Returning to the Valley, modern soldier Andrew Conway looks back on Iraq, Afghanistan tour
Carol Ladwig/Staff Photo
Back in the Valley following the completion of a Middle Eastern tour, Andrew Conway plans life after deployment.
What made Afghanistan memorable for North Bend’s Andrew Conway, serving there as an intelligence analyst for NATO, were the mountains and the friendly people.
What he most vividly remembers about Iraq, where he was stationed from last April to November, are the heat, dust and a breakdown one night in Baghdad.
Almost $3 million in cuts loom for Snoqualmie school district
Three hours into the Snoqualmie Valley School Board meeting, Jan. 26, acting board president Scott Hodgins decided it was time to speed things up.
"Get on to the bad news," he suggested to Business Services Director Ryan Stokes, as he reviewed the district's finances.
Stokes complied by telling the board and the 30-plus audience members still in the room that the district is facing an $800,000 shortfall for this school year, and is planning for about $2 million in cuts from the 2012-13 budget.
Where's the juice? Generator disappears when power comes back at Snoqualmie restaurant
Within minutes of Joe Dollente turning off his emergency generator Saturday night, Jan. 21, in downtown Snoqualmie, someone stole it.
Dollente, co-owner of Gianfranco's Ristorante since October, had been using the generator to run the restaurant through a four-day blackout caused by the severe winter storms of the previous week.
"It was outside, right outside the door," he said, pointing to the back door of the restaurant.
Back to the mountain: North Bend Theatre hosts six short climbing films in Reel Rocks Tour
North Bend Theatre hosts six short climbing films at its Reel Rocks Tour expo, which starts 7:30 p.m. tonight, Friday, Jan. 27.
Films include "Cold," which won the grand prize at the Banff Mountain Film Festival in 2011. Over the past 26 years, 16 expeditions have tried and failed to climb one of Pakistan's 8,000 meter peaks in winter.
Have wheels, will compete: Cycling students get alternative sport at Mount Si High
When Mount Si High School students mount up for their first race of the Washington High School Cycling League season in March, it will be as part of an already winning team.
That team, comprised of 15 Skyline High School freshmen, had an excellent showing in last year’s inaugural season of the mountain biking league, finishing fifth overall in the state.
This year, the team will include a handful of Mount Si riders, thanks largely to the efforts of Upper Valley parents Luke Talbott and Karen Auletta.
Opinion | No easy answers for outages, except preparedness, positive thinking
Of all the things we take for granted, electricity is easily the biggest. I never realized how much of my routine depends on Puget Sound Energy’s fragile grid.
For even simple things like hot food, fingers that aren’t icicles or a face free of beard stubble, I’ve come to depend on electrical devices, to say nothing of entertainment or the ability to get the news out.
Letters | Braving the cold to help young musicians succeed
This is a huge thank you to everyone who braved the snow and cold to attend the Mount Si High School Jazz Band fundraiser at Boxley’s on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 17.
We were able to raise more than $2,000 to help these kids represent Mount Si High School and the Snoqualmie Valley at the Savannah Music Festival’s (SMF) Swing Central High School Jazz Band Competition & Workshop in Savannah, Ga., in late March.
Photos | Family sledding time at Wilderness Rim
North Bend residents Lorenzo Beverly, Mitchell Smith, Victor Beverly and LaFonte Beverly line up to race during a sled excursion on a Wilderness Rim side road last Tuesday, Jan. 17. Several Rim families enjoyed sledding before changing weather soaked the snow and plunged residents into a three-day power outage.
Snoqualmie mayor proclaims emergency in wake of storms
Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson issued a proclamation on the winter emergency, Monday, Jan. 23.
The proclamation states that “it has been reported to the Office of the Mayor, beginning January 15, 2012, that a severe winter storm has caused disruption of services, affected roadways, and caused temporary closures of key transportation routes throughout the state of Washington, including cities in King County.
License to charge, theft from the ruins: Weekly Snoqualmie Police, Fire blotter
On January 2, a victim of the Mount Si Court Apartment fire, which happened in November, called police to report that someone had stolen items from his fire-damaged apartment.
Gift of sight and style: North Bend mom Bev Jorgensen gets surprise makeover, new sight with help from boss
North Bend resident Bev Jorgensen’s vibrant new scarf matches her designer glasses.
Jorgensen took a leap of style this winter with big help from her friend and supervisor, Barbie Young.
Jorgensen, a saleswoman for PartyLite gifts and a single mother, was treated to a makeover in December by Young, a Kirkland resident and Jorgensen’s PartyLite leader.
