I attended a school career fair earlier this year — it’s always fun to talk with kids about my jobs, though I make it hard for them by requesting they ask me a good question, not one on their assignment sheet like what my name is (there’s a name plaque right there on my table. Kids these days).
Sometimes I get a brilliant inquiry; mostly, glassy-eyed stares.
This year, I brought one of the Courier-Herald bound editions, something from 19—something— 5, to show the kids what is was like a few decades back. And when I opened the Oct. 17 edition, I was surprised by an article I never would have expected.
It was about the White River bridge opening after it was closed by a collision. And the article was published in the same week of the paper that the White River bridge was opened this year, how many decades later.
“History repeats itself” is a cliché, but when you work in the news business long enough, you see it come true.
June 20, 1985: “Vaccines aren’t just for kids, but adults too.” This sure seems relevant to the current national conversation.
March 20, 1991: “Residents dump on plan for BD coal mine.” Black Diamond residents are currently fighting against a proposed gravel mine in Cumberland.
June 6, 1941: “$1,695,323 allotted to Mud Mountain Dam.” That was to finish constructing the dam, which happened in 1948. But the dam also finished a $130 million improvement to its trap-and-haul operation on 2021 to truck fish from the dam further upstream — an operation that began in 1941.
I didn’t have to search for these stories. I grabbed a year at random and turned to the first two or three front pages to find these stories that were immediately reminiscent of something that happened recently.
If it happened once, it will happen again.
But this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t celebrate “firsts.”
My son learned to ride his pedal bike this year without help this year.
My wife finished her first quilt.
I cooked my first goose (and it even turned out OK!).
And for all of us, it was our first away-from-home camping trip in the wild backwoods of Palmer-Kanaskat State Park.
They say that it is virtually impossible, for however there has been decks of 52 cards, that a deck has been shuffled in the exact same two ways before.
That’s not to say there haven’t been similarities, of course.
But this year, maybe take time to put aside the “grand scheme” and focus on your firsts – what makes your life special and unique over any everyone else’s.
They may happen to someone else, in some fashion or another.
But your life? That’s wholly unique.
Photos by Ray Miller-Still Former Enumclaw Fire Department Chief Randy Fehr was celebrated for his work in the city during the Jan. 13, 2025 Enumclaw City Council meeting.
10) FIRE CHIEF RANDY FEHR RETIRES
Former Fire Chief Randy Fehr ran the Enumclaw Fire Department for 25 years, and officially retired on Dec. 31, 2024 (but we’re still counting it for this list). Following in his grandfather and father’s footsteps, Fehr first joined up with the Cumberland Fire Department until it was absorbed into the EFD. He then had a stint as a firefighter at Boeing before returning home to eventually become chief in 2015.
The Enumclaw community was shocked when three teenagers broke into the Enumclaw High School on May 31, with one brandishing a gun and another filming them going from room to room. Initially, the Enumclaw Police Department said it was “very clear” the students were practicing for a potential shooting. However, after all three teenagers were arrested on June 3, the EPD said its investigation revealed this was “a prank,” and the firearm was an airsoft gun; the prank was to involve “a large amount of balloons released in a common area, like a cafeteria or auditorium. It did not involve anything malicious,” the EPD said later.
One of those arrested was a minor, who had his charges dropped by the Enumclaw city prosecutor; another was 18 years old, and his case was diverted to the county’s Juvenile Court Services.
8) WR BOYS WRESTLING TAKES FIRST IN STATE
Go Hornets! This was the first year that White River competed in at the Class 3A level, and they dominated the mat during the late February competition. Taking No. 1 honors after two days of competition were Hornet seniors Caleb Dale, the champion at 150 pounds, and Riley Simmons, who topped the field at 215. Each received a first-round bye and then won five straight matches.
7) CARBON RIVER FAIRFAX BRIDGE BUCKLING, CLOSED INDEFINITELY
The April 22 permanent closure of the Carbon River/Fairafax bridge had a ripple effect across the whole Plateau. The bridge was closed April 14 as a safety precaution when an inspection found unexpected deterioration in its steel supports, but later inspections revealed buckling support columns. This cut off access to Mount Rainier’s Mowich Lake area, which is a huge tourist lure; the town of Wilkeson, a gateway to the park, saw peak-season traffic slow to nearly nothing, heavily affecting the small businesses and Airbnb hosts in the area. It’s likely Buckley and Enumclaw were affected by the reduced tourism, as well.
Tanie Valison and her daughters tearfully hug after the the sentence of Andrew Baim, found guilty this year of killing Nick Valison back in 2023, was given the maximum sentence of 24.5 years in prison on Dec. 18.
6) BAIM HANDED MAXIMUM SENTENCE FOR VALISON MURDER
Although Andrew Baim murdered Ravendsdale resident Nick Valison in September 2023, his trial started two years later on July 28. He was found guilty of second-degree murder, arson, and two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle on on Sept. 9, a day after the jury was released to deliberate. Baim was sentenced to 295 months — more than 24 years — on Dec. 18. The saga’s conclusion brought clear relief to Valison’s family and friends.
“We made it,” Tanie Valison, Nick’s wife, said at the sentencing. “My husband Nick was a honorable man. He is loved and missed, every single day, and with this verdict, we can continue to honor him while also knowing the person who took him from this world will face true accountability.”
5) ENUMCLAW APPROVES AUTO LICENSE PLATE READER POLICY
The Enumclaw community debated the use of automatic license plate readers for several months, from when the Enumclaw Police Department began advocating for their use last May to the Enumclaw City Council’s approval of the cameras on July 28. Proponents of the cameras say they help law enforcement locate criminals follow up on leads faster; opponents say the cameras are an invasion of privacy.
“The passage of the ALPR policy was a huge step in the right direction to further the acquisition of technology that will ultimately make our community safer and increase officer safety within our jurisdiction. Flock Safety ALPR cameras have proven time and time again to be a valuable tool to recover stolen property, develop investigative leads and find missing or endangered people,” Enumclaw Police Chief Tim Floyd said.
The Enumclaw School District held meetings like the one shown to educate local voters about a proposed “critical maintenance” levy. However, the levy was rejected in the April 22 special election.
4) ESD COMMUNITY REJECTS “CRITICAL MAINTENANCE” LEVY
The Enumclaw School District was once again unable to convince its voters to approve a property tax increase following a two failed bonds to construct new schools and school facilities. This levy, which was billed as a “critical maintenance” levy, would have funded repairing constantly-leaking roofs at Byron Kibler Elementary, updating 1960s-era fire panels at Southwood Elementary, and replacing 1980s-era hot water heaters at Enumclaw Middle School; more than 54% of voters rejected the measure during the April 22 special election.
This may spell trouble for the district, as it has two replacement levies (meaning property tax rates won’t increase, if approved) coming in the February 2026 special election.
3) ESD RELINQUISHES INTEREST IN LAND FOR OAKPOINTE
As noted above, the Enumclaw School District was unable to secure taxpayer funding for new school buildings and facilities. This required the district to look for out-of-the box ideas — which led them to the Ten Trails developer Oakpointe, whose community was now lacking a planned-for elementary school.
In order to fund construction of a new school, ESD is relinquishing its interest in Ten Trails land that would have, in the far future, housed a new high school for $40 million; Oakpointe is also further financing $25 million, to be repaid via school mitigation fees over several years, and a final $3 million on top of all that for new sports fields.
This is a completely unique partnership, but Oakpointe has pointed out that growth has been slow for many reasons — but the lack of another school for the fast-growing community sure didn’t help.
2) BLACK DIAMOND CHOOSES TO WORK WITH PUGET SOUND REGIONAL FIRE AUTHORITY
The city of Black Diamond may have finally resolved a years-long debate over how to fund its emergency fire and medical services.
Since at least 2019, Mountain View Fire and Rescue — which provides Black Diamond with those services — has told the city that its contract is not covering expenses serving its residents. The council approved a new contract in 2021 with additional funds. MVFR came back with the same issue on Dec. 24, 2024, announcing it would not renew its contract with Black Diamond in 2028. This led the Black Diamond City Council to look into being annexed into a fire district; the only two candidates were MVFR and the Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority.
Both departments have their own funding model — Mountain View and the Regional Fire Authority both use the usual property tax structure, but the Regional Fire Authority also had a “fire benefit charge” set by its governing body.
Simply put, property taxes will increase if voters were to annex into either fire district; the Black Diamond City Council decided to attempt this with the Regional Fire Authority on Aug. 21.
The city has a while before its contract with MVFR is up, as it was not immediately terminated, but there’s may be a lot of work to do to convince voters to approve an annexation in the near future.
Photo by Ray Miller-Still After the White River bridge was closed, some locals like Buckley resident Brie Crites, owner of Puyallup-based Farwest Fabrication, and Enumclaw resident Frank LeTourneau, owner of NW Heavy Haul, actively aided in the efforts to repair the structure.
1) WHITE RIVER BRIDGE CLOSED AFTER COLLISION
Likely to no one’s surprise, this year’s top news story was about the White River bridge and its extreme disruption to the Plateau area. The bridged closed Aug. 18, after a vac truck struck the top of the structure in multiple areas. The closure meant what was a 10-minute drive (as long as you weren’t caught up in the Buckley Crawl) turned into an hour commute; alternatively, people crossed the new Foothills Trail pedestrian bridge.
The state originally said the bridge would be open between Halloween and mid-November — much to the chagrin of walkers that would have to start weathering the rain and cold as they crossed the bridge. However, with crews working 24/7, it was a great surprise that the bridge fully opened to traffic again on Oct. 17.
“You don’t often see such a quick turnaround and such a quick success story with government,” King County Council member Reagan Dunn said, thanking Gov. Bob Ferguson at the reopening ceremony for his “lightning fast response” to the emergency. “… It’s one of the best I’ve ever seen.”
