REPORTER
COVINGTON | MAPLE VALLEY | BLACK DIAMOND
NEWSLINE 425-432-1209
IN CLASS | A look at enrollment shifts in Kent district high schools [page 3]
SIGHTS ON STATE | Kentwood and Tahoma set sights on state 4A volleyball FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2013 champioship tournament [11]
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
Tahoma bond measure overwhelmingly approved District’s proposed $195 million construction bond garnered 68 percent of votes in first round of ballots counted Tuesday BY KATHERINE SMITH ksmith@maplevalleyreporter.com
Tahoma School District’s $195 million construction bond measure received overwhelming approval in early returns Tuesday night with a 68 percent yes vote. With 8,230 ballots counted, 5,515 approved the bond. A construction bond requires a super majority of 60 percent to pass. “I never would have imagined 68 percent on the first returns,” said district spokes-
man Kevin Patterson Wednesday morning. “I think the community made the decision that it wants to move forward in a big way and it’s a very positive thing for not just the school district but our entire community to continue evolving as one of the best places in America for families.” The $195 million in construction bonds includes money for a new comprehensive Tahoma High School to house the district’s
students in grades 9 through 12 which would be located on 35 “This is a sense of relief for me as I go acres in the Donut Hole in Maple into retirement and Valley, which the district is in the there’s not a cloud process of purchasing from King County. The bond also includes over the system. what are referred to as warm, Also, the future of safe, and dry projects as well this community and as funding for work related to this school system realigning the district’s existing ... is unbelievable.” schools for different grade levels. Mike Maryanski Based on the projected 6 percent increase in property
values in 2014 the projected increase in the tax rate for the district’s bonds is $1.47 per $1,000 assessed value over the 2013 tax rate. That pencils out to an increase of $36.75 per month for the owner of a $300,000 home or $441 per year. The bond will be repaid over 20 years, being repaid in full in 2034. The district would have to pay interest on the bonds at a rate of about 4 percent, which would mean that over the 20 years the total cost of the $195 million bond would be $322
Solid Rock prepares for its Big Give program
[ more BOND page 6 ]
Sweep in Black Diamond vote, challenger leads incumbent in Covington
BY KRIS HILL
BY KRIS HILL AND KATHERINE SMITH
khill@covingtonreporter.com
khill@covingtonreporter.com ksmith@maplevalleyreporter.com
A partnership between Solid Rock Community Church, Kentwood High and Mattson Middle School could help feed hundreds of families this Thanksgiving. Dave McBroom, the senior pastor of the church in Covington, said the vision is to reach out to those in need. “We ask our church members to bring specific items and we’re putting bags together,” McBroom said. “What we’re trying to do is partner with local businesses and partner with the schools. Right now it’s Kentwood and Mattson, partnering with them, our local community, we really want to help people in our community. Our church family loves to be involved in that and serve and volunteer. We love our community.” McBroom and his wife started the church more than a decade ago, but, this particular outreach program dubbed Big Give is new for Solid Rock. This is the second year of the program. A year ago, about 40 volunteers showed up at Kentwood on a Saturday morning in November to hand out bags of food and gift [ more GIVE page 6 ]
The first returns from Black Diamond shows a sweep of candidates running on the platform of controlling the growth and working for new solutions. In Covington one incumbent, Dave Lucavish, was losing to challenger Joseph Cimaomo, Jr., while other sitting council members were running either unopposed or tallied early leads.
BLACK DIAMOND MAYORAL RACE
Future Firefighter
Shane Hill, 3, examines his haul at the Greater Maple Valley Community Center’s Trick or Trunk event held on Oct. 31 at the community center. The event included a variety of large vehicles incuding garbage trucks, dump trucks, a fire engine, and a school bus. KATHERINE SMITH, The Reporter To view a slide show go to www.maplevalleyreporter.com.
Dave Gordon was beating incumbent Mayor Rebecca Olness with nearly 71 percent of the vote in the first round of ballots counted Tuesday. The two YarrowBay master planned developments that would add 6,000 homes to the community of about 5,000 people have been contentious issues in the city and has galvanized a political movement that appears to have placed Gordon in the mayor’s seat along with a trio of City Council candidates. Incumbent Mayor Rebecca Olness has lived on Lake Sawyer for nearly 40 years, has a masters [ more VOTERS page 5 ]