October 19, 2011 Locally owned Founded 1992 50 cents
Traffic low, slow after barricade removed
Yarn explodes at art fair
By Warren Kagarise
By Caleb Heeringa
Initial traffic counts from Southeast 32nd Street near where the controversial barricade once stood show that the road has much less traffic than was expected at lower-than-average speeds. But Public Works Director Laura Philpot suggested the City Council wait for traffic patterns to reach equilibrium before looking at additional road improvements or moving onto the next barricade in question – on Northeast 42nd Street between the Hidden Ridge and Timberline neighborhoods. She also cautioned that the current traffic counts are unofficial, having been taken from a “speed trailer” that reads and displays a vehicle’s speed, flashing if they are going over the speed limit. The city is planning more official traffic counts on streets all around the neighborhood in the coming weeks that will be more useful in determining whether the area needs more in the way of sidewalks and traffic calming measures. But Philpot said the data, though preliminary, indicates the $350,000 worth of sidewalks, traffic circles, curb extensions and chicanes the council approved on the road have succeeded in preventing drivers from using the road as a major thoroughfare. “We’ll continue to monitor speeds and volumes in the area … but I don’t think it’s a good bypass route, especially since we See BARRICADE, Page 3
Forum attracts schools and ports candidates
Photo by Michael Rainwater
Children play in the web of yarn constructed by Sammamish artist Suzanne Tidwell. Tidwell’s work was part of the Sammamish Art Fair the weekend of Oct. 8 and 9.
Candidates for local and regional offices offered prescriptions for counteracting the ailing economy and educating a 21stcentury workforce at a forum Thursday. Organized by The Issaquah Press, sister publication to the Sammamish Review, and moderated by Publisher Debbie Berto, the forum attracted candidates for the Issaquah School Board and Port of Seattle Commission. The candidates, gathered at the King County Library System headquarters in Issaquah, answered questions in 40-minute sections organized by race. The forum occurred days before King County Elections
mails ballots, and as many voters start to pay attention to the offyear election. Election Day is Nov. 8. In the school board election, incumbents Brian Deagle and Suzanne Weaver face challengers in the nonpartisan races. Deagle, a Sammamish resident, faces challenger Patrick Sansing, a Sammamish resident, for the Director District No. 3 seat. Weaver, a Sammamish resident, faces Issaquah resident Brian Neville to retain the Director District No. 5 seat. Bellevue resident Anne Moore is running unopposed for outgoing board member Jan Colbrese’s post. See DEBATE, Page 6
Freed House’s home may be at Pigott park By Caleb Heeringa
The Reard/Freed House may finally find a home in what could be some sort of heritagethemed park in the heart of Sammamish. At the Oct. 11 City Council study session, Parks Director Jessi Richardson presented the council with some rough sketches of how a parcel of the Pigott property, slated to be gifted to the city for use as a park in the next five or so years, could look with the Freed/Reard House placed on the grounds.
Samm20th Street. “We don’t have another amish Exactly Heritage how the home park in the city that Society memwould be used lends itself to this kind remains to be bers, who seen, but have gathered of thing.” more than Richardson, – Jessi Richardson, heritage soci$34,000 in Parks director – ety members pledges and cash donaand supportive council tions to go members discussed the possibilitowards saving the 115-year-old farmhouse, want to put the ty of the property becoming a home near two other old build“heritage park” where school ings surrounding a meadow on children could come to learn the property, located on 220th about life as a homesteader at Avenue just north of Southeast the turn of the century. Others
20 years of fiddling around
New life for the old house
community page 22
Home & Garden page 16
suggested the house could be rented out for community meetings and other events. “We don’t have another park in the city that lends itself to this kind of thing,” Richardson said. “I’ll be the first to admit that I was not pleased with the idea of putting (the Freed/Reard House) at Lower Commons Park. It didn’t seem like a suitable fit. This seems like a suitable fit. Personally, I believe in this project.” The city is currently crafting
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See FREED, Page 2