The New Year always rings in hopes and dreams for the upcoming year, and a period of reminiscing over the past 12 months.
Looking back at the top stories of 2013, there is a compelling mix of sports, crime, elections won and lost and perfect seasons.
Beginning with 10 and counting down, here are the Courier-Herald’s top 10 stories of 2013.
10 Nov. 27 – Suspects arrested for Bonney Lake High School bomb threat
Two juvenile suspects were arrested the afternoon of Nov. 20 for allegedly making a bomb threat at Bonney Lake High School. Students and staff were evacuated the morning before when the note was discovered.
It was the third bomb threat to hit the school in the last two years, one of which took place less than three months earlier.
9 Nov. 20 – Living a Jacoby Miles miracle
Nov. 16 was a day for a Team Jacoby miracle.
Despite the chilly weather, a large gathering came together at Lowe’s in Bonney Lake to run a 5k as a fundraising event for 16-year-old Jacoby Miles, who suffered a spinal injury last year during a gymnastics practice at Roach Gymnastics.
“This is awesome,” Jacoby said of the fun run Saturday. “This is amazing that all these people came out.”
The Gift for Jacoby 5k Fun Run was organized by Melanie Roach, owner of Roach Gymnastics, to raise money for the ongoing medical treatment and therapy for the Puyallup High student.
Roach said $15,000 was raised, which will help pay for five months of physical therapy.
8 May 22 – Sumner motel murder suspect arrested in Georgia
The alleged murderer of a California construction worker found slain outside the Sumner Motor Inn in December was arrested in Georgia Wednesday by Dekalb County Sheriff’s deputies.
Quentin Lorenzo Simmons, 29, was detained in his motel room shortly after 2 p.m., after deputies successfully tracked his location through his cell phone.
“(Deputies) spotted him out front of his room, he spotted them and retreated back to his room, and the arrest proceeded from there,” Sumner Police Chief Brad Moericke said.
Law enforcement had previously arrested Elyse Lattimer — a woman believed to be Simmons’ driver on the night of the murder, also known as Elyse Monique Gladue or China Simmons, according to the prosecutor’s charging papers — Thursday after she was discovered at the home of Simmons’ mother. She waived her right to refuse extradition to Washington state for prosecution in Pierce County Superior Court.
Lattimer faces one charge of rendering criminal assistance in the first degree.
7 March 6 – Sumner School Board approves hiring superintendent
Sumner School District’s Board of Directors voted unanimously Feb. 27 to hire Sara Johnson as the next superintendent. She was the assistant superintendent at the Lincoln County School District in Oregon.
6 Nov. 13 – Incumbent mayors return
The voters sent both incumbent mayors, Neil Johnson in Bonney Lake and Dave Enslow in Sumner back into office for another four years.
Aside from Johnson, the other three Bonney Lake City Council positions were won by incumbents. Council positions one, three and six were won by Randy McKibbin, Dan Swatman and Donn Lewis respectively.
In Sumner Steve Allsop was voted in for another term on the City Council. Earle Stuard, Kathy Hayden are new members to the council.
5 May 1 – Metropolitan Parks District fails
Metro Park District vote ended in a nearly 80 percent no vote during the April 23 special election.
4 May 1 – YMCA purchasing new site in Sumner
Representatives from the YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap Counties announced April 4 they are purchasing a new location in Sumner and approximately doubling their building plan. The location is a 10.25-acre lot immediately east of the intersection of 64th Street East and 160th Avenue East.
3 Feb. 20 – Eastown ULA passes council 5-2
The Bonney Lake City Council approved the Utility Latecomers Agreement for Eastown. The body voted 5-2 in favor of the agreement that would allow city sewers to extend into the development region.
The city has worked with Eastown landowners for several years on an agreement that would connect sewer service to developed properties in their area. Under the latecomers agreement, the city and Eastown Sewer Development Association LLC — the organization that represents present landowners for the area — will pay for a sewer lift station and sewer piping estimated to cost more than $1.8 million. The city and Eastown Sewer Development Association LLC would pay the cost at a 95/5 percent split with the city paying the 95 percent. If development takes off in Eastown, the investment will be recouped as developers and businesses hook in to the sewer system.
2 Nov. 6 – Perfect Season
Spartan football coach Keith Ross gets a water bath following the win over White River at Sunset Chev Stadium Nov. 1. Sumner finished the season undefeated.
1 Nov. 27 – Spartans state champions for second consecutive year
The Sumner High girls soccer team won the 2A state crown for the second consecutive year Saturday at Shoreline Stadium. The Spartans defended its state title beating the Bellingham Red Raiders 2-0.
Honorable mention
June 26 – Apartment agreement furthers Bonney Lake Downtown plan
After nearly two years of inactivity following completion of the city Justice Center, an approved Angeline Road apartment complex will soon advance Bonney Lake’s Downtown plan. Furthermore, the city has agreed it shall improve surrounding roads to support the development.
Sept. 25 – Japanese-American WW II internment: Ben Kodama’s story
It was the spring of 1942 and Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese government just a few months earlier. As a result, Americans of Japanese descent were uprooted and forced by the American government to live in internment camps. Ben Kodama was 7 years old when his family was notified they would be required to board a train for relocation.
The Kodamas had no choice but to leave their home and business. Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Feb. 19, 1942, mandated anyone with at least one-eighth Japanese blood be evacuated from the Pacific coast and placed in a government institution.
July 17 – ‘Most Wanted’ man captured
An anonymous phone tip to the Bonney Lake Police Department led officers to the Bonney Lake Walmart parking lot Sunday evening, where they found and apprehended one of Washington’s Most Wanted.
Willard Steven Stewart, Jr., 46-years-old, was recently featured on Washington’s Most Wanted as a violent criminal with 10 felony convictions — including a domestic violence crime in Sumner, driving under the influence in SeaTac and an escape warrant out of the Department of Corrections.
Dec. 4 – Vandals strike Sumner bridge lights
Sumner celebrated the 16th annual bridge lighting Friday evening, sponsored by The Old Cannery Furniture Warehouse. An act of vandalism caused the lights to go out one day later.
The electrical box was damaged and currently there are no investigative leads as to who is responsible, said Sumner Deputy Chief Jeff Engel.
