REPORTER
COMMITTED | Tahoma senior verbally commits to play defensive end at the University of Washington [12] FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2015
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FRESH MARKET FARE | German Sausage Pasta Bake and Spicy Stuffed Peppers [page 19]
Columns placed for 9/11 memorial in Maple Valley BY SARAH BRENDEN Reporter
The first pieces of the 9/11 memorial outside the Maple Valley Fire and Life Safety Fire Station 81 were set in place Aug. 20 The two columns represent the World Trade Center twin towers in New York City that were destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001 during a attacks by al-Qaida terrorist. Kelley Jensen and Tyler Gage, Maple Valley Fire and Life firefighters, helped Matt Marinelli place the columns and rig wiring for lights. Eventually flood lights will shine from the columns similar to the ground zero memorial in Manhattan. Throughout the next couple of weeks construction will continue. A bench will be placed near the columns and steel from the World Trade Center will be suspended between the two columns. A dedication ceremony for the 9/11 memorial is set for 10:30 to 11 a.m. Sept. 12 prior to the annual open house.
BY RAY STILL Reporter
Editor’s note: This is part one in a series of articles on the water service dispute between the city of Black Diamond and the Covington Water District. Both claim service rights to 98 acres inside the Black Diamond city limits. This week’s article examines each entity’s claim to exclusive rights to the 98 acres of land. Next week’s article will examine statements made in Black Diamond’s 2009 Water Comprehensive Plan and how that may affect the city’s claim to the land.
Maple Valley firefighters Kelley Jensen and Tyler Gage with Matt Marinelli, who sculpted the columns, string wiring for lights on the 9/11 memorial Aug. 20 at the Maple Valley Fire and Life Safety Station 81. DENNIS BOX, The Reporter
Full-day kindergarten expected to cost state about $270 million BY REBECCA GOURLEY
By the 2016-17 school year, every elementary school in the state will be eligible to receive funding for all-day kindergarten. At the end of this year’s legislative session, lawmakers included a general fund apportionment of $174 million to the operating budget for the continued statewide implementation of full-day kindergarten. The roll-out of all-day kindergarten started at the beginning of the 2014-15 school year. By the 2016-17 school year, all schools in Washington
Water service rights in The Villages still disputed | Part 1 Black Diamond prepares ordinance to assume service rights
State begins second year roll out eligibility of full-day kindergarten Reporter
Sausage & Cider | The Covington Sausage and CiderFest brought out the fans [10]
will be eligible, and at the start of the 2017-18 school year it will be full implemented. Schools with a higher percentage of free and reduced lunch participants were eligible first. Some districts beat the state to the punch and started offering all-day kindergarten before funds were allocated for it. The Kent School District has had all-day kindergarten since the 2011-12 school year, said Page Meyer, director of early learning for the district. “There’s a need in this community for our families to have access to all-day kindergarten,” she said in a phone interview Tuesday.
A day in the life of a full-day kindergartner, Meyer said, is very focused on content. Chunks of their days are concentrated on math, science, English and language arts, directed play and building social and emotional skills, she said. Although naps aren’t included in the curriculum, Meyer said, “Developmentally, they can do it (without a nap).” Now that the state will be funding all-day kindergarten, that allows the Kent School District to put the money it’s currently spending on it toward other programs. The district hasn’t decided
where that money will go, but Meyer said she hopes it will go toward other early learning programs. One of the elements of all-day kindergarten that the state’s money does not fund is space. Migrating kindergarten classrooms from partial days to full days will increase the amount of space needed for the students. For that reason, the Tahoma School District will hold off on implementing all-day kindergarten until the new high school opens in the fall of 2017, said Kevin Patterson, spokesperson for the district. After it’s fully implemented, state Sen. Joe Fain said all-day kindergarten will cost the state $270 million annually. The plan to fully fund all-day kindergarten was put into motion during the 2009 legislative session, Fain said. However, the Supreme [ more FUNDING page 7 ]
After a week-long public hearing session, the Black Diamond City Council decided to table a vote Thursday on whether or not the city should assume water service rights to 98 acres at the edge of The Villages development in the city. The city and the Covington Water District have been in a dispute over these 98 acres since at least 2008, which has come to a head this year. For a myriad of reasons, both Black Diamond and the Covington Water District claim exclusive rights to serve water to future residents of this portion of The Villages, a 1,196 acre development in the south-western part of the city. State law prevents water service providers from overlapping service areas. [ more DISPUTED page 2 ]
The disputed 98 acres, which is highlighted in red, is only a small portion of The Villages development. Image courtesy of the city of Black Diamond