Twin Lakes homeowners will attempt for a second time next month to vote on whether to more than double their dues to prevent Twin Lakes Golf & Country Club in Federal Way from closing.

The homeowners association board decided Wednesday night to hold an election on Jan. 25 in the Decatur High School gymnasium. Check-in will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Despite a turnout of 475 people, the Twin Lakes Homeowners Association failed to gain a quorum Dec. 10. Since 60 percent of the membership wasn’t present or had turned in proxies, a quorum wasn’t established. No vote was taken.

The …

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Seattle Children’s Hospital has issued a list of tips for picking safe toys for children:

During the holiday season it is difficult to make sense of the millions of toys out there. Which ones are best for your child? Toys are supposed to be fun and are an important part of any child’s development.

But each year, scores of kids are treated in hospital emergency departments for toy-related injuries. Choking is a particular risk for kids ages 3 or younger, because they tend to put objects in

…

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Two Pierce County cities are seeking to fill city council vacancies created by the deaths of sitting council members.

Puyallup must fill the seat formerly occupied by George Dill, who died Nov. 19 of a heart attack shortly after being elected to a second term serving Puyallup’s District 1.

Meanwhile, University Place must find someone to take over Jean Brooks‘ at-large council seat. Brooks died Dec. 3 following a decade-long battle with breast cancer.

Both cities are accepting applications now.  Applicants must have lived for at least a year within the city they wish to serve and must be registered …

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A little boy and his toy dinosaur who came by the Lakewood Office Department station last Sunday to honor the four slain police officers touched an officer enough that the officer wanted to share the story in a Christmas letter to friends.

One of the friends who received the letter, Tukwila police officer Mike Murphy, said he and his fellow officers were so touched by the story that they thought it should be shared with the community.

Murphy said the officer who wrote it agreed but wanted to remain anonymous.

“It is just a story of one child reaching out …

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The University Place City Council approved taking out a $1 million loan to cover its shrinking reserve fund in 2010 on Monday.

The loan – which the City Council approved borrowing on a 5-1 vote — will come from a bank in Cashmere in Central Washington. It was the third bank to which University Place applied for a loan.

The money – which the city hopes to repay by 2011 – is meant to serve as backup in case UP’s reserve fund gets too small during the periods in which its tax collections are still being collected, officials said. Typically, UP receives its property tax collections twice a year.

The city’s decision to borrow comes during a tight lending market that has hampered completion of its $250 million Town Center plan. The city has cycled through potential developers for the proposed mix of retail, civic and other services along Brideport Way West, none of whom could secure financing for the project.
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A former Federal Way Municipal Court supervisor who sued the city will be paid $80,000, according to a proposed settlement with the city released Friday in a City Council packet.

The council will vote Tuesday night whether to approve the settlement with Cindy Roque, who sued the city in May. She claims she was fired because she reported to her supervisor that Judge Michael Morgan made threats to harm himself and others.

Roque did not specify damages in her lawsuit but sought $500,000 in damages in her prior wrongful termination claim.

In her lawsuit, Roque claims a court employee told …

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The Twin Lakes Homeowners Association failed to gain a quorum Thursday night to vote on more than doubling its dues to support financially struggling Twin Lakes Golf & Country Club.

The turnout of 475 people – plus 200 proxies – was short of the required 60 percent of the association’s more than 1,200 members to achieve a quorum, said homeowners association president Tom Moehlman.
The turnout at Decatur High School in Federal Way was about 75 people short of a quorum, Moehlman said. No vote was taken.

He said the association’s board of trustees will meet Wednesday night to …

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Bonney Lake’s 147-acre urban forest could soon be home to a mix of housing, medical offices and a YMCA.

The Bonney Lake City Council will vote Tuesday on a proposed development agreement and zoning plan for the Washington State University (WSU) experimental forest, which grows in the middle of the city.

A favorable vote would end roughly four years of negotiations with Quadrant Corp. regarding preservation of the forest and the open space it provides within the city. The forest has been closed to the public since 2006.

The development proposal from Quadrant Corp., a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser Co., would deed 47 acres of the woods to Bonney Lake officials for park space and a future YMCA.

The remainder of the forest would be divided into 35 acres for medical and commercial buildings and about 65 acres for residential development.

Bonney Lake Mayor Neil Johnson said Quadrant’s proposal would give more land to the city than discussed in previous dealings.

An early proposal from Quadrant in 2005 offered city officials roughly 30 acres – 17 fewer than today’s proposal.

“To me, this is a great opportunity to get 47 acres,” Johnson said. “We came to a point where we figured that this was the best we are going to get.”

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