Schools host Halloween festivals Page 7
Highlanders fall to Eagles Page 6
VOL. 16, NO. 11
November 7, 2014
City Council combs over 2015 budget By Christina Corrales-Toy The Newcastle City Council began reviewing City Manager Rob Wyman’s 2015 preliminary budget at its second October meeting. The proposed budget places emphasis on public safety, setting the groundwork for an additional police officer in 2016, and outlines a robust capital investment program. “I truly feel that the budget presented here provides a great value for the residents of Newcastle while reflecting the appropriate priorities, such as public safety,” Wyman wrote in the budget’s introduction. The city could spend upward of $2.5 million on transportation projects if the budget is approved as is. In addition to the $550,000 the council commits annually to a pavement overlay program, residents could see projects such as pedestrian improvements to Southeast 73rd Place and the installation of flashing leftturn signals along Coal Creek Parkway in 2015. There are also initial plans to pursue a $750,000 grant for
Vice President Joe Biden (left) holds a machined object as he talks to instructor Adam Pohlman during a tour of Renton Technical College.
On the Web Read the city of Newcastle’s preliminary 2015 budget at http://goo.gl/9r8gwR. improvements on Newcastle Golf Club Road. The project would widen and add bike lanes to the road, which would offer continuity after a 2015 city of Bellevue project makes improvements on the roadway just east of Newcastle city limits. The Newcastle Golf Club Road project would cost about $1 million, and would only move forward if the city gets the grant. The budget also includes $305,000 for a rock-fall stabilization project. To address concerns that rocks could fall on the roadway along Coal Creek Parkway, the project would stabilize the slope along the east side of Coal Creek Parkway between Newcastle Golf Club Road and Southeast 79th Place. See BUDGET, Page 10
Diamond Awards are Nov. 20 The Golf Club at Newcastle will literally roll out the red carpet for the Newcastle Chamber of Commerce’s Diamond Awards Nov. 20. This will be the second year the Diamond Awards ceremony takes place in the evening at the golf course. Based on last year’s event, the chamber board determined that it would continue with the evening time frame and format in 2014. The Newcastle Diamond Awards is an annual ceremony
By Ken Lambert/ The Seattle Times
that recognizes community members who do good things in the greater Newcastle area. The recipient of a Diamond Award is chosen based on his or her contribution to the community. Winners and nominees demonstrate dedication, integrity and caring, with a passion for doing what needs to be done. There are seven Diamond Award categories this year, and after receiving more than 40 See AWARDS, Page 8
Joe Biden hails Renton Tech as vital path to reviving middle class
By Jim Brunner Seattle Times political reporter
Vice President Joe Biden toured a Renton Technical College job-training program Oct. 9, promoting the federal grants that support it as a way to help the middle class regain its footing. Speaking to a small group of students and instructors at the college, Biden acknowledged “the middle class is hurting,” but said he gets angry at those who accuse out-of-work people of shiftlessness. Americans will work, Biden said. “They just want a shot.” Biden, who paired his official visit with a Democratic political fundraiser later in the day, was at the college to highlight a $450 million grant program by the U.S. Department of Labor. A consortium led by Renton Tech received a $10 million slice of that in the latest round of grant awards. The college, which specializes
in apprenticeships, engineering and manufacturing degrees, was named among the top 10 community colleges in the nation this year by the Aspen Institute, an educational and policy organization based in Washington, D.C. Biden said such colleges, aided by federal grants, can help restore an “I can do this” mentality to the nation. Before his speech, Biden, accompanied by Washington’s Democratic U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and college President Steve Hanson, toured an aerospace lab and a classroom filled with industrial lathes. With media in tow, Biden paused to chat with Adam Pohlman, a former construction worker who said he left the field when jobs dried up during the Great Recession. Pohlman showed off a piece of metalfabricating equipment used to train students. Biden appeared impressed by a printout of computer code students write to run
the machine, remarking, “I can’t pretend I understand this.” Biden called such community-college programs vital to giving workers a pathway to the middle class. He said six of 10 jobs in coming years will require a degree or certificate beyond high school. But not everyone needs a full four-year degree, he said, pointing to manufacturing jobs he said are returning to the U.S. He called apprenticeship programs, like those offered at the college, “the single most direct track to employment.” After the appearance, Biden rode in a motorcade to the Washington State Convention Center, where he delivered a partisan speech to more than 800 at Cantwell’s Women of Valor fundraising lunch to aid Democratic women running for the U.S. Senate. Biden said he hopes the coming election will clear out what See BIDEN, Page 9
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