Your locally-owned newspaper, serving North Bend and Snoqualmie, Washington
February 2, 2012 VOL. 4, NO. 5
Mount Si grapplers win a pair Page 12
Glassy waters on Borst Lake
New editor Meet the SnoValley Star’s new editor. Page 2
Top honors North Bend names employee of the year. Page 3
Police blotter Page 3
Retreat, retreat Councils of North Bend and Snoqualmie each hold a retreat. Page 6
Rock the teacher Local rocker Davey French teaches the business to others. Page 8
By Don Detrick
Borst Lake catches the reflection of fall foliage and a cloud-shrouded Mount Si on a sunny day in October. North Bend resident Don Detrick snapped the photo. He is the secretary and treasurer for the Northwest Ministry Network of the Assemblies of God, and works on Snoqualmie Ridge.
Community speaks up about middle schools By Sebastian Moraga
‘Idol’ized Teen knocks ’em dead at Wildcat Idol. Page 10
Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Kent, WA Permit No. 71 POSTAL CUSTOMER
The prospect of the community’s children attending a twomiddle-school district has their parents speaking out on both sides of the issue. Parents and teachers crowded the conference room at the Snoqualmie Valley School District offices Jan. 26 and waited hours to speak their mind. The issue of whether the district will turn the 40-year-old Snoqualmie Middle School building into a ninth-gradersonly annex of the high school in 2012 will remain unresolved for at least 30 more days. Given the tenor of the discussion Jan. 26, several people,
however, seem to have made up their minds. “Both my daughters attended Chief Kanim at the peak of its size and it was fine,” said Liz Piekarczyk, co-chair of the Snoqualmie Valley PTSA Council. “I’m more worried about Mount Si not having a freshman learning center than about having to buy a couple of portables.” The district has three of the county’s 58 middle schools. The county’s middle schools average 700-plus students; Snoqualmie Middle School has 460, Chief Kanim Middle School houses 404, and Twin Falls Middle See SCHOOL, Page 2
Festival at Mount Si makes some changes Street closure should allow residents to get to their homes By Tom Corrigan After meeting with a small group of concerned neighbors Jan. 24, organizers of the Festival at Mount Si are moving to revamp their plans for this year’s event. “We will be moving forward with a different option,” said Jill Massengill, president of the board of directors for the nonprofit North Bend Education and Cultural Association. Festival planners had to
develop an alternative layout for the 2012 gathering because Si View Park will undergo extensive renovations at the time of the festival, slated for Aug. 10-12. Because of those renovations, the park will not be available for even limited use during the festival, said both Massengill and Minna Rudd, program coordinator for the Si View Metropolitan Park District. According to Massengill, with the park not available to host vendor booths, one option was to place those booths on Southeast Orchard See FESTIVAL, Page 2