Issaquahpress051216

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Issaquah’s only locally owned newspaper

THE ISSAQUAH PRESS

117th Year, No. 19

Thursday, May 12, 2016

issaquahpress.com

Bettise a unanimous choice to fill vacant City Council seat Mariah Bettise settles into her seat on the City Council dais shortly after she was sworn in during the May 2 council meeting at City Hall South.

By Scott Stoddard sstoddard@isspress.com and Christina Corrales-Toy ccorrales-toy@isspress.com Mariah Bettise, a 16-year Issaquah resident and a member of the city’s Human Services and Economic Vitality commissions, was a unanimous pick May 2 to fill the vacancy on the City Council. Bettise was nominated by Councilwoman Mary Lou Pauly and no other members of the council of-

Scott Stoddard sstoddard@ isspress.com

fered an alternative from the group of four remaining applicants. After each of the council members spelled out their support for Bettise, the vote was taken and the result was 6-0 in favor of Bettise. Bettise then was sworn in by Municipal Court Judge N. Scott Stewart, signed formal documents and took her seat on the dais. The seat became open when See BETTISE, Page 2

A BLOOMIN’ BEAUTIFUL MARKET DAY

Scott Stoddard / sstoddard@isspress.com

The speed camera system on Second Avenue Southeast near Issaquah High School accounted for 7,412 photoenforced speeding tickets in 2015. The fine for each: $124.

City wants more speed cameras in school zones A tripling of photo-enforcement sites could result in 18,000 tickets a year By Scott Stoddard sstoddard@isspress.com

Greg Farrar / gfarrar@isspress.com

More speed cameras are likely coming to an Issaquah school zone near you. The city’s administration wants to install photoenforcement systems on the 500 block of Newport Way Northwest, to monitor the Issaquah Valley Elementary School speed zone, and the 1700 block of Northeast Park Drive, to watch the Grand Ridge Elementary School speed zone. It already operates a camera system in the 500 block of Second Avenue Southeast near Issaquah High School. The city believes the new cameras will cause the number of photo-enforcement tickets it hands out to climb from 7,412 in 2015 to 18,000 per year — so many, it will require the hiring of part-time help to process them all.

Taylor Booth of Tacoma prepares to buy two more bouquets of fresh flowers to add to the one she already purchased from a vendor at the Issaquah Farmers Market on May 7. A large crowd made good use of beautiful weather for the opening day of this year’s market at Pickering Barn. With Mother’s Day falling on the next day, bouquets were one of the biggest sellers. under their tent tops. This is the 26th year for the market, which will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday through Sept. 24.

See CAMERAS, Page 5

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Charter-school Crayfish catching captures the imagination advocates sending money Mullet’s way

By David Hayes dhayes@isspress.com

Dwayne Lamb and his wife have quite the built-in conversation starter when they invite friends and family to their dock on the shores of Pine Lake. They trap crayfish. “Sometime I’ll empty the trap while they’re there and it becomes quite the conversation piece,” Lamb said. But what is so fascinating about crayfish? How about the fact most of the crayfish trapped by Lamb — and about 70 other households around the lake, — don’t belong there in the first place. This weekend kicks off the fourth year of the invasive crayfish removal project. The project is spearheaded by Dr. Julian Olden of the Freshwater Ecology & Conservation Lab at the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. Olden has been on the scene at Pine Lake since 2006, setting up monitoring stations to track the red swamp crayfish. He said the non-native crayfish was likely introduced into Pine Lake in 2000 as a result of unwitting teachers. “Crayfish are used in classroom science modules to teach about biology of organism, then are released in water byways,” Olden said. Unfortunately, those releases made their way into Pine Lake, and if nothing is done, they pose a significant threat to the local ecosystem where the native signal crayfish live. See CRAWFISH, Page 12

By Scott Stoddard sstoddard@isspress.com

Contributed

Pine Lake homeowners and a University of Washington scientist have teamed up since 2006 to remove the red swamp crayfish from the lake. Dr. Julian Olden believes the invasive species was likely introduced into Pine Lake in 2000 by unwitting science teachers.

HOW TO SIGN UP Dr. Julian Olden is hosting a community meeting May 15 for training the next round of the invasive red swamp crayfish removal project. A time and location within Pine Lake Park has yet to be determined. To learn more, contact Olden at olden@uw.edu or 206-616-3112.

An examination of campaign contributions to the two Issaquah candidates in the 5th Legislative District’s Senate race reveals the incumbent is holding a slight advantage. Sen. Mark Mullet (D) has amassed $83,094 while his challenger, Rep. Chad Magendanz (R), has raised $74,011. Both have spent roughly $25,000 to this point in the race. More than 10 percent of Mullet’s cash contributions this election Sen. Mark Mullet cycle are from proponents of charter schools. Mullet and Magendanz were co-sponsors of a bill to salvage the state’s charterschool law after it was struck down by the state Supreme Court in 2015. Katherine Binder, a self-described education advocate from Bellevue, gave Mullet $1,900. In 2014, Binder contributed $200,000 in support of Initiative 1240, which permitted the creation of up to 40 charter schools in the state. William P. Binder of Bellevue also gave Mullet $1,900. Other charter-school advocates contributing to Mullet’s re-election campaign include Democrats for See MONEY, Page 5 FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

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