Sammamish needs arts commissioners
December 24, 2011
New: Dec. 24, 10:18 a.m.
How’s this for a New Year’s resolution: Become more involved in your community.
The city is looking for local citizens to step up and serve on the city’s Arts Commission. City Clerk Melonie Anderson said arts commissioners don’t need to be artists, as the commission is in need of all sorts of skills: event planning, archiving, exhibit planning, bookkeeping, graphic design, community liaison or grant writing.
The commission was responsible for numerous arts and culture events in Sammamish this year, including Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar – A Turkish Cultural Event, the fifth annual Arts Fair, documentary film presentations and rotating arts exhibits. Commissioners will help plan similar events next year.
The commission meets once a month. Interviews for the open positions on the commission will begin Jan. 10 and the city will hold a meet-and-greet with current commission members at City Hall from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. before the Jan. 23 commission meeting. For more information, visit https://www.ci.sammamish.wa.us/Group.aspx?ID=3.
Proposed map would put Sammamish in 41st, 45th districts
December 23, 2011
New: Dec. 23, 3:21 p.m.
Right-leaning Sammamish will be represented in the state legislature by more Democrats under a new legislative district map proposed by the Washington State Redistricting Commission Dec. 16.
The proposed map, which the commission is due to vote on before the end of the year, splits Sammamish roughly in half. The plan calls for the 45th District, which currently covers Kirkland, Redmond and Woodinville and the very north end of Sammamish, to drop down and cover the north half of the city. Read more
Michele Petitti looks back on Sammamish City Council tenure
December 21, 2011
New: Dec. 21, 11:14 a.m.
Sammamish was a different place when Michele Petitti first took her council seat in 2002.
City Hall, the library and Lower Commons Park were little more than a dream to early city leaders who met in an office in the shopping center near Ace Hardware and Safeway, dealing with the newborn city’s early growing pains. Crews were in the middle of expanding 228th Avenue from country road to Sammamish’s main thoroughfare. Read more
Police Blotter Dec. 21
December 21, 2011
Vehicle prowl
A resident on the 20500 block of Northeast 24th Place had a stereo, various CDs and a handheld scanner stolen from their unlocked vehicle overnight Dec. 8.
Missing wallet
A Redmond resident reported that they had left their wallet on the trunk of their vehicle while getting gas and drove off at around 9 a.m. Dec. 8. When the resident returned to the gas station to retrieve the wallet, its contents had been stolen.
Skyline rakes in the change for Invisible Children
December 21, 2011
Lauren Mincin spent her morning Dec. 15 counting 3,000 pennies, demonstrating her dedication to a cause near and dear to her family’s heart.
The mother of two Skyline students, juniors Emily and Haley Mincin, counted even more than that $300, as the morning-drop-off collection and in-class change drive that happened earlier in the week brought in about $1,600 for Skyline’s second annual Invisible Children Awareness Week Dec. 12-16.
In all, the week of fundraising and spreading awareness earned approximately $4,800 for Invisible Children, the Mincins said. The 2010 efforts garnered about $5,200 for the cause. Read more
Local teachers go above and beyond for board certification
December 21, 2011
A small group of teachers at schools across Sammamish are celebrating reaching a milestone.
After about a year of conducting self-evaluations, writing papers and compiling lesson plans and in-class video, 23 teachers representing all grade levels received National Board Certification, the National Board for Teaching Standards announced Dec. 7. They are among the 6,200 teachers around the country who earned the certification — considered the highest level of certification for a teacher — in 2011. Read more
Sammamish schools reduce student lunch waste
December 21, 2011
Students at Endeavour and Sunny Hills elementary schools in Sammamish came out on top in a contest to reduce waste among five Issaquah district schools.
“We were really trying to get people to look at the waste stream differently,” said Mary Joe de Beck, resource conservation coordinator for the city of Issaquah.
The two Sammamish schools were among the three winning schools which wasted the least during national America Recycles Day Nov. 15. Issaquah Valley Elementary was the other winner. Read more
Issaquah Schools Foundation campaign sees big increase in donations
December 21, 2011
After a four-month marathon that included mailings, school displays, “Click for Kids Days” and three marathon calling sessions, the Issaquah Schools Foundation’s All in for Kids campaign came to a close Nov. 19.
The grand total raised to benefit various programs within the Issaquah School District was $325,000. Read more
Free-throws, last-minute surge net Eastlake win over Issaquah
December 21, 2011
With less than a minute to go and her team down by two, Eastlake junior guard Caleigh McCabe knew she had to do something. She hit the “reset” button in her head, focused and executed when it mattered most.
She hit a game-tying lay-up with 30 seconds remaining against the Issaquah Eagles, which ultimately sent the game into overtime.
“I tried to block it out — make it like it was zero-zero,” said McCabe, who finished the game with 13 points.
Maggie Douglas, Eastlake sophomore post, is fouled by Mackenzie Wieburg (32), Issaquah sophomore guard, during the second quarter as Ngozi Monu (4), tries to defend Dec. 16. Photo by Christopher Huber
Skyline players, coaches less than enthusiastic about win
December 21, 2011
It didn’t matter to Will Parker that he had scored a career-high 25 points Dec. 16. He knew it was mostly Newport’s mistakes that allowed his Skyline Spartans to win and for him to get so many scoring opportunities.
He was happy about helping his team win, but focused on what Skyline will have to work on over the winter break if it wants to succeed against KingCo competition this season.
Hunter Cikatz (23), Skyline sophomore guard, goes up for a shot as Calvin Throckmorton, Newport freshman center, defends during the third quarter Dec. 16. Photo by Christopher Huber
