SEE INSIDE: The basics of health care | Page 4 . . . . First baby of the year | Page 6 . . . . Enumclaw grad is collegiate Track Athlete of the Week | Page 10
Wednesday, January 13, 2016 | 75 cents
What’s Inside
Views...................................Page 4 Obituaries.........................Page 7 Binetti.................................Page 9 Sports.................................Page 10 Classified...........................Page 13
Coming soon... • “Hoarding: The Hidden Problem – Exposed,” a
presentation on hoarding, comes to the Sumner library on Jan. 20 at 6:30 p.m. This free event is open to the public.
• The Enumclaw gun show kicks off Jan. 23
from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and continues Jan. 24 at the Enumclaw Expo Center. Admission is $9. • City offices, libraries and schools will be closed on Jan. 20 to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Weather On Wednesday, expect heavy rain during the day and night, with amounts between a fifth to a half inch of rain, and highs near 44 and lows close to 35. Thursday also expects rain with highs near 43 and lows at 32. Friday will see a break in the pattern with some sum and a high near 42 and lows near 32. Saturday and Sunday both expect rain with highs close to 44 and lows around 35.
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Plateau rallies for BLHS student with brain cancer By Ray Still Reporter
Bonney Lake sophomore Camron Cozzi had just started the holiday break when his doctors gave him and his family the bad news. What they thought were lasting symptoms of a concussion was actually Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, also known as DIPG, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer that is typically diagnosed in children before they reach double digit ages. Approximately 300 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with DIPG every year, according to the Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorder Center. The cancer is inoperable because the tumor is located in the brain stem, but radiation therapy and other forms of experimental chemotherapy have been used as treatment methods, although the survivability rate remains low. “It’s really kind of ripped a lot of our kids up,” said
Jesse Snyder, the athletic coordinator at Bonney Lake High School. Camron, 15, is a lacrosse player and his older brother a football player and wrestler. “They’re kids that people know, and people like,” Snyder continued. While Camron’s prognosis remains poor, hope and community support has been high. There was a ‘gray out’ at Bonney Lake High School during Bonney Lake and Sumner’s wrestling match Jan. 6 – hundreds of community members showed up wearing gray, a color representing the fight against brain cancer, to show their support for Camron. Many crowd members sported shirts specifically made for the event, with a gray ribbon on the front and #TeamCamron on the back. And instead of a halftime show at the match, the Bonney Lake Panther Parent Pride Board organized a ‘miracle minute’ where volunteers traversed the crowd to see how much money
could be raised in one minute for Camron’s medical treatment costs . Panther Parent Pride’s goal is to raise $15,000, said Coy McElderry, the executive board president of the group. And after the first round of T-shirt sales and money raised during the miracle minute, about $5,000 has been raised, he said. “The family has been very involved in all of our subgroups,” said McElderry. “Panther Parent Pride just wants to give back to that family, somehow, some way.” McElderry also said some credit goes to Sports Connection in Bonney Lake and Sterling Athletics in Puyallup, who both contributed to the fundraising. An anonymous donor also purchased 300 #TeamCamron shirts, he said. Another, even larger gray out and fundraising event was organized for the Bonney Lake and Sumner boys and girls varsity basketball game Dec. 12, after press deadline.
Spartans grow into to SPSL 4A Bonney Lake and Enumclaw remain in 3A, White River in 2A By Kevin Hanson Senior Writer
Local athletic leagues are undergoing dramatic change, as schools have completed the classification dance. And, while the many moving parts spent days swirling through the region, nothing was to be absolutely, positively final until today, Wednesday. Some schools have grown, some are appealing their destination, others are
Ba by!
sitting still and a healthy handful are forming a new league. One thing is crystal clear: the impacts of reclassification are felt nearly everywhere. For the uninitiated, some background is in order. Throughout Washington, schools are grouped according to enrollment numbers, participating in one of six divisions. The largest schools are in Class 4A, with others divided into 3A, 2A,
1A, 2B and 1B classifications. Under the auspices of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, schools recently have submitted enrollment numbers every two years. That policy has been altered to provide a semblance of consistency, with updated numbers now required every four years. WIAA schools tallied their enrollment figures in November. When everything shakes out, the top 17
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Spartan team manager Ian Hines, top, sports his #TeamCamron T-shirt while watching the Sumner and Bonney Lake wrestling match. Janey Tracey, bottom, traverses the full bleachers at the Jan. 6 competition, picking up donations for Camron Cozzi during the halftime miracle minute. PHOTOS BY RAY STILL percent will find a home at the 4A level, with the same being true for 3A, 2A and 1A. The remaining 32 percent of the state’s schools will be split evenly between the 2B and 1B classifications. The WIAA has refused to release enrollment numbers for the state’s schools until Jan. 14. But that doesn’t mean athletic directors and principals have been idle; rather, they have been busy shuffling the athletic deck and changing the sporting landscape. Within each classification are numerous leagues and this is where things take a significant turn for local
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schools. “Reclassification is a separate but connected process from league reorganization,” said Tim Thomsen, athletic director for the Sumner School District. “Reclassification sometimes breaks up leagues or moves leagues around…which it has in this case.” Presently, three area teams – the Sumner High Spartans, Bonney Lake Panthers and Enumclaw Hornets – participate in the South Puget Sound League 3A. The neighboring White River Hornets are a bit smaller and compete in the
SEE SPSL, PAGE 3