Rise and Shine: Community Network names 33 award winners who help families, kids

 Bus driver, Watch D.O.G. and Encompass volunteer Bruce Robinson reacts to his Rise and Shine award, embracing neighbor Kim Kanzler, who nominated him. Robinson was recognized for his service to children in the Snoqualmie Valley.   - Photo by Clay Eals
Photo by Clay Eals
Bus driver, Watch D.O.G. and Encompass volunteer Bruce Robinson reacts to his Rise and Shine award, embracing neighbor Kim Kanzler, who nominated him. Robinson was recognized for his service to children in the Snoqualmie Valley.
Seven years ago, Bruce Robinson accidentally stepped off a two-story roof, and shattered the bones in both of his feet. His job as a construction supervisor was over. Robinson could either take a desk job or move onto something else. Robinson opted to move on, finding himself behind the wheel of a school bus. A typical day for Robinson begins at 5 a.m., when, decked out in a brightly colored shirt and Mickey Mouse watch, he drives through the Valley, taking special needs children to school. For kids who have it a bit rough, Robinson is someone who can be trusted.

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11:06 AM June 19, 2013

Retirement open house for Riverview superintendent Conrad Robertson

The Riverview School District is hosting an open house, 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, June 20, at the Educational Service Center in Duvall, to honor retiring superintendent Conrad Robertson. All are invited for cake and punch and to bid farewell to Robertson, who’s been with the district for 12 years.

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10:49 AM June 19, 2013

Eastside Fire and Rescue focuses on mental health for Fire Safety Week

Eastside Fire and Rescue observes International Fire/EMS Safety Week this week, through June 22. This year’s theme, “Saving Our Own…An Inside Job,” focuses on the need for greater mental and emotional health efforts. According to EFR, behavioral health issues often go undetected. Suicide is the fourth-leading cause of death among caucasian men ages 35-50; it is the second leading cause of death among caucasian men ages 20-34. These are the two demographic groups in which most U.S. firefighters fall.

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9:31 AM June 19, 2013

Back to nature: Snoqualmie Valley youth explore Olallie's ecology

It's a day out of school, but not a day off from learning. Every year, the fifth grade class of Fall City Elementary School, and the AP Biology class at Mount Si High School get together at Olallie State Park for an exploration of insects, animals, plants and all types of biodiversity, and learn together. "The kids learn so much more by listening to other kids," explained Mount Si science teacher Andrew Rapin, who coordinates the Outdoor Classroom program each year with Fall City teachers Cassie McLellan, Barb Van Oeveren, Cheryl Coleman and Melissa Danberg. Outdoor Classroom, also supported by Nature Vision, is a series of learning stations scattered throughout the park, where high school students teach groups of fifth graders about their particular subject, ecology, adaptation, survival skills, and so on.

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updated 4:04 PM June 18, 2013

Fun for all at Fall City Days: A Valley Record photo gallery

Children chomped fast and furiously during the Young Life watermelon eating contest, which returned in all its messy glory Saturday afternoon, June 15, to Olive Taylor Quigley Park, as part of a hopping Fall City Days. “It was a total success,” says Young Life staffer Michelle Carnes, who helped organize the event as part of a new crop of volunteers. “The kids that won were the kids that attacked the watermelon and had juice coming off of their nose," she said.

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3:29 PM June 18, 2013

Lower Valley school science researches take world stage

Cedarcrest High School science students and Honors Science Researchers Thorsen Wehr, a sophomore, and Isaac Harper, a freshman, returned from Phoenix, Ariz., and the 2013 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair as International Winners. The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, a program of Society for Science & the Public and the world's largest international pre-college science competition, is the premier global science competition for students in grades 9–12. This year, the science collaboration provided a forum for nearly 1,700 high school finalists from 70 countries, regions, and territories to display their independent research.

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8:30 AM June 18, 2013

Thieving roadies, shoe thrower, not clean quite yet: Snoqualmie Valley police blotter

On June 3, a citizen filed an online complaint of a theft that occurred over the weekend, in the 45500 block of Southeast North Bend Way. He wrote that early Sunday morning, as he was loading up karaoke equipment following the Saturday show, he got several offers of help with the equipment, but declined them all. On Monday, he discovered that some critical equipment was missing, and believed it was taken during the loading on Sunday.

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3:51 PM June 14, 2013

Meet the team, see the shirts at Fall City Days

Members of the Fall City Days Committee, (pictured belowm from left, Amy Jones, Meghan Brady, Melody Tjossem, Judy Dix and Libby James) show off logo wear for sale as part of Saturday's full festival The committee worked on the design of this year’s t-shirts and hat logo with Joanne Rayl and Raindance Sportswear.

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3:41 PM June 14, 2013

Stones that speak: Historical Society’s Fall City Days exhibit explores pioneer cemetery

To walk through the Fall City Cemetery is to visit with many of the earliest settlers in our area. People like Jeremiah Borst, “father of the Snoqualmie Valley”, who platted Fall City in 1887, or James Taylor, who homesteaded here in 1869. The grave of Josiah “Uncle Si” Merritt, namesake of Mount Si, is here, as is the burial place of David Taylor and wife Helen Moore Taylor, the first family to settle here, and their daughter Olive Taylor Quigley, the first pioneer girl born at The Landing, as Fall City was called.

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10:07 AM June 13, 2013

Highway 202 to close for Fall City Days

State Route 202 will close during Fall City Days on Saturday, June 15, the festival committee announced. Route 202, between milepost 21.71, which is the Preston-Fall City Road, and milepost 20.64 which is 324th Avenue S.E., will be closed between 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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9:43 AM June 13, 2013

Growth, evolution and a whole new look for North Bend Farmer’s Market’s 16th season

Minna Rudd walks Marty Wheeler past the new concessions building, down the new sidewalk, to the corner of a patch of fresh, green lawn. “He’s right about here, facing into the seating area,” Rudd says. The Si View Activities Director is showing Wheeler, a retired firefighter turned vegetable farmer and entrepreneur, where his corner booth will go in a few day’s time. “She knows our lines get big,” Wheeler says. He doesn’t try to campaign for any special spot, letting Rudd do her job. “She has put a ton of intelligent thinking into this market,” says Wheeler.

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5:27 PM June 12, 2013