REPORTER
COVINGTON | MAPLE VALLEY | BLACK DIAMOND
NEWSLINE 425-432-1209
LOCAL | Covington Taco Time coupon book sales to benefit Soup Ladies [page 3]
MAT DOMINATION | Tahoma dominates in early season league dual wrestling meet FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2013 [7]
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
City Council to consider sign code adjustment
Looking back at the top stories of the year
BY KATHERINE SMITH
BY KRIS HILL AND KATHERINE SMITH
ksmith@maplevalleyreporter.com
khill@covingtonreporter.com ksmith@maplevalleyreporter.com
The Maple Valley Planning Commission unanimously voted to recommend amending the city’s sign code to the City Council, specifically permitting businesses and civic and community events to have one A-frame or A-board sign. The amendment was put before the commission in early November by city staff and the commission took comment during a public hearing Dec. 4. The amendment will be put before the City Council in 2014 for approval. Currently A-board signs are not permitted in the city. John Strandberg, senior planner for Maple Valley, wrote in an email that the amendment to the code will create equality for businesses and events in regards to use of A-board signs and will create a new sign category, por[ more CODE page 2 ]
As this is the last issue of the Covington-Maple Valley-Black Diamond Reporter for 2013, it seems appropriate to reflect on the biggest stories of the year, the ones which generated the most comments on the website, the most views, the most shares on Facebook, the most letters to the editor and the most conversation in the office. They are presented in no particular order. All these stories have a ripple effect on the community in some way, whether about an issue, an election or an individual. With that, we ring out 2013 and greet the new year of 2014.
DONUT HOLE
A Few Favorite Photos of 2013
Top, Tahoma’s Riley Campbell leads the pack during a cross country meet in September. Left, Kentwood’s Jennifer Oak goes up for the ball while Kentlake’s Emily Shover marks up in a league match in October. Right, Tina McDonough celebrates finishing the first leg of the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s 3 Day Walk for the Cure in September. KRIS HILL, The Reporter
Christmas celebration brings joy to foster families BY KRIS HILL khill@maplevalleyreporter.com
It looked like any other Christmas party as families celebrated together at the Greater Maple Valley Community Center. But the gathering meant so much more than activities, Christmas carols and telling Santa Claus what was on the wish list this year. Children wrote letters to Santa, opened gifts, ate, laughed and played Dec. 19 during the second annual Foster Family Fun Night at the Greater Maple Valley Community Center. Ruth Pomerantz, a foster mother who lives in Maple Valley, explained the significance of the event.
“This tells my family that we’re important, that the community cares about foster families, that we’re not alone,” Pomerantz said. That people care enough to sow into the foster care families and the foster kids.” Dozens of families in Maple Valley, Covington and neighboring communities provide foster care to children including short term care that is a day or two or long term care which can last months or even lead to adoption. Kim Emmons coordinated the event for the first time a year ago after she took in a foster child, to ensure that all the foster children in the area received shoes for Christmas. Emmons discovered the Fostering Together group,
which meets monthly to provide ing and generous to our foster support, training and friendship children and families,” Emmons to local families who have taken wrote in an email Dec. 20. “Bein foster children. Last year Emcause of their kind hearts Santa mons suggested to Lisa Wiscomb, was able to provide a pair of shoes the coordinator for the group and a toy to all 92 children that which began meeting in July attended the event. And it didn’t 2011, that they throw a Christmas stop there, the outpouring of party for the foster support was so massive “Our community families. that we were also able to is so caring and In a few weeks the provide 13 foster famigenerous to our event came together, lies additional gifts to foster children and put under their trees for Emmons said, with families. Because tremendous support Christmas morning.” but this year that grew. of their kind hearts Pomerantz had nothJohn L. Scott, which is Santa was able to ing but praise for Emthe company Emmons provide a pair of mons and her husband, works with selling real shoes and a toy to Jack. estate out an office in “Kim and Jack have all 92 children that Four Corners, along attended the event.” just gone over the top,” with her husband’s res- Kim Emmons Pomerantz said. “They taurant Mitzel’s in Kent, are what have made this and a number of donawork. They are amazing.” tions from individuPomerantz explained als such as Karen and that she first became inMichael Crowe, among others, terested in fostering more than six helped make this year’s event even years when one of her daughters more successful. brought home a magazine with an “Our community is so cararticle about a group of children
The Maple Valley City Council and the King County Council independently gave unanimous [ more [ moreIPSUM YEAR page 64 ]
who were rescued in another part of the country and would need to go into the foster system. But, Pomerantz said, she wasn’t sure if that would be the best fit for their family at the time. She talked it over with her husband, whom she said has a heart for children, particularly those in the foster care system, and he agreed to sign up. They were licensed five years ago. They knew they wanted to do short term care, Pomerantz said, and they would not want to adopt. “We found out that there was a huge need for what we did,” Pomerantz said. “A lot of the children we take are under age 3, and within a week they go back to their homes or they go to other long term care. And a lot of foster parents don’t answer the calls in the middle of the night.” Over the years, Pomerantz and her family have taken in more than 140 children, which is no [ more FOSTER page 2 ]