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OUTDOORS | To the Top: A journey up Mount Si [page 7]
Fighting fires | Fourth of July brush fires WEBSITE | Check the website for breaking break out around the area [2] news, sports and weather stories. maplevalleyreporter.com or covingtonreporter.com
FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2015
Covington gains sister city from Japan
Tahoma board votes to close Russell Ridge
BY SARAH BRENDEN
BY REBECCA GOURLEY
Reporter
Reporter
During the June 30 City Council special meeting, the city of Covington and Tatsuno, Japan joined together as sister cities. City Manager Regan Bolli said he had spent the day prior to the meeting touring with a delegation from Tatsuno. During the special meeting, a letter of intent was signed by COVINGTON Covington’s Mayor Margaret Harto and the mayor of Tatsuno. “We have longed to have a sister city relationship for some time and the timing was finally right for us,” Harto said. “We are so excited to be able to forge this new connection with Tatsuno, Japan. This city-to-city connection will
At the June 30 meeting the Tahoma School Board unanimously voted to close Russell Ridge Center. The school was an alternative learning experience (ALE) program or school. Some of the students who attended Russell Ridge are part time and some are full time. Once the 2015-16 school year starts, those students will have to find another option MAPLE for their educaVALLEY tion. The closing of the school has been a hot topic in Maple Valley since a letter from Superintendent Rob Morrow was sent to Russell Ridge parents in March of this year, announcing the closure of the school. School board President Tami Henkel said in a phone interview in
[ more SISTER page 3 ]
Celebrate Freedom
Adam and Angelique Nalder, of Graham, left, and Liana and Nathaniel Odarchuk, right, run in the three-legged sack races during the Fourth of July picnic at Lake Wilderness Park. The event also featured a pie baking contest, live music and a fireworks show. DENNIS BOX, The Reporter
The history of Old Glory BY RAY STILL Reporter
It was a turning point in the war. George Washington had just crossed the Delaware River, capturing the town of Trenton from British-allied German forces and defending the town against a counterattack led by the Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis in the dawning days of 1777. It was that summer when the Continental Congress adopted the official stars and stripes of America, signing the official resolution on June 14 to accept the red, white and blue colors as the flag of the new country. But it would be another 172 years before President Harry Truman would officially
declare June 14 as Flag Day in the U.S. on Aug. 3, 1949, and between the early years of the revolutionary war and the height of the second Red Scare, Old Glory went through many changes before becoming what we see today.
EARLY YEARS Even before the Continental Congress officially accepted an early variation of the stars and stripes, revolutionary troops hoisted similar colors in battle. Known as the Congress Colors or the Grand Union Flag, it had 13 red and white alternating stripes to represent the 13 colonies. Instead of stars in the corner on a blue field, though, the flag wore the Union flag of
England, with the red cross of St. George of England and the white cross of St. Andrew of Scotland. The stars replaced the Union Flag when Congress adopted the official flag in 1777. “The flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white,” the resolution read, “and that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field representing a new constellation.” However, the resolution did not specify how the stars were to be arranged, so many flags had different patterns of stars during those early years. Some flags had no pattern for the stars, while others were already being arranged into rows. One of the most recognizable early flags, though, is the Betsy Ross flag, known for arranging the 13 stars in a circle. Although Betsy Ross is credited with making the first American flag, historians claim
[ more CLOSING page 3 ]
her version of the American flag didn’t appear until the early 1790s. However, it is also known Betsy Ross made flags for the Pennsylvania state Navy in 1777. The claim that Betsy Ross made the first flag started in 1870 by one of her grandsons, who was certain he remembered Congress approaching his grandmother to make a flag from a design George Washington himself drew in their back parlor.
STARS AND STRIPES When Kentucky and Vermont were brought into the Union, another resolution was passed by Congress to expand the flag to 15 stripes and 15 stars. It was this flag that Francis Scott Key saw when he wrote, “The Star-Spangled Banner” in 1814. In 1818, President James Monroe signed a bill reducing the number of stripes back to 13 [ more GLORY page 9 ]
Present this Coupon for $3 OFF a Kids Zone Bracelet at Covington Days 2015.
Parade Sat @ 10 | Reptile Man Sat @12 & Sun @ 2 Watermelon Eating Contest - Sat @ 2 (Free, all ages)
Present re en att fe ffestival ticket ke sa sales ssale e booth. es o h. Regularly egularl $15. $ 5