It has been a busy year here at the Covington-Maple Valley-Black Diamond Reporter.

There have been plenty of stories to keep the editorial staff on its toes ranging from uplifting to puzzling to triumphant to distressing.

Here we recap the 10 biggest stories of the year at the Reporter with the list coming in no particular order.

Walking their way to a cure

With close to 150 walkers, the Valley Girls and Guys 3-Day team, led by Ravensdale resident and business owner Tina McDonough, the Valley Girls and Guys raised more than $300,000 by the end of the 3 Day walk in late September. Not only was the team the biggest in the state, it raised the most money, not just here but in the entire country.

“When we started Valley Girls originally walking in memory of Michelle, it took a lot of work to get sponsors,” McDonough told the Reporter in September. “Now I can put something on Facebook, we get sponsors like that. It’s a no brainer. People want to be part of that, not just because they’re getting the advertising, I truly believe with all my heart they want to give back, they want to do something for the greater good.”

McDonough began this journey a few years ago with a small team of four walkers, including herself, after a close friend died following a battle with breast cancer. She has made it her personal mission to raise money to find a cure for breast cancer. Valley Girls and Guys has become a year-round, nearly full-time job for the mom of three, but it has also been transformative for her as well as empowering. And for the community, in fact anyone McDonough meets, she is an inspiration.

While there is a two-fold sense of accomplishment for this team in raising money and completing the 60 mile walk, McDonough said, there is something else they get from the experience.

“I know every single person on this team now and I consider them lifetime friends,” she said. “I think everybody on this team has gained the most amazing friendships out of it. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”

Elections change city councils in Maple Valley and Black Diamond

In Maple Valley a new face will join the City Council while Black Diamond’s governing body will go through a more significant change as two new members join the five-member council.

Sean P. Kelly (see story page X) beat Bill Woodcock in November for an open seat that had previously been occupied by Dana Parnello, who was serving out the term of Laure Iddings, who resigned at the end of 2009 after serving for 12 years as the young city’s only mayor.

Kelly is new to politics but not new to the city. He grew up in Maple Valley and graduated from Tahoma High in 1993. He currently works for the Tahoma School District.

The two incumbents in the Black Diamond City Council races were on the losing side of the numbers by landslide margins when the first round of election results came in the evening of Nov. 8.

Tamie L. Boxx-Deady was leading incumbent Kristine Hanson by nearly 47 percent and Ron Taylor was ahead of Leih Mulvihill by about 58 percent.

Joe May came out with a similar margin over Pam McCain. May was ahead by about 55 percent.

Those results were received as a message from the community concerning the way things were going with Kirkland-based developer YarrowBay’s proposed master planned developments of The Villages and Lawson Hills.

If the projects move forward as currently envisioned in the city of 4,100, it would bring more than 6,000 new residences to the city during the buildout, which would take more than a decade to complete.

A group of residents, Toward Responsible Development, are fighting the projects in court while the new council members seem to have a decidedly different take on the proposals compared to the outgoing elected officials.

YarrowBay backs out of Donut Hole purchase

At the time, the Donut Hole had shed that not-so-affectionate moniker for something that sounds more like a development in progress, Summit Place.

But, on Feb. 17, YarrowBay walked away from a purchase and sale agreement with King County when Brian Ross, CEO and managing partner of YarrowBay sent a letter stating the company was opting out of buying the 156-acre property.

In late June, King County put out a request for qualifications in a renewed effort to move forward on plans for the site, which is bounded by Kent Kangley Road to the north and Southeast 228th Street to the west, to be developed.

King County and YarrowBay had been negotiating a purchase and sale agreement for more than three years for the property.

The Kirkland developer was planning to build a master planned development with more than 1,600 residences along with retail and commercial.

The county and YarrowBay signed an agreement for $51 million and the developer was to pay closing cost on the property to seal the deal Feb. 20.

Sung Yang, the director of external affairs and governmental relations for King County Executive Dow Constantine, told the Reporter in July the RFQ process is in fact the best way to find out if there is a developer that will do what Maple Valley is asking for in the Donut Hole.

“To satisfy any questions the community and the city might have, I think that we actually have opened our process quite a bit…,” Yang said. “We brought in the array of potential kinds of applicants, which was a very significant decision we made to support the city of Maple Valley’s desire… in response to their particular request. We’re very committed to working with the city as we proceed on this issue.”

When Maple Valley incorporated as a city in 1997 the Donut Hole — which is home to a 13-acre county roads maintenance facility, nine holes of the Elk Run Golf Course, an active gravel mine and undeveloped land — it was designated rural which would allow for one home per five acres. It was also not included within the new city’s boundaries.

King County has owned the Summit Pit property since 1953 and expanded its use over the years to support road maintenance it does under contracts with Maple Valley, Covington and other cities.

Neighborhoods around the donut hole, some of which were built before the city was incorporated and some after, have between six to eight units per acre.

Tahoma girls cross country team wins state

It was a moment the Bears girls cross country team had been running toward for years. On Nov. 5, the team got to hoist the 4A state trophy, beating Bellarmine Prep for the crown.

Tahoma coach Gary Conner attributed several factors to the Bears victory. The girls came into the race all healthy after fighting several illnesses throughout the season. Additionally, they raced strategically in order to determine their competition during the district meet.

But, in the end, he credited every single runner on the team for racing well.

“It was a group effort,” Conner told the Reporter in November. “At that state meet, you just can’t make any mistakes. If you do, you’re a six to 10 (place) team. If any one of those girls didn’t run well, we wouldn’t have won the state meet. It was really all the seven girls.”

Freshman Abby Atchison led the pack for Tahoma, crossing the finish line at eighth with a time of 18 minutes, 40 seconds, a 23-second personal best.

“I was really thrilled with how the race turned out,” Atchison said in November. “I really just felt confident going into the race, and our coaches have been working hard to peak our whole team. It really helped me when the race started. It just really came together.”

The rest of the Bears team included freshman Delaney Tiernan (21st, 19:02), senior Juliana Mock (44th, 19:29) sophomore Maddy Dennis (101st, 20:20) and freshman Katelyn Sherick (114th, 20:28).

Valley Medical and MultiCare vie for turf in Covington

Construction began in June on MultiCare’s freestanding emergency department while crews started clearing trees earlier this month on the site for Valley Medical Center’s emergency room in Covington.

For more than a year, the two hospitals have been planning to expand services in the city of about 18,000, both vying for permission for hospital beds from the state while trying to serve Covington, Maple Valley, and surrounding areas of unincorporated King County that both believe to be underserved.

MultiCare, which is based out of Tacoma, has plans for the emergency department and later for a 58-bed hospital on the site. The goal is to open the emergency room in the spring of 2012. Next on the agenda would be construction of the 58-bed hospital with a planned opening in 2014 or 2015.

Valley Medical Center is also planning to construct an emergency department on a 10-acre site in Covington’s town center behind Safeway and Fred Meyer.

The Department of Health approved MultiCare’s certificate of need request for the hospital in December of 2010.

A certificate of need approval from the department is necessary to build a hospital, but, not an emergency department.

At the same time MultiCare’s certificate of need request was submitted, Valley requested 60 beds and Auburn Regional Medical Center 70. Both were denied.

In the meantime, MultiCare is also building a 10,000 square foot medical center in Four Corners on the site of Maple Valley Town Square, where the new Fred Meyer is under construction.

While MultiCare has offered family practice services at a small clinic in Maple Valley for some time, Hugh Kodama, it was clear that wasn’t enough for residents. Kodama is an administrator for MultiCare. He oversees services in Covington and Maple Valley.

“For the longest time we’ve been watching this area,” Kodama said at a groundbreaking ceremony for Maple Valley Town Square in April. “We thought there was a shortage of services in Maple Valley. We looked for the right opportunity. This was the right opportunity.”

Tahoma School District construction bail fails to pass

At the end of April, the Tahoma School District asked voters to pass a $125 million construction bond measure, but it became immediately clear after the first ballots were counted there wouldn’t be enough support.

The first wave of results on April 26 came in with 51.34 percent of voters supporting the measure.

A construction bond requires a super-majority or 60 percent approval rate to pass.

Kevin Patterson, district spokesman, told the Reporter in April Tahoma officials knew it was going to be a challenge but the need to alleviate overcrowding throughout the district was too great not to try.

School Board President Mary Jane Glaser told the Reporter in May the results were a disappointment.

“At the heart of the concern is providing the optimum learning environment for students,” Glaser said. “As our schools become more crowded, how are we going to provide an optimum learning experience?”

Glaser pointed out that 25 percent of Tahoma students spent significant portions of the school day in aging portables.

The district was seeking approval of a $125 million bond measure that would pay for a number of projects including building a new Lake Wilderness Elementary, a fifth elementary school, additional classroom space at Tahoma High, an auditorium that would be used as a lecture hall and performing arts space and significant maintenance at a number of buildings in the school district among other projects.

Tahoma Junior High is projected to exceed its capacity by 2014 while elementary schools are expected to max out in October 2015.

Had the measure passed, the average tax rate for 2012 through 2016, based on current conditions, would have been $1.41 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. This would translate to $33 a month or $423 per year for someone with a home valued at $300,000.

Tahoma last ran a successful bond measure in 1997. It paid for a number of projects with the dollars raised in property taxes and state matching grants stretched over nine years. The district has since had two unsuccessful construction bond measures, the first in 2001, the second in 2004.

It has also received support for its operations levy every four years for some time and the campaigns for technology levies have been successful for the district in 2006 and 2010.

Not long after the academic year ended, an ad hoc student housing committee began meeting to consider ways for the district to handle overcrowding, and the 19-member committee met twice a month for five months. It handed in its recommendations in October. The school board, as of Dec. 21, Patterson said, was still considering its options.

Covington City Council raises utility tax to raise funds for Community Park

Considerable debate led to the approval of a 0.5 percent increase of the city of Covington’s utility tax by the City Council in a 6-1 vote at its Nov. 22 meeting.

It was a response to a difficult situation created by a down economy that is not recovering as quickly as officials expected in the spring.

At the Oct. 25 City Council meeting, Covington City Manager Derek Matheson explained the situation to the members.

“I reminded them that the draft 2012 budget is balanced, which means we can maintain our existing services,” Matheson said. “But, we are not able to build, operate or maintain Covington Community Park unless there is new revenue or they reduce existing services.”

Mark Lanza was the council member who voted against the increase.

“I certainly have not taken this lightly and it has been hard,” Lanza said during the Nov. 22 council meeting.

The councilman said he is concerned about the funds the city may lose because of the state budget problems and the ongoing economic problems in the region and nation.

“Unfortunately I don’t have a rosy outlook for the future,” Lanza said. “If this was a good economy or even a stable economy I would have no problem with (0.5) percent.”

Covington Parks and Recreation Director Scott Thomas told the Reporter in October that the city becomes “acutely aware of what a problem that can be when we had to shuffle around Covington Days” in July because the usual site, Covington MultiCare, was unavailable due to construction. The Covington Lions club, which organized the event, had to scramble to find another site.

And there’s the fact Thomas “has worked hard over the past two years to put together over $1.5 million in grants from the state and King County,” the city manager stated.

Thomas stated, “The single largest piece of that money survived two legislative sessions. It will not survive a third session.”

That $1.5 million covers a significant chunk of the project’s $2.2 million price tag.

“If we don’t move forward with the project, that money goes away,” Matheson said. “With the condition of the state and county budgets today, who knows when that money will be available. The city has also invested $600,000 thus far to master plan and design the park.”

The city worked hard in its efforts to find money, Thomas said.

“We looked at a wide range of options and decided whether they were good or bad options,” he said. “We were thorough in thinking about where that revenue would come from.”

Following the vote Mayor Margaret Harto said, “This council should be commended for a thorough and sometimes emotional conversation.”

In 2012 the city will direct about $135,000 to the park capital fund and about $180,000 each year after 2012 for maintenance of the park.

One of the reasons the majority of the council supported the ordinance was the city had received about $1.5 million in grants from the state and King County. If the city was unable to come up with balance to build the park the grant money would have gone back.

Staff told the council it would have been more difficult to receive grant money in the future if they were unable to use these funds on the park.

The city has spent about $600,000 in designing and planning the park up to now.

The site is about 30 acres and is a collection of four parcels purchased by the city in 2003 and then brought into King County’s urban growth boundary in 2004. It was annexed into the city in 2008.

Phase one includes a soccer field and a trail system. In addition, the long term plan for Covington Community Park includes a plaza, volleyball and basketball courts, a large playground, a plaza, tennis courts and an outdoor performance area along with trails winding around the edge.

The idea, if all goes to plan, is to break ground on the first phase in the spring.

Maple Valley roundabout completed after more than a decade on the books

Years of discussion, planning, studies and finally construction led the to completion of the city’s first roundabout in June.

City officials celebrated completion of the project with a ribbon cutting at the intersection of Southeast 248th Street and Witte Road Southeast before the Maple Valley Days parade.

According to information provided by public works staff, the project was finished on time and about $1.4 million under budget, with the original cost of the project tabbed at $3.33 million. Maple Valley firm Goodfellow Brothers built the project. Funding came from a federal grant as well as from the city’s capital budget.

The roads have new pavement and bicycle lanes while there are new sidewalks, fencing, crosswalks, drainage system and left turn pocket for southbound traffic entering Lake Wilderness Country Club Drive. As part of the process, all overhead utility wires were moved underground. In addition, there is now a connection to the Lake Wilderness Trail and a new trail overlook.

Improvements on Witte Road extend from Lake Wilderness Elementary to just past Nazarene Church and around the corners on Southeast 248th to the Greater Maple Valley Community Center and the Maple Valley branch of the King County Library System.

Work began on the improvements and roundabout in July 2010.

Roundabouts are a traffic flow alternative to signalized intersections that neighbor Covington has embraced in recent years for the same reasons it seemed to make sense for the intersection in Maple Valley.

“Studies show they are safer for pedestrians and motorists, cheaper to operate and maintain, and better for the environment,” Capital Projects Manager Dan Mattson told the Reporter in April. “A standard four-way intersection, for example, has 32 points of conflict for cars and pedestrians, while a roundabout has eight points which are separated from one another. Roundabouts force drivers to slow down.”

Covington man arrested after shooting estranged wife at club at the Muckleshoot Casino

A 42-year-old Covington man was arrested after shooting his estranged wife, another man and his sister-in-law in the early morning hours on July 24 at Club Galaxy at Muckleshoot Casino in Auburn.

Cesar Chaparro-Vielma, 42, was charged July 28 with seven counts of first-degree assault for shooting Blanca Arroyos, her boyfriend, Marco Hernandez-Maradiaga, his wife’s two sisters and three bystanders in the early morning hours of July 24 inside the crowded Galaxy nightclub at the Muckleshoot Casino. He was held on $1 million bail. He pleaded not guilty on Aug. 10.

The man reportedly fired shots into the crowd at the popular night club, seriously injuring two victims as well as wounding five others, according to information provided by the Auburn Police Department.

“We don’t know whether he followed his estranged wife there or if he just randomly ran into her,” said Auburn Police Commander Mike Hirman in a phone interview Tuesday. “It appears that he loitered about the Galaxy lounge for a few minutes before charging onto the dance floor and firing several rounds.”

The man was booked into the King County Jail for four counts of attempted homicide. He is being held on $1 million bail which was set at a hearing on Monday.

Police reported that the man shot his estranged wife, a man she was dancing with and her sister at the night club. The shooting may have stemmed from an ongoing domestic violence situation between the suspect and the woman.

The suspect allegedly shot his wife with a handgun around 1:30 a.m. when he discovered she was dancing with another man, police said.

“He first hit his wife’s male companion,” Hirman said. “He fired one or two rounds at him and then turned the gun to his wife. There was a bit of a struggle at first then he was able to fire a round into her then he turned and fired, striking her two sisters.”

During the incident the man reportedly fired several rounds, though it was his wife and sister-in-law who suffered the most serious injuries, Hirman said.

“Other rounds were fired and three other individuals that were dancing got hit,” Hirman said. “He then exited the floor and security just about immediately tackled him as he was getting off the floor and heading for the exit.”

The man was then arrested by an off-duty Auburn police officer who “was able to get there and sort through the mass exodus and get aid units” on the scene, Hirman said.

According to information provided by police, four victims were transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, including the woman and the man she was dancing with while the other two victims were reportedly in satisfactory condition immediately following the incident.

Three other victims were taken to Valley Medical Center in Renton and later released. Two other club patrons were injured when they tried to flee the scene with the rest of the crowd.

According to a report by an Auburn Police Department detective, Chaparro-Vielma later admitted to police that he had followed his estranged wife and her new boyfriend to the casino. He said he “couldn’t stand it” any more, so he walked up to the couple and opened fire.

In the report, Chaparro-Vielma said of the shooting, “I think I made a mistake.”

Teachers misbehaving in Kent School District

The past nine months have not been kind to Kent School District officials.

In the spring it was discovered a math teacher at Kentlake High was having an inappropriate relationship with a student.

Just weeks ago, a Black Diamond man who teaches and coaches at Kent-Meridian High was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student.

Barbara Jeanne Anderson was sentenced to eight months in jail for first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor, according to King County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Dan Donahoe.

Anderson pleaded guilty July 29 to the charge with stemmed from a relationship she had with a 17-year-old male student. She struck a plea agreement with the King County Prosecutor’s Office in late July and was sentenced Sept. 9.

She was booked into the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent after entering her plea July 29 and will receive credit for time served.

King County prosecutors filed the charge against Anderson on April 4 after it was discovered in March that the 37-year-old had an inappropriate relationship with one of her male students.

Anderson pleaded not guilty to the charge in April.

The relationship came to light, according to charging documents provided by the Prosecutor’s Office, after the boy’s mother became suspicious after a meeting in February about his behavior at school.

In March a family member told the boy’s mother that he was having a sexual relationship with Anderson, at which point the mother went to school administrators to report it.

Ammons pleaded not guilty on Dec. 22 to a charge of communication with a minor for immoral purposes for allegedly sending sexually explicit text messages to a 16-year-old girl at the school.

Ammons, who coached boys and girls track and cross country at Kent-Meridian, was handcuffed, booked and fingerprinted and then released Thursday after he posted bail. Bail was set at $50,000.

The Kent School District placed Ammons on paid administrative leave Nov. 8 when the allegations first came to the district’s attention, district spokesman Chris Loftis told the Kent Reporter. Ammons has been removed from his coaching duties as head track and cross country coach.

A series of text messages reportedly were exchanged between Ammons and the girl from June 27 through Nov. 6. In an Oct. 13 text message, Ammons asked the girl to meet him for sex in the school’s weight room before school, according to charging papers. The two also exchanged messages about Ammons paying the girl cash for sex.

The case came to the attention of school officials in early November when a student at another school who knows the 16-year-old girl contacted Kent-Meridian Principal Wade Barringer about inappropriate conversations between a health teacher at the school and a student. The teacher was later identified as Ammons. School officials contacted the Kent Police.

Ammons is scheduled to return to court in January. At his next court appearance, Ammons could receive a trial date or attorneys could ask for more time to prepare the case.

If convicted as charged, Ammons could be sentenced up to one year in jail and fined $5,000, said Ian Goodhew, spokesman for the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. If convicted Ammons also would have to register as a sex offender for a minimum of 10 years because it is a sex offense.

TJ Martinell, Steve Hunter, Robert Whale and Dennis Box contributed to this report.