Bonney Lake and Sumner Courier-Herald, July 25, 2012

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SEE INSIDE: Sumner School Board approves building for in-house alternative program, Page 5 . . . . Initial parks bond project list totals $15.8 million, Page 5 . . . Summer time means chip sealing in Bonney Lake, Page 4. . . . Bonney Lake Police Blotter, Page 10

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Wednesday, July 25, 2012 | 75 cents

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Floating dock to be removed this week

See you later, alligator...

Why do cats think outside the box? | Pets, 8

By Brian Beckley Staff Writer

Updates daily at BLSCourierHerald.com

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Today, Wednesday, is predicted to bring sunny skies with a high near 80, cooling into the mid-50s overnight. The clear skies and temperatures in the mid-70s are expected to hang around through the weekend with some clouds and lows in the 50s overnight.

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Jordan Raybon, 7, left, and Kiley Hanson, 9, get up close and personal with an alligator during the Reptile Man’s appearance at the Bonney Lake Kids Club, July 10 at Allan Yorke Park. The Kids Club continues next week with the Pacific Science Center at 6:30 p.m. Monday and Cap’n Arr at 11 a.m. Tuesday. See www.blscourierherald.com for a slideshow of the Reptile Man’s visit. Photo by Brian Beckley.

The floating dock’s days are numbered. The Allan Yorke Park swimming area fixture may have seen its last summer as the city is preparing to pull it out of the water as part of a series of new safety measures proposed by Mayor Neil Johnson in response to the June 21 drowning death of teenager Quentin Boggan. The mayor is also proposing a series of new signs, including a pair of digital water temperature signs to make sure swimmers know what they are getting into. In addition, a 911 call box will be installed at the park. Johnson detailed his proposals, including the cost of some measures, during Tuesday’s council workshop. “Hopefully it will just be some added safety measures for the park and hopefully we won’t

See SAFETY, Page 4

After battle against cancer, mayor is ready to take on lawn By Brian Beckley Staff Writer

For this one, let’s just forget the suspense and skip right to the end of the story. “I’ve been getting good reviews from doctor,” says Mayor Neil Johnson from his living room on a recent Friday evening. “He’s been happy.” Johnson’s color is coming back, as is his hair, and the mayor is starting to feel like himself again after spending the last year battling leukemia. “There’s been no cancer,” he says. “We couldn’t ask for it to be any better except to

be off all the meds.” The “meds” are still needed to prevent his body from rejecting as a foreign body the bone marrow he received as a transplant last August, an operation that saved his life and earned him a second birthday, complete with cards from his nurses at the University of Washington Medical Center. But that day is coming soon for Johnson and his family, followed, he hopes, by being allowed to mow his lawn again. That will be the day he is fully recovered. But for now, it is one day at a time.

See Battle, Page 2

Mayor Neil Johnson with wife MaryAnn, and daughters Rendi, 17, and Jadyn, 6. Photo by Dennis Box.

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