PRIZED PATRIOTS
HEALTH CARE MAGAZINE
Liberty cross-country teams make history — Page 12
Inside
FO R
YO U
Hea
lth Ca
• Sw
RH EAL T
re Re
form
– One
Year
Late
r
H
edish
/Is
• Es saqu sent ah w ial he eigh •W alth s in hich bene plan •W fits is rig ha ht fo care t’s really r you? refo rm? driving heal th
The IssaquahPress Spe cial Issa pub qua lica h pub lish Press Inc tion of mamis ed in . Med the h Rev The Issa ia Gro qua iew up h and Sno Press Valley Star
Sam
Issaquah’s only locally owned newspaper
www.issaquahpress.com
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Darigold, Costco ask council to rethink B&O tax increase
Changes could be coming to proposal By Christina Corrales-Toy newcastle@isspress.com A few prominent Issaquah businesses are asking the city to rethink a business and occupation tax increase included in Mayor Fred Butler’s 2015 budget proposal. Representatives from Costco, Darigold and the Issaquah Cham-
ber of Commerce attended a Nov. 3 Issaquah City Council public hearing, where they offered similar concerns about the effect an increased tax rate would have on the business community. “The magnitude of a 150 percent increase over a two-year period, especially for a business with high gross sales but low profit margins, is aggressive. It’s very aggressive,” chamber CEO Matthew Bott said. The proposal would increase B&O taxes for manufacturing, wholesale and retail companies
from 0.0008 to 0.0015 effective April 1, 2015, and 0.002 effective Jan. 1, 2017. B&O taxes for printing/publishing, retail services and services/ other would go from 0.001 to 0.0012 effective April 1, 2015. Under the proposal, more than 30 percent of those who do business in Issaquah (with gross incomes of $100,000 or less) would be exempt, which creates tangible efficiencies, Butler told the council upon the budget’s introduction Oct. 6. The current exemption is set at $20,000.
“Meanwhile, larger companies would pay a higher rate for the first time since the tax was created in 2004,” Butler said. The proposed increase will account for the volatility of one of the city’s major revenue sources — sales and use taxes — which is heavily dependent on consumer spending, he added. Darigold tax director Sharon Appelt said the increase would have a significant impact on the company’s Issaquah facility, which makes cultured products such as cottage cheese and sour cream.
RECEIVING LONG-OVERDUE HONORS
By Greg Farrar
Charles Runacres Jr., 97, is presented an American flag pin Nov. 7 by Thomas Ortung, chaplain for Providence Hospice of Seattle, in front of friends and family members in the Briarwood nursing home, at Timber Ridge in the Talus neighborhood.
Charles Runacres Jr., 97, recognized for service By Kathleen R. Merrill editor@isspress.com One would think that a ceremony to honor a 97-year-old World War II veteran wouldn’t be a laughing matter, but it was filled with it. The laughter started when Charles Runacres Jr. cut off some planned musical selections less than halfway into the first song, “Anchors Aweigh.” “I think that’s enough,” Runacres said matter-of-factly, bringing a burst of laughter from his family members who came to the ceremony. The laughter continued a few minutes later when Runacres interrupted chaplain Thomas Ortung, who was trying to thank him for his military service. “Do I get to say a few words?” Runacres asked with a wave of his hand, and then talked at length about entering the service. “You served three years and three months,” Doris Runacres said, interrupting her husband after he had been talking for a while. “Yeah, and you’ve only gotten through the first month,”
SLIDESHOW See more photos from the events honoring Gordon Schumacher and Charles Runacres at www.issaquahpress.com. By Kathleen R. Merrill
their daughter Randall Start said, to another eruption of laughter. There were a few quiet and solemn moments, like the one that happened when Ortung thanked Runacres for his service and tacked a flag pin into the lapel of the dapper veteran’s suit jacket. “…Thank you for the sacrifices you made and your willingness to serve our country,” Ortung said. “You endured hardships and you were willing to risk your life to maintain our freedom.” You could also hear a pin drop while Runacres held court in a dayroom in Briarwood, the nursing home at Timber Ridge, See PINNING, Page 3
World War II veteran Gordon Schumacher, 91, is helped by his sons Dale (left) and Dean as Liberty NJROTC members Emily Magley (with her back to the camera) and Tina Kaiser fold his flag while the VFW’s Dave Waggoner (in hat) looks on.
VFW, Liberty NJROTC gets Gordon Schumacher his flag By Kathleen R. Merrill editor@isspress.com A group of Liberty High School Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps students gave up a sunny Saturday to honor a 91-year-old World War II veteran on his birthday. And they wouldn’t have had it any other way. Emily Magley and Tina Kaiser learned how to properly fold
a flag into a triangle, and they practiced it multiple times before the ceremony where they presented it to Gordon Schumacher. The Army sergeant built B-17s, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was in the first group into Bergen Belsen, the last operating concentration camp in Germany. Dave Waggoner, with Issaquah’s Veterans of Foreign See FLAG, Page 3
Appelt estimated that the Issaquah plant’s B&O payments would nearly double, from $200,000 to about $400,000, under the proposed tax structure. “Every little notch you take out of the margin puts that plant more at risk for its operations,” she said. She asked the City Council to understand the impact the increase would have on local businesses and to consider some See TAX, Page 15
High school girls invited to attend Fight the Fear Singer Brandi Carlile will join two Issaquah educators at a special event aimed at teaching high school girls self-defense and self-empowerment Nov. 13. Empowering girls is a passion for the event organizers, Meggan Atkins, a Maywood Middle School teacher, and Karin Walen, an Issaquah High School teacher. The two offer self-defense classes at Issaquah and Liberty high schools. They were inspired after attending Carlile’s Fight the Fear campaign kickoff in 2010. The program provides training in basic self-defense skills and offers resources to survivors of violence or abuse. Carlile’s goal is to make self-defense available to as many people as possible. “We fully believe in what we are doing,” Walen said in a news release. “We love teaching the class. We get the opportunity to see the positive effects our class has on the girls.” Carlile is expected to speak at the event, along with Jennifer Hopper, a survivor of a 2009 attack in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood. “We were amazed by Jennifer’s bravery and resilience, and were inspired to help with the (Fight the Fear) program in any way we could,” Atkins said in an email. At the free Nov. 13 event open to all Issaquah School District high school girls, attendees will receive self-defense training, as well as sexual assault awareness and prevention education. It goes from 6-8 p.m. in the Issaquah High School theater, 700 Second Ave. S.E. Interested students should pick up forms at the front office of their high schools.
City hosts open house to discuss Hillside Park The city of Issaquah is hosting a public meeting to discuss Hillside Park’s use and its potential future. The meeting is from 6-8 p.m. Nov. 19 at Tibbetts Creek Manor, 750 17th Ave. N.W. Hillside Park, 300 Mount McKinley Drive S.W., is open from dawn to dusk. Residents can also submit ideas online at issaquahwa.gov/hillside. Learn more by emailing park planner Jennifer Fink at JenniferF@issaquahwa.gov.
Experience University House Issaquah
Saturday, November 15
Presentation & Tours at 1:00 pm | Reception at 2:30 pm 22975 SE Black Nugget Road, Issaquah, WA 98029 RSVP at (425) 200-0331 by November 12.
eraliving.com 75 cents