VALLEY RECORD SNOQUALMIE
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2012 â– DAILY UPDATES AT WWW.VALLEYRECORD.COM â– 75 CENTS
Juice on the loose
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Snoqualmie business owner’s generator disappears when power comes back BY CAROL LADWIG
SPORTS
Staff Reporter
Baking cookies with American students in a Mount Si High School classroom, the three teens rely more on teamwork than words. The vibe is low key as students take in their assignment, then munch on the finished product with fellow cooks. As the chocolate melts and the dough rises, three cultures are coming together in a subtle way in Laura Tarp’s culinary classroom.
Within minutes of Joe Dollente turning off his emergency generator Saturday night, Jan. 21, in downtown Snoqualmie, somebody stole it. Dollente, co-owner of Gianfranco’s Ristorante since October, had been using the generator to run the restaurant through a four-day blackout caused by the severe winter storms of the previous week. “It was outside, right outside the door,� he said, pointing to the back door of the restaurant. The power came back to Snoqualmie JOE DOLLENTE around 8:40 p.m. Saturday, he said, but he kept the generator running until his last customer left, around 9 p.m. After shutting it off, he put the cords away and did general clean-up inside while he let the generator cool, and when he came back a few minutes later to put it away, it was gone. “I’m pretty sure it was between 9 and 9:20 p.m. when it happened,� he said.
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‘Cats get back in the game against Saints, Totems Page 6 Seth Truscott/Staff Photo
The city of Snoqualmie welcomed the first group of exchange students from its friendship city of Chaclacayo, Peru. From left are Peruvian consul-general Miguel Angel VelĂĄsquez, students Renato Cocchella, Michelle Riedner and Valeria Gamonal, and, at rear, Mayor Matt Larson. Below left, Riedner ties a friendship bracelet on host family member Will Scott, 12.
NEWS
Cultural crossroads Youth are the vanguard for ties between Snoqualmie, new Peru friendship city
Meet the first youth of the year award winner, Heidi DeHart Page 3
BY SETH TRUSCOTT Editor
Renato Cocchella and Valeria Gamonal are still shy with the English language. Kim Min Soo is more confident.
INDEX OPINION LETTERS SPOTLIGHT OBITUARIES CALENDAR CLASSIFIEDS
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Almost $3 million in cuts loom for schools
Vol. 98, No. 36
State shortfall could enter 5th year at Upper Valley district BY CAROL LADWIG Staff Reporter
Three hours into the Snoqualmie Valley School Board meeting, acting board president Scott Hodgins decided it was time to speed things up.
“Get on to the bad news,� he suggested to Business Services Director Ryan Stokes, as he reviewed the district’s finances January 26. Stokes complied by telling the board and the 30-plus audience members still in the room that the district is facing an $800,000 shortfall for this school year, and is planning for about $2 million in
cuts from the 2012-13 budget. The news, following discussions on a proposed Kindergarten format change and how the potential transition of Snoqualmie Middle School to a freshman campus will affect middle schoolers, drew little reaction from the worn-out audience.
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