News
Sammamish wants more from county on trails Page 3
Reporter ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
WWW.ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2015
Arts
Issaquah to hire more engineers to keep pace with transportation
International Film Festival returns to Issaquah next week Page 9
BY DANIEL NASH ISSAQUAH/SAMMAMISH REPORTER
Education
During the regular meeting, council member Nancy Whitten called the original resolution a “cop-out.” Council member Ramiro Valderrama-Aramayo echoed Whitten’s statement. “We’d be remiss now not to take a firm stance on this,” Valderrama-Aramayo said. At least 50 Sammamish community members packed in the city hall Tuesday night, more than 20 of them speaking in favor of permanently maintaining the barricade. The barricade separates the Timberline Park and WaterBrook neighborhoods and opens for emergency vehicles only. There are around 400 homes and 1,600 residents affected by the barricade, Valderrama-Aramayo said.
As the city of Issaquah continues to run full steam ahead to address transportation and other infrastructure, the municipal government's Public Works and Engineering department will now add further engineering positions. The city council on Tuesday signed off on an initiative to staff two additional full-time senior engineers and upgrade an existing environmental associate to full time. The positions will cost more than $187,000 for salaries, benefits and equipment. That amount was not budgeted for 2015, but the need for staff has become pressing, Deputy City Administrator Emily Moon said. Moon presented the bill to council on behalf of the department. In recent years, the public works department has had to shift its workload to other departments and rely on outside consultants, Moon said. She said city administrators made the shifts knowing it could need additional staff at some time in the future. "We're at that point now," Moon said. Three factors have made the additional staff vital, she said: The city council's increased focus on transportation policy; requests from
SEE BARRICADE, 2
SEE ENGINEERS, 3
Photo by Megan Campbell, Issaquah/Sammamish Reporter
The road barricade on 42nd Street in Sammamish has been present since Sammamish’s incorporation. Proponents for keeping the barricade argue the area is unsafe for thru-traffic.
Sammamish Learning Center to close its doors Page 7
Sports
Issaquah prevails over Skyline in KingCo semifinals Page 10
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A closer look at barricade BY MEGAN CAMPBELL
ISSAQUAH/SAMMAMISH REPORTER
Sammamish City Council voted 5-1 Tuesday night to further investigate the safety issues related to the 42nd Street barricade. Staff were also instructed to investigate the possible costs associated with addressing the barricade and a project timeline. The original resolution on the council’s agenda simply stated the council would not allocate funds to the barricade during the 2015-16 year. While council may not have the funding for the project, city staff have been directed to collect and present recent data to the council so it might consider the impact of maintaining or removing the barricade.
Juanita student accused of second degree attempted rape transfers to Eastlake High School BY MEGAN CAMPBELL ISSAQUAH/SAMMAMISH REPORTER
A former Juanita High School student, charged with second degree attempted rape of a fellow student, has transfered to Eastlake High School. The teen was one of five charged after allegedly attacking a special-needs student at Juanita High School in late October 2014, according to the charging records. Both schools are within the Lake Washington School District. District communications director Kathryn Reith and Eastlake High School would not confirm that one of the accused teens had transferred to East-
lake. However, the Reporter identified the student had changed schools based on an Eastlake sports roster. The district had placed all five suspects on emergency expulsion after the incident. The district gives an emergency expulsion if the district believes the students are a danger to others, Reith said. She added that in some cases, students can apply for an alternative placement. In this case, the student would have to pose some danger to his or her fellow students or may need to start fresh at another school. Before a student is placed in another school, that school's principal must sign off on the transfer. All suspects, when charged, were between the
ages of 14 and 15. The victim was 18 years old. The suspects, all on the Juanita freshmen football team, are accused of holding the victim against his will in the boys shower in the locker room. One of boys used a broom handle in an attempt to penetrate the victim's rectum, while another boy filmed the incident on his phone. According to the charging records, the incident ended quickly. The report indicates the event had been planned and was part of a hazing ritual known to football players as "jubie." The arraignment is scheduled for today in King County Juvenile Court.