Off The Press
August 31, 2010
Against the assault on freedom No. 1
Greg Farrar Press photographer
Why should this writer feel it important to share thoughts about the proposed mosque and community center project 3,000 miles away from Issaquah, in New York City near the site of the World Trade Center terrorist attack? Isn’t that a little bit outside our scope?
I don’t think so, and to name a few reasons, here’s why:
• An Eastlake High School girls’ basketball player wearing a headscarf in 2007.
• Chabad of the Central Cascades, located in the Issaquah Highlands.
• The Vedic Cultural Center on 228th Avenue Southeast in Sammamish.
• Issaquah’s sister city relationship with Chefchaouen, Morocco.
• The local Christian churches of many denominations, including Serbian Orthodox.
• A local Baha’i faith group having meetings in members’ homes.
• The Sammamish Muslims Association proposal for an Islamic Center of Sammamish and Issaquah near Pine Lake. Read more
Off The Press
August 24, 2010
Interns reflect on a summer of deadlines
Editor’s note: This week, we turned Off The Press over to our four interns who have worked all summer and are getting ready to head back to school.
By Paige Collins
Paige Collins Press intern
A community newspaper that feels like a community in itself, The Issaquah Press newsroom is often a combination of smiles, sarcasm and stress. Reporters and editors alike, the support of the staff has been outstanding as everyone seemed eager to teach all they could.
The summer introduced me to new places and new faces in the area where I have spent the majority of my life. There is always something new out there to find out about and get involved in, and little ol’ Issaquah has more to it than one would expect.
This being my first experience on a real newspaper, there was plenty to learn and absorb. I wrote more articles and held more interviews this summer than I had in my entire life. The experience is priceless.
I would like to thank Kathleen Merrill, and the rest of The Issaquah Press staff for providing me this opportunity to learn and expand my horizons in journalism.
Off The Press
August 17, 2010
Laura Geggel Press reporter
I have come full circle. Issaquah is where my story begins and is now beginning again, but let me explain before I get ahead of myself.
In 2006, I interned at The Issaquah Press during my junior summer of college. Reporting for a community newspaper was different from reporting for my college newspaper. Instead of interviewing 20-somethings or professors, I drove out into the community, reporting on elementary school history lessons, Locks of Love contributors, the edible forest along Northwest Gilman Boulevard and the obituary of an Issaquah man who had died in a marine accident.
Community journalism inspired me, and hopefully inspired my readers. Issaquah’s students and historians welcomed me. I learned about the allegedly haunted train cars at the depot and about programming for the elderly at Providence Marianwood. I found out every person had a story when I threw a dart at the phone book and interviewed an Issaquah man who swore carrot juice had contributed to his longevity.
Bolstered by my experiences at the Press, I entered what I call my “year of internships” after college, first interning at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and then at a publication at Harvard Medical School. Read more
Off The Press
August 10, 2010
* This story contains corrected information.
Tim Pfarr Press reporter
‘Getaway car’ has the latest technologies
When many people think of car technology, they think of a stereo, a wireless cell phone headset, a GPS and a car alarm. However, sit those people in Car Toys’ “getaway car,” and they will quickly see an entire world of auto technology they have been missing.
The car — a 2010 Honda CR-V donated by Bob Bridge Toyota* — may look ordinary on the outside, but inside it’s equipped with almost $4,000 worth of the latest gadgets that keep the driver, the car and others on the road safe.
“We’re wanting to promote driver safety,” said Kyle Brehm, Car Toys wholesale and commercial district manager, who visited the Issaquah store with the car July 30.
“There are a lot of distractions out there on the road, and there are tools on any budget to help you be a safer driver,” he said.
Among the handy gadgets inside are a $40 Samsung WEP470 Bluetooth headset, a $90 Blue Ant S4 Bluetooth speakerphone that clips to a visor and a $300 Parrot MKI9200 Bluetooth system that links with the car’s audio system and mutes music when a call is received.
Of course, the Bluetooth mac daddy is the $1,800 Kenwood DNX9960 that has all the previously listed features plus a stereo, GPS and DVD player, although the latter only works when the car is stopped. Read more
Off The Press
August 3, 2010
King County Fair: More than just a family outing
Chantelle Lusebrink Press reporter
Since 1863, King County families have traveled from near and far — by horse and vehicle — to reach the county’s annual fair.
Today, the King County Fair combines the best traditions of the past, but reinvents itself each year, so there is more for families to marvel at while spending quality time together.
This year is no exception, with local artists, rides and a world of invention and farming at the Enumclaw Expo Center.
Hear music by Emily Pratt, Phil Hansen, Boys of Greenwood Glen and the Allegro Women’s Ensemble while hunting for custom hand-thrown pottery and intricate quilts. Read more
Off the Press
July 27, 2010
A hair-raising tale that will have you seeing red
The instant I popped out of my mother and into the delivery room, the nurse told my parents they had a redheaded daughter.
“Really?” my father asked, looking at my dark-haired mother and fingering his own dark waves. He said it was hard to tell because I was almost bald, but the nurse insisted it was red.
Now, thankfully, I have more hair, and yes, it has a red hue. So, it was exciting when I received one of my more curious news assignments this month: covering the Redheads and More Redheads Guinness World Record event at Skyline High School in Sammamish.
There were 901 thrilled redheads at Skyline, and though the most excited one of all, local photographer Anne Lindsay, wasn’t a natural ginger, she made up for it with her enthusiasm.
Lindsay called me the week before the occasion, proclaiming, “I’ll only talk to you if you have red hair,” before saying hello. I liked her immediately.
Off The Press
July 20, 2010
David Hayes Press Reporter
Don’t let ghosts get in the way of an opportunityHave you got a business idea but have yet to find the right location to set up shop?
Issaquah is rife with new business parks and other sparkling constructs. But let me tell you about an opportunity to lease a piece of Issaquah’s past.
Situated in downtown, right across from the police department, sits a 4,000 square-foot structure that remains little changed from its original 1946 design. What started out as an auto shop has morphed over the years into businesses including a candy store, an antique gallery and a consignment store.
Oh, and did I mention, it’s haunted?
With so many television shows about ghost investigators visiting some of the world’s hottest spots for the afterlife, this would be the perfect opportunity to capitalize on the craze.
Real estate agent Lauree Naval said she doesn’t have to tell potential clients, but it’s more than likely to come up in conversation.
“You absolutely have to be truthful,” she said. Read more
Off The Press
July 13, 2010
Bob Taylor Press sports editor
I don’t want to scare anyone, but please take a quick look at my column photo. You will notice that I am pictured wearing eyeglasses.
Well, that is no longer the case.
As of two weeks ago, I have 20-20 vision. With the exception of reading and doing computer work, I no longer have to wear glasses all day. Like many of you with perfect vision, I can wear Foster Grants on sunny days instead of dealing with clip-ons or prescription sunglasses. When I wake up in the morning, I no longer have to fumble around on the nightstand for my eyeglasses. When I get up in the morning, I see a beautiful world without the aid of eyeglasses.
What a world I was missing until last month!
Now, this is not an advertisement for lasik surgery. However, I did undergo surgery on both eyes for cataracts.
I’m not exactly sure when the cataracts started forming. I do recall last summer that when I wanted to do some recreational reading, I would move the book up to the tip of my nose. I thought it was just bad bifocals. Turns out, it was probably the start of bad cataracts. Each week, reading became more of a challenge. Again, I blamed the bifocals.
Last fall, when we had sunny days, I noticed my eyes were becoming very sensitive to light. I started wearing sunglasses more frequently, and often pushed the baseball cap down to cut out extra sunlight. Eventually, I began wearing sunglasses even on cloudy days — and you know how often we get those around here. Read more
Off the Press
July 6, 2010
Is that a famous person? Quick, get the camera!
Issaquah is not in Southern California, if all the rain and forests didn’t give it away. But our town on the edge of the greater Seattle area is linked to its fair share of recognizable and famous people. Some have moved here, others used to live here and some just drop in from time to time.
So, just who are these famous folks who graced Issaquah at one time or another, you ask? Modest Mouse front man Isaac Brock; Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki; sportscaster Rick Rizzs; former Mariners Jay Buhner, Ken Griffey Jr., Paul Sorrento, J.J. Putz, Omar Vizquel, Dave Valle and Jeff Nelson; former Seattle Supersonics Detlef Schrempf and Ray Allen; Pulitzer-winning playwright Brian Yorkey; authors Deb Caletti and Serena Rolan; actress Cynthia Geary, who played Shelly Marie Tambo on “Northern Exposure”; Lockergnome founder Chris Pirillo; and Red and Rover comic strip artist Brian Basset.
Also, don’t forget Colin Curtis, who graduated from Issaquah High School and now plays for the New York Yankees. Oh, and Train lead singer Pat Monahan lives somewhere up on Lake Sammamish as well, although that may be just out of city limits.
Others who have been said to live here include The Decemberists’ bassist Nate Query, NBC news correspondent Margaret Larson and filmmaker Phil Lucas, who passed away in 2007.
Many of the city’s notable residents have been featured in The Issaquah Press before, and it may not be unusual to see some of them around town. However, the more famous people in the area aren’t seen around town as often, and their exact whereabouts can be hard to pinpoint.
Off The Press
June 29, 2010
Warren Kagarise Press Reporter
Go bargain hunting with a Costco newbie
Costco Wholesale spends nothing on advertising and lacks a public relations team, but the Issaquah-based retail Goliath generates buzz aplenty.
Costco instead relies on customers — and the occasional endorsement from the queen of all media — to build business.
Take, for instance, the televised trip talk titan Oprah Winfrey took to Costco in 2004. The company paid nothing for the national exposure afforded to Kirkland Signature chicken potpie and cashmere sweaters.
Such Costco lore — the stealth marketing strategy, the casual corporate culture, the bargains and, of course, the bulk — had long fascinated me, even though I had never set foot inside a Costco.
For a piece in the summertime Issaquah Living magazine inside this newspaper, I set out to chronicle how Costco continued to thrive and expand despite the recession. So, as I reported the piece, I ducked inside the flagship Issaquah warehouse with a card-carrying member.
I received no Oprah-style red carpet treatment — although, to be fair, I had not alerted Costco execs to my arrival — but I left impressed. Not just by the sheer amounts, but also by the niceties scattered throughout the warehouse — decent wines, designer jeans and the like. Read more
