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Friday, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013
City examines possible annexation of 3 areas By ROBERT WHALE rwhale@auburn-reporter.com
Three areas within the City of Auburn’s potential annexation area (PAA) remain for it to incorporate – the first two are on the King County side, the third is in Pierce County.
While Auburn completely surrounds the first two PAAs, the Klump/Thomas PAA, southeast of the old Thomas School flanking 85th Avenue Southeast on the east and west sides, it wraps municipal arms around only 85 percent of the third, the Stuck-Totem PAA, visibly plentiful in livestock as one
tools along A Street Southeast or 29th Street Southeast. Despite the persistent shadow of the thumping “get lost” verdict residents of all three areas rendered on annexation in February 2008 – only 21 votes “for” registered in all three of the areas combined – City officials this
week began looking once more at incorporating them. Much this time around rides, said Councilman John Holman, upon how the City promotes annexation, for example, whether resident’s taxes would go up, down, or stay the same, what the City says about water and sewer
rates, what it says about police response time, even whether people in Stuck-Totem with critters could keep them. “The more public outreach we do, the smoother this whole thing goes,” Holman told members [ more ANNEX page 8 ]
A RINK FOR ALL SEASONS, GENERATIONS For 40 years, Auburn’s Skate Connection has rolled along behind Gustafson
Auburn Reporter
Pacific brew crew serves up savory suds
By SHAWN SKAGER sskager@auburn-reporter.com
I
f the walls of Auburn’s Skate Connection could only talk, oh, the stories they could share. Tales of skaters young and old. Tales of figure skating, speed skating and indoor hockey on roller skates. Tales of Olympic speed skating gold medalist Apolo Ohno, who got his start on the maple wood floor of the Skate Connection. Tales of the heyday of indoor skating during the disco-mad early 1980s. Luckily, the walls don’t have to talk – they’ve got John Gustafson. In September of 1973, Gustafson, then 29, bought the Skate Connection from its original owner, Jack Watkins. “He used to own this whole block right here,” said Gustafson, now 69. “He inherited it from his mom. It used to be a farm, then he built the rink and the bowling lanes
Auburn Int’l Farmers Market
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Greg Fleehart and his team make awardwinning beer at Pacific’s Northwest Brewing Company. SHAWN SKAGer,
By SHAWN SKAGER sskager@auburn-reporter.com
Brewmaster Greg Fleehart likes to keep it simple. “I’d rather make a simple, quote ‘boring’ beer and make it as drinkable as I can, versus making a mediocre beer and putting a bunch of stuff in there to make it taste OK,” said Fleehart, 28, who plies his craft for Northwest Brewing Company. “I’d rather focus on quality and the process.” As the man in charge of the Pacificbased microbrewery’s beer formulation and production, Fleehart is usually happy [ more BREWERS page 9 ]
Familiar man in charge: John Gustafson has made a living successfully operating Auburn’s Skate Connection for the past 40 years. ‘We try and make sure everything is clean and neat, and that everybody who comes in can have a good time,” Gustafson said of his family-friendly rink. SHAWN SKAGER, Auburn Reporter that were next door. He and his wife used to run them, but they’ve since passed.” A skating rink was a perfect purchase for Gustafson, who said he still remembers the first time he laced on a pair of skates at the tender age of five. “I’ve always had a burning
fresh
desire to skate,” he said. Throughout his youth and into adulthood, Gustafson competed in all forms of skating, going professional in speed and figure skating, even competing in roller skate hockey. After graduating from
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the University of Oregon, Gustafson moved to the Puget Sound region in 1969 to work with Tiffany’s Skate Inn. “I had an opportunity to come on board with a growing company at that time,” he said. [ more RINK page 9 ]
To fix a housing flap By ROBERT WHALE rwhale@auburn-reporter.com
Lea Hill residents Russ Campbell, Hank Galmish and some of their neighbors fretted the single-family homes that had been, and were being, converted to student rental housing near Green River [ more housing page 8 ]
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