UPDATE: 1.25 miles of kindness links. Rachel’s Rally March 6.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
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Property values dip again, bill decreases
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“We had no idea we’d still be going seven years later,” she said. The group met at Buckley’s Marion Grange until the VFW offered its facility rent-free in 2005. The VFW also donates fabric and takes care of distribution most of the time. Early batches of quilts went to Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and other points around the country. Now, most stay in Washington state with many covering beds at the Homeless Veterans Project, a 60-bed facility built on 31 acres in Retstil, near Port Orchard. “In the beginning we didn’t make that many,” Frick said, but the last time those 20 members gathered they produced 96 pieces. Those weren’t all quilts, some were bags or wheelchair and lap quilts, and they aren’t
Perhaps it’s the result of cosmic irony or maybe it’s simply King County’s way of showing a bit of taxpayer love – in either case, property tax statements generally flood regional mailboxes right around Valentines Day. Again this year, King County Assessor Lloyd Hara spent the better part of a day in Enumclaw, speaking at the senior center and visiting with select city constituents before dropping by The Courier-Herald to explain this year’s tax scenario. “In general, south King County has lost more value than those areas closer to the core job centers,” Hara said. For city taxpayers, the bottom line consists of three elements: property values in the Enumclaw city limits have dropped for the fourth straight year; property tax rates continue to climb; and, after doing all the math, the total tax bill has increased a bit in 2012. Hara’s numbers show Enumclaw properties averaged $233,900 in 2010, slid to $227,400 a year ago and are now pegged at $207,000. Assessments consider both physical structures, whether residential or commercial, and the land they sit on.
See QUILTS, Page 10
See TAXES, Page 2
Weather Look for partly sunny skies today, Wednesday, giving way to rain showers Thursday through Sunday. Daytime high temperatures should remain in the upper 40s with nighttime lows in the upper 30s.
Look inside... Check this Business week’s Neighbors edition for Tab Check inside the 2012 Car and Truck Guide. You’ll find automobile reviews, interviews with local folks in the auto industry, a season preview of Kasey Kahne’s NASCAR exploits and more.
Deadlines... Due to the Presidents Day holiday, deadlines move up one day for the Feb. 22 edition.
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Lois McGreen works on a Quilts of Valor project during the Plateau area group’s recent gathering at the Enumclaw Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall. Photo by Brenda Sexton/To view or buy photos go to www.courierherald.com.
Quilts patch soldiers’ lives By Brenda Sexton Staff Writer
It’s three days of pedal-to-the-floor sewing madness at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall in Enumclaw. Quilt tops hang from the walls. Colorful, cotton, calicos drape across the tables. The chit-chat is barely audible over the muffled din of the Pfaffs and Singers. It’s a quilting bee with a mission. Three times a year – January, May and October – for three days, about 20 ladies haul their sewing machines to the VFW Hall and piece together Quilts of Valor to give to wounded soldiers. “We start at 9 a.m. and quit when we’re tired,” said Norma Sorger, who is tasked with organizing the group that Connie Frick graciously accepts credit for starting in 2004.
County caves, recycling bins have returned
Giving in to citizen pressure, King County has restored recycling service at the Enumclaw transfer station. The decision was announced Thursday and was effective Saturday. For years, local residents had been able to visit the transfer station and, at no charge, dispose of their newspaper, cardboard, aluminum and other items. The county halted that service Feb. 1, claiming 99 percent of residents in the areas have access to curbside recycling service through their garbage hauler. Eliminating the service, according
to information provided by the Department of Natural Resources and Parks, would have saved the county approximately $400,000 per year. The turnabout also was true for the Cedar Falls disposal site. “We heard from many residents in those areas, and we want to ensure that recyclable materials continue to be collected for recycling – rather than thrown away with the garbage, where they would
See RECYCLING, Page 12