SEE INSIDE: Renaissance Faire begins Saturday | Page 3 . . . . Fraser trial ends in 20-year sentence | Page 9 . . . . ‘Music Man’ at the Performing Arts Center | Page 13
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Wednesday, July 31, 2013 | 75 cents
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Summer Splash-Tacular at North Tapps Park
By Daniel Nash
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Staff Writer
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Folsom Prism plays Tunes @ Tapps | Page 8
Weather
The forecast today, Wednesday, is mostly sunny with a high of 78 and low of 56. Thursday will be partly sunny with highs near 74. Friday will be mostly cloudy, reaching 75. Expect mostly sunny skies Saturday and Sunday with highs near 77. Overnight lows will stay consistent around 56.
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East Pierce Fire and Rescue firefighters helped kids of all ages operate the boat’s fire hose at Splash-Tacular July 27. For those who missed out on the games and activities, another Splash-Tacular event will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. August 10 at Allan Yorke Park. Photo by Theresa De Lay
Ballots for the Pierce County primary election are due Tuesday, and Bonney Lake is one of four Pierce County cities running a mayoral primary. Incumbent Neil Johnson, seeking a third term as mayor, faces Councilman James Rackley and political newcomer Mike Munson. The two candidates with the most votes in the primary will move on to the general election in November. Regarding his second term, Johnson said his most significant accomplishments included the Cascade Water Alliance agreement on Lake Tapps, the widening of state Route 410 and the negotiation, in 2012, of a new sewer agreement with the city of Sumner. “My goals for a third term would be focused on following through on the downtown plan, Eastown, and con-
See primary, Page 11
Program tabled after road widening raises ire By Daniel Nash Staff Writer
A public hearing for the city of Bonney Lake’s six-year Transportation Improvement Program attracted criticism from residents of the residential streets immediately east of the Justice & Municipal Center. The comments prompted the City Council, by a 5-2 vote, to table consideration of the plan until the Aug. 20 workshop. Every year, cities are required to submit their foreseeable road, trail and sidewalk projects to the state
— whether they ultimately happen or not. This year, one particular project raised ire from residents of 88th Street East, and 186th and 188th avenues east: a proposal to widen each street’s right-of-way by 10 feet. The project would expand longitudinal 186th to the west, latitudinal 88th to the north and 188th to the east, for the purpose of accommodating anticipated traffic following completion of Tarragon’s Renwood Apartments. But residents, a landlord and their sympathizers were none-tookeen on the idea of losing yard
space and the relative solitude of their low-traffic roads. “I am concerned about that rightof-way increase,” Shawnta Mulligan said at the hearing. Mulligan is not a resident of the affected streets but, in the past year, she has become an advocate for property rights in the city and a candidate for council. “I understand that (Renwood) is going through. But I’m disappointed that people who have their property on their street and who have lived there, some of them all their lives, all will have to forego 10 feet. And I feel like that, the 10 feet, is just the tip of the iceberg
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because that street is part of the city’s downtown ‘Nirvana’ … and I respect the vision of trying to build a centralized local place, but we aren’t Sumner and we’ll never be Sumner.” After Mayor Neil Johnson checked whether the public hearing had been advertised in the usual channels, Mulligan suggested advertising with signs on the affected streets would be appropriate; Johnson said it was a method the city hadn’t used but could be useful in the future.
See roads, Page 16
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