Old Hazelwood Elementary School sees final day Page 9
Patriots overpower Highlanders, 7-0 Page 8
VOL. 16, NO. 10
October 3, 2014
Newcastle receives $255,000 grant for Lake Boren flooding The city of Newcastle received a $255,000 King County Flood Control District grant that will help ease flooding at Lake Boren. The district’s executive committee recommended Aug. 18 that Newcastle receive a portion of $2.6 million in grants available from a newly created program aimed at reducing the impact of local flooding. That
recommendation was approved Sept. 29. “This grant funding will allow the city of Newcastle to address longstanding flooding issues dating back prior to the city’s incorporation,” Reagan Dunn, King County Councilman representing Newcastle and chairman of the King County Flood Control See GRANT, Page 3
Youth element eyed for adding to City Council By Christina Corrales-Toy The Newcastle City Council explored the possibility of adding a youth voice to its government structure at its Sept. 16 regular meeting. The discussion comes after Newcastle teen James Ricks approached Mayor Steve Buri about the feasibility of creating a youth advisory board to the council. “I want youth to care about Newcastle,” Ricks said. “Whether that’s evident in service projects, involvement in planning activities or tutoring, I want youth to be involved because they care about the city they live in.” Ricks met with Buri, City Manager Rob Wyman and Community Activities Liaison Wendy Kirchner in July to hammer out a vision for the city’s youth involvement. It’s not yet clear how exactly it would look — some suggested a youth spot on the Community
Activities Commission, others mentioned a separate youth advisory committee — but all council members agreed there was value in hearing from the city’s adolescents. “I think it’s terrific when we have young folks that really want to participate and get involved,” Newcastle City Councilman Rich Crispo said. Buri and Kirchner also talked about somehow partnering with the already established Teen Leadership Board jointly facilitated by the Newcastle Library and the Coal Creek Family YMCA. A few obstacles remain. For instance, the four-year term that Community Activities Commissioners serve isn’t ideal for a youth representative that will most likely graduate and leave home at some point. That rule could be changed, though, Buri noted, reducing a See YOUTH, Page 2
By Greg Farrar
Newcastle City Councilman Rich Crispo stands next to a display case with Milt Swanson’s coal miner helmet and an information poster honoring the late 95-year-old Newcastle native’s contributions to preserving the city’s history.
‘Little giant’ makes history By Christina Corrales-Toy The first thing visitors see upon walking into the Renton History Museum’s Newcastle exhibit is, appropriately, a tribute to a man that means so much to the city’s history. Milt Swanson’s mining helmet emblazoned with his name along the side greets museumgoers while sitting in a clear display case. It’s appropriate because Swanson, the Newcastle pioneer born and raised in the community, spending 90 of his 95 years living in the same company house that still stands at the edge of town near the Cougar Mountain trailhead, cared immensely about Newcastle’s history, and made it his mission to preserve it. Swanson passed away in
January, but his memory and coal-mining history are preserved in the new exhibit, featuring many of his own artifacts. “Milt would’ve been really, really happy,” Newcastle City Councilman Rich Crispo said of the exhibit. “It really honors not only his memory, but the memory of the city. I think it’s just great.” “Newcastle, Little Giant of the Eastside” debuted Sept. 9 and is set to run at the Renton History Museum until Feb. 7. It features pictures, maps and objects, most on loan courtesy of the Newcastle Historical Society, from Newcastle’s coal-mining past. It’s the first time the museum has collaborated with another historical organization, collections manager Sarah Samson said.
“Mostly, what we were trying to convey is what it was like to live in Newcastle during that time period,” she said. “It was pretty much strictly a mining town, so a large part of the exhibit focuses on the mine and life in a mining town.” There are features about the still-standing Baima House and the Newcastle Cemetery, as well as a wall-sized present-day map pinpointing several historical locations. “People can figure out, my house is here, but this is what used to be here,” Samson said. The artifacts range from mining tools to wine-making devices, because, as Samson noted, “there were a lot of Italians” in Newcastle. But it’s not the exhibit objects that stand out, See EXHIBIT, Page 2
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