Merry Christmas
THE ISSAQUAHPRESS
Issaquah’s only locally owned newspaper
School threatened in letter will reopen after winter break By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com Issaquah School District officials were being largely quiet last week regarding the continuing investigation into a threatening letter found Dec. 17 outside a classroom at Pacific Cascade Middle School. “We aren’t at liberty to talk about the specifics of an investigation while it is underway,” L. Michelle, district director of communications, said in an email. “At this point, we haven’t identified a suspect,” she added Dec. 19. The district was offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the writer of the letter that shut the school for three days, Dec. 17-19. County police officials did not
return phone calls asking for comment. In an email sent to Pacific Cascade parents, Principal Dana Bailey said officials intend for the school to reopen Jan. 5 with the rest of the district’s buildings following winter break. Bailey said the school would open to students one hour later than usual. Parents are invited to attend a meeting that morning, from 7:40-8:10 a.m. The school will require parents to check in at the building office and obtain a visitor’s badge, and then meet in the school gym. The meeting itself was described by Bailey as “an opportunity for parents to hear directly from us our plan on how to
Two 17-year-old males face felony charges after surrendering to police Dec. 18 following a sixhour standoff. Police responded at about 5:45 a.m. to a domestic violence call at a home near Third Place Northwest and Northwest Dogwood Street, according to Cmdr. Stan Conrad. While police were speaking with other family members in the home, Conrad said the two youths locked themselves in a bedroom and refused to come out. “They made threats at the officers, saying they’d shoot them if they tried to come in,” Conrad said. The officers pulled back and set up a perimeter with help from officers from other jurisdictions, including Redmond, Pacific, Renton, Bellevue, Snoqualmie and a K-9 unit from Kent. Conrad said it is not unusual for other jurisdictions to lend assistance, or “mutual aid,” as he called it. By 6:30 a.m., Northwest Dogwood Street was closed between Newport Way Northwest and First Avenue Northwest. Conrad said throughout the standoff, the two suspects con-
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
A GLOWING HANUKKAH
PHOTOS BY GREG FARRAR
Youngsters sing Hanukkah songs for the families attending the 10th annual Hanukkah celebration sponsored by Chabad of the Central Cascades at Blakely Hall in the Issaquah Highlands. The menorah was decorated with glow-in-the-dark plastic bracelets.
See SCHOOL, Page 5
Two unarmed youths surrender to police after six-hour standoff
By David Hayes dhayes@isspress.com
www.issaquahpress.com
tinually antagonized the police officers. “They continually made verbal threats, yelling at the officers, throwing glass containers at them,” Conrad said. “They apparently wanted to draw the officers into a shooting situation, saying they had handguns and an AK-47.” Conrad added the two would periodically dash out of the barricaded room with their hands in their shirts, implying they had hidden guns. “Our officers showed a great deal of restraint,” Conrad said. “They did a good job of keeping the situation from getting out of hand.” He said the standoff occurred over two shifts, requiring officers to stay long past 6 a.m. turnover. At roughly 11:45 a.m., Conrad said the two youths finally surrendered to police, and no guns were found at the scene. The 17-year-old who lived at the residence was arrested for felony domestic violence and obstructing law enforcement. The other suspect was also arrested for felony obstructing law enforcement. Conrad said the See STANDOFF, Page 5
Above, Leeva Farkash (left), 9, and Mika Peizer, 11, enact a television cooking show segment where they shared the recipe for making potato latkes. At left, Issaquah Mayor Fred Butler (left) is given a silver menorah by Rabbi Berry Farkash.
BY GREG FARRAR
SLIDESHOW Find more photos from Chabad of the Central Cascades’ 10th annual Hanukkah celebration at www.issaquahpress.com.
City boundaries to encompass Lake Sammamish State Park
By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com
With a unanimous vote at its Dec. 15 meeting, the Issaquah City Council formally annexed Lake Sammamish State Park, making it part of the city. The annexation includes 300 acres of parkland, beaches, the park picnic area and the boat launch, said Trish Heinonen, city long range planning manager. The park will remain a state park and primary responsibility for maintaining it will remain
with the state. At the same time, King County will retain responsibility for police patrols in the park, while state rangers also will continue to serve the park. The memorandum of understanding created between Issaquah and Washington State Parks requires the state not change the level of police service in the park without notifying Issaquah officials. The annexation takes effect Feb. 1. The move will cost the city $10,000 a year to be spent on shore patrol activities, Heinonen
said, adding that Issaquah might eventually want to look into getting its own boat for police use. The city will take in approximately $57,000 annually in additional storm water fees, but a few extra dollars was not why council representatives were pleased the annexation was finally a reality. “I think this is a very exciting day,” Councilwoman Stacy Goodman said. See BOUNDARIES, Page 3
Officials say there is no chance of large-scale landslide locally By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com
From left, Issaquah Police detective Laura Asbell, a Renton sharpshooter, Issaquah Cmdr. Bob Porter, a Redmond police officer, Issaquah Cmdr. Stan Conrad, Issaquah Sgt. Paul Fairbanks and Issaquah Chief Scott Behrbaum confer on Northwest Dogwood Street at 10:45 a.m. Dec. 18 while two teens were barricaded in a home.
BY XXXX
Cutline information goes here
At 10:37 a.m. March 22, one of the largest landslides in the history of the state happened between the towns of Arlington and Darrington and became generally known as the SR 530, or Oso, landslide. The slide killed 43 people, destroyed more than 40 homes and other structures, and grabbed national attention. On Dec. 15, a 12-member commission authorized by the state completed what was described as a comprehensive
study of the landslide and made 17 specific recommendations to prevent other such occurrences. “Since one of government’s key roles is to promote public safety, it is critical for the public to understand the risks posed by natural disasters and to mitigate or minimize their impact,” reads a part of the introduction to the commission’s findings. Are there landslide risks locally? Some residents point to a possible problem area as the hillside behind the Home Depot and Fred Meyer stores on East Lake Sammamish Parkway Southeast.
The hillside is held up by a wall that runs between the stores and Southeast Black Nugget Road. “The wall is an engineered structure,” said Sheldon Lynne, public works engineering director for Issaquah. “We are not worried about the wall.” The land behind the retaining wall is private property, Lynne noted, adding the city therefore has no control over it. Still, city workers will be doing some maintenance on the retaining See LANDSLIDES, Page 5
75 cents