Articles by Shawn Skager
Jack Berg puts on another layer of shine on his 1956 MGA convertible.
Vintage racing comes to Pacific Raceways
By Shawn Skager • July 10, 2013 7:34 pm

For 25 years, the Society of Vintage Racing Enthusiasts (SOVREN) has hosted the annual Pacific Northwest Historics Races.
Every year the charitable event attracts hundreds of cars and thousands of enthusiasts and spectators to Pacific Raceways to raise money for Seattle Children’s Hospital. To date, the event has raised more than $9 million for the hospital.
The annual event is a smorgasbord of automobile fun for spectators, with some of the region’s finest Porsches, BMWs, Alfa Romeos, Ferraris, MGs and more exotic road iron vying for the checkered flag on Pacific Raceway’s 2.25-mile road course.

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It’s official — recall of Cy Sun certified
It’s official — recall of Cy Sun certified
By Shawn Skager • July 9, 2013 12:23 pm

On Tuesday morning King County Elections officially certified the results of the June 25 special election to recall former Pacific Mayor Cy Sun.
The official voter turnout was 49 percent, with 1,453 of the 3,016 ballots issued counted.
The final tally of the vote was 949 (65.4 percent) votes in favor of recalling Sun with 502 (34.6 percent) in favor of retaining the former mayor.

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Pacific preps for recovery after recall
Pacific preps for recovery after recall
By Shawn Skager • July 9, 2013 1:44 am

With the recall of Pacific Mayor Cy Sun expected to become official on Tuesday, the City Council on Monday laid the groundwork for recovery by approving an agreement for neighboring Auburn to temporarily provide vital city services.
The interlocal agreement – which was requested by Pacific Council President Leanne Guier and approved by the Auburn City Council this past Monday – allows Pacific and Auburn Mayor Pete Lewis to negotiate on temporary clerical, public works and information technology services, as the beleaugered town begins the process of filling vacant city staff positions and putting their financial house in order.

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Fun in the Sun Run to benefit Dick Scobee is Saturday at Auburn Memorial Stadium
Fun in the Sun Run to benefit Dick...
By Shawn Skager • June 26, 2013 7:32 pm

This Saturday Auburn’s Iron Horse Casino hosts its inaugural Fun in the Sun Run at Auburn Memorial Stadium.

The event, a 5K run around the track, raises money to build a new playground area for Dick Scobee Elementary.
According to Ryan Cites, organizer and the casino’s food and beverage manager, the inspiration for the event came after he and the rest of the staff hosted a Christmas fundraiser for Scobee students.

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Annual Barber’s Roundup preparing for Aug. 31 event
Annual Barber’s Roundup preparing for Aug. 31 event
By Shawn Skager • June 26, 2013 7:12 pm

Back to school may be the furthest thing from the minds of local schoolchildren, but it’s just around the corner for Cynthia Lozier.

Lozier, who founded the Barbers Roundup – a charitable organization that collects donations of new clothes and school supplies and offers free haircuts and styling from local businesses for distribution to any student in need of help – is already looking ahead to Aug. 31, the organization’s fourth annual distribution day.

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Auburn Riverside's Brandi Williams competes in the long jump at the Washington State Track and Field Championship Meet.
Auburn Reporter Female Prep Athlete of the Year...
By Shawn Skager • June 26, 2013 7:11 pm

It was an up-and-down year for Auburn Riverside’s Brandi Williams.
Coming into her final high school track and field season as the defending Washington State 4A long jump champ, the Raven senior knew everyone would be gunning for her.
“This year was definitely hard,” Williams said. “Everybody came in just wanting to beat me. And I was training really hard to stay on top.”
Despite her hard work on the track, however, Williams fell shy of completing a three-peat as state long jump champ, taking home a third-place finish with a 19 feet, .25 inch jump at the state track meet in May, behind Garfield’s Baileh Simms (19-08.00) and AJ teammate Kennadi Bouyer (19-06.75)

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Cy Sun's days as Pacific mayor may be numbered with a recall election looming June 25.
Pacific voters leaning 2-1 to oust Mayor Cy...
By Shawn Skager • June 26, 2013 2:06 am

Early returns in Tuesday’s special election to recall Pacific Mayor Cy Sun are indicating residents in the embattled town of 6,600 are ready for a change in leadership.
Initial counts – as of 10 p.m. Tuesday – have voters leaning more than 2-1 towards recalling Sun for malfeasance, misfeasance and violating his oath of office.
With 1,241 of the 2,948 ballots sent out to registered voters in Pacific counted, 836 (67.4 percent) are in favor of recall with 405 (32.6 percent) choosing to allow Sun to continue his term as mayor. A simple majority is all that is needed for the recall.

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Pacific Police Chief and Public Safety Director John Calkins.
Pacific Mayor Cy Sun issues pre-termination letter to...
By Shawn Skager • June 21, 2013 5:06 pm

Pacific Police Chief John Calkins will have to fend off Mayor Cy Sun’s third attempt to terminate him as the City’s public safety director.

On Thursday, Sun issued Caulkins notice of a Loudermill hearing. The hearing, part of due process for government employees facing discipline or termination, is scheduled for next Friday, just three days after Pacific voters decide in a special election whether to recall Sun. The election will be certified July 9. If voters elect to recall Sun, he will be forced to step down immediately.

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Ariana Kukors will host the Dream Clinics beginning June 24 at Auburn Mountainview High School.
Ariana Kukors will host Dream Clinic beginning June...
By Shawn Skager • June 19, 2013 6:44 pm

Auburn Mountainview graduate Ariana Kukors, a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic swimming team, hosts the Dream Clinic beginning Monday at Auburn Mountainview High School.
The three-week clinic for athletes ages 11 to 18, features classroom-style workshops for those interested in learning the mental tools Kukors used to achieve her dream of swimming in the Olympics. The workshops will not involve pool time.

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Auburn boys basketball coach Ryan Hansen is the 2013 Auburn Reporter Prep Coach of the Year.
Auburn boys basketball coach Ryan Hansen is Prep...
By Shawn Skager • June 19, 2013 6:43 pm

No one expected much from the Auburn Trojan boys basketball team before the start of the 2012-2013 season.
“The coaches’ poll came out and we were picked to finish seventh in our league,” said head coach Ryan Hansen. “Immediately, there was talk in our locker room from the guys that they felt disrespected. I figured we were better than finishing seventh in our league. But I didn’t think we were good enough to be competing for the league title like we did.”
The team responded to the preseason dis, putting together a 12-4 second-place finish in the South Puget Sound League North 4A and fighting its way into the Washington State 4A regional tourney, where the boys ended their season just one game short of the state 4A tourney with a 16-10 record.

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Pacific voters will decide whether to recall Mayor Cy Sun next week.
Recall vote to decide future of Pacific Mayor...
By Shawn Skager • June 19, 2013 6:41 pm

The time has come for Pacific voters to decide whether to recall Mayor Cy Sun.

The King County Department of Elections recently mailed 2,943 ballots out to registered voters in the city, asking them to decide whether to remove Sun from office for allegedly committing malfeasance and violating his oath of office.

Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by June 25 to be counted and drop-offs must be received by 8 p.m. June 25.

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Pacific voters must decide to blot out Sun | Skager
Pacific voters must decide to blot out Sun...
By Shawn Skager • June 19, 2013 5:39 pm

The words read like prophecy.
Just hours after losing his seat to Pacific Mayor Cy Sun in the November 2011 general election, Richard Hildreth released this statement:
“Although I’m disappointed in losing to negative campaigning and the deception of our citizens, I know that as the truth comes out, the public will see the mistake that was made. I pray that mistake does not prove fatal to our city.”
It nearly did.

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Auburn Mountainview's JJ Lacey in action on the hardwood this season.
Auburn Mountainview standout notches 12 varsity letters during...
By Shawn Skager • June 12, 2013 6:51 pm

In an age of specialization for high school athletes, JJ Lacey is an anomaly.

The 19-year-old Auburn Mountainview senior and the Auburn Reporter’s Male Athlete of the Year graduates this weekend as the school’s first student-athlete to earn 12 varsity sports letters.

Lacey, who lettered in four different sports during his four-year prep career, considered focusing on his strongest sport, basketball – for which the 6-foot-4 guard was chosen to the All-South Puget Sound League 3A first-team last season.

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Wrestlers
Auburn Mountainview grapplers prep for national tournaments
By Shawn Skager • June 12, 2013 6:50 pm

Former Auburn Mountainview wrestler Lilia Gudzyuk will have an opportunity to make her presence felt on the international stage on June 21.

Gudzyuk, 21, competes in the ASICS Senior U.S. World Team Trials in Stillwater, Okla., for a chance to represent the U.S. at the FILA Women’s Freestyle Wrestling World Championships in September at Budapest, Hungary.

For Gudzyuk, who wrestles at Jamestown College in North Dakota, it’s the culmination of a dream that began when she wrestled as a sophomore at Auburn Mountainview.

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Hawthorne Heights
2013 Warped Tour invades White River Amphitheatre this...
By Shawn Skager • June 12, 2013 6:29 pm

On Saturday the Vans Warped Tour music and lifestyle festival launches its 2013 campaign at Auburn’s White River Amphitheatre.

Every summer since 1995 the multi-stage extravaganza has roamed the country’s outdoor concert venues, administering a multi-genre dose of established bands and up-and-coming artists to musical fans of all ages.

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