26TH YEAR, NO. 1
THE PLATEAU’S ONLY LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER
THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017
SAMMAMISH
TOURNAMENT TITANS
REVIEW
Lady Wolves blast foes, help coach top 100 career victories Page 7
Group seeks landmark status for Providence Heights College BY LIZZ GIORDANO lgiordano@sammamishreview.com
The stunning stained-glass windows that adorn the chapel at Providence Heights College might be preserved for another generation to admire if the King County Landmarks Commission approves an application nominating the
site for landmark status. The Sammamish Heritage Society began work on the application last year after a developer announced plans for the site, which the group said is profoundly important to the Catholic religion. The society is expected to file the application with King County this week. “We needed to step in,” said
Eirlys Vanderhoff, a member of the society. “Or (the Providence Heights campus) would have been torn down and demolished and all these new houses would go up.” Vanderhoff said even though the site is located in Issaquah, Sammamish residents see the former college as part of their city.
“It’s important to the community,” Vanderhoff said. Located at 4221 228th Ave. SE, Providence Heights College was opened by the Sisters of Providence in 1961 to promote education for religious sisters. It was one of only two in the nation at the time, according SEE LANDMARK, PAGE 8
Student teams ready their robots for next level of competition BY STUART MILLER
smiller@sammamishreview.com
Two teams of Eastside Catholic High School students were among hundreds of teenage competitors taking part in a series of robot cage matches Dec. 10. Inside the Mount Si Freshman Campus in Snoqualmie, the commons area was dotted with tables for each of the Turing League teams competing in the night’s event. To the beat of blaring electronic music, pit crews surrounded their robots, making adjustments and repairs between matches while others scurried around the room — heading to the main pen, where the action was, or perhaps scouting the abilities of other teams. While the cage wasn’t an intimidating chain-link octagon, the crowd surrounding it brought a level of enthusiasm similar to an MMA event. Four robots were stuck in the 12-by-12, foam-floored square with glass walls standing a foot high. The machines would not be trying to destroy each other BattleBots style (as many
students would prefer), instead attempting to score points with a series of tasks varying in difficulty. FIRST Washington, a group that promotes student interest in science and technology, runs the First Tech Challenge, which includes the Turing League. This year’s competitive focus is “vortex velocity,” a physicsbased theme. Challenges, based on a central theme, change every year. Living in the land of Microsoft Eastside Catholic is among many area schools that have seen an increased interest in robotics in recent years. The robotics club team that started five years ago with eight students expanded to two teams last year. Eastside Catholic currently fields a varsity team, called ECPO, and a rookie team, called E2C2, that together consistently bring 20 to 25 students out, team coach Danielle Maletta said. A recent push in state STEM curriculum has helped spur more focus on science, techSEE ROBOTS, PAGE 6
Triple XXX car shows fueled by nostalgia BY DAVID HAYES dhayes@sammamishreview.com
As the owner of Triple XXX Root Beer Drive-In, Jose Enciso has been inseparably intertwined with cars and the food business for more than 40 years. As Enciso unveiled the Triple XXX’s 2017 schedule of events, he reminisced about how two Jose Enciso of the biggest loves of his life came to be linked at one popular drive-in, putting Issaquah on the national road map of go-to venues for car shows. In 1967, Enciso said he had a mom-and-pop grocery store in Riverside, Calif. “This hippie always came down from the college with this 1929 Model A pickup truck,” Enciso said. “He’d always have some of these tamales I sold from a crockpot on the counter. I started asking if he would sell his truck.” The answer was always no — until the day Enciso’s little sister visited from Santa Maria, Calif. They started talking, hit it off and the hippie eventually asked her out. She sought permission from her big brother first. “I tell her no, at first, to dating a hippie. Then ‘Ding!’ It hit me,” Enciso said. “You tell him he can take you out if he sells me his pickup.” The hippie agreed. Enciso
GREG FARRAR | gfarrar@sammamishreview.com
The Eastside Catholic team waits to do battle with their robot during a FIRST Tech Challenge Turing League event Dec. 10. ECRWSS POSTAL CUSTOMER
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SEE TRIPLE XXX, PAGE 3
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