LOCAL | Dean Smith brings a message of forgiveness [page 3]
COVINGTON | MAPLE VALLEY | BLACK DIAMOND
NEWSLINE 425-432-1209
REPORTER
FIND US ON FACEBOOK
SHOWCASE CONQUERED | Kentwood girls and boys hoops teams both win at FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2012 ShoWare Showcase [10]
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
City moves ahead with community park plans
WEBSITE | Check the website for breaking news stories and weather updates. maplevalleyreporter.com or covingtonreporter.com
Road crews tackle first snow storm this season
BY KRIS HILL
BY KRIS HILL
khill@covingtonreporter.com
khill@maplevalleyreporter.com
With the approval of a 0.5 percent increase in the utility tax on Nov. 22, the Covington City Council gave the go-ahead staff to continue with a major project, its Community Park. This approval, 6-1 with Mark Lanza dissenting, came after 2011’s up and down COVINGTON journey trying to budget for the first phase of construction of the park. Parks and Recreation Director Scott Thomas explained in an email interview where things go now that the city is collecting additional tax revenue. “The next steps are to complete the bid package and bid the project this winter, probably by March, but that depends on what challenges come up as we finalize the design,” Thomas wrote. “We will build the project during the summer and fall, with the soccer field grass planted approximately mid-September. The grass roots will get established over the winter and next spring. The soccer field will open for play in summer
Crews in Covington and Maple Valley worked this week to deal with one of the biggest snow storms in more than a decade. Steve Clark, public works director for Maple Valley, wrote in an email that his staff were putting in a number of hours to keep main roads clear in WINTER the city. WEATHER “Our crews have been working 12 hour shifts to lay deicer, sand and plow snow,” Clark wrote. “Our advance planning, i.e. stockpiling sand, deicer, preparing our trucks for use and being at work prior to the storm, has enabled our staff to monitor and respond to the conditions as they develop.” A map of Maple Valley’s snow plow routes can be found on the city’s website, http://www.maplevalleywa.gov/index.aspx?page=415. Covington’s Public Works maintenance team started preparing roads at 8 a.m. the Saturday before the storm hit, explained Glenn Akramoff, the city’s public works director in an email on Monday.
[ more PARK page 5 ]
Snow Day
Danielle Neilsen, 12, converts her sled to a snowboard while sledding with her family on the 18th hole of Lake Wilderness Golf Course on Monday afternoon. The hill was a popular place to sled with dozens of kids — who had the day off from school due to the holiday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day — flying down in vehicles of all shapes and sizes. KRIS HILL, The Reporter To view a slide show go to www. maplevalleyreporter.com and to buy photos go to the website and click on the photo reprints tab.
Tahoma High’s Emily Martin answers a question about the U.S. Constitution during the state We the People competition Jan. 7. Photo courtesy of Kevin Patterson
[ more SNOW page 5]
Sweet 16 for the We the People team BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@maplevalleyreporter.com
For the 16th time, Tahoma High’s We the People team took first place at the state competition in Olympia Jan. 7, and will go to Washington D.C. for the finals. Out of the 18 years Tahoma has participated in the program, they have only lost twice as first runner up in 2007 and 2009. “I am really excited for them,” said Gretchen Wulfing, who teaches the class at Tahoma. “They worked
incredibly hard and earned it and I’m just thrilled for them.” Kristen Jamieson said in a phone interview, “It was the best experience of my entire senior year, probably high school career.” First offered in 1987, the We the People program is designed as both a senior class and a competition involving teams from high schools around the state. The teams are split up into different units which cover various aspects of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. During the competition, each unit, comprised of three to four students, is asked three questions and provided the opportunity to cooperatively prepare a four minute essay response, followed by a six minute individual questioning. The journey to first place began well back in June 2011 when the students were assigned summer work
[ more TEAM page 4 ]