Student brings lacrosse to Newcastle Elementary Page 14
Hazen swimmers top Liberty Page 18
October 5, 2012 VOL. 14, NO. 10
Money outlook
Financial forecast shows improvements. Page 3
Pat Detmer Police blotter
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Council discusses potential of annexation Most council members feel the discussion is ‘premature’
By Christina Corrales-Toy The Newcastle City Council decided against taking any exploratory action toward a possible annexation by Bellevue, at least for now, at its Sept. 4 meeting. In a discussion that lasted more than an hour, the City
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Council debated whether the issue of annexation was even appropriate to discuss at the current time. The prevailing sentiment among the council members was that the discussion was premature. Councilman Bill Erxleben,
Current members of the Newcastle City Council will take a pay cut, should they decide to run again after their terms expire, according to an ordinance the council passed at its Sept. 18 meeting. The ordinance, which passed with a 4-3 vote, will lower councilmember salaries from $700 a month to $500 a month. The mayor’s position will also be reduced from $800 a month to $600 a month. Under state law, salaries of municipal officers cannot be increased or decreased during an election or during a term of
Head of the class
Student scrubs in for a day of brain surgery. Page 10
Always a student
Learning life lessons in mentor program. Page 14
office, so the change will not become effective until the expiration of current councilmembers’ terms. Councilmen Bill Erxleben, Gordon Bisset, Steve Buri and Mayor Rich Crispo voted in favor of the salary decrease, while Councilwoman Carol Simpson, Councilman John Dulcich and Deputy Mayor Lisa Jensen voted against the ordinance. Crispo argued that while the council asks city staff members to make sacrifices in terms of merit pay and other considerations, it was important for the See PAY CUT, Page 11
Newcastle Library will open in December after significant delays
You should know Coyotes were recently seen in Newcastle. Attacks on humans are very rare and coyotes will usually run away if challenged. Care must be taken with cats and small dogs, because coyotes prey on them. Small family pets should be kept indoors, especially from dusk to dawn.
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See ANNEXATION, Page 11
Pay cut narrowly passes for future council members By Christina Corrales-Toy
Contact us: newcastle@isspress.com 392-6434, ext. 239
who made the initial motion to get the discussion on the agenda, started the conversation by arguing that it was important to explore whether annexation by Bellevue was a viable option, given Newcastle’s financial fore-
By Christina Corrales-Toy
By Greg Farrar
This way to Newcastle Days Austin Sewell, 3, of Newcastle, slides down the corkscrew pole at the Lake Boren Park playground Sept. 8 during Newcastle Days. For more photos from the event, see page 8.
The Newcastle Library will officially open Dec. 8 with a full day of activities planned to celebrate the occasion, according to a representative from the King County Library System. Festivities are expected to begin at 9:30 a.m. the day of the opening, but more details will be available as the date approaches. Progress on the project picked up significantly after the contractor experienced a multitude of setbacks, according to Greg Smith, the director of Facilities Management Services for KCLS. “The contractor’s been plagued with lots of problems on this job, lots of delays,” Smith said. In December and January, the contractor had to scramble after
On the Web Follow construction updates and see pictures of the library’s progress at blogs.kcls.org/newcastle. the curtain wall subcontractor, the company who provided the glass for the library, went out of business, Smith said. It caused a significant setback that delayed delivery of the glass. As of Sept. 19, KCLS said the building was more than 90 percent enclosed, and Smith added that nearly all of the glass was installed. In addition, workers began installing tile work in the library See LIBRARY, Page 7