YOUR LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER SERVING SNOQUALMIE AND NORTH BEND
FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2016
SNO★VALLEY
STAR
CHAMPIONS AT HEART
Falls 10/11 Little League all-stars see their season end Page 7
Septic-tank fee plan dropped
BOMBS BURSTING IN AIR
BY STUART MILLER smiller@snovalleystar.com
GREG FARRAR | gfarrar@snovalleystar.com
The rockets’ red glare lit the night sky over the Snoqualmie Community Park for America’s Independence Day as the Snoqualmie Fire Department estimated more than 1,500 valley residents came out to enjoy the first ‘Red, White and Boom’ aerial display on Snoqualmie Ridge. The 15-minute show with a soundtrack of patriotic music was the final act for an evening of family fun with picnicking, festival food, inflatable bounce houses and playground activities. The city, corporate sponsors and Serve Snoqualmie, which is the community service division of Church on the Ridge, prepared the holiday festivity. View more photos online at www.snovalleystar.com.
Northwest Railway museum opens steam-train season BY STUART MILLER smiller@snovalleystar.com The Snoqualmie railroad depot must have looked and sounded a lot like it did a century ago as train conductors in greasy pinstripe overalls climbed into an old steam locomotive and blew a deafening whistle. Car attendants called, “All aboard!” before the engine pushing three passenger cars slowly chugged out of
the depot through a cloud of steam. Onlookers left on the platform of the depot, built in 1889, turned their heads to watch the locomotive’s wake as it disappeared down the line. Such was the scene at the opening day of steam-train season July 2 at the Northwest Railway Museum in downtown Snoqualmie. Dozens of passengers loaded onto the century-old passenger cars for the first
11 a.m. train Saturday. They ranged in age from toddlers to old folks who may have seen the railroad in its operating heyday. Some passengers wore vintage clothes, adding to the historic feeling of the ride. The steam train rides are just shy of two hours long and make several stops. The route follows the aptly named Railroad Avenue east out of town, where the tracks split from the road into a scenic,
forested portion of the ride. Crossing a bridge that once spanned the Yellowstone River, the train goes over the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River. Then it chugs through a few blocks of North Bend before arriving at the North Bend depot for a short stop. The train then follows that line back west for a stop at the Train Shed. The large building SEE RAILWAY, PAGE 2
The proposed King County septic-tank fee has been pulled for now, but many septic users around the county worry they haven’t seen the last of it. King County Director of Public Health Patty Hayes announced her decision to pull the proposal to a packed house of hundreds at Snoqualmie Valley Alliance Church in Fall City on June 28. The announcement was met with loud cheers, applause and a standing ovation. The proposed fee of up to $37 arose from concerns about the water quality and amount of fecal bacteria in Puget Sound. The poor water quality has forced the closure of shellfish harvesting in many areas around the Sound. The Environmental Protection Agency says that septic systems can provide excellent wastewater treatment and have both public health and environmental benefits. However, poorly functioning septic systems can have the opposite effect, according to the EPA. Some problems involve contamination of surface waters and groundwater with diseasecausing pathogens and nitrates, which hurts shellfish beds and swimming beaches. Local and state regulations SEE DROPPED, PAGE 5 Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Kent, WA Permit No. 71 POSTAL CUSTOMER