Staff photo/Ian Gleadle
There are 300 graves at the Woodinville Cemetery with two-thirds of them belonging to the early pioneers. Among them are Ira and Susan Woodin (Woodinville’s namesake), who gave the initial land for the cemetery to the town in 1898.

In between the hike or the bike ride and the barbecue, find some time to visit the Woodinville Cemetery this Memorial Day. And take the kids. It’s an opportunity to give them a local history lesson that will leave a more vivid impression than the one they’ll get from reading a book.

“The Woodinville Cemetery is where our city’s pioneers lay at rest,” comments Linda McCune, president of the Woodinville Cemetery Association. “Just by walking around and looking at the gravestones, you learn something about who settled this area and where Woodinville got its name.”

The economy is soft. Financial markets are unstable. And King County has a huge capital project in the works: the Brightwater wastewater treatment system. The new sewage treatment plant in construction north of Woodinville – along with its pipelines, pump stations and marine outfall – is expected to comprise roughly 75 percent of the county’s capital budget over the next three years. The weakened economy and unsteady financial markets make paying for Brightwater more of a challenge.

The wastewater treatment system is supposed to be paid for largely by new hookups throughout the system: “Growth pays for growth,” as King County Executive Ron Sims has said on more than one occasion. The emerging economic downturn, however, threatens a decrease in housing construction, which could mean fewer new sewer hookups. In addition, the instability of financial markets has increased the cost of borrowing money. Slower growth plus higher interest rates on borrowed money come just when construction on the Brightwater project is expected to accelerate toward a 2011 finish line.

Photo by Ron Bailey

Looking almost like twins, the old and new Tolt bridges sit side by side, a sight soon to disappear. The old bridge, built more than 80 years ago, has been closed since May 5 so crews could complete a road realignment to the new structure. According to King County officials, the tear-down of the old bridge will be phased. Part of it will come down in June, and then the rest during the fish window in July. It should be all gone by the end of the summer, officials say. King County has scheduled an opening celebration for the new Tolt Bridge on Friday, May 30 at 2 p.m. The public is invited, and can walk onto the new bridge from the east side. Limited parking is available at the boat launch adjacent to the east approach of the old bridge.The new bridge will officially open to traffic at 7 p.m., Friday, May 30.

Lisa Allen/staff photo
Carnation community members look towards the cameraman for guidance during filming of a “My Home Town” cable TV show at last week’s opening day of the Carnation Farmers Market. Everyone there was asked to gather together at the entrance to the market to shout out, “Welcome to my home town, Carnation.” Standing under the blue umbrella is lifetime resident Isabel Jones and just in front of her is Jackie Norris, longtime educational assistant and former secretary at Carnation Elementary.

Farmers market scene to be opening segment of show

Residents here are finally getting their 15 minutes of fame (actually 30 minutes).

Courtesy photo
Kip Brandon, winner of last year’s and this year’s Duvall Library Plant Sale raffle barrel, shows off some of the contents of this year’s barrel.

Kip Brandon is one lucky guy

When the winning raffle ticket was drawn at the end of the Duvall Library Plant Sale on Mother’s Day weekend, Civic Club/Friends of the Library Co-president Sue Juhre couldn’t believe her eyes. The name was familiar to her, in a déjà vu kind of way.

Kip Brandon, winner of the 2007 raffle barrel, had won again.

When she relayed the information to the surrounding crowd, there were groans and gasps: “No way!,” “How can anybody be that lucky?,” “Not again!” and “Are you sure those are this year’s names?”