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COMMUNITY | Midlakes Post Office moving to Factoria amid national downsizing [5]
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Bellevue Council OKs ethics code Shoreline Master Program updated
Local historian, Steve Williams, points to a black-and-white photograph of the mines that once dotted the Eastside. Most artifacts of the centurylong industry aren’t visible to the untrained eye. CELINA KAREIVA, Bellevue Reporter
100 years of hidden history BY CELINA KAREIVA BELLEVUE REPORTER
Steve Williams stands near the entrance of the Red Town Cougar Mountain trailhead. To the untrained eye, many of the artifacts he points out look like part of the landscape: A chunk of concrete foundation overgrown with moss, the inky black of discarded coal and the crumbled entrance to a mine. They’re all remnants of a ghost town. “See that pile of bricks. It’s the foundation for the generator house,” Williams said, gesturing toward a mass of concrete, covered in thick blackberry brambles. “They had a steam plant down here...ran generators, and that supplied electricity for the whole town.” The Eastside’s history of coal mining dates back to the early 1860s, when discoveries in Issaquah, Renton and Coal Creek spurred a century-long industry that would dramatically change the physical and social landscape of the region. Coal, traveling on tramways and later railroads toward San Francisco, would help develop Seattle as a port city, and sprout a web of infrastructure along the coal seams. “Most folks have no idea,” says Williams. “Nor did I, and
I grew up and went to school here. When I was a kid at the University of Washington, there was a huge pile of coal [in the center of campus]...But I had no idea [that coal] was coming from across the way.” Today, the city of Newcastle and the area of south Bellevue are interlaced with highways and pocketed with 21st century artifacts: a golf course, mall shopping and suburbia. But while a growing skyline captures everyone’s attention, local historians like Williams, who leads tours of Coal Creek and hosts lectures through the Eastside Heritage Center, hope they can bring a small piece of that history back to life for residents. “It’s so important to educate people about coal mining history,” says Pam Lee, a member of the Newcastle Historical Society. “It makes a real source of pride to have something so unique and important to this area’s beginning.”
A living museum Milt Swanson, who this month celebrated his 95th birth-
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Widening begins on 120th NE Bellevue has begun widening 120th Avenue Northeast to five lanes as part of an effort to accommodate expected growth downtown and in Bel-Red and Wilburton. During the project, one lane of traffic will be closed in each direction from Northeast Fourth Street to just south of Northeast Eighth Street. The city advises drivers to take alternate routes to avoid delays. Construction hours will generally be between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday to Friday (occasional early start times and night work may be required). Businesses along that stretch of 120th Avenue will be open during construction. When the project is complete in 2014, 120th Avenue
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The Bellevue City Council on Tuesday, May 28 approved by a vote of 4-2 a new code of ethics ordinance for the council, boards and commissions. It replaces a former code that was based on a state statute. The new code includes language about prohibited conduct, ethical standards and gifts. It also creates a complaint procedure and calls for an ethics officer, appointed by the council, who will be responsible for the enforcement of code provisions and for providing advisory opinions upon request. A final version of the code of ethics (Ordinance 6110) will be posted online at bellevuewa.gov/resolutions.htm. Also on Tuesday, the council officially received from the Planning Commission a recommendation on adopting policies and regulations needed to update the city’s Shoreline Master Program. The program is a package of amendments to Bellevue’s Comprehensive Plan and land use code. Periodic updates of the shoreline program are required to implement the state Shoreline Management Act and state Department of Ecology regulations. The Planning Commission, which unanimously approved the SMP recommendations, noted in its transmittal letter to the council, that a primary focus of the state law is to “protect and restore the valuable and fragile natural resources the state’s shorelines represent, while fostering ‘reasonable and appropriate uses’ … of the shoreline.” The commission’s recommendations for the SMP follow nearly five years of work, 49 study sessions and hundreds of comments. Another study session will be scheduled as the council works to finalize the SMP update. More information is available online as part of the council agenda material.
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