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February 18, 2015
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Nathan Swanson captures wrestling
State audit finds fault with EFR books By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com
Contributed
Klahanie resident Dennis Broadwell uses a ladder to cross a crevasse on Mount Everest in 2011. Broadwell is leading another expedition to the world’s highest mountain starting in March.
Klahanie man prepares for Mount Everest climb By Neil Pierson npierson@sammamishreview.com Four years ago, Dennis Broadwell came within about 2,000 vertical feet of the top of the world before making the difficult decision to turn around. This spring, the Klahanie resident is planning to make a second attempt at summiting Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak at 29,029 feet. It’s a task that has proven difficult at best, and deadly at worst — more than 200 climbers have lost their lives on Everest over the past century, including 16 Sherpas buried in an avalanche at the base camp last spring. Broadwell doesn’t express much worry, and said he climbs to attain a “shared experience” in which his team bonds through adversity. “It’s not only us doing these adventures and doing these things that, for most people, seem dangerous, but we’re sharing experiences with people, pushing ourselves on the moun-
Contributed
With an oxygen mask covering his face, Dennis Broadwell prepares to climb Mount Everest in 2011. Broadwell didn’t reach the summit, but will attempt the climb again this spring.
tain, kind of a healthy lifestyle,” he said.
‘Not the right day’ A professional mountain
guide since 1997, Broadwell nearly ascended Everest in 2011. One of his climbing partners reached the top, but due to a minor illness, Broadwell stayed behind, a few thousand feet below. When he tried to summit a day later, another partner was having trouble breathing, and Broadwell would’ve had to finish the climb on his own. Broadwell thought of his two young children, as well the partner who’d suffered snow blindness on the summit. He turned his back and began descending. “As a mountain guide, I make a lot of conservative choices,” Broadwell said, “and I just said, ‘It’s not the right day, the right time to go to the top, especially by myself.’” Broadwell, 43, a native of Long Island, New York, came to the Northwest about 20 years ago after cutting his teeth on the slopes of New Hampshire’s White Mountains. He was turned away in his initial attempt to become a guide on Mount Rainier, but perSee EVEREST, Page 2
State auditors made a finding of significant deficiency after completing a study of the record-keeping of Eastside Fire & Rescue. Released by the state Feb. 2, the audit covered the timeframe between Jan. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2013. Fire Chief Lee Soptich said auditors took exception to how the fire district kept track of major purchases, such as emergency fire vehicles. Soptich said when such a purchase is made, each community member of EFR, such as Issaquah or Sammamish, becomes a partial owner of that equipment. He added EFR has kept track of those purchases in the same manner for many years. However, this year, auditors stated EFR methodology is
incorrect. Alleged, negative audit conclusions fall into three categories: exit items, management letters and findings. Exit items are audit findings discussed with local officials once an audit is finished. Management letters are letters sent to upper level local officials outlining problems uncovered by an audit. In this instance, the state made a claim of an audit finding, the most severe of alleged audit conclusions. “An audit finding, that’s a serious concern,” said Thomas Shapley, deputy director of communications for the Washington State Auditor’s Office. There are also different levels of findings. In this instance, the finding was considered a significant deficiency, but did See AUDIT, Page 2
Popular preschool set to close after 20 years By Neil Pierson npierson@sammamishreview.com The Sammamish Learning Center, which has been serving Eastside families and their preschool students since 1995, will permanently close its doors in June at the end of the current school year. It wasn’t the original intention of the school’s directors, Jill Porter and Helen Glenn, who sold the property to a developer last year. “Jill and I were going to retire at some point anyway,” Glenn said, “and we hoped that someone else was going to carry on the torch, which we have attempted to do. But nothing has panned out yet.” “The hope was the school would continue elsewhere, either in the same house or on a different piece of property,” Porter said, noting that efforts were made to relocate across from the current location at 22629 S.E. 29th St.
But the costs of acquiring property and installing utilities were too expensive. School officials and current parents knew going in that the 2014-15 school year would be their last, but it wasn’t until the past few months that many alumni began hearing the news, because the closure wasn’t widely publicized. Louise Boothroyd, the school’s assistant director, said it’s been a tough job for her to inform parents who previously sent a child through the school, and are now looking to register a younger child. “I’m personally going to See PRESCHOOL, Page 2 Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Kent, WA Permit No. 71 POSTAL CUSTOMER
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