Covington/Maple Valley Reporter, August 03, 2012

A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING

LOCAL | Covington author fi nds lessons in history of disasters [page 3]

NORTHWEST NATIONALS | National Hot Rod Assocation returns to Pacifi c Raceways for fi nal race of Western Swing [10]FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 2012

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COVINGTON | MAPLE VALLEY | BLACK DIAMONDREPORTER

Rae Solomon of Covington belts out a tune during the fi rst show of the inaugural Covington Summer Concert Series July 27 at Kentwood High. For information about the remaining concerts in the series go to www.covingtonwa.gov/events. KRIS HILL, The Reporter To view a slide show go to www.maplevalleyreporter.com.

Backyard Country Star

BY TJ MARTINELL

[email protected]

Th e day may come soon when the city of Maple Valley will have to issue bond levies to fi nance projects rather than dip into its general fund, according to city offi cials.

At the City Council’s July 23 meeting, Finance Director Tony McCarthy gave a presentation explaining how the city’s general fund balance has been more or less diminishing since 2005.

A general fund balance is the amount of funds the city ends a year with. In a telephone inter-view, McCarthy explained that a general fund bal-ance is much like a person’s assets minus liabilities, such as credit debt. Th e general fund balance percentage refers to the amount of money the city has to pay for the year’s expenses.

One month, therefore, accounts for 8.3 percent. Th e city’s general fund balance is currently at 30 percent. But the city’s fi nancial forecast report has the percent-age dropping each year until it reaches 10 percent by 2017.

City works to stay ahead of spending

BY TJ MARTINELL

[email protected]

Th e Covington City Council voted unanimously to extend the moratorium on medical mari-juana collective gardens at its July 24 meeting.

City Manager Derek Matheson stated that city wants to wait until next year to see if various changes to state and federal laws are made before proceeding with any other course of action.

“Our legal counsel believes that there are very le-gitimate reason to press the pause button on regulations,” he said.

Matheson said the city added language to the moratorium, which was extended for six months, to include any business related to medical marijuana, in-cluding management companies.

A medical marijuana dispen-sary called Covington Holistic Medicine is located within the city limits. Because it opened before the moratorium, it has remained open.

According to the meeting minutes, no one spoke during the

Medical marijuana moratoriumextended

BY TJ MARTINELL

[email protected]

Th e city of Covington is team-ing up with a Kent-based youth organization in order to increase the number of licensed pets while decreasing the cost of providing animal control services through King County.

Project U(th), run by Barry Fretwell, is comprised of about

a dozen teenagers — many of whom attend Kentwood or Kent-lake — who plan to raise aware-ness about pet licenses by doing door-to-door in neighborhoods.

“It’s been challenging,” Fretwell said. “Th e city’s been cooperative. Th ey’ve been great…we’re going to pull it off and it’s going to be rosy in a few weeks. We’re going to have training with the county and then do some door belling in

August.”According to City Manager

Derek Matheson, roughly 23 percent of Covington pet owners have licensed their pets. Covington, in addition to other cities within King County, participate in an animal control program that consists of licensing, fi eld services and shelters. Matheson stated that the lower the city’s licensed pet percentage is, the higher their cost is for the animal

control program. For example, last year it cost

the county $116,637 to provide animal control services for Cov-ington. Covington residents paid $48,780 in pet licensing fees last year. Aft er receiving a subsidy of $15,364, the city was left with a bill of $52,493.

Project U(th)’s intention is to encourage pet owners to license their pets. Th e fi rst planned event is scheduled for Aug. 4 at the Covington Petco.

“Anything is an improvement is how everybody’s looking at it,” Fretwell said.

Matheson said it not only helps out the city by reducing costs, but

a license provides several benefi ts for owners.

“Licensed pets are generally reunited with their owner faster,” he said. “Th ey get a free ride the fi rst time they’re found so they don’t go to the shelter. Th ey get more time in the shelter. You can sign up for this vacation pet alert program so they know who to contact in your absence.”

Matheson said the idea fi rst came earlier in the year about when the city was negotiating its three-year contract renewal for animal control services with the county.

Covington teams up with teens to increase pet license purchases

[ more SPENDING page 2 ][ more MORATORIUM page 2 ]

WEBSITE | Check the website for breaking news, sports and weather stories.maplevalleyreporter.com or covingtonreporter.com

MAPLEVALLEY

Derek Matheson

[ more PET page 2 ]

COVINGTON

August 3, 2012[2]

public hearing.In terms of a ban on col-

lective gardens, Matheson said, “We haven’t evaluated the pros and cons of an outright ban. We’ll evaluate that in six months.”

The issue has proved far less contentious than in neighboring Maple Valley, where the City Council voted in late June to ban collective gardens after a medical marijuana manage-

ment company opened in April.

Matheson stated that this may be due to the fact that the city previously allowed a dispensary to open up in the city.

“I can only guess that it’s because we already have on medical marijuana business and it hasn’t been an issue for the community,” he said. “Medical marijuana busi-nesses therefore don’t see Covington as an opponent.”

The Covington City Council first passed a year-long moratorium on collec-tive gardens in August 2011 after the Planning Commis-sion voted to recommend such a moratorium.

The current issue facing the city arose in April 29, 2011 when Gov. Chris Gregoire vetoed portions of a bill passed by the Legisla-ture amending the state law allowing the use of medical marijuana.

Initiative 692 was passed by state voters in 1998 allowing a defense for possession of marijuana for qualifying patients or designated providers.

Covington City At-torney Sara Springer told the Reporter in August 2011, “The problem with (Gregoire’s veto) is there are still many uncertainties and ambiguities how to apply this legislation on a local level.”

[ MORATORIUM from page 1]

Covington council mem-bers expressed interest in boosting pet license sales to reduce the city’s out of pocket costs. During the negotiations they learned how other cities in the county had succeeded in that endeavor by using a pet license canvassing pro-

gram, whereby the city and county used volunteers and temporary employees to reach out to pet owners and encourage licensing.

At the same time, Project U(th) expressed interest in working with the city on pet licenses.

“It was kind of serendip-ity,” Matheson said. “(We) found the county staff were

really eager to help because it was the first time we were involving the private sector or youth in pet license can-vassing. It’s kind of a neat public-private partnership and a great example of the role youth can play in city government.”

Fretwell said that Project U(th) intends to continue the program indefinitely.

For more information about Project U(th), go to its web-site at www.projectuth.org.

Reach TJ Martinell at 425-432-1209 ext. 5052. To comment on this story go to covingtonreporter.com.

[ PETS from page 1]

If it were to drop that low, McCarthy said, the city’s bond rating could be lowered.

In February, Standard and Poor confirmed the city’s AA+ rating, but noted that “If the district (city) were to significantly draw down its General Fund (fund balance) we could lower the rating.”

City Manager David Johnston called it a “nice warning.”

“What they’re saying is that…the more you show in your savings account the more confident the investments, the buyers of the bond have that you’re a more stable environment,” Johnston said.

Johnston stated it was also a reminder that the city will eventually have to find other revenue sources to avoid dipping into its gen-eral fund to pay for capital and community projects. He said there were several options available, including a bond levy.

“When it comes to any vote initiative, we look at our capital programs or roads improvements,” Johnston said. “You have to ask the voter to have a bond issue...and that goes on top of the property tax bill…Property taxes are stable,

you’re always going to get it. So that’s one option.”

Another option is levy lid lifts and transportation benefit districts, which al-low the city to raise car tab fees to $40 without a voter initiative, when it was pre-viously $20.

Johnston added, however, “most cities haven’t gone that high.”

McCarthy stated the city’s general fund balance began to decrease in 2005 when it was at 70 percent. The city’s Novem-ber 2006 purchase of Lake Wilderness Golf Course had a significant effect on the balance.

Johnston stated in an interview, as well as to the council at its July 23 meet-ing, that the city needs to preserve its general fund balance in order to main-tain its bond rating, so if Maple Valley were to issue bonds the interest rates would remain low.

“We have to be very careful how we expand our services,” Johnston said. “There’s always a tempta-tion to do more and even though there’s a 28 per-cent fund balance, people say ‘You’ve got it, spend

it before you come to us.’ You don’t understand, if we spend it and come to you the interest rates are going to be higher because of the lower bond rating. You always have a reserve bond just in case. I know

our policy is 10 percent. Most public agencies in the training we get these days say 20-25 percent’s good. That’s what they try to tell you.”

Johnston told the

council that debt-financing could employed to avoid using general funds.

“We talk about this point with you because in our other discussions throughout the year we talked about how we may be entertaining using debt as a way of meeting some of our citizens needs when it comes to park and recre-ation or other capitals needs in the future,” Johnston said. “Therefore we have to remain cognizant of what our bond rating agency is telling us. Just being very basic the lower the rating the cost of using debt goes up and that adds a cost to the debt of our citizens who are asked to repay it, so we

really strive to keep it at that 10 percent. We treat it as a floor and it’s our goal to never get to the floor.”

Despite the numbers in the general fund forecast report, McCarthy remained optimistic and said the numbers are merely in keeping with Maple Valley’s habit of budgeting conser-vatively, where spending is intentionally overestimated and revenue intentionally underestimated.

“I think what their problem has been…is that it always look like it’s (fund balance) going to be lower… because we try to budget conservatively, but if you look at the chart from the last year it’s 30 percent for 2011,” McCarthy said. “It’s still 30 percent (now). More than likely when we get the real (tax revenue) numbers from Fred Meyer it won’t go down that far. Basically we always try to be conservative. They’re (Standard and Poor) saying if it did what we say it’s go-ing to do in the budget they would have some concerns. But we’re always better than that.”

Reach TJ Martinell at 425-432-1209 ext. 5052.To comment on this story, go to maplevalleyreporter.com.

“We have to remain cognizant of what our bond rating agency is telling us. Just being very basic, the lower the rating the cost of using debt goes up and that adds a cost to the debt of our citizens who are asked to repay it.” City Manager David Johnston

[ SPENDING from page 1]

King County has seen an increase in concealed pistol license applications and gun pur-chases, according to the King County Sheriff’s Office.

According to Sheriff’s Office spokes-person Sgt. Cindi West, 41 applica-tions were filed on Monday, July 23,

which is double the number as roughly the same time last year, when 19 applications were filed.

West also stated that the average Friday and Monday sees about 30 and 90 gun sales

reports respectively.

On Friday, July 20 and Monday, July 23, 40 and 115 gun sales respectively were reported.

In an email, West wrote that it is not

known for certain what has caused this in-crease, though she stated that there are several possibilities, including the recent shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.

“I have been told that the numbers typically rise just prior to a presidential election and when there is some major incident similar to that of the Colorado shooting,” she wrote. “Again. We have no specific data that indicates these ARE the reasons but it appears to be a common trend when the numbers increase.”

Community Note

KING

COUNTY

BY KRIS HILL

[email protected]

Ellensburg was all set to be the state capital in the summer of 1889 until a fire on the Fourth of July destroyed the town.

That’s the sort of history lesson, the kind of hidden gem Covington author Greg Oberst discovered while writing his second book, “Disasters of the Northwest: Stories of Cour-age and Chaos,” which was released last summer.

“Despite the ominous title,” Oberst said, “it’s a great history lesson for the Northwest.”

Oberst’s first book, “Washington Sports Trivia,” was published by another imprint within the same company, Overtime Books, in the spring of 2010.

This latest tome was released under the Folklore Publishing name. Original-ly Oberst was given a five month timeline to complete the book about disasters in the region compared to the two months he was given for the sports trivia book.

When all was said and done, however, “Disasters of the Northwest,” took a year to complete including editing and re-writes.

“The first thing we did was work with the publish-er to figure out what was a disaster, what qualifies as a disaster,” Oberst said. “Is it strictly a body count? Is it a structure loss? Is it both? That was a hard thing to define because disasters can impact in other ways too and have lingering effects that are only known later.”

Rather than use a defini-tion of a disaster based on lives lost or property loss, Oberst said, the decision was made to look at the breadth of impact of a di-saster on the Northwest in whatever form that took.

For example, the Nisqually earthquake of 2001 had a significant im-pact on many, and though it didn’t kill anyone it was a disaster, Oberst explained.

With that in mind, Oberst worked with the publisher to generate a list of 50 to 60 disasters that was then whittled down to fit the proposed page count.

It’s worth noting that the Nisqually earthquake would be evaluated in a different way than the Ravensdale Mine disaster of 1915 because disasters had a different impact on

society 100 years ago.In addition to a page

count, there was a word count Oberst was supposed to target.

“So, we had to think about how many words it would take to tell the story,” he said. “Some disasters would take a couple of pages and others would take a few more to tell the whole story.”

Another frame-work that was set up was organiz-ing the book into three categories: natural disasters, accidental disas-ters the military and wartime disasters.

Oberst said most readers may be surprised at the military and wartime disasters sto-ries because one wouldn’t necessarily associate the Northwest with such incidents yet there were quite a few, primarily plane crashes, to write about with the expansive military pres-ence as well as The Boeing Co.

Other surprises in the book may be the trolley which went off a bridge in downtown Tacoma which resulted in the deaths of 100 people or how Olympia became the state capital despite the fact that Ellens-burg was the preferred spot thanks to a fire.

“What I really loved writ-ing and in putting this book together is it’s a good his-tory lesson to understand disasters, to understand our history, to understand why things are the way they are today,” Oberst said. “Case in point, Ellensburg was poised to become the capi-tal, they had even built a governor’s mansion there. It was just booming in Ellens-burg. Then there was a fire that burned down the entire town just a month after the Great Seattle Fire. But those fires answer the questions about why Olympia is the state capital, why there are so many brick buildings in the Pioneer Square area. It’s because everything before that was built of wood and it all burned down and is all gone so it was all rebuilt with brick.”

Then there was the mine explosion in 1915 in Ra-

vensdale which ultimately led to the city disincorpo-rating, the only municipal-ity in King County history to do so.

“The Ravens-dale disaster, certainly because it was in my own back yard, was fascinating,” Oberst said.

“During the process of evaluating which disasters would make the book and which won’t, we came across the worst mine explosion … it was so easy to research because it was so close. Then uncovering the desecrated cemetery where most of the min-ers were buried

back in 1915. There’s 20-some grave sites up there, all virtually the miners, completely forgotten and badly desecrated by vandals

in the 1960s and gone unre-paired and still sitting that way right now.”

The cemetery became so desecrated because the explosion forced the mine to shut down and the area didn’t recover to the point that anyone could take care of it.

It is a tough place to find, Oberst said, and he nearly missed it when he took his daughter with him on a hike to find it while researching the book.

With some help from the Black Diamond Historical Society and a little bit of digging on Google, Oberst had a rough idea where the cemetery was located, which is now surrounded by newer homes and over-grown by brush.

“You had to be right on top of it to find it,” he said. “We spent maybe an hour there, we wanted to see how many headstones we could find, to see if we could find any markings on them that indicated dates but we couldn’t.”

History of the region’s natural disasters from our own backyard to the at-tempts by the Japanese to attack the mainland during World War II proved fasci-nating work for Oberst who said he hopes the book can provide some important lessons and build on what many students learn in school now.

“The unknown nature of the really important events of our history is disconcerting to some level particularly when you look at something like a des-ecrated cemetery that sits there in that state,” he said. “Something like that should probably be more widely known so maybe some kind of action could be taken. That’s the thing I love about the research part of writing, the little nuggets that you uncover, that go beyond interesting, that make you feel that much more edu-cated and that much more informed about the world that we live in.”

[3]August 3 , 2012

ROCKTHE GREEN

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LIVE MUSIC, BEER GARDEN, FAMILY FUNBENEFITS THE MIDDLE GREEN RIVER COALITION

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SUPPORTED BY: WASHINGTON STATE PARKS / ETERNAL WATER HEATERS / KING COUNTY PARKS / LANDMAN, INC. / EMERALD DOWNS / KPS HEALTH PLANS

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AUGUST 11

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“That’s the thing I love about the research part of writing, the little nuggest that you uncover that go beyond interesting, that make you feel that much more educated...” Greg Oberst

Greg Oberst of Covington talks about “Disasters of the Northwest: Stories of Courage and Chaos”

SIGN UP NOW FOR MAPLE VALLEY FIRE

CERT CLASSThe Maple Valley Fire and Life Safety will host a community

emergency response team (CERT) class starting

September. CERT is a disaster preparedness

course designed to create awareness, teach critical

skills for assessing a disaster situation (e.g. earthquakes,

etc.), and ensure participants gain the confidence they need

to react productively and responsibly in a disaster.

There are no pre-requisites; there is a $35 class fee

due prior to the start of class. Please visit www.

maplevalleyfire.org to register and pay on-line.

Week 1: Sept. 5 Wednesday 6-9:30 p.m. -

Week 2: Sept. 13 Thursday 6-9:30 p.m.

Week 3: Sept. 19 Wednesday 6-9:30 p.m. -

Week 4: Sept. 27 Thursday 6-9:30 p.m. –

Week 5: October 3 Wednesday 6-9:30 p.m. –

Week 6: Oct. 11 Thursday 6-9:30 p.m. –

Week 7: Oct. 17 Wednesday 6-9:30 p.m. -

Week 8: Oct. 25 Thursday 6-9:30 p.m. -

Contact and submissions: Kris [email protected]

[email protected] or 425-432-1209, ext. 5054

August 3, 2012[4]

Two Great Organizations Dedicated to Helping Kids

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In a perfect world every child would be happy and healthy. Unfortunately, the real world doesn’t work that way and not all children are able to enjoy good health. But fortunately, many of those young people who have health issues have two premiere northwest institutions to turn to for some of the best pediatric care in the country. They are Children’s Hospital in Seattle and Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Oregon. QFC is proud to support these two great organizations as our chari-ties of the month for Au-gust. Each is a leader in providing superior patient care and using research to advance new treatments.

Children’s Hospital in Seattle has been treating children regardless of race, religion, gender or a family’s ability to pay since 1907 and provided over $100 million in un-compensated care in 2011. It has consistently been ranked among the best children’s hospitals in the U.S. and serves as a pedi-atric and adolescent refer-ral center for Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. Seattle Children’s

consists of three organiza-tions, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle Children’s Research Institute and Seattle Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Children’s Hospital pro-vides inpatient, outpatient, diagnostic, surgical, reha-bilitative, behavioral, emer-gency and outreach ser-vices. It has 254 beds and a staff of over 1,200 profes-sionals, including over 700 doctors. In 2011, it had over 300,000 patient visits, including visits to off-site clinics. Seattle Children’s Research Institute has nine major centers with over 350 investigators researching hundreds of diseases and disorders in fields such as cancer, genetics, immunol-ogy, pathology, infectious disease, injury prevention and bioethics. Researchers in the centers collaborate with each other and with their colleagues at partner institutions including the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Can-cer Research Center.

Doernbecher Children’s Hospital began serving patients in 1926 in Portland and is now affiliated with Oregon Health and Sciences University. It has clinics in several communities

around the state of Oregon and one in Vancouver, Washington. Like Chil-dren’s Hospital in Seattle, Doernbecher is involved in research which is quickly translated into new treat-ments. Specific areas of research include cardiology,

neurology, weight regula-tion, metabolism, oncology and stem cell research.

Both Children’s Hospital in Seattle and Doernbecher Children’s Hospital believe that children should have compassionate, family-cen-tered care. Both are at the

forefront of pediatric medi-cal research so that they can advance new treatments in their quests to prevent, treat and eliminate pediatric disease. You can join QFC in supporting these great institutions by donating at any check stand using the

QFC will make a $10,000 donation to Seattle Children’s

and you can make an additional donation at any checkstand.

Join QFC In Helping Children In Need.

TO CONTRIBUTE, HAND A DONATION CARD TO YOUR CHECKER.

Effective Date: August 5, 2012 - September 1, 2012

$1, $5, or $10 scan cards or by dropping change in coin boxes. For comments or questions you can contact QFC Associate Communications Manager Ken Banks at [email protected] or phone 425-462-2205.

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BY KRIS HILL

[email protected]

Fans of Trapper’s Sushi will soon have a new location to get their fix when the fifth store opens in Kent Station in early September.

Started by its namesake, Trapper O’Keefe, in Bonney Lake (originally known as Sushi Town), the sushi chain has grown by leaps and bounds in the past three years since the second location opened in Covington in April 2009.

When the spot of a former sushi restaurant opened up in Kent Station, explained Covington General Manager Jaysin Reyna, it seemed like an obvious step to expand though they weren’t looking there at the time.

“My brother, Trapper, found it,” Reyna said. “We got this opening and it was a perfect oppor-tunity, great location.”

At the time the spot in Kent opened up they were scouting locations in Seattle but Reyna said his brother knows when to close a deal.

“For Trapper, it’s the opportunity,” Reyna said. “When there’s an opportunity for Trapper in a great location that’s going to do well, he has a great sense for that.”

Reyna, who like his brother learned how to make sushi as a teenager from their brother-in-law Eisuke Sato, said the new location in Kent which is 3,549 square feet, will be larger than the store in Covington, which measures 2,828 square feet.

It will have a full sushi bar, an outside patio seating area, a full bar and will be later than many of the other stores in Kent Station.

Reyna noted that in addition to drawing from their existing clientele, they anticipate drawing from the other businesses in the commercial

development as well as the Regional Justice Cen-ter, Green River Community College campus at Kent Station, the movie theater and commuters as they step off the Sounder train just about a hundred feet from the restaurant’s door.

“We do have clientele from Kent and all over,” Reyna said. “We have customers who come here twice a week. We put our love into it.”

Since they got the keys to the Kent Station spot in July, workers have been gutting out the interior including removing the conveyor belt which was the centerpiece of the previous res-taurant, which offered a different style of sushi.

But, it’s more than just the food that sets Trap-pers’ Sushi apart, Reyna said.

“What we do is we are a family-based restau-rant, so, everything to us is family, including our customers,” he said. “We get to know our customers. It’s like ‘Cheers.’ We have this great intimacy of conversation and we get to know one another.”

It doesn’t hurt, though, that patrons love the food.

Patrons sitting at the sushi bar will rave to someone about the food if they notice their neighbor is not a regular. They offer opinions on their favorite roll or suggestions on other items to try like the squid salad.

Devoted customers talk about following O’Keeffe from the Muckleshoot Casino where he worked prior to starting his first restaurant in Bonney Lake to Covington and even bragging about how far they drive just to get a fix.

“We actually Americanized it,” Reyna said about the sushi. “We mixed it up from the way we were taught by our brother in law, Eisuke. We learned Osaka style from him, the art of sushi

from him, so we mixed it with our own (style).”Which results in a range of traditional ngiri

such as tuna and salmon on sushi rice to hand rolls to the familiar California roll to things like the Covington roll which has tempura shrimp, cucumber, tempura asparagus and avocado inside with tuna on top along with a tangy dress-ing or the Bonney Lake, which is entirely dipped in batter and fried then sliced up before topped with spicy crab.

Staff are encouraged to come up with ideas for new rolls but it takes all the right ingredients, both figuratively and literally, to get one on the menu, Reyna said.

“Experience, you’ve got to have experience, you’ve got to love what you do,” he said. “You’ve got to love sushi, to have tasted all the fish to know what works together to make a great roll. And to have the pallet to know what makes a great roll.”

Reyna will hand over the reigns of the Coving-ton store to his brother Jimmy while he takes over the new location in Kent. He’s confident in his brother because he has all the ingredients and worked in the Covington location since 2009.

The Covington store has more employees than the other three locations at present with 27 but Reyna expects to hire up to 35 for Kent and is looking for chefs, servers, waitresses, hostesses and bartenders.

If his brother has his way, Reyna said, some-day there will be a total of 12 Trapper’s Sushi restaurants throughout the region.

He’s not sure where they will go next.“We want to go to Seattle,” Reyna said. “We’ll

go wherever there’s opportunity.”

Fifth location for Trapper’s Sushi opens soonPopular restaurant chain, which opened second store in Covington in 2009, to expand to Kent Station

MAPLE VALLEY CITY MANAGER'S BUSINESS

BREAKFAST AUG. 8The Maple Valley City

Manager's Business Breakfast is set for 7:45 a.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 8 at Lake Wilderness Lodge.

The lodge is located at 22500 SE 248th Street Maple Valley.

Contact and submissions: Kris [email protected]

[email protected] or 425-432-1209, ext. 5054

[5]August 3 , 2012

I’ve been reading “1948,” an interesting book by David Pietrusza.

Pietrusza’s book is a well-documented account of the race for the White House in 1948 when Democrat Harry Truman pulled out a shocker over Republican Tom Dewey.

Dewey has been charac-terized as something of an intellectual stuff ed shirt through the years, which may have been true.

I came across an inter-esting scene in the book where Dewey and Harold Stassen were debating in Portland on May 17, 1948 prior to the state’s pri-mary election. Th e two were locked in a pretty good battle for the Republican nomination.

Th e serious eff ort to hunt down communists was just beginning to gather steam and would boil over when the Alger Hiss case hit in August 1948 and Sen. Joe McCarthy took center stage in the troubling period of tyranny for our country.

Stassen was riding a populist movement based on a bill proposed by Republicans Richard Nixon, then a representative from California, and Rep. Karl Mundt of South Dakota.

Th e bill established the Subversive Activities Control Board and outlawed the CPUSA, Com-munist Party USA.

Th e easy thing was to jump on the “let’s hate the commies” bandwagon. It made for easy talk-ing points and easy votes.

Stassen’s point was the communist organi-zation should be outlawed because “patriotic young Americans” were being draft ed to fi ght the menace.

I always get a bad feeling when a candidate uses “patriotic,” “young” and “hero” in a sen-tence.

Dewey’s response was simple and based on the

Constitution, which he clearly understood.“I am unalterably, wholeheartedly, and

unswervingly against any scheme to write laws outlawing people because of their religious, po-litical, social or economic ideas,” he replied.

I have too oft en seen candidates and sitting political offi cials at the federal, state and city level fall to pandering for an easy slap on the back, because your friends like you better, or some other reason excluding a reasoned and thoughtful position.

Th e clarity of Dewey’s statement has some-thing for everyone. Council members, represen-tatives and community members are faced with diffi cult choices that oft en put them at odds with friends and neighbors. It may be most troubling for council members who will be seeing their neighbors in the grocery store, probably walking past without speaking.

(It happens to me all the time aft er I write a column someone doesn’t like, but it cheers me

up because… well, let’s not get into that.)National issues like hunting commies may

seem remote from our little towns, but they are not.

I remember my dad telling me about a teacher from Enumclaw who was pulled before a sub-versive activities board. Th ere is nothing like a local group of tyrants screaming and waving their arms about how everyone else should think and act.

Democracy in action, and I can say it is alive and well today.

Th e best defense against the dangers of group-think are leaders like Dewey – people willing to think through an issue for the good of all, instead of handshakes of a few.

It is well worth taking a look at Pietrusza’s book if you are at all interested in the Truman-Dewey race, where the country was at the time and some thoughtful prose on American politics at all levels.

Change of government the will of Black Diamond voters

Dear Editor,I will respond to the July 17, 2012 LTE “Keep

Black Diamond Current Form of Government” in a similar vein and with some fact-checking.

Statement: Th e Black Diamond City Council is attempting to change over 50 years of rich his-tory without citizen involvement!

Fact: Th e Black Diamond City Council did not advocate or attempt to change the form of government. Th e public advocated for this position and if there is any change in the form of government it will be because the citizens of Black Diamond voted for it.

Th is topic was brought up and publicized in this very paper back in January 2012; this topic has been brought up at many of the Community

Forums over the past months and this topic has been brought up at almost every City Council meeting over the past several months.

It has been the substantial citizen involvement that has brought this change proposal forward. It was only when the citizens went to the city to obtain the initiative and ballot process that the Asst. City Administrator informed the citizens that the city of Black Diamond did not have a referendum process and referred the citizens to King County Elections. Unlike Enumclaw, Maple Valley or most of the incorporated cities, Black Diamond had never formalized the referendum process. Ballot measures have historically been placed on the ballot through the Council resolu-tion process.

In fact, King County Elections has notifi ed the city of Black Diamond that they would be unable to process a petition directly submitted by the citizens; that the city would have to present the petition. Th e city was in a powerful position of denying public the opportunity to petition their government through the referendum process or placing it on the ballot through resolution. Th e Council was clear it was only for this reason that the Resolution was passed. If one looks at the July 19 council agenda, you will also see that the City Council passed a resolution to initiate the initiative and referendum process within the BDMC.

Statement: Why the attempt to hurriedly change our city government? Why was this done

in a special, lightly attended council meeting on Monday, July 9 (Council meetings are normally held on Th ursday)?

Fact: Th e Black Diamond City administration knew for months about this gap in the BDMC and kept sending the public back to King CountyElections, who kept sending the public back to the city with a stern comment that this was the City’s problem. In fact King County Elections stated that the citizens should seek legal counsel. Once the City Council realized that there was no mechanism for the public to assert any process they were faced with an extremely tight timeline of Aug. 7 for the fall election. Th e special meet-ing was held Monday the 9th because the City Offi ces were closed for furlough on the regular scheduled Th ursday the 5th in conjunction with the Fourth of July Holiday.

Statement: However, the residents of the Lake Sawyer annexation area, who use Covington Water and Soos Creek sewer, only pay the storm-water tax, a small contribution to the enterprise funds compared to old Black Diamond. Why is the council not addressing this inequity rather than attempting to change our government?

Fact: Because the residents of Lake Sawyer are in the Covington Water and Soos Creek Water and Sewer Districts, they cannot be serviced by the City of Black Diamond for water and sewer. Th is is pretty self-explanatory. Th e Lake residents do pay stormwater taxes. Furthermore,

● Q U O T E O F T H E W E E K : ”Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!”Benjamin Franklin

‘1948’ gets me Dewey-eyed

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● L E T T E R SY O U R O P I N I O N C O U N T S : E-MAIL: [email protected]. MAIL: Letters, Covington/Maple Valley Reporter, 22035 SE. Wax Road Maple Valley, WA. 98038

FAX: 425-432-1888

[ more LETTER page 6 ]

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HEMORRHOIDSHemorrhoids, sometimes called piles, happen when the

veins in the anus and the lower rectum become inflamed and swell up. Hemorrhoids can happen for quite a few reasons. They commonly occur when people strain too much during bowel movements or from the pressure on these veins during the course of pregnancy. Sometimes hemorrhoids are inside the rectum, known as internal hemorrhoids, and sometimes they develop underneath the skin around the anus, called external hemorrhoids. Itchy, uncomfortable, and sometimes bloody, these very common ailments afflict around half of all adults by the time they reach the age of 50. There are many effective treatments available including medical excision, home treatments, and making changes to lifestyle.

Over-the-counter hemorrhoid creams containing a local anesthetic can temporarily soothe pain. Creams and suppositories containing hydrocortisone are also effective, but don’t use them for more than a week at a time, as they can cause the skin to atrophy.

To schedule an appointment, please call Southlake Clinic at (253) 395-1972. Our primary care providers are part of a multi-specialty physician network and are also available on Saturdays. Our clinic in Covington is located at 27005 168th Place SE.

due to the substantially higher property values, the residents of Lake Sawyer actually pay substantially more in direct property taxes to the City of Black Diamond than do hom-eowners in other areas of the City.

Statement: particu-larly among cities with a population of less than

10,000 (Black Diamond has a population of 4,160). Ninety percent of Washing-ton cities with a population of less than 5,000 have a mayor-council form of government.

Fact: The City of Black Diamond and the former Council recently passed ap-proval of MPD permits that will have the City of Black Diamond grow rapidly to approximately 25,000

people. Black Diamond needs a professional, skilled manager immediately.

Statement: In Black Diamond, we want to vote for our mayor. We want the mayor to be directly responsible to the voters.

Fact: If the voters want the government to be di-rectly accountable to them than a Council-Manager is the form of government they would want. I en-courage you to look at the organizational chart of Maple Valley (Citizens City Manager City Council). In the city of Black Diamond organizational chart, the

citizens are not listed and the mayor is not required to open the doors and listen. The mayor and admin-istration are politically driven and separate from the Council elected by the people.

Statement: We must speak up and let this Council know that a special election is an expense we don’t want to bear. The pros and cons can be evaluated over the next year and after all implications are known we can proceed, knowing we are knowledgeable of what the change means to the city.

Fact: The cost of the elec-tion was considered by the citizens; in-fact the original delay was to allow a less ex-pensive ballot measure and although called a special election, it is not nearly as costly as the special election held for the safety levy. If one is concerned about the city’s budget, one should be more concerned about the incredibly high salaries of the city’s staff which range about 150 percent of the salary of staff personnel in other similar sized cities.

Statement: Your voice matters. Even if you are not a resident of Black

Diamond, you are directly connected to what hap-pens here – Black Diamond needs your voice!

Response: If I could have one nit to pick it would be online comments by one of the authors of this letter complaining that Council didn’t listen to the people who actually live in Black Diamond. I guess the invite for all to come wasn’t sin-cere. A change in govern-ment for the people by the people is a giant step in the right direction.

Bill WheelerBlack Diamond

[ more LETTER page 5 ]

It’s a sad reality in senior living that the cost of long term care all too often depletes the entirety of a resident’s lifetime savings. The money they have worked their entire life to save, to set aside for future generations, is gone in a few years. The average daily cost of a nurs-ing home in the state of Washington is $244 a day, about $7320 a month. The cost of assisted living im-proves slightly, with average monthly rates of $3,251.

In the cases of early onset diseases, such as Alzheim-er’s and dementia, a resi-dent can come in to assisted

care very young, and live in that setting for another 10, 15, 20 years. 20 years of care at $7,000 a month

for Alzheimer’s care equals 1.68 million dollars. That is a signifi-cant amount of money!

Thankfully, there are ways to protect your

assets from this quick and drastic spend down. Long Term Care (LTC) Insurance is one of the most common and effective methods.

LTC Insurance is health coverage that pays for senior care such as skilled nursing, home health, as-sisted living, respite, and

hospice care. Each LTC policy is unique, which is why it is so important to fully understand your specific policy.

LTC Policies will have several main components, each one affecting both the cost and usefulness. These are all phrases and terms you should familiarize yourself with.

The policy will begin paying out for care as soon as the “Benefit Triggers” are reached. These triggers are different for every policy, but typically cover activi-ties of daily living (ADL’s). ADL’s are things like bathing, dressing, eating, etc. Once a resident can no longer do one or more of

these things on their own they may become eligible to receive LTC Insurance benefits.

Although the resident is now eligible, LTC benefits do not always immedi-ately kick in. The elimina-tion period must first be exhausted. Think of the elimination period like a deductible, except instead of a dollar threshold it is a time threshold. This period ranges from 0-180 days and during this initial period the resident or family will be required to pay for the care out of pocket.

Once the elimination period is over, the question remains, how much will LTC Insurance pay out.

Each policy will pay either a daily or monthly maxi-mum benefit. The average daily payout in the state of Washington is $160.

At this point the LTC benefits are flowing freely, but this does not mean it will be an everlasting stream. Most LTC poli-cies will have a maximum benefit amount or period of time. There are some unlimited benefit poli-cies out there still, but it is not typical. The average length of benefit coverage in Washington State is 4.8 years.

LTC Insurance is paid for by premiums, usually monthly payments, but there are lump sum policies

that go so far as accepting one large upfront payment to qualify the recipient for future benefits. And while most policies do not require you to pay premiums once the benefits start, there are still some that do. Avoid these policies.

As a general rule, the older you are when you purchase the LTC policy, the more expensive your monthly premiums will be. In addition, the premium amount will take into ac-count your current health condition and the policy payout guidelines. Here’s a breakdown by age group for average monthly premium amounts from 2008: Under

How long term care insurance can be a benefit

[ more GILLETTE page 9 ]

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[7]August 3 , 2012

If you’ve been traveling this summer be sure to take note of great garden ideas from around the world. We’ve just returned from visiting great gardens in Russia, Sweden, Denmark and other parts of the Baltic. This northern Euro-pean tour was so inspirational that at one point our group of travel-happy gar-deners just broke out into song. Keep reading to find out why there was some happy but rotten singing in Denmark.

The plant material and garden designs of Northern Europe are easy to adapt to Western Washington as the cool summers and long days make gardening in the north a celebration of long days but short summers — just like at home.

INSPIRATION FROM RUSSIA: GRAND VISTAS AND CLIPPED YEWS

You may not have the expansive estate and army of gardeners that Peter the

Great enjoyed in his gar-dens but you can add a bit of Russian grandeur to your home landscape by choos-ing the same plant material

as the great Tsars.

Long, cold winters did not stop the royalty from turn-ing St. Petersburg into one of

the most magnificent cities of Europe.

Use yews as upright evergreens in your own garden and you won’t have to worry about deer, winds, drought or freezing winter temperatures. The English Yew (Taxus baccata) comes in many varieties some with new foliage that is a golden yellow (look for the variety ’Aurea’) and a column shaped yew (‘Fastigiata’) that both do well here in Western Washington.

Yews can tolerate full shade and wet winter soil. Create your own grand garden vista by framing a mountain, sea or woodland view. Just place a yew on ei-

ther side of the scene - like columns framing a piece of great art. Speaking of art, if you ever get a chance to visit St. Petersburg’s Hermitage museum — well, there’s a reason it is called the eighth wonder of the world.

INSPIRATION FROM SWEDEN: LINNAEUS AND THE TWIN FLOWER

Carl Linnaeus was Sweden’s native son and the genius that came up with the binomial system for naming plants and animals that we still use today. His home and garden is a beautiful example of a living museum with his favorite plant and namesake ‘Linnaea borealis’ or the twin flower still blooming in early summer.

Western Washington gardeners are lucky that this woodland ground cover plant is native to our region. The secret to getting the double-flowering, delicate blooms to spread under rhodies and vine maples is to mulch the top of the plants with leaf mold each autumn. Swedish gardeners

also enjoy fuchsias, ferns and hydrangeas in their beautiful country gardens because these are the plants that do best when there is a lack of summer heat.

Do try this at home.

INSPIRATION FROM ICELAND: DIANTHUS AND DAISIES

What a wonderful sur-prise awaited us in Reyk-javik, Iceland. The “white nights of summer” mean endless daylight and plant-ers filled with fragrant but cold-hardy dianthus and snow white daisies.

From the thermal pools of the blue lagoon to the modern vibe of the vibrant downtown, Iceland is the new hot spot of adventure-seekers. Friend me on Facebook is you want to see photos of Icelandic trees wearing knitted scarves and a church that looks like a rocket ship.

INSPIRATION FROM DENMARK: TIVOLI GARDENS AND IT’S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL

If you’ve ever enjoyed

Disneyland, you need to thank the Danish. Walt Dis-ney was so inspired by Co-penhagen’s Tivoli Gardens that he flew home from Denmark and designed his famous theme park with Tivoli as his guide.

This amusement park includes beautiful flower and water gardens and at night, only old-fashioned, incandescent bulbs are still used today to avoid a neon glow. Tivoli has the look of a fairy tale kingdom - because after all it was Hans Christian Anderson who wrote his famous tales from Denmark — long before Disney turned them into movies.

Americans visiting Tivoli gardens will recognize the well-lit façade of an India-inspired temple - the back drop for Walt Disney’s first ride “It’s a Small World” in a nod to Tivoli. It was stand-ing in front of this building that our group of travelers broke out into song.

This was to the delight of the Europeans who at first thought we must be another street act paid to perform at the park. We really could

have passed as profession-als had we all been able to carry a tune and remember the words. That did not stop us from singing the song twice and applauding ourselves.

“It’s a Small World” should play in your head every time you travel - be-cause gardens and traveling encourages us all to keep growing.

Marianne Binetti has a degree in horticulture from Washington State University and is the author of “Easy Answers for Great Gardens” and several other books. For book requests or answers to gardening questions, write to her at: P.O. Box 872, Enumclaw, 98022. Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope for a personal reply.For more gardening information, she can be reached at her website, www.binettigarden.com.Copyright for this col-umn owned by Marianne Binetti.

How to find inspiration for your garden around the world

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The 29th Annual National Night Out event will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Neighborhood coordinators throughout Maple Valley will send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and working together in order to watch out for each other and address any crime and disorder.

Sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch (NATW), NNO is the once a year event where over 37 million people in approximately 15,325 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases around the world will be participating.

Along with the traditional display of outdoor lights and front porch vigils, neigh-borhoods in Maple Valley, residents will celebrate NNO with a variety of events and activities such as block parties, cookouts, visits from local police, council

and fire department as well as contests. NNO has proven to be an effective, inexpensive and enjoyable program to promote neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships in the fight for a safer community.

Maple Valley Police will be visiting neighborhoods in our city throughout the evening and will wrap up the celebration at Glacier Valley Community Park where citizens are welcome to attend a free BBQ. For more information on National Night Out 2012, contact Police Robin Larsen at 425-413-5158.

Community Note

August 3, 2012[8]

COVINGTONC H A M B E R O F C O M M E R C EAugust 2012

COVINGTON | MAPLE VALLEY | BLACK DIAMONDREPORTER

Thank You Momentum Partners Our Partners understand the value a united chamber brings

to the business community and have aligned themselves with

the efforts of the Covington Chamber in creating a strong lo-

cal economy in our Business Community.

Check us out on

Chairpersons MessageTh ank you to every-one who joined us for our 1st Annual Community Picnic on July 12th. Wow, what a huge success! We’d love to hear any feedback you thecommunity may have for us; info@coving-

tonchamber.org Our 6th Annual Golf Tournament is just around the corner on Friday, August 24th at Washington National Golf Course. Th is event is open to everyone, SO gather a team and register today: www.CovingtonChamber.org or call 253.329.0999 for more information.Th ank you for your continued support.

Tamara Paul, ChairpersonCovington Chamber of CommerceBroker, REALTOR

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30: $134; 30-39: $245; 40-49: $476; 50-59: $837; 60-64: $1278; 65+: $1928.

These policies can get expensive very quickly which is why it’s important to remember that purchas-ing a LTC policy is not the right financial move for everyone. There are worksheets available to help you make this decision. Ask your insurance provider for one when you begin talking about LTC Insurance. You can also contact the Wash-ington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner (www.insurance.wa.gov or

call their toll free advice line 1-800-562-6900).

The part that can get frustrating for policy purchasers is the initial health condition assess-ment. These are done by telephone interview, on-site visits, and/or in consulta-tion with your primary care physician.

I spoke to one Auburn resident who applied for policies for both himself and his wife. His wife was easily approved, however he was rejected based solely on a phone interview. Even after a written letter from his physician the insur-ance company would not

reconsider. Now, many years later,

his wife has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and he is still fit and extremely active, including mountain biking and skiing, with no health needs even loom-ing. In his words, “Now I’m determined to beat them at their game by not needing it [LTC Insurance].”

There are a few other common pitfalls to watch out for.

While many LTC policies do cover assisted liv-ing, some do not kick in until skilled nursing care is needed. In addition, even with a skilled nursing stay,

some policies do not allow Medicare covered days to count towards the elimi-nation period, meaning you will have Medicare co-insurance to pay during that stay, which can be as long as 100 days.

In addition to the WA Office of the Insur-ance Commissioner, you can find great resources through the National Asso-ciation of Insurance Com-missioners (www.naic.org), Washington State Health Insurance Assistance Pro-grams (1-800-397-4422), and the Aging & Disability Services Administration (www.aasa.dshs.wa.gov).

[9]August 3 , 2012

Cheers to our newest restaurant & bar!Find the all-new BSB in our non-smoking section. Offering a variety of gourmet burgers, premium spirits and ice cold beer, there’s something here for everyone!

Marti ReederREALTOR | BROKER | CRS

[email protected]

marti-realtor.com

65

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206-391-0388marti-realtor.com

With fewer homeson the market,

this is the best timeto sell a home

in years—is this summer the time

to make your move?

[ GILLETTE from page 6]

BY TJ MARTINELL

[email protected]

This could be the year that the Lake Wilderness Golf Course breaks even.

Although it is forecasted to require a $44,000 subsidy from the city of Maple Valley, Finance Director Tony McCarthy stated that, given the right conditions, that subsidy might not be needed.

According to a financial report dated June 30, the golf course is forecasted to

bring in 89 percent of its es-timated revenue and spend 93 percent of its estimated expenditures.

Yet McCarthy said in the month since then the forecast, particularly in the past two weeks, has seen improvement. He added the city might not spend money that is included in the estimations.

“The big part of next year’s budget is we were supposed to buy some new mowers,” he said. “I don’t know when we get around

to doing the budget wheth-er we buy them or not. The mowers are breaking down all the time.”

Even if the golf course ul-timately required a $44,000 subsidy from the city, it’s less than the $91,000 subsidy it needed last year, which was a 285 percent decrease from 2010 when it cost the city $228,000.

McCarthy stated that the biggest improvement with the golf course’s financial situation has been better handling of the restaurant

operations.“We’ve made some

improvements there,” McCarthy said. “They’ve been able to at least on the restaurant and on the whole keep minimizing expenses. Basically they decreased the number of hours in the restaurant and fewer people in the restaurant. We still have a good chance (of breaking even). If we have a good weather month, then it could end up being a positive number and we don’t have to transfer any

money.”City Manager David

Johnston said that cutting down on restaurant opera-tions, plus good weather, has enabled the golf course to reach where it is.

“We’ve cut down the food and beverage,” he said. “You need to have some food and beverage to support golf-ing…but we don’t have the same (food and beverage) model when I got here in (20)09 when it was full bar, full restaurant. But it still costs money and we’ve been

having good golfing activ-ity. In May we had wonder-ful weekends. July has been just great.”

Johnston echoed Mc-Carthy’s theory that good weather equals higher revenues from the course.

He added, however, that the building for the restaurant will need to be repaired at some point, which may require the city to dip into the general fund to pay for that.

Lake Wilderness Golf Course may break even

more story online…maplevalleyreporter.com

August 3, 2012[10]

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Steve Torrence launches the Capco top fuel dragster from the start line at a race earlier this season. The 29-year-old driver has risen through the ranks and started his own team, Torrence Racing, in 2011 which has burst onto the scene this year with tremendous success including two wins in four final rounds. Courtesy photo

BY KRIS HILL

[email protected]

Like many profes-sional drivers in the National Hot Rod

Association, Steve Torrence, pilot of the Capco top fuel dragster grew up at the drag strip.

Unlike other drivers he has experienced tragedy that both propelled his career forward and brought it to a halt.

An accident which killed a driver led to an incredible

run for Torrence in 2005 after a battle with cancer in 2000 put him on the sidelines.

“That was probably the biggest victory of all (beat-ing cancer),” Torrence said. “That was way bigger than any Wally I’ve ever won. It’s been a life changing experi-ence.”

Yet Torrence has over-come that as well as all of the obstacles it takes to put together a race team and has come screaming out

the gate this season, going to four finals and coming away with two event wins while coming into the 25th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in fourth place in the top fuel class.

“We started 2012 just with the hopes of being somewhat competitive,” Torrence said. “I don’t think we could’ve plotted it out any better than that.”

All this after racing just three full seasons since

starting in top fuel in 2006.His father, Billy, raced

sportsman from the time Torrence was 6 years old. Before he got behind the wheel of a super comp car at the age of 15, Torrence had raced motorcycles but had bypassed the more typical entry into drag racing, the Junior Dragster series.

In 2004, Torrence went to Frank Hawley’s driving school to earn his alcohol dragster license, then in

April 2005 tragedy struck another family.

“Shelly Howard was killed in an accident,” Tor-rence said. “I was called by her husband and crew chief to see if I wanted her seat. I went in and fit in well with the team. We started racing in June and I had never driven anything other than what I had gotten my license in.”

Torrence drove in 13 races in the alcohol dragster

DRIVING TO THE

WINNER’S CIRCLE

Steve Torrence comes to Pacific Raceways this weekend ready to make a move in the top fuel points

[ more DRIVING page 11 ]

KENTWOOD’S BENJAMIN HEADED TO U OF MARY Kentwood graduate Mykala Benjamin was accepted into

the University of Mary, starting fall semester 2012.

Benjamin, a graduate of Kentwood High School, is

active in soccer, basketball, track and field and Conk Crew.

She has earned recognition as a member of the 2012

Soccer 4A Washington state championship team and

the 2011 track 4A state championship team, is a 400

and 800 meter state champion, the 2011 soccer offensive MVP, first team All-League, and All-

State honorable mention.The Marauders are part of the

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) in Division II.

Benjamin plans to major in athletic training. She is

the daughter of Horace and Angelina Benjamin of Kent.

[11]August 3 , 2012

AUGUST 18

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Emerald Park Elementary School, 11800 SE 216th St. Kent, WA

1st Sunday is Communion Sunday: with the FAME South Praise Team Accompanied by Shirley Lacy

2nd Sunday is Youth Ministry Sunday: with New Revelation Choir led by Donald Hurd

3rd Sunday is Women’s Ministry Sunday: with the Chancel Choir led by Sandra Smith-Jackson

4th Sunday is Men’s Ministry & Family and Friends Sunday: with FAME Choir led by Sandra Smith-Jackson

5th Sunday is Praise & WorshipMinister & Coordinator, Rev. Dr. Tom Carpenter

Bible Study: The Book of RevelationWednesdays, 7:00 – 8:30 PM

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previously driven by Howard. He made it to 11 finals and won nine of them en route to the NHRA Top Alcohol crown.

“If you don’t believe in God that season would at least make you believe in miracles,” Torrence said.

In 2006 Torrence got the chance to move into the pro ranks when he drove Dexter Tuttle’s top fuel dragster.

“It was a pretty big transition, but, not really as great as going from sportsman to alcohol,” Tor-rence said. “The quickest and fast-est I had ever run in an alcohol car was when I went 5.20 at 227 mph. It’s a pretty drastic jump to say the least. When these things take off you thought you were going pretty fast in an alcohol car, it keeps going as hard as you left if not harder.”

Not a surprise given the fact a top fuel drag-ster can top out at over 300 mph by the time it reaches the finish line 1,000 feet down track while generating close to 8,000 horsepower.

And the long, skinny cars can — when the conditions are right — make it down the drag strip in under four seconds thanks to the nitromethane-gasoline fuel mixture used in them as well as the funny cars.

What he’s accom-plished this season is pretty amazing, too, though given the fact Torrence put his team to-gether in three and a half months.

“We raced the last three races of 2006,” Torrence said. “That’s when

the demise of Torco Fuels began. I didn’t race in 2007, sporadically in 2008. I raced the full season

in 2010. Capco was still on the car, Capco is our family business. Last year we started the season and about halfway through we decided to start our own family top fuel team. We ran the last few races of last year just to get our feet wet.”

With crew chief Richard Hogan on board, Torrence has been able to put together quite a run so far, and he hopes to continue that trend.

“It maintains a level of professionalism and the expectations of what we’re trying to achieve over here,” he said. “We haven’t really changed

our goals we’ve just reached them a lot sooner than we expected. Now we’re at a point where we

try to maintain consistency and solidify ourselves as a champion-ship contending team.”

Heading into the Northwest Nationals, the final stop on the three-race Western Swing, Torrence said he is confident in Hogan’s ability to tune the car for whatever the weather conditions are be they 100 degree tempera-tures or 75 and cloudy.

“I feel like right now we’re in a pretty safe position, knock on wood, unless something cata-strophic happens we’ll still be in fourth (after the swing),” Torrence said. “We have some opportuni-ties to gain some ground and move into third. We’re capable of running in these conditions as well as 100 degree conditions.

“As for me, I just keep doing my job, practice on the tree and continue to be the machine and flawless.”

BY KRIS HILL

[email protected]

Jim Mabry hopes to bring home a Wally on his 61st birthday.

Mabry, who lives in Maple Valley, will be racing in two sportsman classes at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Northwest Nationals this weekend and the elimination rounds are on Sunday which happens to be his birthday.

This year Mabry will run in Super Street and Super Comp. He knows a little something about winning on his birthday because he did it at Pacific Raceways when he turned 45 in 1996. That is the only national event win he has scored since he started racing in 1975.

Well, he actually was street racing in the 1960s as a teen in Maple Valley, but the conditions became unfavorable.

“After I got out of the service the fines (for street racing) were heavier than they used to be, so, I quit doing that and began bracket racing,” Mabry said.

Mabry has raced all over the West Coast in his Super Comp dragster from Mission in British Columbia to Fire-bird in Phoenix, Ariz., to Woodburn which is about a half an hour outside of Portland, Oregon.

He’s been racing the dragster for six or seven years, but doesn’t travel as much now because it’s gotten fairly expen-sive, especially to take two cars, not to mention gas, food,

and all the other costs of racing.In addition to the dragster he’ll be driving a Vega station

wagon in the Super Street category.At one point, Mabry lived in Arizona for about seven

years, and a good friend whom he met in Phoenix told him that if he ran both cars this weekend he’d fly out from Chicago where he lives now and help out.

“It’s a lot of work to run two cars,” Mabry said. “There’s quite a few people I know that do it and it takes a heck of a lot of energy which is a lot more than a 60-some-year-old person has anymore.”

His friend Jerry, who is flying in for the race, isn’t his only supporter. Jim Kimmer of Black Diamond Automo-tive is his biggest advocate and Mabry said he can also count on Kevin Renick, who lives near Covington, as well as Howard Esteng. His girlfriend, Lynn Keith, is helpful, too, by making sure he’s got plenty of food and a full cooler before he heads out to the track.

This year Mabry has primarily been bracket racing at Pacific Raceways, which is just five minutes west of down-town Covington, but also made a trip to Phoenix to run two divisional races that weekend in order to have enough points to run the Northwest Nationals this weekend.

He’s enjoyed racing at Pacific this year, in particular.“Actually, the people have been pretty good over the

years,” Mabry said. “This year they’ve really done a turn-around. Their attitude toward the racers are we’re welcome. They treat you nicely, like they appreciate your business.”

Having a nice atmosphere at the home track will make it even more fun over the next month because the national event this weekend is just the start of a series of races whichculminate with the Division 6 run off later in August.

This weekend is a points series race, followed by a divi-sion race next weekend, followed by the division run off, Mabry explained.

“I am hoping to get enough points to get invited to race in the Super Pro class,” Mabry said. “The division run off is held at Pacific this year and it’s been seven years since it’s been here. It’s always best to run at your home track. We have a little bit of an advantage.”

And while the soon-to-be birthday boy doesn’t think he’ll win both the Super Comp and Super Street classes this weekend, calling it “a pipe dream,” he looks forward to the opportunity to win the event and bring home an event trophy, known as a Wally, on Sunday.

“I’m just trying to duplicate the Super Street deal again and see if I can win it on my 61st birthday,” he said. “I can’t quit racing now because I can’t postpone it and pick it up again because it’s hard to be competitive against the young group that’s out there now.”

Maple Valley racer hopes to win on his birthday

Steve Torrence hoists the trophy, the Wally, after winning in Atlanta earlier this season. Courtesy photo

[ DRIVING from page 1]

I went grocery shopping last week at Costco. They had an instant rebate on chocolate chip cookies with an unlimited number you could buy.

My family loves Costco chocolate chip cookies and as I stood in front of the cookies and contemplated how many I should pick up, the mother in me won out — I only got

one package.When I got home my

husband was still at work, my youngest daughter was babysitting, and my other daughter was still in Japan. So I decided I would put the cookies in our large freezer and save them for when we went camping next weekend.

Then I went off and met a friend for lunch.

I told my daughter to text me when she got home

because she was walking home alone. So I get the “I’m home” text, followed a minute later by a “Can I have a cookie?” text.

When I’m out with people I try not to pay attention to my phone, but since I had warned my friend my daugh-ter would be texting me, she didn’t think twice when I sent my daughter a quick reply: “Yes, you can have a cookie.”

My daughter didn’t keep texting me, nor I her, but the whole scenario distracted me. I was contemplating those cookies; thinking I must have forgotten to put them in the freezer as I intended. But I could have sworn I put them in the freezer, because I remember putting them behind the roast where no one would find them since no one goes looking for frozen meat products besides me.

I shook off my bafflement so I could reengage in my lunch visit. I was not going to admit to my friend I was distracted by a package of cookies.

When I got home I men-

tioned to my daughter I had meant to hide the cookies in the freezer and how I must’ve forgotten. She said, “No, I found them in the freezer.” It was rather odd how my daughter seemed to know there were cookies in the freezer. She never looks in the freezer for anything un-less she knows there is some sort of treat in there.

Upon further questioning, she told me she knew I went shopping and she was hoping for ice cream.

I still find it rather remark-able she found the cookies within minutes of walking in the front door, because it would have required she bend over at the waist to see them behind the roast. This is one of those people whom I share my home with that can’t seem to find anything when sent looking. Yet she somehow knew there was something sweet to eat in the freezer. Maybe cookies really can call your name?

She is not the only one of the people I share my home with who can’t locate items. My oldest daughter may be able to find the things I send her for if only she could re-member what it was she went looking for, where I said it would be, and how impor-tant it was that she find it.

So I really have no frame of reference on whether she would be good at find-ing things if she didn’t get

distracted on the way. I’m assuming she wouldn’t based on the results from the other two people living in my house.

My husband can’t find any-thing I send him for either, yet he can see a vintage car hidden in the forest a mile away. Maybe it calls out to him like those cookies called out to my daughter?

Most often when I ask a family member to look for something for me, it is not hidden away. It’s usually in plain sight. The key is they must actually listen to my directions, watch where I’m pointing my finger, and remember what they are looking for. Plus, if it’s not for them, they are less likely to find it.

But before you think the cookie incident has made me lose my touch for hiding things, don’t worry. When I need to hide things, I can hide things.

I’ve come home to find my family tearing apart my bedroom looking for my chocolate stash. When I attempted to hide those cookies, the heat of the summer day and the rush to make lunch on time probably addled my brain.

Next time I attempt to hide a package of cookies, I should probably put them near the cleaning supplies. I’m pretty sure no one would go looking there.

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