SEE INSIDE: Local authors publish their debut novels | Page 3 . . . . Winter sports previews | Pages 13 - 16
Wednesday, December 13, 2017 | 75 cents
What’s Inside Binetti.................................Page 8 Views...................................Page 6 Obituaries.........................Page 7 Sports.................................Page 11 Classified...........................Page 17
Coming up... • Saint Nick is still touring the Plateau over by Sumner and Bonney Lake. He’s visiting South Prairie and Sierra Heights on Friday, Edgewood on Saturday and Buckley, Prairie Ridge and Tehaleh on Sunday. His last parade is Dec. 20 at Driftwood Point. For times and route information, so go eastpiercefire.org. • Mayor Liz Reynolds is hosting an open house at the Enumclaw City Council building to celebrate her days in office from 3 to 5 p.m. on Dec. 14 from
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Wilbanks wins close Buckley race By Kevin Hanson Senior Writer
It took a month, but Luke Wilbanks finally knows he’ll be occupying a seat on the Buckley City Council. Determining a winner in the council’s Position 3 race required the Pierce County
Elections Department to count every vote by hand. But, in the end, nothing changed and Wilbanks was officially the winner by a 455-454 margin. That’s exactly where Wilbanks and Chuck Helmer stood on election night, Nov. 7, and that’s
where things remained Nov. 28 when the county certified the general election. Because the margin was less than one-fourth of 1 percent, a hand count was required. The Elections Department started that task Dec. 4 and certified its findings a sec-
ond time two days later. According to the department’s website, Buckley ballots were isolated and sorted by precinct, then placed into two stacks – one for Wilbanks and one for Helmer. Ballots were then manually counted by a pair of election workers, then
Bonney Lake couple invites all to their holiday village
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Polar Express train that runs through the village and a miniature ski lift
In a move that was philosophically opposed by a pair of council members, the city of Enumclaw has taken control of the local Transportation Benefit District. The move may not be noticeable to the general public, as the collection and distribution of money should be unchanged. Also, the people controlling the dollars and cents remain the same. Transfer of the TBD to city control was opposed by Chance LaFleur and Juanita Carstens, the latter being the most vocal. They objected because the TBD was initially designed to be separate from city control, even though the seven-member City Council made up the TBD board. The state authorized the creation of Transportation Benefit Districts throughout Washington, each existing as an independent taxing entity. In a more recent development, the state issued the go-ahead for cities to assume control. That didn’t sit well with Carstens, who felt the council
SEE VILLAGE, PAGE 4
SEE DISTRICT, PAGE 2
Suzy and Brent Fountaine’s holiday village was first built in 2003 with only six houses. Now the couple has more than five dozen, all from different sets and manufacturers. PHOTOS BY RAY STILL
By Ray Still Assistant Editor
With their kids all moved out of the house, Suzy and Brent Fountaine thought they’d use some of the extra room to really get back into the holiday spirit. It took an entire month to unpack everything, wire the houses and lights together and build a base, but the Fountaine’s expansive Christmas village is back and bigger than ever. The 8 foot by 12 foot miniature village started
out a small set of six houses the couple bought in 2003 when they were married, “and that started this whole fiasco,” Suzy said. The village kept growing year after year as friends gifted more houses, shops, people and more to the couple, or when they’d find a particularly cute model at Goodwill or Wal-Mart. They stopped putting out the village in 2013, but now the couple plans to build it up even more in the future. Now, the Fountaines have more than 400 trees
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City takes control of district By Kevin Hanson
Weather Be aware a Stage 1 burn ban is in effect in Pierce County. The skies expect to be clear Wednesday and Thursday with highs around 52 and lows near 35 and 47 respectively. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, expect rain with highs around 48 and lows dipping to around 40.
counted a second time. Wilbanks will fill the Position 3 seat vacated by Marvin Sundstrom. He opted against running for re-election, choosing instead to challenge incumbent Pat Johnson for the mayor’s chair. Johnson won a third term by a slim, 12-vote margin.
The holiday village is lively with many moving parts, including a carousel, ski lift, ferris wheel, popcorn factory, the Polar Express train and even several people around the village. dotting the village landscape and more than five dozen houses and shops. They also have a working
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