Sewer rates climb

Brightwater costs at completion, excluding financing, could range from $1.84 to $1.85 billion, according to the project’s most recent quarterly oversight report. The report covers the quarter ending March 31, 2008. King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD), on the other hand, estimates costs, excluding financing, will be closer to $1.80 billion.

The Brightwater sewage treatment plant is under construction north of Woodinville on a 114-acre site near the Highway 9 / Highway 522 interchange. The conveyance system is a wastewater pipeline nearly 14 miles in length that will run 40 to 450 feet below ground from the Brightwater Treatment Plant to the Point Wells outfall, where treated wastewater will be discharged into Puget Sound about a mile from shore.

Michael Resende of Woodinville has been awarded the 2007 J.D. Spellman Award for Exemplary Historic Preservation.

Each year, the King County Executive recognizes outstanding achievement in historic preservation through the presentation of the Spellman Award. The award is named after the first King County Executive, John D. Spellman, under whose leadership the King County Historic Preservation Program was created and the King County Landmarks Commission was established.

Resende is an Eagle Scout with Troop 573 in Woodinville.

His Eagle project was the restoration of a milk house on the Dougherty Farmstead in Duvall, a dairy farm that is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Lisa Allen/staff photo
Michelle Chapman calls “Winston” the farm’s working mascot.

And a dream for girls who love them

It’s been almost five years since the historic twin barns off Cherry Valley Road burned to the ground in an overnight fire.

For owner LynnD Stiles and her husband Ken Balser, the loss was devastating. The huge bow-truss dairy barns were a hallmark of the Valley and part of a heritage farm dating back to the early 20th century. A mare and her foal also died in the fire.

Stiles, in an attempt to recover emotionally, went to New York for a time where she focused her attentions on rescuing horses, particularly the foals from so-called PMU (pregnant mare urine) mares used in Canada for the production of premarin, otherwise known as HRT or hormone replacement therapy.

SummerStage is about to heat things up in Duvall!

The concert series’ eighth season begins July 9th and will open with Left Hand Smoke, a contemporary rock/neo-soul group from Seattle. Left Hand Smoke’s music has everything you love about rock ’n roll: catchy hooks, soulful melodies, and a little attitude.

Childhood friends Ben Mish, a piano phenom with a blue-eyed-soul voice, and talented rhythm guitarist Ronan O’Mahony, were both attending the University of Washington when they began writing songs. They were soon joined by Ben’s guitar wizard brother, Will Mish, and the inimitable stick-man Andrew Cloutier on drums. The band has toured extensively on the West Coast, refining their music. Left hand Smoke’s early songs remind me of The Band and Van Morrison, and their newer songs make me think of Train and Blues Traveler. Their hard work has paid off as the single “Step Outside” became a top 10 request for Seattle radio station KMTT 103.7 FM (a live version of the song was featured on the station’s popular “On the Mountain 6” compilation). They also have TV licensing deals with ER and The Discovery Channel.