Reporter Lisa Pemberton-Butler reports this morning from Eatonville:

There was pretty much only one topic folks were talking about in this Mount Rainier foothills town Friday.

“The snow,” said Jordan Anderson, a barista at Gypsy Wagon Espresso. “People can’t wait for it to go away.”

Thick ice encased many trees and bushes during Thursday’s ice storm, creating scenes that looked like ice sculptures. But overnight, after the power had gone out in the area, the quiet darkness was punctuated with cracks and booms of trees and limbs crashing.

By Friday morning, the power had returned and large limbs littered the …

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Northwest Trek Wildlife Park is closed today (Sunday, Jan. 15) because of the snow.

For more information about the park, go to www.nwtrek.org.

The MultiCare medical clinic in Eatonville opens today in its new location on Washington Avenue North.

The 5,000-square-foot facility is roughly three times the size of the old building on Orchard Avenue North. It includes on-site laboratory services, nine exam rooms and a procedure room.

“This new clinic allows us to keep pace with the growth for this area of southeast Pierce County,” said Dr. Elizabeth Neuhalfen, medical director, in a news release. “…This is an exciting time to be providing health care to our community in such a beautiful clinic.”

The clinic is the only medical practice in the …

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Silver Lake in Eatonville will roar this weekend with outboard racing in a tribute to a local hydroplane racing hero.

Race Director Tony Perman said the Smilin’ George Memorial Regatta  is named after  former unlimited hydroplane and outboard racer George Henley who owned the resort for decades and hosted the regatta since the 1960s.

“We are doing this as a memorial to George Henley who passed away (last December),” Perman said.

The  regatta which is sponsored by the Seattle Outboard Association runs both Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the  Silver Lake Resort.

In 1974 at …

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The folks at  Jebino’s Ristorante and Lounge in Eatonville are having a free buffet tonight to benefit the family of Pierce County Sheriff’s Deputy Kent Mundell.

The spaghetti and fettucine are free. Organizers are asking for voluntary donations.

Buffet will start at 4 p.m. and go until 9 p.m. at Jebino’s. The restaurant is located at 138 Mashell Ave N. in Eatonville.

…

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The South Sound region does not lack for people admired as heroes. Recently, four fallen Lakewood police officers have taken the role. Many soldiers from Fort Lewis, living and dead, have worn the label.

Each year, the American Red Cross Mount Rainier Chapter presents a new class of Red Cross Real Heroes, nominated by community members. This year’s cast of 10 local recipients includes law enforcement rescuers, children saving their father from an insect sting, a boy saving his cousin from choking on a Puyallup Fair corndog, and a pair of school bus incidents.

They were honored at a …

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A new traffic signal was turned on Friday in south Pierce County at the intersection of Highway 7 and 304th Street East, also known as Kapowsin Highway.

Where you live, a new stoplight might not be cause for celebration. But this intersection has had 32 collisions in the last decade, resulting in 59 injuries and two deaths, according to state officials. More than 10,000 drivers use the route each day.

“This is the first new stoplight on a state highway in our district in years,” said state Sen. Randi Becker, R-Eatonville. “With the recent growth we have seen in our …

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Eatonville has seen a century’s worth of the worst weather the Northwest can muster, so town residents weren’t about to let the threat of showers rain on their parade Saturday morning.

Several hundred of them lined downtown streets to celebrate the town’s centennial. Lo and behold, the rain held off.

“Once again, the Lord prevailed,” declared Cyndy Simianer, director of the Eatonville Community Float. “It never rains on my parade.”

The parade was part of a full weekend of festivities as the foothills town of 2,300 celebrated its 100th birthday.  Saturday also featured a Volksmarch and a street fair.

At …

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