SEE INSIDE: Bonney Lake and Sumner VFW post holds ‘Memory Campaign’ | Page 3 . . . . Miners Day, Wilkeson handcar parade previews | Page 4 . . . . . . . EHS athletes honored at Safeco Field | Page 10
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What’s Inside Views...................................Page 6 Obituaries.........................Page 8 Sports.................................Page 10 Police Blotter ..................Page 14 Classified...........................Page 17
Coming up... • Tunes @ Tapps tonight presents Hook Me Up, a jazz band based out of Tacoma, which comes on stage at 6 p.m. Remember, the Allan Yorke boat launch is closed all day every Wednesday during the concert series. Next week: Folsom Prism. • Sumner’s Rhubarb Festival is this weekend
all down Main Street. Crafts, vendors, food booths, entertainers and all things rhubarb will be starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 16 through 5 p.m. Sunday, July 17.
Weather Some sun, some rain is forecast for this week. Wednesday expect sunshine with a high near 73 and low around 51. Thursday also expect sun with a high of 73 and lows around 52. Friday, Saturday and Sunday all have a chance of showers with highs in the high 60s and lows in the low 50s.
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City business continues to stall in Black Diamond
Expo Center readies for surge of fairgoers By Kevin Hanson
Mayor tells council that staff cannot do their jobs
Senior Writer
Looking to continue an upward surge in both attendance and enthusiasm, boosters are preparing to launch the 2016 edition of the King County Fair. Getting ready for its 154th annual edition, the four-day show continues its billing as the oldest continuous fair west of the Mississippi River. This year’s show opens for customers Thursday, July 14, on the grounds of the Enumclaw Expo Center and wraps up July 17. There’s still something of a “new” feel to the fair, as this is just the second year it has been operated by the nonprofit Enumclaw Expo and Events Association. The group holds to its promise of returning traditional ele-
By Ray Still Assistant Editor
SEE SR 162, PAGE 13
SEE COUNCIL, PAGE 5
Tunes @ Tapps
The Army 133rd band, top, rocks out at the Salute to Armed Forces Night, the first event in the summer-long concert series at Allan Yorke Park in Bonney Lake. Emma Loran, bottom left, dances with an American flag. Gordon Anderson, a World War II vet with Post 3070 in Sumner, enjoys the band’s cover songs. Photos by Ray Still
SEE FAIR, PAGE 4
WSDOT to begin study of SR 162 Drivers, residents encouraged to fill out online survey By Ray Still Assistant Editor
It’s been close to 20 years since the Department of Transportation studied state Route 162, but money from the state legislature has paved the way for a new study of the highway to ease congestion between Orting, McMillin, Alderton and Sumner. Dennis Engel, a DOT planning manager and T.J. Nedrow, the
lead on the study, presented the DOT’s plan to the Bonney Lake City Council during its regularly scheduled workshop July 5. Engel and Nedrow told the council the biggest issue on the highway is congestion, and with lots of development happening in the area currently and more planned in the future, traffic is only expected to get worse. The money for this new study comes from the Connecting
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Washington funding package, passed by the state in 2015. The package is a $16 billion investment funded through an 11.9 cent gas tax increase over the next two years; a 7 cent increase in August 2015, and a 4.9 cent increase July 1, 2016. The area being studied starts at the SR 410 and SR 162 interchange near Sumner and goes just to the northern limits of Orting, without going into the city.
The last couple of Black Diamond City Council meetings resembled a game of Chutes and Ladders – as soon as it seemed progress was being made during the June 22 meeting, the council slid back to square one on July 7. The meeting was colored by many of the same issues that have characterized the council since January; a debate over the night’s agenda, heated disagreements over council rules and an inability to take action on city business. After 3 1/2 hours, the council voted to postpone final action on many agenda items, including a claims voucher to be paid to former interim city attorney Yvonne Ward, the six-year transportation improvement plan and an agreement with DKS Associates to finish the city’s transportation portion of its Comprehensive Plan. The council also passed several resolutions, which include hiring Vancil Law Offices as an interim city attorney, revising the council’s rules and procedures outlined in Resolution 10-69 (passed in January of this year), re-establishing the standing council committees also outlined in Resolution 10-69, reconsidering the censures voted on by the council for missed meetings and adopting new a new labor and policy review process. A grant from the state Department of Ecology for $25,000 was not approved by the council. The grant has been a hot discussion topic since February. Finally, a resolution for mediation between the council and the mayor was withdrawn. David Linehan, who was hired by Mayor
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