Un-rivaled
ALL AMERICAN CHOIR
Skyline beats Eastlake, 37-21 — Page 9
Group invited for local performance — Page 6
The IssaquahPress
Issaquah’s only locally owned newspaper
www.issaquahpress.com
Thursday, November 5, 2015
$533.5 million school bond would pay for four new schools By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com The Issaquah School District is asking voters to approve a $533.5 million bond sale that will appear on the April 26 ballot. The Issaquah School Board unanimously approved the issue at its meeting Oct. 28 following months of discussion. If approved, the money will go toward a fourth comprehensive high school at a cost of $120 million, along with the district’s sixth middle school with a price
tag of $74 million. The district also is hoping for two new elementary schools — numbers 16 and 17 — with price tags of $36.5 million and $38 million. Property acquisition for those projects is expected to run $97 million. The bond sale will add nothing to district property tax rates, according to information on the school website. However, as previous bonds and debt are paid off, tax rates will not go down. At present, tax rates sit at
Newport Way study called ‘fatally flawed’ Median, turn lanes among suggested improvements By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com Newport Way could become what the city defines as a parkway, if officials follow one of the recommendations in the recently released study of crosswalks across the city. But the study that supports that idea is fatally flawed, said Mary Lynch, one of the most vocal critics of the city since a June accident took the life of a 4-year-old boy on Newport Way Northwest at Northwest Oakcrest Drive. Lynch has also helped launch a grassroots neighborhood group, which is dedicated to lobbying the city on traffic and development related questions. “I was rather disappointed with the study … because it didn’t look seriously at the traffic and sightlines,” Lynch said. The study also did not look at the entire Newport Way corridor, particularly to the west, she contended. The study also ignored car-versus-car accidents, only looking at pedestrian involved accidents, a fact she believes means the city is not getting the entire picture.
City consultants Transportation Solutions Inc., looked at 21 crosswalks across Issaquah. City staffers looked at 15 more. Not surprisingly, the consultant study affords Newport Way a fair amount of space in the report. The study defines the Newport Way corridor as running from Southeast 54th Street to Northwest Oakcrest Drive. One recommendation for the street is to follow the design scheme set out in the development guide known as the Central Issaquah Plan, which designates Newport Way as a parkway. With that in mind, according to city code, the future configuration of Newport Way could include, among other features: 4One 10-foot travel lane in each direction 4Five-foot bike lanes on either side of the street 4A 12-foot left turn pocket where required 4A 6-foot sidewalk on the south of the street 4An 8-foot landscaped central median The study also outlines some of the proposed future land uses around Newport Way. Considering the residential development now in the pipeline, the study forecasts significant increases in traffic by 2025. The study shows traffic counts jumping from 10,000 vehicles per day
about $4.10 per thousand dollars in property valuation. With no new bond sale taking place, that figure begins to drop sharply over the next few years. The figure dips to $3.50 by 2019. If voters approve the bond sale, taxes to pay off that debt will keep the tax rate between approximately $4 and $4.10 through 2034. At that point, if no new further school issues are passed between now and then, the rate drops precipitously in 2035 to about $2.40. The chart on the district
for inflation,” Michelle said. She added that the additional bond dollars did not hike tax rates more than a slight amount. At the board meeting Oct. 28, Thiele said the complete build out of 14 projects that would be funded by the bond would take several years. Besides four new buildings, some of the planned projects include a $71 million rebuild of Pine Lake Middle School. An See BOND, Page 5
FANTASTIC FALL FOLIAGE
Photos By Greg Farrar
Although some leaves hang onto their green longer than others, they are all turning a variety of bright fall colors at locations all over town including (clockwise from top) Issaquah High School, the Issaquah Community Center, Ashland Circle in the Issaquah Highlands and St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.
See STUDY, Page 5
Chipotle restaurants close after reports of E. coli outbreaks Every Chipotle restaurant in the state, including the Issaquah location, is closed due to reports of an E.Coli outbreak. The Seattle Times reports at least 22 people, 19 of them in Washington, have been sickened after eating at the Mexican food chain. King County knows of four reported cases involving two teenagers and two people in their 20s. Two of the four were hospitalized, according to a Public Health Insider blog post by Hilary N. Karasz of Public Health – Seattle & King County. “In King County, all four ill people ate at a Chipotle between October 19 and 23,” Karasz wrote. The culprit appears to be Shiga toxin-producing E. coli bacteria, according to Dr. Scott Lindquist, the Washington state epidemiologist. But tests to identify the
website last week showed rates for bonds of $518.5 million and $432.5 million, as well as the board-approved issue. The $432.5 million bond was an option considered and rejected by a Bond Committee. The committee actually approved a $518.5 million issue, but the Issaquah School Board decided to follow the recommendation of Superintendent Ron Thiele, said L. Michelle, district spokeswoman. “The superintendent wanted to build in some additional capacity
specific strain of the potentially dangerous bug are not yet complete. “I’m concerned that this could be a serious outbreak,” he told the Times. People who become sick with vomiting and bloody diarrhea, and who ate at a Chipotle between Oct. 14 and 23, should see their health-care provider, Lindquist added. There’s no word on when the restaurants will re-open, but the stores remained closed at press time Nov. 2. The Chipotle Twitter account is responding to several inquiries about the closures, saying the chain closed all stores in the area, even though most reported no problems, and the restaurant is working with the health department. The Issaquah Chipotle is located in the Issaquah Commons, 775 N.W. Gilman Blvd.
SLIDESHOW
Find more fall foliage photos at www.issaquahpress.com.
Family sues after girl, 4, was sickened in food-truck outbreak By JoNel Aleccia Seattle Times health reporter The family of a 4-year-old Issaquah girl hospitalized with E. coli food poisoning last summer is suing the operators of a farmers market food truck tied to her illness and a dozen others. Elizabeth Buder was among 13 people sickened in August and September after eating food from the Los Chilangos food
truck operated by Menendez Brothers, LLC of Bellevue. The firm, which operates two food trucks that serve seven farmers markets in King and Snohomish counties, was shuttered temporarily in late August by officials at Public Health — Seattle & King County after an investigation into the outbreak. The child’s parents, James and Deanna Buder, filed a complaint this month in King County
Superior Court. It states that the child, known as “Scout,” shared food with her parents from a Los Chilangos truck on Aug. 8 at the Issaquah Farmer’s Market. She fell ill days later and was eventually admitted to Seattle Children’s, where doctors confirmed an E. coli 0157: H7 infection, accordSee LAWSUIT, Page 5
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