Recycling day tomorrow for some in Sammamish
April 23, 2010
New: April 23, 12:17 p.m.
Officials from Waste Management have decided to provide a recycling pick up tomorrow, April 24, for customers who missed their regular Thursday pickup as a result of the strike. Since recycling days happen every other week, customers would have had to wait two week more until their next pickup, company officials said.
The pickup is for recycling only. Trash and yard waste pickups will continue on their regular schedule.
Waste Management says garbage collections will return to normal
April 22, 2010
New: April 22, 3:37 p.m.
Garbage collections for the north half of Sammamish appear to be headed back to normal next week.
Teamsters Local 174 has agreed to return to the negotiating table Monday, April 26, effectively ending its strike with Waste Management. The agency’s collection services will return to normal April 23, according to Katie Salinas, a spokeswoman for Waste Management.
The union had gone on strike April 21, resulting in a missed day of collections in Sammamish April 22. Only households north of Northeast 8th Street were effected.
Mike Sauerwein, the city’s administrative services director, said residents living north of Northeast 8th Street can put out twice the normal amount of garbage and yard waste on their next collection day, which would be Thursday, April 28.
For the latest information on the labor negotiations, go to www.wmnorthwest.com/servicedelays.html.
Sammamish City Council hears initial plans for new animal services plan
April 22, 2010
New: April 22, 11:16 a.m.
If the regional program replacing King County’s animal services program only costs $6,567 a year, the Sammamish City Council is for it.
The council didn’t take any formal action, but members said they were supportive of the plan. Mike Sauerwein, the city’s Administrative Services Director, said he would return to the council in May after cost projections were finalized. At that time, the council would have to say whether it wanted to commit to the program. Read more
Garbage workers strike
April 21, 2010
New: April 22, 11:36 a.m.
Waste Management will not be providing garbage and yard waste collection services today. Teamsters Local 174 has been on strike since 10:30 a.m. April. 21.
Customers will receive limited service April 23, according to Susan Robinson, a spokeswoman for the agency.
“Our Green Team of drivers will be in place by Monday and we anticipate that our services will be close to normal next week,” Robinson wrote in a press release.
Robinson has not returned calls for comment.
Mike Sauerwein, the city’s administrative services director, said residents living north of Northeast 8th Street can put out twice the normal amount of garbage and yard waste on their next collection day.
For the latest information on the strike, go to www.wmnorthwest.com/servicedelays.html.
Saved green could make Town Center more dense
April 21, 2010
Sammamish residents took on Boston marathon
April 20, 2010
New: April 20, 2:01 p.m.
Becky Backstrom, a 52-year old woman from Sammamish, finished first among women aged 50-54 in the Boston Marathon April 19. She finished with a time of 3:03:50 and 111th among all women, according to the Boston Athletic Association’s results page. She placed 1,731st overall.
26,735 people entered the 114th annual marathon and 22,540 finished, according to the association’s statistics page.
Another 12 Sammamish residents participated in the Boston Marathon. Here’s how they finished. Read more
Survey indicates support for LWSD, economic worry
April 20, 2010
Survey indicates support for LWSD, economic worryMost community members (67 percent) give the Lake Washington School District an A or B grade, according to a recent survey by CFM Research, a company that regularly works with school districts in Washington. The district commissioned the survey after the failure of the bond measure in the February vote. The bond received about 56 percent of the vote, but needed 60 percent to pass. Of 34 school-related tax measures in King County on the February ballot, it was the only one that failed.The survey found that most residents throughout the district generally approve of the way it does things, but cited economic concerns as to why they did not vote for the $234 million bond, according to a district press release. And since receiving the feedback, the district has decided not to put it up for another vote.While 67 percent like how the school district runs things, about 13 percent give it a C grade and about 3 percent rate it a D or F, the press release said. Eighteen percent don’t know what they think.In addition, the survey found that approximately 55 percent considered quality of schools to be a major influence in their decision to move to the area. A total of 70 percent of respondents said schools influenced their decision, in contrast to 47 percent statewide, the release said.When it came to supporting the bond measure on the February ballot, the survey found that 43 percent cited concerns with the economy and 43 percent cited worries about taxes as reasons for not supporting it. Nine percent said they thought school buildings are doing fine, and another nine percent said they did not support the measure due to lack of trust or belief in poor school management, the release said.More than half (53 percent) of people surveyed agreed that now is not the time to be asking for more money for school construction.Factors that hurt residents’ opinions of the school bond measure were: no information in the voter pamphlet, not enough information about the proposal and the fact that there were three school funding measures on the ballot, the release said.Three other public-opinion factors addressed in the survey brought back neutral responses: changing the grade configuration to a four-year high school model, expanding Environmental and Adventure School and plans to remodel Juanita High School. Finally, when community members were asked about dealing with overcrowding, 51 percent preferred the option of changing the grade configuration and 27 percent preferred leaving the system as is.The survey interviewed 400 people and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.
Sen. Pflug needs to show up
April 20, 2010
State budget saves teacher jobs
April 20, 2010
Recycling rainwater could help Town Center plans
April 20, 2010
