August 10, 2011 Locally owned Founded 1992 50 cents
His name is not Tommy
County seeks funds for vets, youth
Mike Lorrain collects pinball machines
By Warren Kagarise
By Caleb Heeringa
Mike Lorrain has a time machine in his basement. Standing in front of it and bringing his hands to the controls on each side, the 41-yearold Sammamish resident is a child again. “I can remember taking what little allowance I had and going to the 7-11 in Selah to play,” Lorrain says. “It takes me back – I can put myself back in that moment.” Lorrain’s childhood memories have turned into quite the pas-
Photo by Caleb Heeringa
Sammamish resident Mike Lorrain poses with three of his pinball machines. Lorrain has been collecting since 2007 and has amassed 15 machines. sion in his adult life – since 2007, he has amassed a collection of 15 pinball machines, which line the walls in his family’s basement and spill out into
the garage. “Every time I think there can’t possibly be room for one more, he finds room for one more,” Lorrain’s wife Cynthia
said. To Mike Lorrain, it’s about more than just the nostalgia fac-
King County voters decide the future of a county veterans and human services levy soon, and as Election Day nears, recipients of levy dollars demonstrated how the measure impacts Issaquah and other communities. The electorate approved the initial veterans and human services levy — 5 cents per $1,000 of assessed value — to fund programs for veterans and social service efforts in 2005. The measure, Proposition 1, is up for renewal on the Aug. 16 ballot. If passed, the levy renewal is
See PINBALL, Page 3
See LEVY, Page 2
Some in Sammamish can commute without the car The fifth in a series that will examine what people in the city are doing to become more ecologically friendly.
mate change, some Sammamish residents are taking to bike or bus rather than their cars.
Self-propelled For Sammamish resident Cynthia Krass, biking began as a No one is going to recreational and competitive mistake Sammamish activity that morphed for Seattle when it into her main form of comes to environmencommuting. Krass, tally friendly commuting, who lives near Beaver but many citizens around Lake, now bikes just the city are doing their best about everywhere – to to fight the stereotype of and from the grocery the car-dependent suburb. stores in Sammamish, Whether it’s a cost-savto Jubilee Farms in ing measure, a way to get Sammamish Carnation, to a volunsome exercise on the way teer transportation to work or simply a desire goes green planning gig she has with the city of Bellevue and to cut down on the carbon emissions that contribute to global clieven into the University of
By Caleb Heeringa
Washington, where she is a parttime student. Though some trips take a bit longer on bike, Krass said she prefers looking at it as killing two birds with one stone – she’s getting good exercise rather than wasting time sitting behind the wheel of a car. “It’s faster for me to ride my bike to downtown Bellevue than to drive all the way to Bellevue and get out and go workout (in a gym),” Krass said. “I’m not accomplishing anything by sitting in a car.” Krass said many prospective bike commuters are scared off by the prospect of showing up to a business meeting clad in biker See DRIVE, Page 7
Photo by Caleb Heeringa
A rider boards the King County Metro 216 route, which runs from Redmond, through Sammamish to downtown Seattle.
Night out in the afternoon
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