REPORTER
COVINGTON | MAPLE VALLEY | BLACK DIAMOND
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CITY AT A CROSSROADS | The Covington City Council brawl [page 2]
ON THE GRIDIRON | Kentlake defeats Tahoma, sets up final game clash with FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012 undefeated Kentwood [14]
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Car tab fees could go up to pay for road work
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Uproar over rumors of change to city’s police
BY TJ MARTINELL
BY TJ MARTINELL
tmartinell@maplevalleyreporter.com
tmartinell@covingtonreporter.com
Maple Valley residents face either paying an extra $20 for their license tab renewals for road infrastructure or cuts in city park programs and other services. The Maple Valley City Council is considering a proposal for a transportation benefit district which would provide an estimated $320,000 annually towards maintaining, improving and preserving existMAPLE ing transportaVALLEY tion facilities. The proposal comes at a time when revenue from the city’s real estate excise tax, which is currently used to provide $300,000 for the asphalt overlay program, dropped from $2 million in 2006 to $700,000 presently. According to the City Council agenda packet for its meeting
A rumor about the future of the Black Diamond Police Department caused an uproar in the past week. The rumor snowballed after a meeting Oct. 16 between Mayor Rebecca Olness, Council member Tamie Deady, Council member Carol Benson and City Administrator Pete Butkus. During the meeting, according to Butkus, BLACK the Black DIAMOND Diamond City Council members discussed aspects of the budget, such as what city services YarrowBay pays for, the reliability of the city’s revenue figures and which local governments in the state have enacted a transportation benefit district (TBD). This conversation also included
senior Austin Chissus, center, cheers during introductions of the Bears football Tahoma High’s Tahoma game Oct. 19. Tahoma took on Kentlake for homecoming and asked students to pink out the as part of Breast Cancer Awareness month. Kentlake won 49-22. Magic Kingdom stadium To view a slide show go to www.maplevalleyreporter.com.
KRIS HILL, The Reporter
[ more FEES page 3 ]
[ more POLICE page 3 ]
Clayopatra Arts Studio brings low-cost art to the community BY KRIS HILL khill@maplevalleyreporter.com
KellySue Robinson wants to bring art to the masses with her new studio in Maple Valley. Robinson, who lives in Maple Valley, opened Clayopatra Arts Studio July 15 in a building just off Maple Valley Highway. Originally from Punxsatawney, Penn., she moved to Maple Valley six years ago with her husband, John Phillips, and their children.
Along the way she lived in Montana and Illinois. Her first foray into clay was years ago. “When I was living in Illinois I had two small kids at home and my husband traveled a lot,” Robinson said. “I was about ready to lose it. My husband saw that I was about to lose it, signed me up for a pottery class remembering that one time I said I wanted to try it when I had time. I loved it.” When her family settled in
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Maple Valley Robinson discovered there wasn’t anything in the area similar to what she had done in Illinois. Then she was connected with the art docent program at Rock Creek Elementary. At that point the only thing Robinson didn’t know how to do with clay was fire it in a kiln. At Rock Creek she learned how to do it without blowing anything up. She also learned some other useful clay techniques such as how to build pieces without a pottery wheel. “I started wanting to teach because I noticed at Rock Creek, we designed the (art docent) [ more CLAYOPATRA page 6 ]
(253) 631-8616
Sydney Phillips, 13, works on a stomp plate in her mother’s Maple Valley business, Clayopatra Arts Studio which is located off state Route 169. KRIS HILL, The Reporter Hours: Mon. Tue. Wed. Thur. and Fri.7am-7pm; Sat 8am-6pm; Sun: Closed
683666
Covington Animal Hospital
27045 174th Pl. SE (behind Jiffy Lube, adjacent to WalMart) r www.vcacovington.com