SEE INSIDE: New boating fee on Lake Tapps | Page 3 . . . . Why do we text and drive? | Page 6 . . . Blaine Larson to entertain at King County Fair | Page 17. . . . Marianne Binetti | Page 11
FIND US ON FACEBOOK RETURNS Check the results for the special election on the website www.courierherald.com
Wednesday, April 29, 2015 | 75 cents
What’s Inside Sports.................................Page 4 Views...................................Page 6 Obituaries.........................Page 9 Education.........................Page 12 Classifieds.........................Page 20
White River Bridge
Lake Tapps refill only a drip, drip, drip Lack of rainfall and mild winter may cause lake to be closed for Memorial Day By Ray Still Reporter
Washington State Department of Transportation officials inspected the bridge Sunday and reported the temporary repairs were doing well. Engineers are in the predesign phase for the permanent repairs, which is expected to be scheduled during the coming winter. WSDOT officials hope to be able to complete the repairs at night if it is possible.
Weather The forecast Wednesday calls for likely showers with highs near 58. At night, expect some showers and a low near 43. Thursday calls for some showers and sun with highs near 59, and a cloudy night with lows near 44. Friday calls for a chance of showers, but Saturday and Sunday calls for sun with highs in the low 60s.
Contact Us! Main Desk 360-825-2555
News ..................................ext. 3 Retail Ads .........................ext. 2 Circulation ........................ext. 1 Classifieds..................ext. 7050
www.courierherald.com
Boaters, swimmers and lake enthusiasts will be disappointed to learn Lake Tapps may not be filled and ready to be open to the public by Memorial Day according to Cascade Water Alliance. While the refilling system is working just fine, an April 23 Cascade release stated nature is not cooperating. Reduced rainfall is affecting how quickly the lake can be refilled. Lake Tapps is currently 32 percent full with 5.5 billion gallons of water as of April 21, but the lake needs an additional 11 billion gallons, according to Cascade’s
website. The reduced snowpack in the mountains that has plagued ski resorts this year has little effect on refilling the lake, according to Cascade Communication Director Elaine Kraft. Kraft said Cascade is allowed to divert any water above minimum in-stream flow into Lake Tapps, but the problem is minimum instream flow increases every two weeks. “Right now, the requirement under the Department of Ecology water rights is that we leave 825 cubic feet per second of water in the river,” said Kraft. “On May 1, the minimum in-stream flow goes up to 875 cubic feet per second.” Kraft said there is only 75 extra cubic feet per second of water Cascade is able to divert from the White River into Lake Tapps as of April 24. This will shrink to 25 cubic feet per second if water levels don’t rise
Appointed East Pierce commissioner sworn in
Lake Tapps will probably not be open on Memorial Day due to a lack of rainfall and the mild winter. Photo by Ray Still in the coming weeks. At that current rate, it would take Cascade almost two years, or 680 days, to refill Lake Tapps. Earlier this year, Cascade was involved in the largest trust water donation in Washington state history. Cascade made a permanent
A big time band with small town spirit By Ray Still
By Ray Still
Reporter
Reporter
It was a hot race, but East Pierce Fire and Rescue swore in its newest fire commissioner during last week’s meeting. Bonney Lake resident Victor Proulx was chosen by the board to serve as a commissioner until November with four votes to three. The commissioner position was opened when former Commissioner Rick Kuss retired March 1 of this year. “I’d like to thank the board for this opportunity to fill this open position for the rest of the year,” Proulx said in a press release. “I’m hoping to bring my business and budgetary experience into the pro-
Y
Rick Kuss
Victor Proulx
cess to help make sure people’s money is being spent wisely and the firefighters are taken care of.” Proulx intends to run for the position again in the fall general election. The other two candidates for the position were Jon Napier and Kirby Pollard. “This was not an easy deci-
SEE COMMISSIONER, PAGE 25
donation of 684,571 acre feet of water to Washington state’s Trust Water Rights program, which will preserve in-stream flows and protect fish in the White River. Kraft said that donation of water does not affect the little amount of water going into Lake Tapps in any way.
ou can take the man out of a small town, but you can’t take the small town out of the man. At least, that’s what Enumclawborn Aaron “Rev” Peters and the band ‘Success’ has proven since the band formed nearly 10 years ago. Rev, along with his bandmates Austin Jones and David Casey, grew up in the small farming town south of his current home, Seattle. “We all played through school and that’s how we met each other,” Rev said. “We all grew up there. My parents live on Lafromboise and Griffin. They still live up there.”
ions Visit The Enumclaw Courier Herald Website for t i d E Greenr Herald Up-To-Date News, Photos ...and more! s e d u l e c i r n I u * Co Updated DAILY! of The
Rev, Jones and Casey all went to Enumclaw High School, and graduated in the early 2000s. They all played and sang together in the school marching band and choir until 2006. “We were all in separate bands for a long time, and all those bands were not really doing what we thought was the best formula to be in a band,” Rev described. “We are all small town kids, and that is how we got together and how we got that view of being in a band.” Rev and his bandmates learned early on in their music playing careers that a band is more than a group of people coming together to make music, and in order to survive as a group, they
SEE SUCCESS, PAGE 26
Bre akin New g s!