PITCH PERFECT
CISCOE SAYS
Patriots shut out rival Hazen, 7-0 — Page 8
Master gardener helps Grange celebrate — Page 5
The IssaquahPress
Issaquah’s only locally owned newspaper
Public hearings begin for possible school closure By Neil Pierson npierson@sammamishreview.com The Issaquah School Board has yet to set a date for when it will consider closing Tiger Mountain Community High School, but it began a public comment period last week that brought dozens of impassioned people out in defense of the alternative school. The first public hearing regarding the possible closure of Tiger Mountain was held Sept. 10 and generated comments from students, parents and teachers. The public comment period was scheduled to last 50 minutes, but went nearly an hour longer as more than a dozen people spoke about the issue, the vast majority supporting ideas to keep it open. In June, Issaquah School District Superintendent Ron Thiele presented a plan to close the school for the 2015-16 year and re-open it the following year under a different educational model. District officials point to the school’s declining enrollment, low test scores and low graduation rates as reasons to close. The board will hold a second public hearing on the issue at 7 p.m. Sept. 17, but board President Marnie Maraldo said the group hasn’t set a timeline for deciding the school’s future. The board is required to discuss the issue in public, and Maraldo said it would likely hold a work session to ask questions of Thiele and other officials before reach-
www.issaquahpress.com
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
FAN FRENZY FOR FOOTBALL
GET INVOLVED The Issaquah School Board will hold a second public hearing on the possible closure of Tiger Mountain Community High School. The hearing is at 7 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Issaquah School District’s administration building, 565 N.W. Holly St. ing a decision. Enrollment at Tiger Mountain is about the same as what it was 10 years ago, about 100 students Thiele said last week that Tiger students aren’t keeping pace with acceptable academic standards. While the district’s three comprehensive high schools – Issaquah, Liberty and Skyline – all have graduation rates above 90 percent, Tiger’s has plummeted in the past several years, from 77.2 percent in 2004-05 to 30.5 percent in 2011-12. Tiger’s extended graduation rates – students taking five years or longer to earn a diploma – have also dropped. All of Tiger’s extended-rate students graduated 10 years ago, but less than half did two years ago. Tiger students are also struggling to pass state assessment tests. In the 2012-13 year, 45 percent met standards in readSee CLOSURE, Page 3
SLIDESHOW See more photos of sights and sounds of people enjoying the beginning of the gridiron season at www.issaquahpress.com.
By Greg Farrar
The high school football season is well underway for students, cheerleaders and fans from Liberty (top), Issaquah (above) and Skyline (right) as the grandstands become noisy with cheers and chants, and band music fills the air throughout the school district.
Seventh and Gilman redevelopment begins 2014, the year the Salmon Days’ new carnival came to town
By Peter Clark pclark@isspress.com
Demolition began Sept. 10 on the new residential project to be housed at Seventh Avenue Northwest and Northwest Gilman Boulevard. There, 344 apartments in three five-story buildings will replace the strip mall and Lombardi’s restaurant that had been there for decades. The project not only marks a change in that localized landscape, but for the whole of Issaquah as well. Dubbed the Atlas project by developer Lennar Multifamily Investors, it is the first redevelopment of the Central Issaquah Plan that the City Council expects to shape the valley over the next several decades. “It’s going to be very fast and furious,” Senior Engineer Denise Pirolo said of the construction. “This has just been a blazing project. Everybody is going as fast as they can.” She said the nature of the project and Lennar’s calendar expectations have not provided a clear timeline of construction after a complicated site development permitting process. “I do not have a targeted opening date yet,” Pirolo said. “This is a challenging site engineering-wise. So, it’s taken time.” The project has received its share of criticism. The property has an infamous history of flooding, and surrounding businesses and residents made their voices heard in the Rivers and Streams Board meetings that discussed the permits needed to redevelop the land. Concern revolved around how
the building might exacerbate flooding in and around the site. Darlene Cohen managed Gilman Galleries, which stood in the strip mall for 28 years. While she said she agrees with the crux of the Central Issaquah Plan, she sees a bad trend in the residential building that will replace the retail. “We should do this because it will really help development in Issaquah,” Cohen said of the Central Issaquah Plan. “However, it’s not creating any retail. That’s one of the essential parts to this is to create jobs and create retail.” The question of retail in the property was raised repeatedly in council meetings, but Lennar representatives said they felt the area surrounding the site already offered enough. “I’m positive about the fact that the property needed to be developed,” Cohen said. “It obviously did. But it was a mixed-use piece of property and it should have stayed a mixed-use piece of property.” Construction crews took down the strip mall and the restaurant in one day and will begin the long task of grading the site and performing utility work while the building permit process finishes. Many during the public hearings expressed worry that the new residential buildings would exacerbate traffic. City officials don’t expect those worries to materialize anytime soon. “There shouldn’t be any additional traffic concerns apart from a normal construction site,” Pirolo said.
RIGHTSIZING 101: TIPS & TECHNIQUES FOR SUCCESSFUL DOWNSIZING
By Brian Twiggs Salmon Days staff
I can remember it like it was yesterday. It was Salmon Days weekend, 2014. I’m sure of this because I still remember counting more than 200 mid-term election signs on the way to the festival. I was 12 years old, which meant in my family, this was my 12th Salmon Days. My sister and I always looked forward to Salmon Days with my parents. My dad would hand each of us $20 to spend on whatever we wanted, much to the disapproval of our mom and dentist. After eating more than I care to admit, we’d sprint to the Field of Fun, where we’d spend a couple of hours laughing as we went from attraction to attraction. That is until my mom’s internal clock went off, which meant only one thing. We had been sentenced to three hours of looking at glass salmon, candles and little doily
IF YOU GO The first Salmon Days Carnival 42-9 p.m. Oct. 3 410 a.m. to 9 p.m. Oct. 4 410 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 5 4Unlimited ride bracelets can be purchased for a discounted rate at the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce for $20 until Oct. 1. Bracelets are $25 at the gate. things with our parents as we walked more than the human body is meant to endure. If only we had waited to go to spend our money, we’d have something to look forward to besides the next arts and crafts booth. And that’s when everything changed. As we were leaving the north end of the festival, we saw it. It was radiant, majestic and absolutely beautiful. Standing above
the trees in the Staples parking lot was a giant gondola Ferris wheel. But not just that. There were 11 other rides all calling my name in unison. The look in my parents’ eyes told me they knew they weren’t going to win this battle. Fate had put this carnival in our path that day. For the next few hours, all four of us rode rides until we were either too sick or out of money. That night, as I lay in bed with the giant panda bear I won, I fell asleep trying to figure out how many days until the next Salmon Days. I’m much older now, with kids of my own, but things haven’t changed much. We still go to Salmon Days. I give them $20, much to my wife and our dentist’s disapproval. I still have (get) to look at doily things. But now, I keep an extra $20 hidden in my pocket for the walk back to the car, where the four of us either get sick or run out of money, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Get special presentation, tour at hatchery The public is invited to the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery for a special tour and presentation — “Salmon Recovery…We Can’t Do It Alone” — Sept. 19. Learn about the impact on the Lake Sammamish watershed of human activity and ways individuals and policy makers can create an environment in which salmon can thrive. The Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery has invited those who make decisions
within their respective jurisdictions that impact the watershed to this special presentation. Speakers will include: 4Sen. Mark Mullet, from the 5th Legislative District, who will speak about the progress being made in Washington state toward salmon recovery and the role of hatcheries in that effort. 4Rob Jones, from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who will speak
about the Federal Endangered Species Act and what that means for salmon recovery. 4FISH is proud of the impact its educational programs have on young people, and you will hear from a young volunteer who has been inspired by her experiences at the hatchery. An optional tour of the hatchery will follow the 1 p.m. presentation. RSVP by calling the FISH office at 392-1118.
Retirement Living Seminar Tuesday, September 23 at 10:30 am University House Issaquah 22975 SE Black Nugget Rd, Issaquah, WA 98029 RSVP at (425) 200-0331
eraliving.com 75 cents