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COVINGTON | MAPLE VALLEY | BLACK DIAMOND FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2014
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‘Shut off and Drive’ drawing a billboard winner Walking out of silence for Purple Light Nights BY ERIC MANDEL
emandel@covingtonreporter.com
Avery Estes is used to putting her now famous slogan to use. Although, with her parents, she often feels the need to add an extra hint of politeness. “I tell them to shut off and drive — pleeease,” said Estes, 10, of Maple Valley. The Glacier Park Elementary School student used her art prowess and a simple message to win the Operation S.A.F.E. Student drawing contest, with her multicolored pronouncement to “Shut off and Drive” prominently displayed on a billboard located on state Route 169 near Cedar Groove Road. The Washington State Patrol, Maple Valley Police Department and Tahoma School District, in conjunction with Operation S.A.F.E. Student, sponsored a contest in May that challenged third and fourth graders from the school district to create a piece of art with a theme related to bus safety and distracted driving. Art docents from each of the four elementary schools picked among the roughly 100 student submittals. The decision required tie-breaking input from the Maple Valley city manager and City Council. Besides the mammoth billboard display, Estes won a touchscreen laptop. Multiple King County officers also joined to honor her in front of the billboard on Sept. 18, presenting her with the framed drawing. Renting the billboard cost about $2,000 and was split among sponsors and
Joannie Blyth tells her story on the eve of Take a Step Against Domestic Violence 5K Walk BY ERIC MANDEL emandel@covingtonreporter.com
Avery Estes, 10, is congratulated by Lt. Ken Noland for winning the Operation S.A.F.E. Student drawing contest Sept. 18 as former Maple Valley Police Chief Michelle Bennett, left, looks on. ERIC MANDEL, The Reporter
the Washington State Patrol. The picture will remain up for at least 30 days. In the mind of Lt. Ken Noland, with the Washington State Patrol, the most important message came from discussing the contest and the danger of distracted driving in May to an eager assembly of students, who are being counted on to
African Promise looks for volunteer ‘change makers’ BY ERIC MANDEL emandel@covingtonreporter.com
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frica looks like a big, scary place from afar, especially in its current state of medical unrest. But, for Suzy Gillies, who has made nine trips to the enormous continent in less than a decade, it doesn’t have to be this way. “The people there are so loving
and accepting,” she said. “A lot of people who go say they find a piece of themselves.” Gillies is looking for 15-20 volunteer “change makers” to travel with the African Promise Foundation to Uganda for two weeks in the summer of 2015. These individuals will do a variety of volunteer work, such as digging wells, taking disabled children swimming and teaching HIV/ AIDS awareness.
self-police their sometimes irresponsible parents. “That’s 1,200 kids that heard the message,” Noland said. A 2013 survey by AT&T found that more adults admitted to texting while [ more WINNER page 6 ]
The trip will be run through a branch of the nonprofit foundation, called African Promise Expeditions, which also focuses on adding cultural and educational aspects to the volunteer work. Volunteers will pay their own way at a cost of $2,300, plus airfare. Gillies described the expedition as 90 percent volunteer, 10 percent learning. “Our main focus will still be volunteer work,” Gillies said. The nonprofit, located in Maple Valley, sells handcrafted recycled paper jewelry at the Maple Valley Farmer’s Market and does fundraising with Tahoma’s schools. [ more CHANGE page 8 ]
An interaction on a reality TV show kept Joannie Blyth awake all night. It was an odd trigger: angry, yet nonviolent, words and mannerisms between a rapper she’d never heard of and the man’s mother. And yet it haunted her to the absolute core. The fight transported her back eight years, as she lay in the fetal position on her bed, waiting for her then-husband of more than 20 years to continue with his frenzied outburst. Waiving a gun, he’d scream at her, before going to the basement, only to return minutes later. She counted the second intervals, the minutes between abusive episodes. She saw only three escape routes: be killed, run or jump. “I was just ready to jump out the window, just to get over all this ugliness,” Blyth recalled. “But I had a vision of my children and knew that I couldn’t do this.” Blyth said she eventually ran, gathering her shoes and purse, sleeping in a car for three [ more SILENCE page 6 ]
African Promise is a nonprofit organization based out of Maple Valley looking to take 15-20 volunteers to Uganda in the summer of 2015. Courtesy Photo