Already have an account? Log in here find out how a Kirkland contestant fared on an episode of 'Wheel of Fortune' this week downtown Bellevue debuts its first head spa Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Monday (May 5) for more than 3,200 seats on city councils The prosecutor reported that Chase Jones was traveling at 112 mph when he crashed into the victims Bob Ferguson says federal funds are needed to address $34 million in damage caused by the storm millions of people have awakened and grabbed not their phones filling stream-of-consciousness “Morning Pages” — a creativity-boosting ritual first prescribed in author Julia Cameron’s breakthrough book “The Artist’s Way.” (The book has sold more than 5 million copies.) Cameron has published “The Listening Path,” which lays out a six-week method of creative and personal transformation through better listening to not just others Cameron will be in conversation with her editor and publisher, Joel Fotinos, at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 16, in a virtual event hosted by Bothell’s East West Bookshop. “The Listening Path” was a long time in the making.  I moved from busy and noisy New York to calm and quiet Santa Fe New Mexico. The change was abrupt and healing. In the quiet of my new home I began thinking about sound. When I went to lunch with my publisher Joel Fotinos he asked me what I was thinking about and I said “I’d love to hear more on that.” So his curiosity Why is this a good time for a book like “The Listening Path” I think that our enforced solitude has caused many of us to be more introspective.  “The Listening Path” provides a channel for our often chaotic energies to quiet and deepen. Now is a good time for a book on listening as we are all listening — like it or not — to our tumultuous thoughts Do you think that people are more open to creative and personal transformation after their experiences in lockdown Yes. I believe that lockdown has shown us a need to be in touch and comfortable with our authentic selves. It’s “now or never,” we may catch ourselves thinking How has the pandemic impacted people’s creativity and sense of self Our identity has come to be seen as something separate and distinct from our previous markers. We no longer feel it is our job we are led through the long hours of the pandemic to seek spiritual grounding. I believe this is good and the silver lining of difficult times.  What makes it difficult for people to really listen Does it have anything to do with social media and the ways in which our attention is pulled in so many directions People find it difficult to listen because they are overwhelmed by the input coming to us from all directions — social media All of these things make it difficult for people to focus on the root of all listening: the still small voice that wells up from within.  Do you see “The Listening Path” as a workbook for reentry I believe “The Listening Path” is needed in our current times and will be needed is the practice of Morning Pages: Three pages of longhand done “first things first.” The pages quiet our chaotic thoughts and allow us to be authentically present.  The second tool is focusing on the sounds in our environment perhaps keeping a weekly log of the sounds that we daily encounter. This allows us to tune in The third tool involves listening to others without interruption; allowing our intimates to fully finish their thoughts which often surprise us. These three simple tools awaken our inner listener allowing us to be more present and fully engaged What are some of the common experiences people have shared with you about “The Artist’s Way” Are there common threads in the way the book but you used them.” Practitioners report a heightened spiritual awareness: “My perception of the world shifted from hostile and threatening to encouraging and benevolent.” Many people speak of what might be called “God consciousness.” I don’t think it matters what you name it; the tools of “The Artist’s Way” engender a spiritual awakening. As the book title says “The Artist’s Way” is a spiritual path to higher creativity I have found creativity and spirituality to be intertwined. If you work on your creativity your spirituality increases; if you work on your spirituality your creativity increases. People sometimes tell me Julia Cameron will discuss “The Listening Path” in a virtual event hosted by East West Bookshop at 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16. See eastwestbookshop.com for details; $35 admission includes a copy of the book The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times Stay secure and make sure you have the best reading experience possible by upgrading your browser I’m interested in building a community that (cares),” said Ryan Meeks pastor of the non-denominational EastLake Community Church which sits in a Bothell warehouse completely devoid of any bell towers or stained-glass windows Puget Sound area organizations and businesses strive to normalize the topic of dying “It’s so wonderful connecting with all these women,” said breast cancer survivor Jennifer Dovey For people who may be new to house plants or those who want a way to help spruce up their living space .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Terry Richard | The Oregonian/OregonLiveMcMenamins' first large entertainment venue in the Seattle metro area opened Thursday to a huge crowd as wave after wave of visitors curious to see the show packed the grounds of the former junior high school in Bothell Located northeast of Lake Washington's north end the City of Bothell actively sought the Portland restaurant chain to develop the old Anderson School grounds and help lead a renovation of the city's downtown If Thursday's crowd at three restaurants, movie theater, Olympic size swimming pool and 72-room hotel was an indication, the renaissance of downtown Bothell is well on its way with the opening of McMenamins Anderson School The grand opening celebration continues Friday and Saturday a Bothell resident in her mid-30s who was joined at the party by four female friends "This is a place we really needed." which has been renovating historic properties for 30 years and turning each into a unique entertainment venue Edgefield at Troutdale east of Portland remains the flagship destination in the empire of about 60 venues but Anderson School enters the picture at No 2 alongside Kennedy School in Northeast Portland and the Grand Lodge in Forest Grove McMenamins has three other pubs in the Seattle area and 10 overnight lodges in Oregon and Washington The McMenamins chain reaches from Roseburg in southern Oregon to Mill Creek just north of Bothell and from Bend on the east side of the Oregon Cascades to Lincoln City on the Oregon coast Many of the larger McMenamins developments opened amenities in phases but the $26 million Anderson School development opened all at once Woodshop and North Shore Lagoon restaurants meeting/entertainment facilities in Haynes Hall and a meeting room named for one of Bothell Junior High's most famous graduates McMenamins staff of historians was hunting down two more famous Bothell Junior High students both said to be members of the 1970s Seattle rock band Heart on Thursday evening as the grand opening party continued long into the night McMenamins Anderson School is at 18603 Bothell Way N.E., Bothell; 425-398-0122; mcmenamins.com More reports about the opening of Anderson School entertainment complex: McMenamins' new Seattle-area venue key cog in revitalization of Bothell The Shed warms guests at McMenamins Anderson School McMenamins Anderson School in Bothell, venue by venue McMenamins opens Anderson School with huge Bothell party McMenamins North Shore Lagoon blends tiki bar Anderson School features Tavern on the Square, Woodshop restaurants Anderson School features Patty Murray Room, movie theater McMenamins Anderson School's Main Lodge features 72 guest rooms Five places to go when staying in Bothell -- Terry Richard trichard@oregonian.com 503-221-8222; @trichardpdx Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025) © 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us) The material on this site may not be reproduced except with the prior written permission of Advance Local Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site YouTube's privacy policy is available here and YouTube's terms of service is available here Ad Choices \n m_gallery = \"mcmenamins_anderson_school\";\n m_gallery_id = \"18982102\";\n m_gallery_title = \"McMenamins Anderson School\";\n m_gallery_blog_id = \"4450\";\n m_gallery_creation_date = \"Friday 7:49 AM\";\n m_gallery_permalink = \"http://photos.oregonlive.com/4450/gallery/mcmenamins_anderson_school/index.html\";\n m_gallery_json = \"https://blog.oregonlive.com/photogallery/4450/18982102.json\";\n m_gallery_pagetype = \"embed\";\n m_gallery_type = \"photo\";\n <\/script>\n Bothell Firefighter Adam Lamb will trade in his fireman boots for jingle bells on his running shoes as he laces up for the 2009 Jingle Bell Run & Walk benefiting the Arthritis Foundation the Grand Kyiv Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” will showcase the most prestigious ballet dancers from Ukraine People who live near the UW Bothell campus are upset about a proposal to build a dorm for 500 students 60 feet from their backyards lights and the inevitable bad behavior of young adults away from home for the first time When the University of Washington Bothell campus opened in 1990 it was strictly a commuter school meant to serve North King and Snohomish counties Students didn’t have the option of living on the hillside campus restored wetlands and Interstate 405 to the east As it has grown and added four-year degrees The university several years ago bought a nearby apartment complex and leased another but together they total 270 beds for a campus of more than 5,000 students The dining choices are also limited to a Subway and two tiny coffee shops 500-resident dormitory and dining hall at the top of the hill 60 feet from an adjacent single-family neighborhood alarms nearby residents who worry about noise and the inevitable bad behavior of young adults away from home for the first time We want them to have as much fun as we did as students If the dorms were located in the middle of campus they could have fun without disturbing anyone,” said Parvin Pemberton whose house in the Sunrise/Valley View neighborhood would look directly into the new dorm The neighbors also criticize the university for not involving them sooner. Some say they only learned about the dorm proposal in January, when the UW Board of Regents approved $3.2 million to begin the design and permitting process They point to a flier distributed by UW Bothell in December inviting neighbors to an open house on a “Campus PUD,” an abbreviated reference to what No mention of a plan to build a 125,000-square-foot residence hall “We were completely blindsided by this,” said Steve Pemberton is asking UW Bothell administrators to consider alternate sites Vice Chancellor Ana Karaman said the university has studied seven other sites but all lack the footprint needed for a similarly sized dorm A 2014 student survey showed that more than 1,000 students would live on campus if space were available The university hasn’t applied yet for building permits. Rather, together with Cascadia College they’ve asked the city of Bothell to retire the current land-use designation — a Planned Unit Development — which sets out the rules and conditions for campus construction The university wants to replace the PUD with a Campus District designation which would retain existing requirements such as building height and setbacks The change also would make city staff responsible for final approval instead of a hearing examiner Karaman said there are good reasons for seeking the change When UW Bothell built its most recent building it cost about $250,000 just to get the necessary city approvals That’s money that could be invested into students,” she said the university has reached out to present its plans and to form a landscape committee that would help design a 30-foot evergreen buffer between the dorms and the adjacent houses to screen noise and views She said the college also has revised its conceptual design for the residence hall reducing the height from six stories to four and breaking up the building into four wings set at angles to minimize the number of windows that will look directly into the neighbors’ homes UW Bothell has also asked the Board of Regents to postpone a March agenda item to approve the site and construction budget “We want there to be time for dialogue with the neighbors Our goal is to reconcile with them completely,” Karaman said The Bothell City Council has held two public meetings on the university’s request to retire the PUD Community Development Director Tom Burdett said that as the university has transitioned from a commuter school to a four-year college He agreed that current regulations governing campus development are cumbersome and costly neighbors would still get notice of land-use applications And staff approval of any new development could still be appealed to a hearing examiner Burdett said he thinks the university is looking for a process that moves a bit faster and costs less “They’re not trying to circumvent any kind of public engagement or involvement,” he said who toured the campus’ western edge and the adjacent properties last month with UW officials and about a dozen neighbors said he shares residents’ concerns about the impacts of a dorm 60 feet from their backyards Rheaume said he’d like to see the university keep the current rules in place for the dorm project “One of the main reasons the PUD is in place is to protect the character of the existing neighborhoods,” he said has already stapled protest signs to sticks and said the neighborhood is ready to demonstrate its opposition if the university doesn’t step up its outreach and find an alternate dorm site Her fear is that the university won’t stop at one dorm but will add more close to the existing houses as the campus continues to grow Certainly not next to any single-family neighborhoods,” she said you drop from the highway and into a quick chicane of lefts and rights You exit to a local road before crossing the railroad tracks and heading up the hill Within sight of the intersection is a converted farmstead You pull up and realize they closed their scoop shop for the season back on Labor Day That makes a lot of sense this particular Thursday Maltby is at one edge of 10,000 acres of “rural homes and hobby farms” that Snohomish County evaluated for inclusion in the Urban Growth Area (UGA) What’s being discussed is whether the boundary of urban development–the service area for utilities and public services–will close around a region of large lot residential properties at the eastern edge of Bothell The inclusion or exclusion of this area is not important in itself what does Washington’s Growth Management Act (GMA) actually mean The erratic boundary around Maltby and glut of sprawl around Bothell shows just how fragile the GMA has become For two years, Snohomish County has been examining the area of Maltby, Cathcart, and Clearview as the Southwest Urban Growth Area Boundary Planning Study We need to unpack this title a little bit because it’s only the southeast corner of the Southwest Area that’s under consideration.  The Southwest Urban Growth Area (SWUGA) is what most Seattleites think of as developed Snohomish County (map here) It is everything from King County’s north boundary to the Snohomish River There are other Urban Growth Areas in the county The study focused on one specific part of the Southwest UGA The western edge of the SWUGA is easily comprehensible The eastern edge of the SWUGA is more complex the boundary follows the ridgeline of the river and Lowell Larimer Road.  before turning south for more back and forth pickups and exclusions When the boundary meets the King County line it falls right in the center of rapidly growing Woodinville.  just east of where the growth boundary meets the Snohomish/King County line the boundary is wrapped to include the industrial and commercial properties on either side of the highway The SWUGA Boundary Planning Study area is formed by drawing a line from Cathcart to Maltby and eradicating the erratic lines and westward digressions in the growth boundary The study calls this space the SWUGA BPS area How about we call it the Clearview Cluster to avoid confusion with other abbreviations and to make sure we realize this is a tangible place rather than an abstraction the study does not come to a conclusion on whether the Clearview Cluster should be included in the Urban Growth Area (UGA) and service delivery to test three scenarios for development–“Current Strategies” and “Urban”–with the latter two requiring a change to the UGA These scenarios are now handed off to county officials to make the political decision about the future of the UGA boundary the study consultants created a Development Index for both residential development potential and commercial development potential These heat maps show acceptable spots for development considering vulnerability of the landscape and the appropriateness of uses in a particular locations throughout the Clearview Cluster the most suitable places for both residential and commercial development were along the existing edges of the UGA and along the main arterial of SR-9 The scenarios concentrate development in these places with the Current Strategies scenario keeping the same population of 11,000 people in the area and the Urban scenario adding 60,000 people The study then takes these projections and runs them through a series of tests to see the how much the two growth scenarios will diverge from the Current Strategies scenario There will be an increased need for transportation There are costs to these extensions.   The end result is a fiscal impact statement a calculation of the costs of developing the area versus increased county revenues Both of the growth scenarios see the cost of developing the area exceed the potential income.  While that fairly upside-down impact would suggest a hearty rejection of expanding the growth area boundary Mainly that “population growth on unincorporated lands in this part of the SWUGA exceeded long-term targets for growth and remaining land available for growth is in limited supply.” (1.B-2) Snohomish County is running out of developable land they’re running out of a particular type of developable land.  including the establishment of each county’s urban growth area must be consistent with this regional framework Vision 2050 is an evolution of its predecessor considering several new concepts like housing displacement and climate change The core of all the PSRC Vision documents is the emphasis on development in centers throughout the region Mixed-use centers and manufacturing/industrial centers are different sizes and scales The cities are just one of eight different regional geographies and consistency is just as varied as the centers themselves.  All of this is propelled by our regressive property tax system where community budgets rely on development and increasing property values Regionalism around the Puget Sound among four counties a dozen planning and transportation authorities and another hundred special service districts is less governance and more Thunderdome This competition has written itself into the Urban Growth Area There are five different geographies bounding the Clearview Cluster a municipality with zoning authority in a completely different county Their growth area goes further east than the boundary study proposes the Cluster abuts the municipality of Bothell as well as the unincorporated Urban Growth Area of Bothell It is not Bothell proper that has seen significant growth it is the unincorporated land between Bothell and the UGA that has exploded with houses Northwest of the Cluster is Unincorporated Mill Creek Although Maltby is an identifiable community but not seeing the type of development that has arrived near Bothell there are neighborhoods within Seattle proper as well as the urbanized region that have lost population during the building boom of the last decade.   This was recognized by the former State Senator Guy Palumbo for District 1 (Maltby and Bothell). While he was sponsoring a Minimum Housing Density bill to compel municipalities to upzone around transit, Palumbo said we’d have downward pressure on prices,” and that would reduce the pressure to develop in areas like unincorporated Bothell.  That applies to many areas within the Urban Growth Boundary It is just one type of land within this boundary–unincorporated land–that’s running low in Snohomish County emphasizes how poorly such development pays for itself.  The SWUGA study’s fiscal evaluation posits that Nodes or Urban development will cost the county between $800 million and $1.2 billion in expenditures over the Current Strategies scenario But the study sets the fiscal impacts of the Current Strategies scenario at zero Does this mean that the Current Strategies scenario pays for itself The Current Strategies scenario requires up to 87 new arterial lane miles costing between $600 million and $1.3 billion (7.B-29) Fire response is not meeting its benchmarks under the Current Strategies scenario (7.D-10) Almost every school currently serving the area is over capacity (7.E-4) and five new schools are planned at a cost of $400 million within or adjacent to the Clearview Cluster Three stormwater drainage improvements are underway in the area This is in addition to mitigation for 2,281 acres of impervious surface allowable under Current Strategies scenario The Current Strategies scenario costs are set at zero as a benchmark to judge the other scenarios just because it’s already budgeted does not mean it’s going to be paid for Using the same revenue model as the consultants the 11,430 people that currently reside in the Clearview Cluster will produce $139 million in revenue for the county over the next 15 years That is a tenth of the money needed to upgrade just the arterial lane miles much less the other infrastructure serving the area The Clearview Cluster and the county are already running at a severe deficit for this style of suburban development To take this deficit as the baseline scenario zeroing it out to cloak the fiscal sink that is suburban development is a fiction that does a massive disservice to county taxpayers The urban growth boundary itself is a convenient fiction.  Driving into Maltby gives a false sense of ruralness of the Clearview Cluster There are two other roads (no transit) that can be used to access the area: SR-9 and Cathcart Road Following either of them shows how development has already surrounded and passed this area the exit for SR-9 is just before the exit for Maltby Located almost exactly at the line between King County and Snohomish County a right turn from the exit will put you south into the shopping centers of Woodinville A left turn will send you north into an industrial valley and water treatment plant before heading up into the Clearview Cluster area.  There are wide shoulders and even wider intersections It rolls with the hills through trees and occasional driveways before hitting intersections with Maltby Road or 180th Street SE These signalized intersections are marked by gas stations and convenience stores.  it is a LAMIRD or Limited Area of More Intensive Rural Development LAMIRDs were developed as isolated clusters of existing development intensifying tourist uses relying on a rural setting or clusters of small scale businesses and industries They’re points of holdover development or new building outside the designated UGA.  The other way to get into the Cluster is from the north Cathcart Road leaves Interstate 5 as SE 128th Street a four lane arterial with a center turning lane the road passes all the accoutrements of suburban sprawl with grocery anchored shopping centers and stand alone Taco Bells the trees on either side of the road get taller and large privacy fences appear topped with barbed wire.  The curb cuts are replaced by large intersections turning into developments To the south are housing tracts named The Falls and Monte Vista Just on the other side of these developments is the northern edge of the Clearview Cluster area is the 1,800 student Glacier Peak High School and the 680 student Little Cedars Elementary School Then there is the Snohomish County Department of Public Works Cathcart Operations Center These public facilities are part of a 600 acre development of what was once a landfill The high-speed arterial comes to a three-way terminus at SR-9 This is the northern edge of the Clearview Cluster it is disingenuous to talk about urban growth overtaking the Clearview Cluster Highways like SR-9 and Cathcart Road roughed in the development pressure on the area LAMIRD designation and squiggling growth boundaries picked away at cohesive rural settings Now it is just a matter of deciding when to turn on full development Allowing growth to catch up is just the predetermined outcome when we answered the question of how wide to build these roads Not to mention almost 78% of the study area is already surrounded by the urban growth boundary and regular road maps identify most of the area as urbanized the question we should be asking is what happens on the other side of SR-9 When the four lanes of traffic come to a three-way stop The population density inside the Clearview Cluster is the same as it is just east of the study boundary Is this study is just one progression towards the next argument to bump the growth boundary eastward a little more those homes are conveniently obscured by good tree cover (and more than a little snow) But the next things to the east are real rural The ridge line into the Snohomish River valley It is easy to say we will conserve these areas a city with an urban growth boundary of its own we must also talk about the edge of urban growth If we put full capacity highways or brand new schools or commercial zoning right up to the very edge of the urban growth area the immediate pressure will be to expand the urban growth area “The ‘edge’ between these rural lands and the long-time urban industrial/commercial area results in its own set of tensions.”(1.B-2) The consultants then review the types of tools available for making this transition like designating permanent low density areas requiring open space at a rate with new development and using critical areas as separators between development and rural.  Some are design tools Then there are the big development tools like transferred development rights and land trusts There is a lot of discussion of rural “character.” One tool is not discussed: reducing the size and capacity of infrastructure before it approaches the urban growth boundary and that is why the irregular boundary of the urban growth area has failed.  An urban growth boundary does not make sense when we draw it to look like a North Carolina election district The Growth Management Act technically recognizes this calling for the urban growth area to be set by demonstrated need possible service with urban infrastructure Density increases show up in unincorporated stretches of the county Mixing the urban growth area with this mishmash of municipal and county boundaries necessarily results in even more confusion We see this at the edge of the Clearview Cluster with a gap in the growth boundary between WA522 and the King County line All this shows how the Growth Management Act is a fiction in all three parts of its title The Clearview Cluster is already the suburbs Only the Growth Management Act fails to recognize and actually address this fact Ray Dubicki is a stay-at-home dad and parent-on-call for taking care of general school and neighborhood tasks around Ballard This lets him see how urbanism works (or doesn’t) during the hours most people are locked in their office He is an attorney and urbanist by training with soup-to-nuts planning experience from code enforcement to university development to writing zoning ordinances but only because it’s no longer a weekly obligation The Urbanist hosts social hour meetups every month. In April, we’re hosting four social events and kicking off our urbanism-themed walking tours starting in Kirkland on April 26 we’ll be hosting a booth at the opening celebration at Downtown Redmond Station Check our urbanist events calendar to see everything happening this month, including events hosted by partner organizations. You can submit your event for inclusion KIRO NIGHTS BY DYER OXLEY With the cost of living on the rise in Washington families are searching for the best bang for their buck — where they can earn a decent living and not be charged an arm and a leg for it That’s the question that three professors aimed to answer. Yes, this is another one of those “best places” rankings, using various data from the census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, FBI, and more. This time it’s courtesy of the folks at WalletHub who put the three profs to the task of determining Washington’s best cities to raise a family Be honest: Is Sammamish really all that great? Considering 114 cities across four main factors — family life and fun; education health and safety; affordability; and socioeconomics — they determined which cities are the best to raise a family the “affordability” factor is largely why the state’s largest city — Seattle — isn’t in the top 10 Seattle ranks highly in other categories — first in attractions … actually West Richland has the highest family income when considering the cost of living In Snoqualmie and the median house/condo value is $568,963 Bainbridge Island isn’t too affordable and fun” it ranks near the bottom at 82 Bainbridge is frequently listed as the top school district in the state many of the communities are just to the side of major cities Seattle is the fourth best city for vegans Just a few other interesting points that WalletHub uncovered: the absolute worst city in Washington to raise a family is White Center This unincorporated community is apparently not too into schooling (72) and not fun for families (74) I didn’t say it — WalletHub did Follow @https://twitter.com/DyerOxley a leading manufacturer of rackmount servers recently received an award from the Puget Sound Business Journal as part of its new Eastside Fastest-Growing Private Companies award program This marks the highest increase for small employers in the last decade Lockwood Elementary School Principal Ann Madsen has been named the East King Regional Distinguished Principal by the Elementary School Principals Association of Washington The town of Wauconda finally sold for $360,000 to a Bothell couple after a month of bidding on eBay produced no winners And in a few weeks — after being listed for sale on eBay — it’ll have new owners It’s a story of the travails of selling property on the site the winning bidder backing out and finally a couple stepping up who had previously fallen in love with the town It takes an unusual person to try to flip a town on an auction Web site to buy this isolated place that’s surrounded by cattle ranches grazing land and the occasional sagebrush rolling along Highway 20 Wauconda is a pit stop at elevation 3,600 feet the nearest towns with actual city streets 42 — who once was homeless — sold the place for $360,000 She bought the 4-acre property in 2007 for $180,810 put down 5 percent earnest money last Monday The Loves are both unemployed and are selling their home and all their possessions to buy the town and move there The deal is expected to close in six weeks It’s not like Fletcher will walk away with a huge profit After all the improvements to the property Fletcher figures she’ll walk away with about $40,000 for all those hours of labor the sale will enable Fletcher to pursue her latest dream cross the bridge and walk up that other mountain.” “It takes an adventurous spirit,” Fletcher said of buying Wauconda “My husband and I are very unique.” Fletcher says maybe 100 families live within 10 miles of Wauconda That’s a long way from Wauconda’s peak population This is the third location of the town in Wauconda Pass as it followed the fortunes of silver and gold miners According to the Okanogan County Historical Society in the busy summer months with tourists driving by the restaurant employs maybe five people; in the winter Locals stop by to pick up mail — the post office leases space and has one full-time employee — and to gas up maybe have coffee or on Fridays the all-you-can-eat $9.99 spaghetti and meatballs This is a place where one regular calls himself “Prospector Paul” and when finding out you’re from the big city with 12-packs stacked beside the register) with about $100,000 each coming from the gas pump and that she netted $40,000 to $50,000 a year she worked for a distributing company and delivered candy and tobacco to stores throughout the county who had saved up money selling items on eBay — often clothing she had bought at thrift stores — owned a cabin in the area She ended up running the restaurant herself and becoming a stress case “What do you do when 50 motorcycles show up all at once and order food?” Fletcher said Bids for property on the Web site are nonbinding “Why buy a house when you can OWN YOUR OWN TOWN OWN YOUR OWN ZIP CODE … Single owner is tired and ready to retire … VERY LOW RESERVE PRICE OF $359,000 … Please bid only if you will honor it with some individuals putting in offers many times “I was logging in three or four times a day,” she said “I spent days answering questions.” Fletcher got used to fielding all kinds of phone calls like the apologetic one from the parents of a young boy trying to surprise his parents by buying a town.” Then there was the guy who flew in from New York The auction caught the attention of media outlets “I had people calling me from London “They wanted to turn it into a happening night club,” Fletcher said The high bid of $370,601 was from David Broadbent Fletcher waited expectantly for a wire transfer for the 5 percent down payment he said that during the time he was bidding had ended up in the hospital with some kind of illness “I can’t find mainstream financing in Australia for anything that’s offshore.” Fletcher began going down the list of other bidders There were no replies from the top five bidders They are enthusiastic riders of Harley-Davidsons a boxy Capehart brand from the early 1950s A sign explains that the antenna consisted of “2x4s and chicken wire on top of the warehouse.” “You can look up and see the Milky Way It’s God’s country,” Maddie Love said “You can hear the coyotes and wolves.” By the time the Loves first stopped by the town the price for Wauconda had come down drastically Fletcher had listed the town with a real-estate agent — asking price you can dream about really flipping a town Maddie Love lost her job in late 2008 after more than two decades as a trade-show coordinator When Maddie heard that Wauconda was up for auction “I fell to my knees and cried,” she said “Why didn’t we jump on it when we could have?” the Loves decided it was time to climb that next mountain Neal almost puked the other night when we signed the paperwork,” Maddie said We’re coming here with just the clothes on our backs.” she’s staying on for a while to show the Loves the ropes and it has to do with a past chapter in her life That chapter so traumatized her that Fletcher hesitated when talking about it She was raped when in high school on the East Coast “My life spun out of control,” Fletcher said Fletcher showed an article from 12 years ago in The San Diego Union-Tribune in which she was profiled in a story about a YWCA shelter for women It’s been quite a journey from that point in her life She also found that one of her sons had been looking for her she will have the money and freedom to leave Wauconda and meet them And that’s the story of the town for sale on eBay Erik Lacitis: 206-464-2237 or elacitis@seattletimes.com