SEE INSIDE: Land and Water Conservation Fund reauthorized | Page 2 . . . EHS grads plan 50 year reunion | Page 8 Spartans undefeated in San Diego tournament | Page 9
Wednesday, January 6, 2016 | 75 cents
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Coming Up... • The Chalet in Enum-
claw will be hosting Silver Blue & Gold, a Bad Company tribute band, on Saturday, Jan. 9. Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be bought at the theatre box office.
• Sumner School District
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East Pierce rescues horse that fell through frozen ditch By Ray Still Reporter
It took East Pierce Fire and Rescue firefighters nearly an hour to rescue a horse that had stepped through an icecovered drainage ditch in its pasture near Lake Tapps on Sunday. The 25-year-old mare was unable to get back up despite the best efforts of her owners,
and firefighters were called at 9:33 a.m. to assist. After firefighters were able to roll the horse out of the water, she was too cold and worn out to stand, said East Pierce Battalion Chief Jay Adams. “We used pocket hand warmers, a propane-powered heater and emergency blankets to warm her up,” he said. The horse had been laying
on the cold, wet ground for some time and, at one point, her body temperature was below 90 degrees. “Normal for a horse is around 101,” said Adams, who has also owned horses. A veterinarian was called to the scene and after the mare could stand, she was transported to a heated barn in Wilkeson to be observed.
elementary schools started registering for kindergarten orientation classes this week. Sign up for an orientation class at www.readyforkindergarten.org/sumner/home for classes that start in early February.
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Firefighters used emergency blankets, a propane heater and even hand warmers to warm the horse. Photo provided by East Pierce Fire and Rescue
Construction site in Sumner fined for polluting White River By Ray Still Reporter
Weather Don’t expect last Sunday’s snowfall to repeat this week. Wednesday calls for some sun with highs near 44 and lows around 33. Thursday expects the same with rain at night. Friday, Saturday and Sunday all expect some rain with highs in the low 40s and lows hovering right above freezing.
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Making the earth a little greener Misty Hooker and her son, Adrian Gonzales, collected recyclable electronics Saturday at Bonney Lake HIgh School. The event is part of an annual fundraiser for the high school marching band. Photo by Dennis Box
Enumclaw man among nine suspects charged with attempted child rape By Dennis Box Editor
The Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office has charged nine suspects with attempted child rape, including a 48-year-old Enumclaw man.
Eric Kermit Jacobson was arrested and charged with first-degree attempted rape of a child and commercial sex abuse of a minor Dec. 17. He is in custody in the Pierce County jail and bail has been set at $250,000. The nine were charged
following a two-week undercover operation by the Washington State Patrol and the Exploited Children Task Force. According to the charging documents, the suspects responded to online
SEE RAPE, PAGE 3
After observing muddy stormwater entering the White River on multiple occasions, the state’s Department of Ecology issued a $34,000 fine against Michelson Knapp Land Venture on Dec. 30. “There were a number of violations found on the days of our inspection that ranged from not maintaining proper construction access points… to the way the stormwater ponds were set up, to maintaining the right kind of silt fencing that prevents runoff from reaching the road,” said Chase Gallagher, a department spokesperson. A department press release said there were four separate observations of Michelson Knapp’s construction site at the Sumner Corporate Park Cascade and Glacier Building. According to Gallagher, the department offered technical assistance to Michelson Knapp since 2013 to help make sure polluted water wasn’t reaching the river. Eventually, the offers of technical assistance turned into administrative orders, which the department claimed were
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ignored by the company. The White River is home to several kinds of fish and other marine wildlife, including the Chinook and steelhead salmon. “We know things that are found in stormwater increase PH and turbidity can cause stress to fish and other wildlife,” said Gallagher. “Those are the things we work on throughout our clean water efforts to help ensure the health of a body of water.” The department’s release also noted that the untreated stormwater reached the city of Sumner’s stormwater system, potentially requiring additional maintenance and cause increased costs for ratepayers in the city. Michelson Knapp has yet to formally file an appeal, said company attorney Margaret Archer. The company has 30 days since the fine was issued to appeal. “At this point, we are still working on finding out what the Department of Ecology has, but we are pretty confident that there is no violation here,” Archer said. “(Michelson Knapp} works very hard to have clean sites, and we are pretty confident that once we appeal, this will get reversed.”
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