school hallway where the letter was left. Finally, Bailey mentioned Pacific Cascade’s site council published a safety survey, the results of which should be released and evaluated soon.
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