Issaquah’s only locally owned newspaper
THE ISSAQUAH PRESS
117th Year, No. 15
Thursday, April 14, 2016
issaquahpress.com
Scarred I-90 overpass above Front Street suffers another strike WSDOT says repairs should begin in early May Greg Farrar / gfarrar@isspress.com
Darin Donaldson (left) and Billy Price describe the mission of their business as Price holds a baseball cap featuring the Billy Footwear logo.
Issaquah grads pitch revolutionary footwear on Oxygen TV show
By Christina Corrales-Toy ccorrales-toy@isspress.com and Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com Just over a year after a garbage truck left a gaping hole in the Interstate 90 overpass across Front Street, the bridge was hit again April 9. This time, it was a backhoe pulled on a flatbed trailer that caused the damage, according to the City of Issaquah. Issaquah Police Department and state Department of Transportation officials responded to the scene
and successfully worked to free the stuck backhoe arm. Bridge inspectors specifically studied the internal structure of the bridge, what Lisa VanCise, a spokesperson for WSDOT, called the “prestressed strand.” She said those inspections showed the bridge continues to be safe for traffic. VanCise called the additional damage done April 9 “sort of a minor scrape” compared to the hit the bridge took in March 2015. Repairs are finally set to begin See OVERPASS, Page 10
City of Issaquah
A backhoe on a trailer collided with the Interstate 90 overpass across Front Street on April 9.
By Christina Corrales-Toy ccorrales-toy@isspress.com You slip your shoes on one foot at a time. The concept is natural, easy and hardly requires a second thought. But what if it wasn’t so simple? What if a physical limitation prevented you from literally putting on your shoes? That was the case for 1996 Issaquah High School grad Billy Price, who became paralyzed from the chest down after falling out of a third-story window at his University of Washington fraternity in October 1996. The accident took away the ability to move much of his body, making daily tasks, such as putting on clothes, difficult. Through the years, he Learn more about BILLY Footwear learned tricks and the company’s Kickstarter to indepencampaign at billyfootwear.com. dently get dressed, but finding shoes that functionally work for him and were aesthetically pleasing was an elusive task. So Price came up with his own solution in BILLY Footwear, a shoe designed to work for everyone. “I’ve not been able to put my shoes on independently in 18 years and now I can,” he said. The patent-pending design uses zippers along the side of the shoe and around the toe. Unzipping unfurls the shoe’s upper flap completely, allowing the wearer to place his or her foot inside unobstructed. Pull the loop on the zipper and the wearer’s foot is now secure. “Zippers in shoes is not an original idea, but zippers in shoes like this, is,” Price said. “And to be able to put your foot in differently, I’ve never seen that before and that’s really the inspiration.” BILLY Footwear is the brainchild of co-founders Price and Darin Donaldson, a 1997 Issaquah High School graduate who lives in Sammamish. The two friends grew up together near present-day Skyline High School, attending Sunny Hills Elementary and Pine Lake Middle schools before graduating from Issaquah. The duo recently brought BILLY Footwear to the small screen, pitching the concept on Oxygen’s “Quit Your Day Job” in an episode that premiered on April 13.
ON THE WEB
See SHOES, Page 2
Issaquah mayor hospitalized Police officers and emergency medical personnel were called to Mayor Fred Butler’s residence in the Woods at Issaquah development on the evening of April 10. Butler, 75, was transported by a Bellevue Fire Medic One unit to the emergency room at Swedish Medical Center in the Issaquah Highlands. Mayor Fred Butler Emergency medical personnel were assisting the mayor’s breathing using a bag valve as he was wheeled into the emergency room on an ambulance stretcher. The city released a statement later that evening that said Butler was in stable condition. He remained in stable condition on the morning and afternoon of April 11, according to hospital and city officials. As of 5:30 p.m. April 11, city officials had declined to give a reason for Butler’s hospitalization.
Scott Stoddard / sstoddard@isspress.com
A new sign was scheduled to be installed by April 13 to convey new “no right turn” restrictions from northbound Issaquah-Hobart Road onto Tiger Mountain Road Southeast between the hours of 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. on weekdays.
County shortens new right-turn restrictions at Tiger Mountain Road By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com Beginning April 13, it became illegal to make a right-hand turn from Issaquah-Hobart Road to Tiger Mountain Road during the heart of the morning commute. For some, this appears to be a great idea whose time came a long time ago. For others, traffic on Issaquah-
Hobart only will get worse. And at least one business owner says the change could greatly affect customers and employees. King County is restricting turns from Issaquah-Hobart onto Tiger Mountain by installing a “no right turn” sign at the intersection. Initially, the county planned to ban the turn between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., the busiest part of the morning commute, said Rick Brater, a
King County engineer. In response to the concerns of neighborhood businesses and others, the ban on right turns will only be in place 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. In announcing the right-turn ban, the county promised deputies would enforce the new rule until violations are reduced. Periodic See RESTRICTIONS, Page 3
“I think it’s a great idea to put that sign there.” -Rod Ahrens school bus driver on Tiger Mountain Road
City Council approves $988,000 toward fix of contaminated well The pumphouse for Gilman Wells No. 4 and No. 5 is located along Issaquah Creek as it flows north in the direction of Interstate 90. Scott Stoddard / sstoddard@ isspress.com
By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com After a protracted discussion, the City Council voted unanimously April 4 to spend $988,000 to mitigate contamination problems with Issaquah water system’s Gilman Well No. 4. The amount was slightly less than the $1.08 million requested by the administration in its most recent agenda bill. The council
previously had approved $150,000 to partially pay for a filtering system for Well No. 4. Since potential problems with the chemical perfluorooctane sulfonate — known more commonly as PFOS — first became public in January, the Issaquah administration has contended the city’s drinking water is safe, See WELL, Page 3 FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
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