This conceptual rendering shows multifamily housing above retail one of the project elements comprising Sammamish Town Center The street on the left that parallels the property is 224th Avenue Southeast This conceptual rendering also shows multifamily housing above retail a central courtyard for gathering and dining as part of the future Sammamish Town Center Construction crews work in late January on a large underground stormwater vault in the Sammamish Town Center area The vault will have a capacity of more than 1.6 million gallons and is designed to help prevent flooding and reduce erosion in rivers and streams CEO of Bellevue-based Innovation Realty Partners is seen in late January next to the 25-acre Lower Commons section of Sammamish Commons Park which the first two phases of IRP's Sammamish Town Center project will border the Sammamish Community YMCA is visible and part of the 5-acre Upper Commons section This map shows the general boundaries of the city of Sammamish's 240-acre Town Center planning area Innovation Realty Partners' first two phases of Sammamish Town Center include Nos and commercial/retail space; 6 being Brownstones West townhomes; 9 being multifamily residential and commercial/retail space; and 10 being Brownstones East townhomes Already built and operating within the city's larger planning area are the Samm Apartments Aegis Living plans a senior housing facility at site No Lake Washington School District has site No where plans for a high school were put on hold last year It was 10 years ago that Bellevue-based STCA LLC signed its first contract to purchase land for what would become part of a future Town Center in Sammamish — and work on the project has finally begun “This will be Sammamish’s downtown that it never had,” Matthew Samwick, CEO of Innovation Realty Partners LLC and managing member of STCA, said during a tour earlier this year of some of the 90 acres his company acquired from 2015 to 2019 for the Sammamish Town Center project except where it’s bisected by roads inside the city’s roughly 240-acre Town Center planning area That 240-acre area is generally bounded by East Main Street The city’s Town Center project area also includes the 30-acre Sammamish Commons Park which comprises the Upper Commons with City Hall and grassy areas that border Phases I and II of Innovation Realty Partners’ project STCA owns 70% of the developable acres yet to be built within the Town Center designated area Innovation Realty Partners is responsible for managing the project and overseeing the development and completion of the Town Center The city of Sammamish in 2008 adopted the Town Center Plan a comprehensive vision to transform Sammamish Town Center into an urban hub It aims to create a vibrant and family-friendly gathering place that strikes a harmonious balance between urban and natural elements restaurants and offices spread along 2½ miles of the city’s main drag the largest comprising the Sammamish Highlands strip center that includes a Safeway and a few professional offices next to Eastlake High School IRP’s Sammamish Town Center development will create an urban nucleus that will include much-needed multifamily and attached single-family housing IRP’s initial two phases of the multiyear project is planned to include 83 townhomes and about 640 apartment units including a Merrill Gardens senior-living facility About 100,000 square feet of commercial space is also planned Future phases of the city’s 240-acre planning area in addition to its own green space in a 1.37-acre “notch” park which connects to the nearby Sammamish Community YMCA and other municipal facilities — all integral components connected to the future Town Center hub so it’s the youngest city in western Washington and it doesn’t have a true Main Street … and it doesn’t have the services that the people of Sammamish definitely need — not just want but need — and we will be bringing those in phases to Sammamish,” Samwick said during a late-January tour of the property on the plateau above Metropolitan Market Work that began over the winter included the construction of a large underground stormwater vault designed for a high volume of storage within a small footprint It has a capacity of more than 1.6 million gallons and is served by an existing tributary area of 11.7 acres to help prevent flooding and reduce erosion in rivers and streams who worked 17 years as a lawyer focused on corporate and construction law before selling his practice and starting a partnership that acquired and sold finished or near-finished lots in the Portland area He then founded an apartment-development company IRP is finally bringing to life the plan the city adopted in 2008 to create a mixed-use community known as Sammamish Town Center IRP encountered some roadblocks along its decadelong journey “Those roadblocks were unexpected and disappointing We got into this project because we take on complicated real-estate projects as a mission statement and try to make sure we protect the environment while implementing best practices — and this one fit our criteria,” he said Asked how he maintained his enthusiasm and commitment to the project over 10 years We’re making something very important — (which) keeps us engaged It’s a beautiful city and we’re honored to be able to participate in it and we intend to see it through.” The first housing will start to poke out of the ground this spring beginning with about 38 townhomes Bellevue-based Terrene Homes will build Brownstones West and Scottsdale which has built communities in Kirkland and Redmond but Samwick would like to see the first 300 apartments and commercial space done by 2027 or 2028 Abutting IRP’s Town Center project are the existing Sky Sammamish apartments comprising 159 units above 13,000 square feet of retail space That development sits on the hill above Metropolitan Market and several other businesses and professional offices — all part of The Village at Sammamish Town Center within the city’s Town Center planning area outside IRP’s development but within the city’s Town Center planning area an Aegis Living senior facility is planned on the other side of 228th from Metropolitan Market and just south Just north of that along 228th are the existing Samm Apartments Just north of the proposed Aegis are the existing Sammamish Townhomes with 75 units Bellevue-based Aegis is excited about its project and envisions a 95- to 100-unit property at the site that it anticipates could get underway in first quarter 2026 contingent on broader market variables that are making it difficult to forecast things like materials costs Sammamish Mayor Karen Howe said the Town Center project holds enormous value for Sammamish you’d be hard-pressed to find anything like an obvious center of town,” Howe said in an email “This is one of those rare opportunities where the city and the property owner have been able to collaborate on community-centric outcomes.” who’s in her fourth year on the city council and first year as mayor “Instead of getting a swath of huge single-family homes we’ll be getting a variety of housing types Sammamish residents will not have to leave the plateau for goods and services.” Residents too often find themselves having to leave the plateau and drive to Redmond or Issaquah for certain items they can’t find in Sammamish That also takes revenue from the city and generally requires residents to have a vehicle “That’s actually not what people want,” she said They want to live closer to where they can shop for that aspect of life and so this is as close as I can think that we’re going to actually bring it closer to fruition.” People will use the Town Center services and other features “There’s a strong contingent that still remember when we used to have an Ace Hardware and they deeply miss — deeply “This is a desirable area for services to come into because we will frequent them.” citing the preponderance of existing homes are single-family detached The median sales price for a home in the city was $1.525 million in February “We need to shrink our footprint,” Howe said “We need to increase our density and in order to do that they have to provide these housing options which include everything from duplexes to triplexes to cottage housing to apartments to condos The Town Center project will include some affordable units About 7% of the 83 townhomes will be affordable for people making 80% of the area median income The same applies to about 25% of the first 300 apartment units Samwick hopes the project can offer some units at 50% of AMI “Sammamish has been predominantly single-family detached homes and communities without the proper array of housing stock and housing choices tend to have their own issues,” he said “A person’s life cycle of housing might be to start small and then you go back to what downsizers would want It's really a question of what else besides single-family detached homes does Sammamish need and it's single-family attached and mixed-use opportunities that's what the Town Center is supposed to kick-start.”  noting Sammamish will need to do more as the region grows But the Town Center will get housing production and housing choices “very much down the road for the things that Sammamish doesn't have,” Samwick said The 100,000 square feet of commercial space in IRP’s initial two phases will include “social retail,” or places to gather for meals and other connections “We are honored to build into an underserved commercial market especially in a thriving Seattle metro area,” Samwick said “We've approached every project we've ever started as a privilege,” he said “We look at it as a way of building bridges to community resources — and together we're going to build this; we're just the implementers and planners But it’s the people of Sammamish who have elected people who designed this plan now the east of the Eastside is growing up And that's the world we find ourselves in — and what an unbelievable blessing for the community that Microsoft is in Redmond and is thriving Thousands of Sammamish residents make their living at Microsoft and we couldn't be more pleased to have this opportunity to try to meet the standards of the people of Sammamish Sammamish is a community that's built around excellent educational assets in all respects nearly doubling affordable housing in Sammamish in our first phase So hopefully this will be the beginning of metamorphosis from the challenges of growing from a rural or single-family detached area into a more urbanized Email notifications are only sent once a day Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Last Monday I was in a Zoom call with reporters and editors pitching stories hearing updates on site traffic and learning about last month’s most-read stories online I’ve sat through many such meetings but this one was particularly inspiring What was different was that the reporters were high school students volunteering their time to produce the Sammamish Independent For five years now the online publication has backfilled the steady loss of local news coverage in the newsy suburban city Founder Lin Yang set out to start a community newspaper and planned to use adult volunteers to launch the publication But he decided during the pandemic to use students from area high schools who were stuck at home and looking for volunteer and learning opportunities “When the pandemic hit I realized I had this ready made pool of talent that was just dying to find something to do and it was all the high school students who were sent home because their school was basically closed,” he said Students not only inform the community and help voters navigate thorny issues like school levies they also receive excellent material for college applications and a $2,000 scholarship if they write at least 10 articles I think it’s a smart and creative way to fill gaps in local coverage It also gives students a great opportunity to learn about civics whether or not they pursue a career in the business There are many proposals to help save local news and the crucial service it provides to voters and democracy they’ll all depend on rising generations that understand and appreciate the importance of journalism The Sammamish Independent could be a model for other communities though they’ll need to find a devoted catalyst like Yang to get started and keep it going Reaching five years is impressive for any digital news startup. A 2023 report on America’s local news ecosystem found 541 digital-only news sites and only half had been around longer than five years Yang grew up in Sammamish and worked as a foreign correspondent in Singapore and Taiwan writing for outlets including The Straits Times The New York Times and South China Morning Post He now works in executive communications in Microsoft’s sales organization During his absence local coverage of Sammamish evaporated as local outlets closed or cut back on coverage even as the city in the Cascade foothills grew and prospered During high school Yang had written a column for the Sammamish Review newspaper which stopped publishing a few years before he returned home He found the new hub of local news to be a Facebook site that turned out to be a forum supporting a particular group of City Council candidates City Councilmember Pam Stuart urged Yang to start a community newspaper and worked with the Chamber of Commerce to line up $6,000 of seed money Yang reached out to the school newspaper at his alma mater and seven or eight students signed up to help out More came when he contacted Eastside Catholic and Skyline “We just started from scratch,” he said including journalists in Asia who spoke to the group and a friend at the nonprofit Poynter Institute who shared training material “Through all of these kinds of initial workshops we kept all the content and created a training program,” Yang said The Independent has now covered several election cycles and wrote 21 election stories during the last one It also broke a story about a candidate who was living in India and not in town for the entire campaign Students also led a virtual candidate forum during the last two elections and broadcast it live on Facebook Yang served as editor-in-chief for the first three years then decided to give day-to-day control to students The outlet also separated from the chamber and established itself as a nonprofit Funding sources include corporate sponsorships and Microsoft through its program that matches employee volunteer hours with a cash donation to nonprofits Yang also recruited others from Microsoft to help edit and guide the publication and the company’s volunteer matching grants now provide around 30% of the Independent’s funding led the call and shared that page views on the site rose 16% to 5,500 in February “That was pretty good,” she told the dozen or so staffers on the call Articles about Issaquah School District were the top three articles by page views The most read was an op-ed arguing that “It’s time for ISD to be fiscally responsible.” They broke into separate sessions to discuss different coverage areas then regrouped to pitch and discuss stories “This is a great crowd to hang out with and a great mission to be a part of,” Hongning Wang told me in a breakout room for the city beat and served as editor-in-chief over the last year He’s also advanced to City Hall editor He joined the Independent after having fun working on his middle school’s newspaper during the pandemic “I was able to see the impacts journalism had on connecting people,” he said “During COVID it was the one source of school unity I wanted to contribute the same thing in my city Wang is graduating from Eastlake High School and is interested in studying public policy there are stories for him and others to cover including the effect of tariffs in Sammamish the debate over raising height limits in Sammamish Town Center and so many more 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 by Joel Moreno, KOMO News Reporter SAMMAMISH, Wash. — An effort to bring high-speed internet service to parts of Sammamish led to angry neighbors and a suspension of the city’s contract with Ziply Fiber. People who live in Timberline and other neighbors complained that crews were digging up their yards without notifying the residents and damaging tree roots, irrigation systems, and garden plantings in the process of installing and upgrading underground fiber lines. “Not only a big truck blocking the driveway but two holes had already been dug, like chest-deep, on either side of my driveway without a knock on the door, no sign on the door, nothing,” said Arvid Grinbergs. “They tore through some fairly expensive tulip bulbs and daffodils that we had planted just a few months ago and they could have asked and dug the hole a little bit further up and then those things wouldn't have been damaged, plus all the tree roots of the evergreen." Mary North is another resident who wants some accountability from the fiber optic company. “The thing that got me really cranked up to start with was when they were cutting through roots of very old trees,” North said. “They have just plowed through with their ditch device, irregardless of trees and plantings and other things." Last week, city officials in Sammamish posted a notice to the home page of their website announcing that nearly all work by Ziply Fiber and its subcontractors would be halted. “Due to the volume and significance of issues, the City suspended all Ziply Fiber right-of-way (ROW) permits as of January 23, 2025. The only work currently allowed while the permits are suspended is the securing of active sites for safety, restoration, and erosion control,” the statement read. A series of complaints had been pouring in prior to the work stoppage. Aside from the tree canopy concerns, neighbors also said Ziply crews or their subcontractors had dug up lawn plantings or had their irrigation systems damaged. Prior to the contract suspension, a spokesperson for Ziply Fiber told KOMO News that the company would make all reasonable repairs and that many of the complaints had to do with people not understanding where the public utility right of way cut through their properties. Ziply Fiber said it notifies all residents with door hangers prior to any construction work beginning and they set up sandwich boards with similar information at the entrances to these neighborhoods. Some people in Sammamish said they never got any notification and woke up to find work crews in their front yards. City officials indicated that they hope to resolve the outstanding permit issues soon so that the utility can complete the installation work. For its part, Ziply Fiber plans to add more inspectors and require additional training for its subcontractors to make sure they comply with the conditions laid out in the city contract. Grinbergs and others said fast, reliable internet service is needed in the community and they looked forward to having another option, but are now reluctant to move forward with Ziply's upcoming service. "So I was looking forward to maybe Ziply but they may have lost a customer potentially," Grinbergs said. Menu Listen Watch SYML Perform at Evan’s Creek Preserve in Sammamish Brian Fennell plays a new alternate version of his track “Wake” that appears on a nature-centric comp released today for Earth Day With 232 pages and an expanded 12″ by 12″ format our biggest print issue yet celebrates the people and Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records the sophomore album from the endearing Brighton duo is a jolt of punk-rock beauty The NYC-based project’s second album delights in its confident sense of chaos with vocalist Cole Haden knowing full well there’s no way we’re going to avert our gaze for a single moment Channeling Ziggy Stardust’s glam transcendence Will Toledo resurrects the album as a grandiose narrative vehicle while marking his valiant stride into the rock canon To celebrate Earth Day today, Sounds Right has released a new playlist of original material called feat. NATURE which features an exciting roster of artists including Yann Tiersen These artists are honoring the holiday by infusing their recordings with the sounds of the great outdoors—from crashing waves to soft bird songs—in an effort to spotlight the beauty of the planet they’re helping to save by generating royalties for global conservation efforts Another artist featured on the playlist is Brian Fennell’s SYML project which delivers an alternate version of his track “Wake “ from his newly released Nobody Lives Here LP In addition to that version hitting streaming today we’re also getting an alternate alternate version via a live performance for “Neighborhoods,” with Fennell set up with his acoustic guitar at Evan’s Creek Preserve in his hometown of Sammamish the landscape in and around the city has always been special to me,” he shares nature has always been my way to reset.  “I chose Evan’s Creek Preserve because it’s close to my house “I’m releasing another version of ‘Wake’ in collaboration with NATURE for Earth Day so I thought it would be cool to do a live version of it in one of my favorite outdoor spots for ‘Neighborhood’ to highlight my little sliver of the Earth it’s up to all of us to take care of what was here before Check out the video below—and if you’re in LA, you can catch SYML at the GRAMMY Museum on May 5 where he’ll be in conversation with Aaron Paul. Find more info here Pacific Northwest utility crews continue to make progress on restoring power after winds from last week's bomb cyclone toppled trees and power lines over a wide area Puget Sound Energy said today that 99% of its customers are back online Cities such as Sammamish on Seattle's east side were hard hit. Officials there opened City Hall as a gathering place. KUOW's Kim Malcom talked to City Manager Scott MacColl about the storm and the ongoing recovery Kim is the local news host of KUOW's All Things Considered Kim covers breaking and developing daily news as part of NPR's afternoon drive time programming John O’Brien is KUOW's All Things Considered Senior Producer He spends his days setting up interviews with newsmakers on subjects from politics and public health to arts and culture John learned to make radio starting in 2006 as an intern on KUOW’s The Conversation with Ross Reynolds nonprofit news organization that produces award-winning journalism MYNORTHWEST NEWS A biker rides along the East Lake Sammamish bike trail in Issaquah (Photo courtesy of Washington Trails Association) BY FRANK SUMRALL racist graffiti was found alongside the East Lake Sammamish bike trail in Issaquah Sunday morning something residents claim has become a recurring issue “Unfortunately, when I hit the junction between the Issaquah Fall City bike path and the Lake Sammamish bike trail, I saw some pretty offensive, Nazi, ‘Heil Hitler’ graffiti right off the bike path,” Josh, a local resident and frequent biker in the area, told KIRO 7 after stumbling upon the graffiti Seattle-based lawsuit: Plaintiffs asked to identify and describe their tattoos; They say the request is racist The community quickly painted over the graffiti later that Sunday this isn’t the first time hateful language was tagged in that area “It’s the second or third time I have seen stuff like this in the area,” Josh told KIRO 7 “It seems there are one or more folks living in Issaquah who are pretty racist.” there’s just graffiti all the time,” Mario Coll “I saw like ‘White Power’ spray painted on that one like a few weeks ago.” The community has asked for both Public Works and the local police department to take these reports of offensive graffiti more seriously with some suggesting cameras should be installed along the trail to catch the taggers UW study: Significant discrimination in lending practices against minority-owned businesses Public Works in Issaquah does provide a way for residents to report any graffiti they see via an online portal on its website “They’re painting over it pretty quick,” Coll KIRO 7 has reached out to Issaquah city leaders regarding how the city plans to combat this growing issue Contributing: KIRO 7 Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest and producer of the Seattle Seahawks podcast, The Reset with Gee Scott. You can read his stories here and you can email him here Thanks for visiting The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here — Some Puget Sound Energy (PSE) customers that were told the lights would come back on Monday were excited and relieved when their power was turned on 24 hours ahead of schedule KOMO News traveled along 212th Avenue SE in Sammamish to a spot that initially had around 2,000 people without electricity Homeowners that we talked with said it had been difficult not having electricity for almost a week since the windstorm hit the area and sent trees into the power lines PHOTOS | 'Bomb cyclone' leaves King County in disarray with downed trees, power lines so we are some of the lucky few in the community.” Homeowner Sheena Sharma said “Restoration dates have been a moving target but completely understand given the amount of work the PSE crew has to do.” the once dimly lit neighborhoods saw a flood of light return at least 1,000 more people were back on the grid PSE officials said power had been restored to 97% of customers RELATED | Power restored to 97% of PSE customers days after western Washington windstorm PSE expects to have power restored either at the estimated time we provided earlier this week Due to the significant amount of damage encountered by crews in the field small groups of customers in the hardest hit areas of King County will see their estimated restoration time pushed back.” Most customers will see outages restored by or within a few hours of Monday at 10 a.m. But smaller groups of customers will see the estimated restored time moved to Tuesday at 2 p.m A Sammamish father is charged with second-degree murder after investigators say he allegedly shot and killed his wife of two weeks in their home Thursday night — one day after he purchased a gun — then fled to Seattle with their 1-year-old son A King County Superior Court judge found probable cause Friday to keep 35-year-old Brent Hamamoto in jail on suspicion of second-degree murder in the killing of 36-year-old Yiwen Lu He was being held in King County Jail on $3 million bail Monday King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Casey McNerthney said Lu died from multiple gunshot wounds to her head according to a report by the King County Medical Examiner Hamamoto shot Lu twice in the face while she was in bed according to the charging document filed in King County Superior Court on Tuesday Hamamoto had filed a protection order petition against Lu saying Lu had threatened to leave the country with their son A person who identified herself as an attorney called police Thursday night to report someone had been shot in a home on 262nd Avenue Southeast The attorney told police that the person who notified her of the shooting had left the home with the boy and that she could not provide more information according to a King County Sheriff’s Office report filed in court Friday The attorney did not reveal her client’s name Deputies responded to the home at 11:35 p.m finding Lu on a bed in a bedroom with a sheet covering her body past her neck revealing what appeared to be a gunshot wound on Lu’s cheek and two shell casings near her head Deputies kicked down the locked door of another room where they found a gun next to a drum kit the detective’s affidavit states.  The attorney’s client allegedly sent the lawyer a video of his son “who appeared safe,” but investigators told the attorney they needed to see the child in person to confirm he was safe The lawyer said the boy was at an aunt’s home in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood where detectives found him “in good health,” according to the affidavit.  The aunt told detectives that Hamamoto dropped off the boy at her house and told her there was an emergency and that his father planned to return the next day to pick up the boy also told investigators he received a “distressed” call from Hamamoto who said something had happened The attorney told investigators one of her clients called her asking for legal advice and they decided she would call 911 who is registered with the Washington State Bar Association did not respond to inquiries Monday to confirm whether she is Hamamoto’s lawyer Records showed a 9 mm Ruger pistol registered to the man had been purchased Wednesday Investigators conducted a search warrant of his home Prosecutors said it appears Hamamoto used the 9 mm Ruger pistol in the shooting Hamamoto went to speak with detectives at Sammamish City Hall where deputies arrested him Friday CRIME BLOTTER 2:39 PM | Updated: 7:15 pm Pasco man sentenced for possessing a large amount of fentanyl BY BILL KACZARABA A Sammamish man is facing a second-degree murder charge after allegedly shooting and killing his wife of two weeks in their home last Thursday The suspect then fled to Seattle with their 1-year-old son The 35-year-old man is in jail after a King County judge held him in the death of 36-year-old Yiwen Lu spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office he is being held in King County Jail on $3 million bail Other news: Mother, 29, arrested after son, 14, allegedly beaten to death for failing to do chores attorney Andrea Kim contacted the King County Sheriff’s Office on Jan 30 to report a possible shooting at the couple’s home She indicated that someone at the location had life-threatening injuries and the caller had left with his son Deputies arrived at the scene to find a woman in bed with a gunshot wound to her cheek and two shell casings nearby A firearm was discovered in another room next to a drum set Detective Laura Peckham was briefed by Sergeant Kim Detectives confirmed the child’s well-being at the residence Attorney Andrea Kim stated she received a call from a distressed client The client later met with detectives at Sammamish City Hall and was taken into custody A 9mm Ruger registered to Brent was recovered from the home where probable cause was found for second-degree murder Prosecutors anticipate receiving a case referral for a charging decision later this week Crime Blotter: Puyallup tribe member sentenced to 13 years for killing friend on reservation and no previous cases have been referred to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court Editors’ note of clarification: The suspect in this murder case purchased a gun a day before the shooting of the victim But official documents don’t state that particular gun was used in the commission of this crime or any other crime Bill Kaczaraba is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here. Follow Bill on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email him here Sammamish police are investigating after two students reported a man in a white van tried to lure them into his van in two separate incidents this week The student told his parents what happened when he got home from school later that day His parents then called the school and the Sammamish Police Department another student reported being approached by a man who tried to get the student to go with him in a van then the parents and police were contacted to report the incident “Sammamish police have committed to making extra patrols around the walking areas of Mead Elementary Additional district staff will also be at the school to help keep students safe.” School officials also asked parents to make sure their student rides or walks to school with another student or in groups they are canvassing the area for surveillance video to try to locate the suspect — In the aftermath of a powerful windstorm that left many without power and trapped in their homes community members in Sammamish are stepping up to help their neighbors recover from the destruction found herself unable to leave her home after a tree blocked her front entrance We’ve always done all of our yard work ourselves the owner of The People Come First Construction Group has been leading efforts to assist residents like Ek I started compiling up chainsaws and generators and some supplies and fuel tanks so that way we can come up with a way to bring that out to the community." Greaves and a group of volunteers have been providing free services "It bugs me when you see something like this happens and people start charging whatever the rate is," Greaves said Ek expressed her gratitude for the assistance especially after recently losing her husband and facing the storm alone These guys coming out to help me get out is such a gift," Ek said Greaves emphasized that their efforts are not due to a lack of action from the utility company but rather a desire to support the community during these challenging times by Jackie Kent — Tens of thousands of people in Western Washington were without power hours after heavy winds swept through the region on Wednesday A road in the Klahanie neighborhood in Sammamish remains closed to keep people away from a massive downed tree that toppled and took out power lines PSE officials say more than 100 customers remained in the dark by the afternoon "[We] lost power about 4:30 in the morning knew there was a tree down somewhere," neighbor Steve Ramsey explained RELATED: Strong winds knock out power to thousands across western Washington The view from the KOMO 4 Drone shows the tree landed on part of a home off SE 30th Street crews cleared even more downed power lines Neighbors told KOMO News they're feeling lucky this latest storm was not as severe as the bomb cyclone they experienced weeks earlier They reported their power was out for six days and added they're tired of these outages but are grateful for the workers who are responding "It seems like every time there’s a little bit of wind so I don’t know if they can bury some wires or do something else ," neighbor Robin De Linoy added "It takes a long time for [power crews] to get out here." People like De Linoy who are trying to work from home are left feeling frustrated and disconnected "We have a generator but it’s a partial generator and it doesn’t help us with Wifi," De Linoy said "[It] would be nice to know what’s going on in the world." PSE is working to get a timeframe for power restoration for the area This website is unavailable in your location It appears you are attempting to access this website from a country outside of the United States therefore access cannot be granted at this time It’s been a banner year for kokanee salmon which nearly disappeared from Lake Sammamish More of the little red fish have spawned in streams above the lake in 2024 than at any other time in a decade “This is a more successful year than we even thought was possible,” King County kokanee recovery manager Alison Agness said Kokanee are sockeye salmon that spend their whole lives in freshwater rather than migrating to the ocean and back like most salmon “The kokanee salmon have been with us for as long as we have inhabited the lake,” Snoqualmie Tribe member Sabeqwa de los Angeles said as several brightly colored kokanee swam up Sammamish’s Ebright Creek behind her “Seeing the kokanee salmon come back in high numbers is always very exciting for me Agness said the kokanee started swimming upstream to spawn a bit early this year “If you would have come here just a week ago you would have seen the entire creek pretty much covered in kokanee,” Agness said Before kokanee populations collapsed in the 20th century the fatty red fish provided an important winter food for the Snoqualmie and other tribes “It really feels like if they can return home then our people can also return home and do what we've done for thousands of years which is come together as a community and — with our sovereign rights — show that we are Snoqualmie and that we are still here,” de los Angeles said Centralized hatcheries pump out kokanee and dump them into dozens of lakes around Washington for anglers to pursue are known to survive in only four lakes: Chilliwack near the eastern edge of Seattle's suburbs about half the size of ocean-going sockeye salmon are thought to have died out in Seattle’s Lake Washington only 19 kokanee spawned in creeks that run into Lake Sammamish “They were on the brink of an extinction,” Agness said King County declared an emergency to save Lake Sammamish kokanee King County and the city of Sammamish have removed seven fish-stopping culverts enabling kokanee to reach 4.4 miles of spawning grounds above Lake Sammamish that were previously out of reach and homeowners around the lake have restored spawning streams and raised Sammamish kokanee in hatcheries until the fry were old enough to evade predators and survive the lake’s increasing summertime heat The efforts came too late for a population of kokanee that spawned in summer Now only fish that spawn in late fall survive While kokanee spawners surging from 279 to at least 6,800 since last year has fish fans celebrating kokanee numbers have boomed and busted in the past there's really just a narrow band where the kokanee can exist,” Agness said the fish are limited to waters deep enough to stay cool and shallow enough to have sufficient oxygen including toxic roadway runoff and invasive predators such as perch Light pollution from the lake's many waterfront homes also attracts and endangers young kokanee by exposing them to predators “We have to keep doing this work,” de los Angeles said While many tribes have “first salmon” ceremonies to welcome the first returning adults back to their spawning grounds kokanee are still too scarce for the Snoqualmie or others to harvest De los Angeles said the Snoqualmie tribe’s relationship with kokanee is focused on conservation for now with the release of young kokanee into the lake each fall after dangerous summer heat has waned — a ceremonial highlight “Putting them into the lake from the canoe is hugely emotional and always brings kind of a breath of fresh air into the work that we do,” she said John Ryan joined KUOW as its first full-time investigative reporter in 2009 and became its environment reporter in 2018 and the ecosystems of the Puget Sound region — Tree removal companies were scrambling to help homeowners save their properties in the Sammamish area after huge firs and other conifers came crashing down on their rooftops during Tuesday’s storm Jason Leniski said nearly all the trees in his backyard crashed down onto his two-story home while he and his wife were inside but now Leniski is trying to assess how much damage was caused by the impact he hired a crane operator to hoist two massive trunks that are teetering over the top of his house “I always knew that some of these trees were kind of dangerous and I thought but when they all came down it cascaded and I think the only thing that saved the house was this arbor right here It took the first impact," Leniski said A number of roads were blocked by fallen trees and crews have been busy clearing those for the past several days Barricades and road closure signs remain positioned in various neighborhoods One neighbor who gave his name as Allan said trees were down along several streets where he lives and he hoped city officials would take some preventative actions for future storms “I really hope we can try to get power lines underground We have been without power for days here and we still don't know when it is going to come up,” Allan said “Another thing for people's safety also is that there's been a lot of trees coming down on houses and it would be good if we let people take a few more trees down so it's not a threat to life or property." Eastside Fire and Rescue reported storm-related damage at Inglewood Road 216th Street as well as the area around Fire Station 81 Drone footage taken by a KOMO News photographer showe crews using cranes to remove large tree trunks from homes in the Issaquah area of east King County Much of the Sammamish Highlands remains without power and Puget Sound Energy (PSE) crews are working throughout the community to restore service They anticipate having the lights back on for most customers at some point on Saturday PSE is finding a lot of damage on the eastside and southern end of Lake Sammamish Similar damage has been located in the Issaquah Highlands which could keep some neighborhoods in the dark even longer According to a social media post from the city of Sammamish, the library and YMCA are open and operating as a space for residents to go The post also said the car chargers at the Sammamish City Hall are operational Gasoline is available at Klahanie Shopping Center and the Red Fall Quick Stop on State Route 202 BEANS & HAPPINESS got its start at a time when everybody needed more happiness in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic when the Seattle area was smothered with wildfire smoke “Not fun,” Vicky Garcia says by way of understatement She thought: “I want to be able to make somebody happy with food.” In the isolation haze she sent out a ray of hope: a post on Facebook offering a bit of joy and connection in the simple People placed orders and came to pick up food from her front porch in Sammamish Her homestyle braises helped — like her carne guisada thinly cut steak with potatoes dripping with a rich guajillo sauce — especially equipped with her luxuriously limey guacamole and all the trimmings to pile on pliant tortillas Among the enforced inactivity and general despair here was a treasure trove of deliciousness Also included: her cilantro-lime rice and epazote-seasoned black beans with some smart superfans ordering by the dozens to stock the freezer for quick lunches and snacks.) Catering has burgeoned to events such as a recent one with the Gates Foundation it’s been more and more well received,” Garcia says Garcia’s recipes are family ones: “It’s what my mom made for us,” she says “what our households ate.” She was born in Coahuila and she and her seven siblings grew up involved in each other’s care and feeding with familiarity in the ways of the kitchen a necessity as well as a source of togetherness and joy Her father came to the United States on a temporary work basis laboring under terrible conditions in a meat-processing factory; after he was able to get his permanent resident card her older brothers also worked at the factory as teenagers her father was able to set up a thrift shop and support the family that way “I’m thankful for the opportunity that they sought out,” Garcia says Garcia counted herself lucky to have opportunities to travel back to Mexico learning more about the love of food and how to make it from her grandma and aunties there Sometimes she’d stay for “two weeks straight eating with all my cousins at the table and laughing until our bellies hurt,” she says Garcia says her cooking was first a casual way to connect with community here — then “being an immigrant means having a wonderful culture to share.” She’s immensely grateful to her husband and her in-laws Beans & Happiness at Milpa Masa or the Sammamish farmers market you’re liable to meet more family: Garcia’s son and her daughter pitches in when she’s home from Whitman College Her daughter and a friend handled an entire catering job last summer — food for a backyard wedding with 70 guests — as Garcia reports with tremendous pride Garcia plans to continue “sharing the beautiful things of my country — sharing the essence of Mexico.” Cooking classes are one way she hopes to broaden that soon she’s sharing how to make her popular pozole verde at home — it’s her next-oldest sister’s recipe Serve with tortillas or tostadas — and happiness Beans & Happiness Chicken Pozole Verde Serves 6-8 While cilantro criollo is hard to find “It’s more fragrant and just tastes amazing.” Whole Foods often sells it as organic cilantro — look for curlier leaves heirloom jala corn hominy from Milpa Masa (or substitute canned hominy chicken breasts and thighs (boneless)3 medium white onions peeled2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano2 bay leaves2 tablespoons salt husks removed and washed3-4 poblano peppers2-3 jalapeño peppers1 tablespoon olive oil1 bunch cilantro criollo (or substitute regular cilantro)Tortillas or tostadasGarnishes: radishes (thinly sliced) chopped cilantro from bunch above and lime cut into wedges add about 1½ teaspoons of salt and bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer until tender about 30-45 minutes (25 minutes for canned) Reduce heat to low and simmer until the chicken is cooked through Strain the broth and set aside; reserve stock pot for later use (no need to wash it). 3 Place the remaining onion and garlic plus the tomatillos Place the sheet pan under the broiler for 5 minutes until the vegetables are charred in spots and the cilantro (reserving a handful for garnish) in a blender and blend until smooth — this is your salsa verde.5 Heat the oil over medium-high in the stock pot Add about half of the reserved chicken broth (save the rest for another use) and bring to a boil for about five minutes — add a little more broth as needed to get a consistency that’s slightly thicker than soup but not as thick as chili and serve with tostadas or warm tortillas and garnishes Security Properties purchased SKY Sammamish a 159-unit multifamily property built in 2018 and located in Sammamish Security Properties now owns 28 assets and over 6,400 units in the Greater Seattle marketplace Sammamish ‒ a highly desirable suburb east of Seattle situated between Bellevue and Issaquah ‒ offers an irreplaceable combination of top tier school districts access to local employers and proximity to some of Washington's most desirable nature While its population has grown quickly over the past 20 years being one of the most supply insulated submarkets in the entire Seattle metropolitan area This has caused the barrier to entry to be extremely high with median home values exceeding $1.6 million the median household income in Sammamish is about $215,000 higher than any other US city with a population over 50,000 the city's primary north and south thoroughfare with access to both I-90 (to the south) as well as SR-202 (to the north) The property was developed as a phase of the expanding Sammamish Town Center ‒ a multi-phase mixed-use development project that will serve as the new town center for Sammamish The property is the only housing located within the town center development and sits adjacent to a variety of commercial spaces the site is adjacent to Metropolitan Market The business plan is a core-plus investment with moderate upgrade characteristics While the asset currently offers a best-in-class amenity package and well-appointed living units Security Properties has identified several opportunities to further emphasize these strengths "SKY Sammamish is a prime example of our firm's investment thesis of identifying newer-vintage assets in markets with high barriers to entry and a diverse mix of stable drivers We feel that we have the best asset in a submarket with a very limited historical supply and strong demand for high-quality housing The Issaquah and Sammamish submarket has been a strong performer for us for many years and we are excited to add to our existing portfolio in the area." The property will be managed by Security Properties-affiliate Security Properties Residential Security Properties Residential is the affiliated property management firm of Security Properties created to increase the value of its real estate holdings by more closely managing its assets Operating throughout the Western United States and select markets Security Properties Residential is committed to delivering exceptional service to its apartment communities and residents and compliance management services that create positive living environments for residents and build value for clients News media contact:Ed McGovern, (206)-622-9900[email protected]  Security Properties in partnership with RGA ReCap Incorporated (ReCap Real Estate Investments) on behalf of Reinsurance Group of America,.. A partnership between Security Properties and an affiliate of Rockwood Capital closed on the acquisition of NV Apartments Real Estate Residential Real Estate Commercial Real Estate Acquisitions, Mergers and Takeovers Do not sell or share my personal information: 5:00 AM | Updated: 6:47 am A black bear tries to work his way into a Sammamish resident's garbage can BY JULIA DALLAS Black bears are common in Western Washington but residents seldom see them outside their front door Sammamish resident Jon Stickney sent KIRO Newsradio a video he took on Nov of a bear trying to open his garbage can in his driveway He also sent a second video he took in June at 8 a.m. saying he believes it’s the same bear Stickney sees more bears than most as he told MyNorthwest Monday he lives near the woods it’s happened fairly regularly as our home backs up to a pretty massive green belt area,” he said Video: Flock of ducks become accidental afternoon meal for Woodland Park Zoo bears Stickney even designed his own “bearbuckles” for his garbage cans which he hoped would be enough to deter the animals “They make a horrible mess when they tear into the garbage!” he added “Before I get too proud about my design/engineering expertise a bear was successful in ripping off one of the straps and making a mess while he/she enjoyed the smorgasbord.” “If you see a black bear on your property stay at a safe distance and make as much noise as possible to try to deter it away,” Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Communications Manager Jennifer Sepulveda told MyNorthwest Monday Sepulveda said black bears are common throughout much of Washington and may seek food in human-occupied areas when natural food is scarce “It is not unusual to see a black bear in our state even in suburban areas or in greenbelts around cities and towns,” Sepulveda said “WDFW responds to a variety of situations involving black bears every year and most are due to human-provided attractants leading to preventable encounters near someone’s home.” She noted bears seek food in late fall as they prepare for hibernation and in early spring before natural foods become available Sepulveda added that black bears depend on high-calorie intakes to survive a pound of birdseed provides 1,700 calories compared to 600 calories for a pound of blueberries “Imagine how many calories are in a garbage can!” Sepulveda explained “Removing human-provided food sources which provide black bears with a high amount of calories for little effort is the best way to encourage bears to move along and to prevent potential human-wildlife conflict.” WDFW: Gaze of raccoons have dispersed after Poulsbo woman stopped feeding them feeding or negligently attracting black bears or other large carnivores is illegal in Washington The department provided tips to keep bears away from homes such as always keeping garbage cans in a garage or a sturdy building until collection day suet and hummingbird feeders and cleaning up fallen fruit or other possible attractants it’s advised to remove pet food from areas where wildlife could get to it and thoroughly clean barbeque grills after each use and store them in a secure building use a cage and/or electric fence for livestock and avoid storing food in the car To learn more about black bears, visit WDFW’s website Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X here and email her here Photo by Roger Tabor of USFWS showing kokanee in a spawning creek near Lake Sammamish Third photo by King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks showing spawning kokanee this fall Ghana's economy has been hit by brutal inflation for years Would you like to receive our daily news? Signup today there are no recent results for popular commented articles by Colleen West — An investigation is underway after an elementary school student in Sammamish said he was approached by a man in a white van who tried to get him to go with him in the vehicle According to a letter sent to parents of Mead Elementary School students by the Lake Washington School District Monday evening -- and provided to KOMO News by a viewer -- the boy was riding his bike to school Monday morning when the incident happened in the 22100 block of NE 21st Way The student told his parents what happened when he got home from school later that day the district reminded parents that it is their shared responsibility to teach children what to do if they are approached by a stranger The King County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) which provides police services to Sammamish said deputies were working closely with the school district and additional patrols have been added in the area KCSO spokesperson Brandyn Hull said deputies agree with district’s message and parents should make sure their children aren’t walking or riding to school alone If a child feels like they’re in a dangerous situation it is crucial that they call 911 or tell an adult immediately 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 — A three-vehicle collision in Sammamish sent three people to the hospital with varying injuries Eastside Fire & Rescue (EFR) along with Redmond fire crews responded to the scene on East Lake Sammamish Parkway NE near NE 33rd Pl The 3400 block of East Lake Sammamish Parkway NE was closed for a few hours while the crash was cleared from the roadway One person sustained life-threatening injuries and two others had non-life-threatening injuries The type of vehicles and how many passengers were in each is currently unknown SAMMAMISH — Before the bomb cyclone canceled their tournament at Beaver Lake Middle School the Sammamish-based Emerald Bots youth robotics team had been preparing their “Gyromaniac” machine to compete against other students and their bots all day Sunday.  the team decided to take the robot to a new audience: the dozens of families holed up in Sammamish City Hall to charge their phones or just keep warm after the storm took out their power Tuesday night whose family still lacked power in Sammamish maneuvered the Gyromaniac’s robotic arm to pick up a block and dunk it in a basket.  Over 18,500 Puget Sound Energy customers were still without power Sunday evening, five days after a windstorm killed two people and left more than a half-million customers in the dark Many lingering outages were east of Lake Washington said crews have been out “in full force,” with more than 150 line crews and 70 tree crews working to get things back to normal “We now have substations back in power and continue work on repairing distribution lines — the lines in neighborhoods,” Tracy said in an email Sunday “Much of this work is time-consuming and slow-going as it requires extensive work and restores power in much smaller numbers.” The utility company said crews had restored power to more than 96% of customers in a Sunday update The last of the fixes are time-consuming and require restoring power for five The utility is prioritizing its fixes for outages that affect schools.  Sammamish City Hall opened its warming center and charging stations Wednesday Several residents said this has been the longest they’ve ever been without power city manager Scott MacColl said Sunday afternoon “I think for the most part folks have been weathering it fairly well but we’re on day five now and folks are getting a little cranky,” MacColl said most folks have lost by now any food in their house.” the city struggled to communicate with residents who weren’t getting updates by cellphone or computer It’s made officials rethink how they might deal with something like this in the future city crews were still waiting for utility workers to finish dealing with some downed lines before they could clear all debris from the roads.  The Mirrormont and Hobart Valley areas were among the hardest hit by the bomb cyclone’s winds Specialized equipment is needed to remove the trees before line repairs can be made About 1,900 Snohomish County Public Utility District customers were also still without power as of Sunday evening. Seattle City Light reported virtually all outages in city limits were resolved Most of the City Light outages had been in the North Seattle area. The cities of Snohomish and Lake Stevens were the most damaged areas in Snohomish County, according to outage maps. The National Weather Service noted wind gusts were highly erratic when the storm peaked: up to 74 mph in Enumclaw with top speeds varying in neighboring cities.  As outages on the Eastside wore on into Sunday Puget Sound Energy set up two resource hubs for customers to charge small devices use Wi-Fi and get light snacks at the Maple Valley Fred Meyer and Klahanie QFC parking lots The company also hosted a warming center at the Issaquah Senior Center.  had been coding a program when the storm cut his power Tuesday evening visited the Puget Sound Energy tent in the Klahanie QFC parking lot where utility officials handed out chargers and pizza.  who had kept warm in a sleeping bag under his comforter when he lost power said he was “officially happier with Puget Sound Energy” after receiving pizza.  another Sammamish Puget Sound Energy customer who lost power earlier in the week approached utility officials at the QFC to thank them.  “It’s been a really long week for them,” he said They’ve been putting in a Herculean effort just to try to get power back for as many people as they can.” the Emerald Bots robotics team decided to use the canceled competition time to expose other kids to robotics and work out improvements on their machine “It’s not the best thing that could have happened because we lost our opportunity to kind of showcase our robot and improve as a team,” Vihaan Maheshwari The utility company said crews have restored power to more than 96% of customers in a Sunday update The Mirrormont and Hobart Valley areas were among the hit hardest by the bomb cyclone’s winds as hundreds of trees fell into power lines. Specialized equipment is needed to remove the trees before line repairs can be made “We also continue to prioritize restoring outages that are impacting schools,” the update reads “We’re confident that nearly all schools will have their power back on in time for the school day tomorrow and are proactively coordinating with schools so they can help plan.” “Work will be at a slow and steady pace as we make complex repairs that impact fewer customers,” Snohomish PUD reported in an update. “Many of the remaining outages will be restored today but some outages in severely damaged areas will linger into early next week.” Correction: The original version of this story misspelled Sammamish in the first paragraph An expansive project, known as Sammamish Town Center, is set to bring hundreds of new apartments and town homes to one of the region’s wealthiest cities, where the vast majority of homes are single-family and many residents lament potential changes to their community’s small-town feel.  The project has been in the works since at least 2008 with city plans describing a “wedding cake approach” of taller buildings in the center of the development and smaller buildings on the edges While several apartment and retail buildings are already finished in the area near 228th Avenue Southeast and Southeast Fourth Street the larger plan for additional housing and retail space in the Town Center stalled for years amid concerns from local politicians and residents Former City Councils adopted development moratoriums and traffic regulations a state board repeatedly found the city out of compliance with the Growth Management Act But more recently, significant turnover on the town’s City Council has ushered in a more development-friendly City Hall Mayor Kali Clark said in an interview Friday that recent elections show Sammamish residents are more open to growth at the Town Center site “Things have changed here and I think we’re building excitement,” said Clark who was elected to the City Council in 2021 and became mayor the following summer the sole council member to vote against a development agreement for the Town Center project in December 2022 did not return requests for comment.  In a voters’ guide statement last fall Treen wrote that he has “consistently voted to protect our community from haphazard development which would fundamentally alter life in Sammamish.” commemorated with a groundbreaking ceremony Saturday Future phases are expected to add 48 more town homes roughly 600 new apartments and a total of about 100,000 square feet of commercial space in coming years The town homes and apartments will be predominantly market-rate Six town homes and at least 77 apartments will be affordable to people making 80% of area median income, or about $71,000 for a single person in King County Discussions between the city and developer about how many apartments will be affordable are ongoing While the developer has not yet determined exact costs, town home prices are likely to “start somewhere just above $1 million apiece,” said Matthew Samwick, CEO of the project developer, Innovation Realty Partners. That cost is still decidedly high-end but below the $1.6 million median price of a single-family home in the Sammamish area last month.  To keep up with growth in the coming two decades Sammamish needs to add 2,100 new homes between 2019 and 2044 all of them affordable to people earning 80% of area median income or less “We’re really trying to find that balance of … yes we have to take on growth and we would rather concentrate it than spreading it out and having to take down way more trees and way more land by putting [in] single-family homes,” Clark said.  As construction begins on the first group of town homes the permitting process is still underway for some of the apartments and retail space The development comes as high interest rates and construction costs are slowing the commercial real estate market But if the full vision comes to pass — with town homes coming online in 2026 and hundreds of apartments finished in the following years — the development will mark a notable shift for a town that is today dominated by single-family homes and winding cul-de-sacs The region’s population has boomed in recent decades leading local leaders and planners to warn against sprawl “It is just not possible anymore to balance the interests by creating another suburb and once that decision has been made to not grow outward but upward; the smaller cities have to catch up.” decided to convert what Seyed describes as the “typical suburban” landscape surrounding their Sammamish home into a nature-friendly environment brimming with food and flowers “Welcome to our little piece of Paradise.” Today the property is a charismatic environment with a rustic aesthetic that settles comfortably into the site Wood chip and gravel pathways wind among the landscape’s evergreen trees underplanted with colorful broad-leaved shrubs and ground covers creating a parklike feeling throughout the year The focal point of the front garden is an impressive water feature that supplies a burbling soundtrack to the entryway A 50-foot recirculating stream with two waterfalls regularly attracts ducks and a chorus of “singing frogs.” Charming bridges built at either end of the stream are an invitation to explore the landscape more fully an orchard filled with two dozen fruit trees Mason bee houses placed throughout the fruiting trees enhance early spring pollination Bird feeders encourage avian pest control and fill the property with birdsong woodpeckers and rabbits also inhabit what Seyed calls his “utopian paradise.” A curvaceous path running alongside the house and into the backyard borders more than a dozen tidy raised beds filled with vegetables placed where the walkway transitions from cobbled stone to a running boardwalk frames views of colorful flowers and container plantings in the back garden Edible crops include many warm-weather favorites spinach and other cool-season vegetables carry on through the year sunflowers and a rainbow of other summer blooms adorn the productive landscape nourish pollinators and provide cut flowers for the gardeners which began by securing permission from the homeowners association to remove sickly and dead trees took place over time and as resources became available With the property revised to ensure maximum sun Seyed says the couple “moved quickly to make our dream yard take shape and become a natural habitat.” The couple came up with the design plans and did much of the work themselves hiring handymen and construction workers to help remove or relocate trees and install the water feature Mindful of the reciprocity between growing and nature the Safavian garden is pesticide-free and uses only organic compost and chemical-free fertilizers The property’s transition from turf to a hospitable and bountiful landscape has captured the attention of neighbors and visitors once again demonstrating the power of a garden to delight 2024 at 7:02 am PT.css-79elbk{position:relative;}Patch has your complete guide to Independence Day fireworks shows parades and other celebrations in and around Sammamish and Issaquah WA — Independence Day is fast approaching so it's time to find out where you can celebrate in and around Sammamish and Issaquah To help you fit it all in on your 4th of July calendar Patch has put together a guide to what’s going on in Sammamish and Issaquah and the surrounding areas What: July 4th on the Plateau 2024: SammamishWhere: SammamishWhen: Thursday What: Down Home 4th of July 2024: IssaquahWhere: IssaquahWhen: Thursday What: Lake Sammamish July 4th Fireworks Show 2024 at Vasa ParkWhere: BellevueWhen: Thursday What: 4th of July Fireworks 2024: Bellevue Family 4thWhere: BellevueWhen: Thursday What: Celebrate Kirkland 4th of July Parade 2024Where: KirklandWhen: Thursday What: 2024 Seafair July 4th Brought To You By Amazon: SeattleWhere: SeattleWhen: Thursday What: West Seattle July 4th Kids’ Parade 2024Where: SeattleWhen: Thursday What: 3rd of July 2024 Family Celebration: Montlake TerraceWhere: Montlake TerraceWhen: Wednesday What: July 4 Tacoma Summer Blast 2024Where: TacomaWhen: Thursday What: Red, White & Blues July 4 Festival 2024: Federal WayWhere: Federal WayWhen: Thursday Americans celebrate the birth of a new nation with fireworks predate by centuries the designation of Independence Day as a federal holiday During the pivotal summer of 1776, the pre-Revolutionary celebrations honoring King George III’s birthday were replaced with mock funerals as a symbolic break from the crown It was an exciting time in Philadelphia — the Continental Congress voted to break from the crown and the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the original 13 colonies —New Hampshire South Carolina and Georgia — to adopt the Declaration of Independence The first annual commemoration of the nation’s independence was in Philadelphia on July 4 Fireworks have been part of Fourth of July festivities since the first celebration in Philadelphia Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. 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