Skyline football falls to Bothell in KingCo 4A championship
October 29, 2009
Updated: Oct. 30 9:31 a.m.
Skyline linebacker Anthony DeMatteo, 51, and defensive lineman Jase Butorac, right, tackle Bothell's Luke Proulx in the second quarter Oct. 29.
One pivotal play in the fourth quarter determined who got KingCo 4A bragging rights through the playoffs Oct. 29 at Pop Keeney Stadium in Bothell.
It happened on one Jake Heaps mishap on a promising drive as Skyline looked to put the game out of reach for Bothell. Read more
Nightmare at Beaver Lake 2009
October 29, 2009
Nightmare at Beaver Lake 2009
A video, photo and audio show of the 2009 Nightmare at Beaver Lake
Police pull body from Lake Sammamish
October 28, 2009
New: Oct. 28, 1:05 p.m.
Police are investigating a dead body found in Lake Sammamish, north of Sammamish city limits.
Jim Bove, public information officer for the Redmond Police Department, said very little is known about the body, as of yet.
A woman called police at about noon Oct. 28 about a body she saw floating in the water. She told police she could see the body from a dock in Redmond’s Lakewood Shores Condominiums on the 3800 block of 175th Avenue Northeast, Bove said.
Bove said the body appeared to be an older white male, but police did not who it was.
“We have no idea,” he said. ”It’s still extremely early at this point.”
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.
Eastlake heading to playoffs
October 28, 2009
New: Oct. 28, 9:42 a.m.
Eastlake football will continue in the playoff race.
The Wolves came from behind to beat Newport 14-7 in the second game of a three-team KingCo 4A playoff Oct. 27 at Lake Washington High School. Read more
After 35 years, cop still has time to play
October 27, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
Seven years ago, a student came down from the bleachers during an Eastlake basketball game and challenged Stan Chapin in pingpong. Chapin, a Sammamish police officer, was working the game, but he agreed to play afterwards.
Much to his surprise, a group of teenagers was waiting at the student’s house to see the match.
“I kind of walked into a trap,” Chapin said. “He was good. He took the lead and then I came back and then I finally beat him.”
Chapin, a righty with a strong backhand, prides himself on his pingpong prowess. He still owns a paddle he bought in 1969, which he prefers because of its leather wraparound grip. The rubber surface has worn smooth over time, he said.
“He’s not really like any other cop,” Eastlake High School sophomore Alex Gibson said. “I think everybody likes him.”
The city of Sammamish certainly does. On Oct. 20, the City Council recognized Chapin for 35 years of service in the King County Sheriff’s Office. For the last 10, Chapin has served as the school resource officer at Eastlake and at Inglewood Junior High where he patrols the schools and acts as a liaison between the Sammamish Police Department and the Lake Washington School District.
Students, school officials and co-workers describe Chapin as fun, accessible and capable of laughing at himself.
Chris Bede, an associate principal at Eastlake, said Chapin exercises compassion in how he works with struggling students.
“He’s great at addressing the issue and not necessarily having that jade his perception of that kid,” Bede said.
“He’s wonderful with the kids,” said Alana Hall, Sammamish’s school resource officer in the Issaquah School District. “One of the things that it (the job) requires is an outgoing personality, and he absolutely has that.”
In reflecting on his 10 years as a school resource officer so far, Chapin first mentions the school championships he’s seen, the girls soccer team that took first in state, the football team that went undefeated one season.
“I like being around high school sports because they’re playing for the love of the game,” he said.
Sports have been an ongoing thread in Chapin’s life.
Chapin was a guard on the Odea High School basketball team when they won the 1968 conference championship against the other catholic schools in the Seattle area.
Chapin, 59 and longtime Bothell resident, became a police officer in 1972 but took a two-year leave of absence in 1978 to train for the Olympic trials. He wanted to qualify for the marathon, which required running a bit more than 26 miles in 2 hours and 20 minutes. He ran a pace of about 5 minutes and 45 seconds per mile, but missed the qualifying time.
“My husband is very competitive,” observed Susan, Stan’s wife. “He runs. He used to run in races all the time. Now he doesn’t race as much because he says, ‘If I want to race, I want to win.’”
Chapin’s sense of play is evident in his YouTube videos, Susan said.
“I call him Peter Pan. He’ll never grow up,” she said. “Watch those and then you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Two short clips show a screeching Chapin, neck extended, arms folded up, imitating a velociraptor. In another clip, Chapin in lipstick and a blonde wig dances before a gym full of students — he agreed to the stunt if students raised a certain amount of money for cancer research.
In the weeks prior to his performance, Chapin watched the music video of Hannah Montana’s “Nobody’s Perfect,” memorizing the choreography and lyrics.
“He kind of went overboard, I thought,” Susan said. “He’s going, ‘How do you think this makeup looks? Is this too much lipstick?’”
Sgt. Robert Baxter, of the Sammamish Police Department, said it’s typical of the way Chapin can let loose.
“He can be crazy and loony and all that sort of stuff, but he can also be very serious,” Baxter said.
Chapin’s work hasn’t always been teen-focused. Before joining the Sammamish Police Department, Chapin spent time on the county’s fugitive task force and the major crimes unit and on a drug abuse resistance education program.
Susan, a 911 center dispatch supervisor for the King County Sheriff’s Office, said her husband has learned to assume different personas, depending on the situation. She said she’s noticed that some cops have a more difficult time shedding the serious, officer-like attitude when they are off-duty.
“He can be one of the kids. But then, when something happens, it’s like flipping a switch … He’s really good at it. He wasn’t at first,” she said. “I remember saying to him, you’re not on-duty, knock that off.”
Having children helped, Susan said. The Chapins have three children, the youngest being a 15-year-old attending Inglemoor High School, a rival of Eastlake.
Baxter said Chapin’s ability to connect with students is invaluable to the police department.
“It gives us a very big edge,” Baxter said, adding that having a school resource officer allows teenagers to feel comfortable around police.
“It’s letting the kids know that we are there to help them. I think that’s what Stan gets across so well.”
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.
Seven years ago, a student came down from the bleachers during an Eastlake basketball game and challenged Stan Chapin in pingpong. Chapin, a Sammamish police officer, was working the game, but he agreed to play afterwards.
Much to his surprise, a group of teenagers was waiting at the student’s house to see the match.
Stan Chapin admires the award the City Council gave him. Photo by J.B. Wogan
Council allows reader boards
October 27, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
Ruth Weaver, a senior at Eastlake High School, waited for two hours on a school night for a chance to talk about electronic reader boards with the Sammamish City Council. Weaver has been in student government since ninth grade.
“I’ve been in leadership in four years. I’ve been changing the reader board for four years. That has not been fun,” Weaver said, describing weekly efforts to change the school’s current sign by 228th Avenue and Northeast 4th Street. Weaver said students have to climb a ladder amid rain and wind for more than an hour at time.
“It’s just an unpleasant experience, but it’s something that we do because we care about the community,” she said. Weaver was one of a handful of residents and school officials that spoke in favor of making an exception in the city’s sign code to allow high schools to have electronic reader boards.
Administrators at Eastlake and Skyline high schools said electronic reader boards would save students class time, make changing the signs less dangerous, and provide an opportunity to advertise the school’s full range of weekly events, not just a football game or a weekend play.
They got their wish.
The City Council voted 6-0 in favor of a five-year pilot program that allows high schools on 228th Avenue to use electronic reader boards. (Councilwoman Kathy Huckabay was absent.) The signs can be 10 feet tall and up to 32 square feet in size with static messages that change once a minute.
While the end vote was unanimous, the council hammered out the specifics of the code allowance before making a decision.
City Councilwoman Nancy Whitten asked a troubleshooting question about the city’s commitment to electronic reader boards in the future.
“How many nonprofits, churches, schools, that kind of thing, might be looking to put up an existing sign?” she asked. “What happens after five years? At five years, are you going to tell everybody to take down these signs?”
Community Development Director Kamuron Gurol said that if the council opted to cancel the program after five years, the schools that built electronic reader boards would be able to grandfather in those signs.
City Attorney Bruce Disend declined to comment on the full ramifications of Whitten’s questions — whether local organizations might sue the city over a sign code that grants exceptions to high schools, but not churches or nonprofits. (Businesses can post electronic reader boards under the current code.)
Disend did say that after the five-year trial period, the city could not limit electronic reader boards to only high schools on 228th Avenue.
City Councilman Mark Cross said he was skeptical about giving the schools the height they had requested — above six feet — because he didn’t think they would be more effective.
But Cross’ major concern was the frequency of changing messages. If they changed too fast, they could be distracting to drivers, he said.
“I do not want to use Sammamish citizens as crash testers,” he said.
The council changed the minimum message time from five seconds to one minute.
Frank Santoni, who lives on Southeast Sixth Place, urged the council not to allow electronic reader boards. He was the only person who testified against them at the Oct. 20 meeting.
“These signs will proliferate and radically change 228th,” Santoni said.
He said that Sammamish’s main street could end up looking like Aurora Avenue in Seattle, if the council wasn’t careful. To allow the electronic reader boards would be “giving in to the special interests of the few,” he said.
Stan Bump, who lives near the intersection of 228th Avenue and Southeast 4th Street, suggested that the council avoid questions of fairness by erecting its own city-owned electronic reader board by City Hall.
The board could broadcast messages for schools, churches and nonprofits from one central location.
Bump is also a member of the Planning Commission, which recommended against allowing electronic reader boards.
In a previous public meeting, Bump rolled out a map showing roughly 50 different places that might want electronic reader boards in the city.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.
Ruth Weaver, a senior at Eastlake High School, waited for two hours on a school night for a chance to talk about electronic reader boards with the Sammamish City Council. Weaver has been in student government since ninth grade.
“I’ve been in leadership in four years. I’ve been changing the reader board for four years. That has not been fun,” Weaver said, describing weekly efforts to change the school’s current sign by 228th Avenue and Northeast 4th Street. Weaver said students have to climb a ladder amid rain and wind for more than an hour at time.
Eastlake senior Michael Russo (in white) an sophomore Yazem Rashid change the sign in front of Eastlake that will likely be replaced by an electronic readerboard. Photo by Christopher Huber
King County property taxes due Nov. 2
October 27, 2009
King County property owners must pay 2009 second-half property taxes by Nov. 2.
Payments would have been due Oct. 31, but because that date falls on a Saturday, the deadline was extended to the following Monday.
King County officials have developed several ways for taxpayers to pay:
u By mail, if the envelope is postmarked no later than Nov. 2. Taxpayers should include the tax statement and write the property tax account number on a check or money order.
u In person, at the King County Administration Building, Room 600 – Treasury Operations, 500 Fourth Ave., Seattle Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
u At community services centers. Locate King County Community Service Centers at www.kingcounty.gov/csc/
u Through the online eTax application, with a credit card or an electronic debit from a checking account. Delinquent accounts are not payable through the online payment system. Visit www.kingcounty.gov/propertytax
To contact King County Treasury Operations with questions call the automated voice system at 206-296-0923, customer service at 206-296-3850 or visit www.kingcounty.gov/propertytax.
King County property owners must pay 2009 second-half property taxes by Nov. 2.
Payments would have been due Oct. 31, but because that date falls on a Saturday, the deadline was extended to the following Monday. Read more
Sammamish feeling out suggested Klahanie Park transfer
October 27, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
With Klahanie Park’s future still uncertain, Sammamish elected officials are mulling over the potential pitfalls of becoming its owners.
King County Executive Kurt Triplett has suggested closing it, along with 38 other parks, to help fill a county budget shortfall.
Sammamish’s discussions are preliminary in nature, as King County hasn’t officially relinquished ownership of the park yet.
Even if the county does, the city of Issaquah would have to pass on annexing the park, since it’s in Issaquah’s potential annexation area.
The King County Council is scheduled to make budget decisions affecting Klahanie Park’s fate in late November.
Sammamish City Councilman Lee Fellinge questioned whether it was a good deal for Sammamish.
He pointed to potential capital costs, in addition to annual operations and maintenance costs.
“Many of the users are not Sammamish citizens and their taxes are not supporting that park,” Fellinge said.
The park, built in the early 1990s and located between Southeast 32nd Street and Southeast Klahanie Boulevard, is 64.11 acres with one baseball field, two soccer fields and a restroom.
The fields are natural grass and are not lighted.
The park costs about $95,000 a year to operate, according to King County Parks. The transfer of ownership would not cost Sammamish anything.
City Manager Ben Yazici said he’s contacted Triplett about Sammamish taking over Klahanie Park.
“He feels that they have budget crunches, they cannot maintain this park, and he feels very fortunate that Sammamish stepped up to the plate,” Yazici told the council.
But Yazici said he has also discussed the matter with representatives from the Klahanie Homeowners Association, and they were less open to Sammamish owning the park, he said.
“I don’t think we should take them lightly,” he said.
Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger said the Issaquah City Council has not discussed a transfer of Klahanie Park, though she suspects Issaquah would be open to having someone else take it over.
“My guess is that the city might, based on discussions the city had on the whole Klahanie annexation topic,” she said.
In 2005 and 2006, Klahanie voted to annex into Issaquah, but then refused to take on new costs associated with joining Issaquah.
The annexation process fell flat and hasn’t resurfaced since.
Yazici said that if neither Sammamish nor Issaquah took over the park — assuming the King County Council does actually mothball it in the first place — the homeowners association would likely work out a lease agreement with the county.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.
With Klahanie Park’s future still uncertain, Sammamish elected officials are mulling over the potential pitfalls of becoming its owners.
King County Executive Kurt Triplett has suggested closing it, along with 38 other parks, to help fill a county budget shortfall.
Sammamish’s discussions are preliminary in nature, as King County hasn’t officially relinquished ownership of the park yet. Read more
Sammamish City Council changes advisory boards
October 27, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
The City Council took steps to simplify its advisory board system Oct. 20, limiting the number of positions and staggering terms for one of its main boards.
The change would also allow a non-Sammamish resident to make recommendations on local parks decisions.
The council has five acting advisory boards, which study art, land-use, parks, Beaver Lake, and youth issues.
Most of the council’s changes regard the size and timing of turnover in the Parks Commission.
“The council wants everybody on the same page,” Parks Commission Chairman Hank Klein explained.
The Parks Commission is a body of nine citizens appointed by the council to mull over parks and recreation issues and make recommendations to the council. The Parks Commission also has three alternates, something the council decided to change. Alternates, also appointed by the council, would attend meetings and step in to take a vote if a sitting commissioner was absent.
“In essence, that means you’re doing a lot of the work, but you don’t really count,” Klein said.
There was also the sticky issue of whether alternates deserved full-time seats when regular commissioners left. The council created the alternate positions in 2002 as a way to quickly replace commissioners with other knowledgeable citizens, according to Parks Director Jessi Richardson.
The council picked a new applicant over an existing alternate in December 2008.
“Given that this action was inconsistent with the original intention of the alternate positions, we feel it is unnecessary and perhaps unfair to continue these positions,” Richardson wrote in a memo to the council.
The council is also changing when commissioner terms expire. Six commissioners’ terms were set to expire in 2010 and another four would expire in 2011. Richardson wrote that staggering the terms would minimize the impacts of commissioner turnover.
“The current rotation could result in 100 percent turnover within a two-year period,” she wrote.
In future years, no more than three commissioner terms will expire at any one time, with three of four years having just two terms expire.
The staggering of four-year terms, plus eliminating alternates, will make the Parks Commission more like the council’s land-use advisory board, the Planning Commission.
The consistency will not exist at the Arts Commission, however. That advisory board, which helps plan for public art installations and art exhibitions at City Hall, chose not to do away with its alternates.
“Their attitude was, the more the merrier,” said Lyman Howard, finance director and Arts Commission staff liaison. He said the commissioners considered alternate positions a good training opportunity for future commissioners.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.
The City Council took steps to simplify its advisory board system Oct. 20, limiting the number of positions and staggering terms for one of its main boards.
The change would also allow a non-Sammamish resident to make recommendations on local parks decisions.
The council has five acting advisory boards, which study art, land-use, parks, Beaver Lake, and youth issues. Read more
New hospital on its way near Sammamish
October 27, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
Officials from Swedish Medical Center promised an economic engine in the form of a hospital was coming to the plateau.
Kevin Brown, a spokesman for the hospital, said the new facility in the Issaquah Highlands would create about 1,099 jobs in the areas of construction, architecture, health care, ambulatory care and art. Brown speculated that another 1,500 jobs might spring from other businesses related to medicine in the area.
“It’s a great stimulus program,” Mayor Don Gerend commented Oct. 19 when he and the rest of the Sammamish City Council listened to a presentation about the new Issaquah Swedish Medical Center.
Brown said the ambulatory care center, where patients could seek treatment for issues that don’t require an overnight stay, would open July 2011. The portions with hospital beds and overnight care would open March 2012. The hospital should have 175 beds when complete.
Once completed, the hospital would be the closest to Sammamish.
Swedish Medical Center also operates a standalone emergency room along Northwest Sammamish Road. Hospital executives plan to expand the primary care clinic at the existing ER and shift specialists to the highlands campus. Brown said the existing facility will be renamed Swedish/Lake Sammamish after the highlands hospital opens to avoid confusion between the locations. The new campus will be known as Swedish/Issaquah.
At the back of the City Council chambers was a small cardboard model of the horseshoe-shaped hospital, with two above ground parking lots. A video of the hospital design is available online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHOVoyspb3w. The property itself is about 12.5 acres.
Gail Twelves, a Sammamish resident, asked how the new hospital would impact Snoqualmie Valley Hospital.
Brown said he thought the new Swedish facility would improve business for both hospitals.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.
Officials from Swedish Medical Center promised an economic engine in the form of a hospital was coming to the plateau.
Kevin Brown, a spokesman for the hospital, said the new facility in the Issaquah Highlands would create about 1,099 jobs in the areas of construction, architecture, health care, ambulatory care and art. Brown speculated that another 1,500 jobs might spring from other businesses related to medicine in the area. Read more
