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Wednesday, April 8, 2015 | 75 cents
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This Week... • Bonney Lake spring clean up week - April 20-25 The city’s solid waste company, DM Disposal, will pick up extra garbage, recycling and/or yard waste and one appliance at no additional charge for customers inside Bonney Lake city limits. • Enumclaw-originated punk rock band ‘Success’ will open playing in Seattle at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 10 at El Corazón. • The Boots and Badges charity basketball game opens it’s doors at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 12 at Enumclaw High School.
Weather Wednesday skies will be mostly sunny with calm breezes and highs near 59. Wednesday night will be partly cloudy and lows near 42. Thursday also calls for sun with highs near 63. That night will see broken clouds with lows near 43. Friday calls for clouds and a high near 61. The weekend calls for chances of rain with highs in the low 50s.
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Damaged support closes White River Bridge WSDOT estimates repairs will take several days By Dennis Box Editor
The sun was shinning and the air was crisp Saturday morning as Plateau residents jumped in their cars to find some fun. If that fun involved traveling across the White River Bridge either toward Enumclaw or westbound to Buckley or Bonney Lake then the smiles probably melted when they met a Seattle-type traffic jam on state Route 410. Washington State D e p a r t me nt of Transportation inspectors closed the bridge Saturday morning before 10 a.m. when damage was found following a routine inspection of the bridge. The state inspectors
found a damaged overhead support structure. WSDOT officials said the damage was serious enough to cause the bridge to be unsafe. WSDOT spokesman Tom Pearce said Saturday the bridge was probably damaged in the last couple weeks. According to a release from WSDOT a overheight loaded vehicle hit the bridge. The bridge is an arched steel overhead support structure with signs noting a maximum height of 15 feet. “WSDOT engineers are working to analyze data to determine the extent of the damage,” Assistant Regional Administrator Dave McCormick said in a release Saturday. “The bridge could be closed for several days while contractor crews make repairs.” The Seattle firm, PCL Civil Constructors, has been contracted to do the repair work. WSDOT offi-
A Buckley Fire Department aid vehicle parked on the east side of the White River Bridge Sunday to transport a patient. The vehicle is too heavy to cross the damaged bridge. DENNIS BOX, Courier-Herald cials estimated the cost to be about $200,000. The firm began working at the site Monday morning. Pearce said Saturday the bridge is expected to be closed for “several days.” Once the contractors analyze the damage and decide how the repairs
will be completed a better time frame for opening bridge will be posted on the Courier-Herald website, www.courierherald.com. Emergency services were being carried out Saturday and Sunday after the bridge closed with the police and fire departments from
Boots and Badges supports local cop By Ray Still Reporter
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hat was once a quiet community gathering is becoming one of the Plateau’s largest fundraising events of the year. As police officers around Pierce and King counties and the Enumclaw Fire Department square up for the annual Boots and Badges charity basketball game, they know they’re not just playing to raise money for the fight against cancer. They’re playing to support Cmdr. Greg Goral of the Black Diamond Police Department. The game is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, April 12, at the Enumclaw High School. Tickets can be purchased online for $10 at
Greg Goral dribbles down the court during the 2010 Boots and Badges game. Courtesy Sgt. Brian Lynch www.crowdrise.com. Goral was diagnosed with cancer of the appendix, or appendiceal cancer, almost three years ago. Appendiceal cancer is an extremely rare form of cancer. According to the International Scholarly Research Network, cancer of the appendix accounts for less than one percent of all cancers. As Sgt. Brian Lynch of Black Diamond Police
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the community working together with WSDOT officials. The bridge was built in 1949 and WSDOT reported about 20,000 vehicle cross the structure each day. The last inspection of the bridge was a year ago.
Department put it, the diagnosis was hard on the department and the community. “This is a small department,” Lynch said. “It’s been devastating for us because he is a part of our family.” For the last four years, money raised by the Boots and Badges game went to the American Cancer Society. This year, 100 percent of the money raised will be donated to Cops with Cancer, a nonprofit organization operated out of the Kent Police Department, to cover Goral’s medical bills and travel expenses for his fight against cancer. “We are looking forward to this being not only a fundraiser but a celebration for him,” said Lynch. “This is by far the biggest event that Boots and Badges has ever put on.”
Cancer and community support
After the initial diagnosis in August 2012, Goral said he went through three surgeries to
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