Co-op preschool planning auction
Tahoma Cooperative Preschool will host a fund-raising auction May 3 at Greater Maple Valley Community Center.
The Fiesta Family Night and Silent Auction is scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. A taco bar, fiesta-themed kids’ crafts and entertainment by Musically Minded will accompany the auction. Items for bidding will include tickets to sports and entertainment events.
Tickets will cost $5 at the door.
Army private finishes basic training
Army Pvt. Reed Baker, the son of Roger Baker of Covington, has competed basic combat training at Fort Jackson, in Columbia, S.C.
The nine weeks of training included physical fitness, combat skills, chemical warfare and bayonet training, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics and first aid.
Girl Scout’s work on awareness of disease earns Gold Award
Larissa Sychtysz, through her work on a disease that affects her younger brother, has received Girl Scouts’ Gold Award.
Sychtysz is a Senior Scout in the Covington-Kent service area. The award, the equivalent of the Eagle Scout award for Boy Scouts, was presented to her during a ceremony last Friday.
Scout officials said Sychtysz worked with the Scleroderma Foundation by organizing a family walk to raise community awareness of the disease. Her brother was diagnosed with it two years ago.
She scheduled the walk for Seward Park in Seattle, made brochures to advertise it, and designed and ordered shirts for the participants. She also worked with the mayor to declare Sept. 22 as National Scleroderma Day in Seattle and helped plan a public service announcement for KOM-TV’s “Northwest Afternoon” show.
Sychtysz is a student at Kentwood High School.
Pflug: Change state’s ferry system to save taxpayers’ money
A state senator from Maple Valley has called for a special session of the Legislature to reconsider the needs and bidding and odering processes of Washington’s ferry system.
Sen. Cheryl Pflug said last Thursday that Governor Christine Gregoire should order the session so that lawmakers can “change the procurement requirements to allow the kind of ferries we need on each run, inject competition into the bidding process and work smarter for the people of Washington.”
As an example, Pflug said the state should stay with a single boat design, such as the Island Home ferry, and order multiple boats. That would enable costs to drop significantly, she said.
Pflug said that rather than purchasing one Steilacoom II and two Island Homes, the state should order all three in the Island Home design. According to Pflug, cost estimates for one Island Home is about $47 million; for two, the cost drops to $37 million each; and for three boats, it drops to $35 million each.
Blood drive April 16 at Covington church
Puget Sound Blood Center will conduct a blood drive April 16 at Cornerstone United Methodist Church in Covington.
The hours will be 1 to 7 p.m. The church is located at 20730 272nd St.
Additional information is available from church members Peggy Levien at (425) 413-2674 and peggy68@comcast.net or Bob Garland at (360) 886-2246.
Information is also available from Puget Sound Blood Center at www.psbc.org and 1-800-398-7888.
The organization provides blood supplies for hospitals throughout the region.
