Reality House returns to the Plateau | Page 4
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Six local projects in House budget In all, nearly $1.5 million was earmarked for projects in the Plateau area.
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2019
Bonney Lake coverage to end Delivery of The Courier-Herald will stop after the April 24 edition. By Ray Miller-Still Editor
Some big changes are coming to The Courier-Herald. First and foremost, as of May, we will no longer be covering the city of Bonney Lake. It was a decision that was hard to make, but one every newspaper staff member felt was
necessary in order to continue serving our root communities — Enumclaw, Buckley, and Black Diamond — with a quality, hyper-local newspaper and trustworthy journalism. The newspaper business, and by extension, the journalism trade, has shifted rapidly over the last two decades, especially in regard to how newspapers continue to operate and how modern society receives information.
We expect to be able to dive into a constant stream of information at our leisure, and to do so free of charge, but these expectations are antithetical to trustworthy journalism. The Courier-Herald is blessed to have had strong community support since the early 1900s, and we hoped that same support could be found in Bonney Lake and Sumner when the paper expanded in 2003. That See COVERAGE, Page 5
Honoring those who came before Mother charged
By Kevin Hanson
with failing to report sex abuse of daughter
Senior Writer
Nothing is guaranteed until final votes are taken, but early news out of Olympia is heartening for a number of Plateau-area projects. When the state House of Representatives released its proposed 2019-21 capital budget, six Plateau projects were included, aimed at everything from public recreation to water protection, from the booming Tehaleh development to the much-quieter town of Wilkeson. In all, nearly $1.5 million was earmarked for the area. The entire capital budget totaled $4.6 billion and was expected to be voted on by the entire House of Representatives early this week. The capital budget then heads to the Senate chamber in continuation of the negotiation process. It is anticipated everything will be wrapped up in a little more than three weeks; the 105-day session of the Legislature is slated to adjourn April 28. Local projects on the early appropriation list include: • $381,000 to help return a fire lookout tower to Enumclaw’s iconic Mount Peak. Years ago, the state employed fire watchers to staff towers throughout the region and the tower atop Mount Peak was visible for miles around. Lookout towers were taken out of commission and, eventually, the Mount Peak tower was demolished for safety reasons. In recent years, a group of tower fans have
By Ray Miller-Still Editor
Students from the Enumclaw School District’s Native Education Program toured the area last week, offering assemblies at district schools. Pictured here are dancers Fernando RoseAguirre and Nathaniel Rose-Aguirre, members of the Witchita Tribe and students at Sunrise Elementary School, and Enumclaw High student Grace Leatham, a member of the Tsimshain, Blackfeet, and Cherokee tribes and last year’s powwow princess. The assemblies came in advance of the school district’s annual powwow, planned for 7 p.m. Friday, April 12, at Enumclaw High School. The public is invited to attend. Photos by Kevin Hanson and Ray Miller-Still
See BUDGET, Page 5
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Editor’s note: The names of the suspects have been withheld to protect the identity of the victim. A Black Diamond mother has been charged with failing to report child sex abuse by family members. In December 2017, the victim — a 12-yearold girl at the time — told a fellow student at a local school that she was being sexually abused by a family member and was feeling suicidal, according to court documents. She told police that she remembered the first time her stepfather raped her was when she was 8 years old, and described numerous encounters, including one time when the stepfather forced her to take a “morning after” pill because the condom broke. She also said her stepfather forced her halfbrother to have sex with her while the stepfather took pictures or filmed. According to court documents, the girl told her mother of the abuse in September 2017, and they both moved out of Black Diamond to Enumclaw to stay with a family member. The father, 38, was arrested and charged with the rape and sexual exploitation of children on Dec. 12, 2017. At that time, the half-brother was taken into protective custody and was not charged with any crime. However, charges were filed with the King County Superior Court in July 2018 for three counts of child molestation in the third degree. It was unclear why charges were filed See ABUSE, Page 5
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