REPORTER
COVINGTON | MAPLE VALLEY | BLACK DIAMOND FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2015
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
NEWSLINE 425-432-1209
REGIONAL | Fatal construction accident still under investigation [page 3]
UNDEFEATED | The Tahoma Bears soccer team keeps on winning. [10]
Coming together to fix a hole in a roof BY DENNIS BOX Editor
L
ake Sawyer Christian Church and Stevenson Roofing joined forces this week to fix a hole in a roof where the rain gets in. Brian Sytsma, a member of the Lake Sawyer Christian Church, said the James Brigade from the church and Stevenson Roofing found a way to replace a roof for a woman who recently lost her husband of 40 years. (She asked that her name not be used.) Sytsma wrote in an email the James Brigade is, “… named after the verse in James 1 that says that true religion is to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” He said the James Brigade goes to a widow or single mother’s home once a month to do handyman work or yard chores. His James Brigade team of three or four men helped the woman who lost her husband in October. She lives north of Ravensdale. “On many Saturdays over the winter months we would spend as much time just sitting and talking with her as working around the house,” Sytsma wrote. “In February, she told us that she was concerned about her roof, since there had been a few leaks. She showed us an estimate she had received from a roofing company. It was over $12,000, which would wipe out a chunk of her savings.” During a period of heavy rain in March Sytsma said her roof began leaking. “She called us, not knowing what to do,” Sytsma wrote. “We are not licensed or bonded, so we cannot take on major repairs. She has awesome [ more ROOF page 6 ]
SPECIAL ELECTION | Ballots must be postmarked by April 28 or taken to the van at the Tahoma School District office between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. April 25 or 27 or between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. April 28.
Candidates announce their bid for city council BY REBECCA GOURLEY Reporter
Maple Valley residents will see at least two new council members next year. Five of the seven council positions are expiring. Two of those members – Noel Gerken and Layne Barnes – announced earlier this month they would not be running for re-election. The remaining three council members whose terms also expire at the end of this year – Dana Parnello, Position 6, Linda Johnson, Position 7, and Sean Kelly, Position 1 – have announced they will run to keep their chairs on the dais come 2016.
COVINGTON Covington has four seats on its council expiring this year, Jeff Wagner, Position 7, Sean Smith, Position 5, Marlla Mhoon, Position 1, and Mayor Margaret Harto, Position 3.
BLACK DIAMOND Stevenson Roofing and members of the Lake Sawyer Christian Church’s James Brigade worked together to replace a leaking roof for a woman whose husband died in October. The couple had been married 40 years. DENNIS BOX, The Reporter
Kent church helps single moms, widows change their oil BY SARAH WEHMANN Reporter
For the second year in a row, members of the Kent Seventh-day Adventist Church will help change oil for single moms and widows. Last fall, 11 women from the church received oil changes. “It was so well received and appreciated (last year), we are enlarging the offer,” Pastor Greg Schaller said. Schaller said during a home group meeting, church members decided to provide the oil changes as their practical service to others. “We picked single women and widows because sometimes changing the oil can be overlooked and we want to help,” he said. The oil changes are done by those church members who came up
with the idea to provide the services. And Schaller said this time, the church is partnering with the O’Reilly Auto Parts in Kent who will provide the oil and filters. The church will have enough oil and filters to help 30 women. The oil changes will take place at the church from 2 to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 26. Schaller said the oil changes are limited to single women and widows from the Kent-Covington area. To participate in the event Sunday, Schaller said people must call the church and make an appointment and provide what type of car to ensure the correct filter and oil is used. The Kent Seventh-day Adventist Church is located at 25213 116th Ave SE and their phone number is 253-852-3883.
Five of the six elected positions in Black Diamond are on the ballot this year. Those are Mayor Carol Benson, Tamie Deady, Position 1, Janie Edelman, Position 3, Craig Goodwin, Position 4, and Ron Taylor, Position 5. As of the press deadline, the Reporter hadn’t received any official word from either the Covington or Black Diamond elected officials regarding their decision to run for office.
MAPLE VALLEY Kelly, who was first elected to the council in 2011, wrote in a letter to the Reporter he wants to focus on traffic problems, among other things, within the city. He said within the next two decades, 6,000 homes will be built in Black Diamond. This, he wrote, will cause an influx of 10,000 [ more COUNCIL page 6 ]