The king of "Kong," with a film to prove it

The next time mom or dad yell at you to quit playing video games, tell them it might get you in the movies.

Just ask Steve Wiebe about "Donkey Kong."

The Finn Hill Junior High teacher is featured in "The King of Kong," a documentary that premiered last week at the Slamdance Film Festival in New York. The movie details the long-running rivalry between Wiebe and Billy Mitchell of Florida as they battle for the arcade game's world-champion title.

Apparently the movie is so compelling that film rights were sold before it was screened at Slamdance. According to the entertainment newspaper Variety, New Line films bought the rights to make a feature version, and a sister company, Picturehouse, bought documentary distribution rights. ("The King of Kong" is produced by Ed Cunningham, a former University of Washington football player.)

Wiebe was featured in the Seattle Times in 2003 when he set a "Donkey Kong" record. This isn't the former engineer's first brush with fame.

His name was often in the paper when he was a student at Newport High School, where he was an outstanding baseball and basketball player.

Farm aid

Generous people have contributed $11,599 in the past eight days to the Hmong Farmers Relief Fund. Times staff reporter Rachel Tuinstra wrote a front-page story about the farmers in Snoqualmie Valley whose fields were flooded and then frozen. Their flower bulbs were ruined.

For many of the Hmong farmers, the flowers are their main cash crop.

Bee Cha, a coordinator with Washington State University's Small Farms Program, is spearheading the Hmong relief fund.

"This money is going to make a big difference to many farmers," Cha said.

Hmong Farmers Relief donations may be sent to Bee Cha, WSU King County Extension, 919 S.W. Grady Way, Suite 120, Renton, WA 98055-2980.

Local trivia

When the city was founded in 1860, it was called Squak — a form of the Native American word for the area. Early plat maps designated the area Englewood. When incorporated in 1892, the town was called Gilman after Daniel H. Gilman, the man who helped build the Eastern Lakeshore Railroad.

What town is it?

Issaquah.

The Gilman City Council petitioned the Washington State Legislature for the name change to Issaquah in deference to the Native American name, and the change became official Feb. 2, 1899.

Gilman still gets his due. He and Judge Thomas Burke built the Seattle, Eastern and Lakeshore Railroad. Their names mark the Burke-Gilman Trail, which was built on their old railroad line.

Sherry Grindeland: 206-515-5633 or sgrindeland@seattletimes.com