Your locally-owned newspaper, serving North Bend and Snoqualmie, Washington
April 18, 2013 VOL. 5, NO. 15
Mount Si is poised to win conference Page 10
Learning goes on as usual on Day of Silence By David Hayes
Transportation woes? North Bend, Snoqualmie bus routes could end. Page 2
Police blotter Page 3
Mount Si High School is again participating in national Day of Silence activities April 19. In light of past problems with the event, Principal John Belcher is getting out ahead to nip any potential controversies in the bud. In an April 5 letter to parents, Belcher reiterated what the Day of Silence is and is not.
“It is a national day for recognition of LGBTQ students, and high schools across the country participate in this activity. As a school and community, we want to promote diversity, acceptance, safety and a sense of inclusion for ALL Wildcats that walk our halls,” he wrote. What started as a way to bring to light the problems facing gay students morphed over the years at Mount Si to instead
include respect for all students. The Day of Silence started in 1996 as a local event at the University of Virginia in response to a class assignment on nonviolent protests with more than 150 students participating. In 1997, it went national with nearly 100 colleges and universities participating. In 2001, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network became the official organization-
Valley residents share tales of the Tooth Fairy. Page 6
By David Hayes
Your Week Page 8
By Alejandro Gomez
Isabella Gomez, 11, performs a back side grab as she competes in the ‘slope style’ category at the annual United States of America Snowboard Association competitions at Copper Mountain, Colo., March 30 to April 4.
Mount Si boys soccer eyes rematch with Liberty. Page 10
Snowboarder gets big air, big awards Isabella Gomez, 11, wows crowd at nationals By Joe Grove
Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Kent, WA Permit No. 71 POSTAL CUSTOMER
See SILENCE, Page 5
Festival will have crowds singing the blues away
All I want for Christmas
Midseason report
al sponsor for the event. The event got out of hand in 2008 at Mount Si when it became more about the protesters outside the school than the participating students inside. In addition, parents withheld their students from attending, and nearly 500 of the school’s 1,410 students were counted as absent. Since then, the event has
Isabella Gomez, a member of the Snoqualmie Snowboarding Team and sponsored by The Summit at Snoqualmie Resort, returned from the American Snowboard Association’s 24th annual Nationals March 30 to April 24 with a first place overall. Isabella is an 11-year-old fifthgrader at Puesta del Sol Spanish Immersion School, Bellevue, and a resident of Issaquah.
Isabella, the daughter of Alejandro and Amani Gomez, participated in all five events in her age group (10- and 11-yearolds), placing second in the half pipe, second in the giant slalom, third in the slope style, fourth in slalom and fifth in border cross. Because she placed in all five categories, she scored the highest overall. This was Isabella’s fourth trip to nationals, held this year at Copper Mountain, Colo. She placed second overall last year and first overall in 2011. She said many girls don’t compete in all five categories, netting them a zero in those
they don’t compete in. Alejandro said they want the girls to be well-rounded in the sport, but there are those who only want to do the pipe. “We want her to be wellrounded,” he said. The family moved here two years ago from Minnesota, where Isabella got her start at snowboarding as a kindergartener. She said she was given a flyer at school about snowboarding and took it home and told her parents she wanted to do it. Alejandro was a skier and See BIG AIR, Page 7
The Boxley Music Fund welcomes spring with a new music event in downtown North Bend that organizers hope will attract visitors from all over the region. In the wake of the successful Jazz Walk last fall comes Blues Walk on April 20, featuring more than double the venues and twice the hours to spend with the performers. “The Jazz Walk was very popular,” event organizer Audrey Paisley said. “We were astounded by the numbers, about 750. We hear from many, many people, ‘My gosh! This feels like Mardi Gras!’” To help bring in the best of the blues, the Boxley Music Fund enlisted Paul Green, himself a longtime blues musician, seen often with his band Straight Shot. Green said he saw the success of Jazz Walk and needed no convincing to come aboard. “I know of a number of jazz walks and even many blues festivals, but a blues walk is kinda unique,” Green said. He added it wasn’t hard filling out the schedule. Within a couple of days, his task was complete, and he had attracted some of the See BLUES, Page 9