Your locally-owned newspaper, serving North Bend and Snoqualmie, Washington
The cows have come home Page 6
March 20, 2014
Firefighters, community honor abandoned baby By Coral Garnick Seattle Times staff reporter
By Alan Berner/The Seattle Times
Eastside Fire & Rescue’s Emily Harig, front, Marco Barba, with casket, Josh Demetrescu and J.D. Bridenbaugh serve as pallbearers for Baby Kimball, an unidentified newborn found abandoned near North Bend.
As the small pink casket was carried by a single first responder down the aisle of Snoqualmie Valley Alliance Church on March 15, mothers, fathers, grandparents and community members stood watching, tissues to noses, and breaths held. None had known the child. But more than 100 people were drawn to the service honoring the newborn-baby girl abandoned last month in a wooded area off Southeast North Bend Way near Kimball Creek Bridge. Whether Baby Kimball, as she has become known, was stillborn, died after birth or was killed, authorities will not say. The mother has not been found. No arrests have been made. On March 15, though, she had family — with a funeral in
Breath of Aire brings something to hear to the Valley By Sherry Grindeland The 85 singers come from Wenatchee, from Olympia, from Kent and from Seattle when they gather for a concert. They devote several hours, two Saturdays a month, to choir practice in Federal Way and then perform several times a month throughout the Puget Sound Area. No one, said Lori Herstrom, of Fall City, begrudges the time or the distance. “That’s because it is so much more than just singing,” she said. On March 23, Herstrom won’t have to drive quite so far to sing. The choir, called Breath of Aire, will perform at 6 p.m. at Cascade Covenant Church, 13225 436th Ave. S.E. in North Bend. The show benefits the Snoqualmie Valley Food Bank and Fall City Food Pantry.
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If you go Breath of Aire Concert 6 p.m. March 23 Cascade Covenant Church 13225 436th Ave. S.E. North Bend Free will offering Benefit for Snoqualmie Valley Food Bank and the Fall City Food Pantry
On the Web For more information about Breath of Aire, visit www.breathofaire.org. Herstrom, a member of Cascade Covenant Church, has been singing alto with Breath of Aire since it was founded by a Kent dentist, Baynard DuBois, in 1999. Although the group describes itself as Christian-based, it is non-denominational and sings every-
thing from folk songs to patriotic numbers. “Baynard DuBois had a vision for music that comes alive when we sing,” Herstrom said. “You can sing everything note perfect, but if you sing it without heart, the audience won’t connect with it.” Indeed, Herstrom said concerts sometime sound quite different than rehearsals because director DuBois reads the audience and changes things to fit the listeners. Herstrom said that’s one reason the group sings without the aid of music in hand – they memorize all the words and notes – because tempos and emphasis may change during a performance as they play to the audience. The focus of the group is to provide entertainment and a musical experience for nonprofit groups such as the food See AIRE, Page 3
Fall City, and a procession to her burial in SeaTac. “She doesn’t have any family ... someone had to be there for her,” said Amber Bastedo, 23, of Snoqualmie, her 9-month-old boy on her hip. After the story of Baby Kimball hit the news Feb. 12, the King County Sheriff’s Office, Eastside Fire & Rescue, Stop Abuse and Violence Everywhere and the TEARS Foundation banded together to honor Baby Kimball, to give the small community an opportunity to grieve and to raise awareness that mothers and parents have options and don’t have to make the kind of decisions that leave a child dead or injured. “Everyone’s gut reaction is to say ‘who could do something like that,’ ” said Sgt. Katie See BABY, Page 2
Marijuana: Legal but not for teens Legal Marijuana and Our Teens, a free forum for youth and parents, begins at 7 p.m. March 24 in the Mount Si High School Auditorium, 8651 Meadowbrook Way S.E., Snoqualmie. Although recreational marijuana became legal in Washington as of Jan. 1, it is still illegal for people under 21 to use and is still a federal crime. The lineup for the forum includes: q A panel of Mount Si High School students will discuss their perceptions and answer questions. q Snoqualmie Police will provide details about the law and drug use in the Valley. q Kevin Haggerty, from the University of Washington’s Social Research Development Group, will present research-driven data about the effects of marijuana (and alcohol) on the teenage brain, and talk about “Marijuana Myths.” q Phoebe Terhaar, MSHS’s intervention specialist, will provide concrete take-aways for parents and families.
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