Valley Record SNOQUALMIE
101RS YEA
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015 n DAILY UPDATES AT WWW.VALLEYRECORD.COM n 75 CENTS
Growing farmers
Experience Farming Project gives aspiring farmers a taste of the life By ALLYCE ANDREW
SCHOOLS
SCENE
Staff Reporter
Boomer humor, hit music, featured in Valley Center Stage show Page 7
Cedarcrest FFA teams compete at state Page 9
INDEX Opinion 4 5 Puzzles On the Scanner 6 Classifieds 12-14 15 Calendar
Vol. 101, No. 47
What does Northwest rock’n’roll darling Jimi Hendrix have in common with farming? The Experience Farming Project is a handson program offered through Sno-Valley Tilth to allow future farmers to learn and experiment with farming without the daunting start-up costs. It draws its inspiration from an unlikely source: The Experience Music Project in Seattle. “It’s almost similar to what you have when you go to the (EMP’s Sound Lab),” Sean Stratman, Experience Farming Project manager, explained from a rickety lawn-chair on the 15-acre property in Carnation. “They don’t teach you how to be a musician, you just show up and they give you the tools.” Instead of electric guitars and Hendrix’s groovy, floral shirts, the Experience Farming Project gives farmers access to up to two acres of cover cropped and tilled land, irrigation, a wash station, covered dry storage, an on-site tractor they can hire by the hour and an informationknowledge exchange network.
Allyce Andrew/Staff Photo
Outside Carnation, farmer Ian Fels plants carrot seeds on his plot of land while Sean Stratman tills a plot in the background. As a prerequisite, program participants must $250 for a quarter acre and $125 for an eighth of have college-level training in agricultural endeav- an acre. The fee covers land rental, cover cropors, farming experience or large-garden market ping, initial tilling and an additional hour of tracexperience. tor assistance work later in the season. The program garners no profit for Sno-Valley SEE FARMING, 2 Tilth and, as of 2015, charges $500 for a half acre,
Thanks to a citizen North Bend honors resident who helped stop burglars By CAROL LADWIG Editor
Few people know what they’d do if they witnessed a crime, but North Bend’s Cameron Heutmaker does. He found out recently, when he helped police apprehend a group of burglars targeting several businesses in the city. “Thank you, for taking the time to call 911,” North Bend Mayor Ken Hearing said to Heutmaker April 7, when the city council met and recognized his actions.
Carol Ladwig/Staff Photo
North Bend Mayor Ken Hearing, left, and Snoqualmie Police Captain Nick Almquist, right, congratulated Cameron Heutmaker for his help in arresting three burglars in North Bend in March. Heutmaker called 911 when he saw a man on the roof of Frankie’s Pizza around 4 a.m., and heard thumping noises from inside the building. Heutmaker had alerted police to around 4 a.m. on Sunday, March 8. the presence of a man on the roof “It was four o’clock in the mornof Frankie’s Pizza in North Bend, ing,” Heutmaker said, when asked
what made him call the police. “Also, I have friends who work at Frankie’s.” Calling the police was only the start, though. Snoqualmie Police Captain Nick Almquist, after congratulating Heutmaker, gave the council a description of how the incident played out. Heutmaker not only called, Almquist said, “He stayed on the scene… and was able to alert us when a guy was coming out the back of the store.” The burglars, two men and a woman from outside the area, reportedly broke into a vacant storefront next to Frankie’s, then broke through the drywall separating the businesses, to steal the cash. According to police, the three had earlier tried to enter two nearby stores, but a delivery driver had scared them from those locations. Council members commended Heutmaker for his actions.
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