Auburn Reporter, March 16, 2012

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INSIDE | ‘Seussical’ lights up APAC stage [7]

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Sports | Former Raven Kara Jenkins goes to the Big Dance as Idaho State Bengal [10]

Friday, March 16, 2012

A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING

City preps for park, new college building on hold By ROBERT WHALE rwhale@auburn-reporter.com

Green River Community College got from the City of Auburn four years ago the 8.97-acre Lea Hill Park property, on which it

planned to build a new Trades and Industry building. In exchange, Auburn received 7.15 acres of GRCC-owned land, known as the Martin property, for a new park. The City begins work this

spring on the new park. But construction plans for GRCC’s trades building have been put on hold, GRCC officials said this week. “Unfortunately, the state budget crisis really ate into the capital mon-

ey available for all the agencies,” said Sam Ball, director of capital projects for college. “We were originally in the queue, before the economic downturn, for construction in 2011-2013. We could have been in construction now.

“But as much as two years ago, right after we submitted our request to the state for construction funds, we were notified that they were going to have to put that [ more PROPERTY page 3 ]

Gateway suddenly closes doors

On display: The storefront art gallery is filled with local works. This heron is made of Starbucks cards. ROBERT WHALE,

Director, accused of mishandling funds, resigns

Auburn Reporter

Temporary gallery displays artists’ works

BY ROBERT WHALE rwhale@auburn-reporter.com

Auburn Gateway, a private school operating out of Messiah Lutheran Church in Auburn, abruptly closed its doors March 6, surprising parents and students alike. The sudden closure followed hard upon allegations that the school’s former director, Emily Gomes, had mishandled funds, media reports say. Gomes resigned the following Friday, and the school canceled classes indefinitely. Teachers’ paychecks were bouncing because the money had disappeared and Lisa Monto, Gateway’s acting director, was not sure where the funds had gone, Q13 FOX News reported. Many of the teachers intend to stay on the job and work for free as long as possible. Many parents said they have already paid tuition through the end of the school year. Gateway – an independent, nondenominational Christianvalues school established in 2009 – had been offering hands-on, experimental learning for kids who excel, and at their own pace. Cal Hunzicker, chairman of Messiah Lutheran Church’s lease committee, noted that the church and the school are not affiliated, other than as lessor and lessee. School officials met with their attorney Friday afternoon and were unavailable for comment. [ more GATEWAY page 2 ]

By ROBERT WHALE rwhale@auburn-reporter.com

First pitch Auburn sophomore Dalton Beach delivers a pitch from the mound during the Trojans’ jamboree match against Auburn Riverside last Saturday at the Auburn Mountain High School field. For a complete high school baseball preview, see page 10. SHAWN SKAGER, Auburn Reporter

Water rippling gently about her stick legs, head topped by a distinct tuft of dark feathers, the heron waits with stony patience and unmoving eye the faintest flicker in the bankhugging grass, the splash midstream. This particular bird is actually Bonney Lake artist Mary Ellen Bowers’s clever mosaic of Starbucks cards, hung on the east wall of the art gallery at 113 East Main Street. Bowers was there Tuesday night for the gallery’s grand opening, delighted to be swallowed up by the crowd streaming into the storefront gallery to gawk at the work of 20 local artists. In addition to Bower’s blue heron, the collection includes paintings of quizzical owls, fierce tigers, lions, giraffes, flowers, Bower’s blue heron and stunning photographs. Storefronts Auburn, Shunpike, the City of [ more GALLERY page 3 ]

Artist from another Auburn lends legendary voice By SHAWN SKAGER sskager@auburn-reporter.com

When Larry G. Jones hits the stage at the Muckleshoot Casino’s Club Galaxy for his

one-man celebrity impersonation show, Legendary Voices in Concert, you can bet his incredible luck won’t be far from his mind.

Not only has the 46-year-old Auburn, Ala., native managed to hammer out a successful show business career, thrilling audiences with his four-octave range

and hundreds of voice impersonations, he’s also managed to cheat death, surviving cancer, a near drowning, even kidney failure. “God has blessed me with a chance to live every day, and [ more VOICES page 2 ]


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