Wednesday, October 5, 2016

ATTN: Middle school students and old timers: Don't miss the "Salmon in the Forest" event!

 The Trout Steam Exhibit is totally amazing!  
“Deep Forest” printed with permission from artist Ray Troll, www.trollart.com and new 
NW Stream Center interpretive sign focal point


On Thursday, October 13th, 3PM the Adopt A Stream Foundation (AASF) is presenting Salmon in the Forest at the Northwest Stream Center in Snohomish County’s Mc Collum Park (600-128th Street SE, Everett WA 98209).  

This  unique event is geared for middle school kids to old-timers.  After viewing trout, sculpin, crawfish, and fresh water mussels through viewing windows into a very unique Trout Stream Exhibit, you will see a wonderful 45-minute film called the Salmon Forest (narrated by Dr. David Suzuki). Then, you will enjoy a naturalist led tour of the new 1/2 mile long Elevated Nature Walk through the Northwest Stream Center’s own Salmon Forest.  

Reservations are required by calling 425-316-8592: $7 Adopt A Stream Foundation Members; $10 non-members; attendance is limited to 30 per event.  The trail along the Trout Stream Exhibit and the Elevated Nature Walk are universally accessible.

“The Salmon Forest film presents the fragile connection between salmon, bears, trees and people in NW rainforest,” say AASF Director Tom Murdoch.   Everyone who has attended past Salmon in the Forest events raved:  “It was great” said Darlene Calene.  “I was amazed that I learned so much in such a short time!”  Julie Anne Billings added “It was a most interesting movie and I loved the Salmon in the Forest walk.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Hartman Pool Lifeguard Charged with Voyerism

King County District Court, Redmond, WA
(grabbed from the Internet)

Becky Range, Public Information Officer

REDMOND, WA -  On October 4, 2016, Allen Sze, 25-yr-old WAVE Aquatics lifeguard, was charged by the King County Prosecutor's Office (KCPO) with eight counts of Voyeurism RCW 9A.44.115. Arraignment is scheduled for October 17, 2016 at the King County Courthouse.
On September 7, 2016 at 6:39 am, Redmond Police responded to the Hartman Pool located at 17535 NE 104th Street for the report of a cell phone found inside the WAVE Aquatics female staff locker room taped to a wall. Officers arrested Sze, who was there on-duty as a lifeguard. After interviewing Sze and searching all files on his phone and iPad, our investigation determined the following: 
  • The phone was placed in only one location in the pool, the WAVE Aquatics female staff locker room. 
  • There were nine videos on the phone, with dates ranging from June 30, 2016  – September 7, 2016, depicting what appear to be seven different females.
  • We have no evidence that videos were shared.  
We identified three WAVE Aquatics staff members on the videos.  The four other victims have not been identified. Due to the sensitive nature of this case and the fact that all identified victims are minors, we have been very cautious with the identification process. We conducted this investigation with discretion, but also with investigative diligence to ensure the appropriate type and severity of criminal charges could be recommended.
Throughout this investigation, we coordinated closely with groups and local schools who utilize this facility.  Any pool patrons or residents with remaining questions are encouraged to contact us. 
For questions and more information, contact Becky Range, Public Information Officer, at brange@redmond.gov or 425-556-2545
Questions for WAVE Aquatics should be directed to Mr. Tyson Wellock attysonwellock@waveaquatics.org or 719-201-5691.

Monday, October 3, 2016

Mental Health illness is prevalent in our neighborhoods

One in 5 Americans live with a mental health condition 

This week is National Mental Health Awareness Week.  We have a lot of homelessness in our city and studies have shown about a quarter of them suffer from a severe mental health condition.  It can wreck a person's life.  
According to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) amazingly one in five Americans live with a mental health condition in a given year.   Your next door neighbor could well be struggling and you may never know it.  

If you or your friends want to learn more about brain disorders and their prevalence, Nami-Eastside, located in downtown Redmond, has an excellent video.  
Bob Yoder

www.nami.org

http://www.nami-eastside.org/tablet/about-us.html

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Five musical events, somewhere on or near Redmond Way

Image result for dig downtown redmond imagesTo attract residents to businesses suffering from the construction on Redmond Way, the city started at "Dig Downtown Redmond" campaign of entertainment events.  The events are held on Monday evenings. The hitch is you have to drive around the downtown roads to find them...kinda like "hide and seek."

Three events have been already held; unfortunately I couldn't find any of them. Please comment below this post if any of you know where they were held, so we can drive down there and support those businesses.  Thanks!

Five events remain in the line-up.

October 3: "Barbershop & Acapello"
October 10 "Tropic Tonight"
October 17 "Brass Attack"
October 24 "World and Jazz"
October 21 "Downtown Spooky Town"

They sound very enticing.  Maybe I'll see you there!  Questions?  E-mail Nicole Wiebe, Community Outreach Coordinator, nwieb@redmond.gov

Happy hunting,

Bob Yoder

Friday, September 30, 2016

Witness the salmon journey through Redmond and Woodinville

Image result for water tenders tolt salmon images
Water Tenders educating children at Bear Creek in Woodinville on the Tolt Pipeline trail

Native salmon – sockeye, chinook, coho and chum – have begun their journey from the open ocean to their birthplaces in the streams and rivers that feed into Puget Sound. You may be able to witness their amazing journey at locations around King County.

Best viewing late September to mid-November (self-guided daily during KIS Farm hours)Bear Creek in Redmond, 12526 Avondale Rd. NE
For info on docent-led visits: Linda at 425-882-1846 or 
lyhussey@comcast.net 

Oct. 5 and 12 (3-6 p.m.); Oct. 8,9,15 and 16 (1-4 p.m.) Bear Creek in Woodinville, on the Tolt Pipeline trail 
More info: 206-437-8754
Sponsored by Water Tenders


Thursday, September 29, 2016

10/26 UPDATE: About "Us" - why I write this blog


Bob Yoder, Editor and Scribbler
older photo
As you will find, my blog is a one-man show...so here goes:    

I'm 66 years old, have lived in Redmond 36 years, and started blogging about 11 years ago.  When I moved here from the mid-west, to sell medical supplies, Redmond was a rural one-stoplight town.  We loved visiting the downtown feed store to play with the chicks; golf the downtown course; drive through the horse farms, line up at for ice cream at Thenos and generally just enjoy a peaceful lifestyle away from the big city.  

In the early 2000's, things started to change -- developers moved into our Education Hill neighborhood leveling evergreens. The City of Redmond's, less-then-perfect public notice of an environmentally sensitive project provoked me to start my blog to "get the word out." I've been writing it ever since under the well known premise that governments fostering  "transparency and citizen participation" are good governments.    

Since local print media doesn't cover all our community news and minority opinion, I do a lot of general reporting and story-telling.  I'm especially interested in our local environment, student education, and now mental health advocacy. You'll see more posts on Redmond's natural resources, fine schools and soon advocacy for the mentally ill and disabled.  A life-threatening brain disorder is generational in my family.       

One of my favorite activities is watching the City Council and Mayor on RC-TV.  Yes, I'm a government wonk. However, now that Council holds meetings in our neighborhoods I'm more of a community advocate than activist.  My interest in city government extends into governance reporting of our school district and local public hospital district. 

Investigation, analysis and input on the school district's old organizational chart and their leadership roles furthers accountability and transparency.  And, after a very prolonged, testy investigation involving blog leverage, EvergreenHeath hospital began day-lighting their government and re-focused their attention to customer service, revamping website pages.

So now you know something About "Us."  :) 

Cheers, 

Bob Yoder

Disclaimer:  I'm a Seattle Times news partner, but by far no where close to a citizen-journalist.  Errors. omissions and miss-representations occur on a regular basis; and my posts aren't always sourced. ,

Email:  redmondblog@gmail.com. Twitter: @RedmondNeighbor    Facebook Page:   Subscribe by email  Sign up for membership to Friends Who Like Neighborhood Blog

Privacy Statement:    Facebook and Redmond Neighborhood Blog comments are very rarely posted. If possible, I'll contact the author before posting.  

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

The downtown salmon are here!


Credit: John Reinke
Have you been out yet to look for the salmon migrating up the river and into Bear Creek?  John Reinke, an Education Hill resident, known for his downtown nature photography, saw salmon jumping under the 80th Street Bridge yesterday. Here's one of his pictures!  

It's funny, I went upstream to the Bear Creek nature park behind Safeway yesterday and couldn't find any.  I saw a lot of people enjoying the park and looking for these amazing, colorful fish.  My guess is they'll make it up here by early October?

I hope you're enjoying these beautiful Autumn days!

--Bob Yoder

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

UPDATED,9/28 We know who runs the district's facility planning and transportation team, but what's "Support Services?"

OPINION: Yeah!  Superintendent Dr. Traci Pierce revamped the school district's organizational chart; more importantly she is now posting the job descriptions of her Leadership team!  This is a significant improvement in governance transparency.

Image result for lwsd student photos
 grabbed from the Internet 
Now we know Forest Miller is responsible for facilities planning and transportation! His title is "Director of Support Services." -- it's kinda confusing. From my limited knowledge, his participation during Bond Task Force meetings was, in part, over-ridden by one of the superintendents and, in my opinion, this led to a lack of confidence within the community.  Do you remember the negative Letters to the Editor?

Last week, my wife and I attended the North Redmond Elementary school meeting at City Hall. Mr. Miller gave a super 30 minute presentation on the proposed school and actively participated in the poster sessions.  He's an approachable professional, kind, and an excellent speaker.  I'm so happy Forest was taken out of his cubical so we could see his true talents and feel more confident about how our new schools are built and district land is acquired.

We also know Janene Fogard is the district's Chief Operating Officer!  Yet, at the North Redmond El presentation she was introduced by her old title, "Deputy Superintendent of Support Services."   Huh? What does that tell us, other than she's important?

As COO she has a huge responsibility -- oversight of district finances and the budget (still not transparent), oversight of the district computers and software, oversight of facilities planning, oversight of transportation....and on. For accountability alone, it's important we know she's the COO, not just someone in charge of Support Services.

Bob Yoder

Monday, September 26, 2016

The City hosts Archaeology Day at Lower Bear Creek

REDMOND, WA - The City hosts 2016 Archaeology Day, part of an annual global exploration of archeology, on Saturday, October 15, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. Bear Creek project director Dr. Robert Kopperl will be presenting at the new overlook of the Lower Bear Creek habitat restoration area across form 164th Ave. NE along the Bear Creek recreational trail. Participants will have the opportunity to find out more about the Bear Creek study, new knowledge gleaned from the site, and the broader picture of the past as seen in our archaeological heritage.
The Bear Creek site, located in the heart of the City of Redmond, is the oldest excavated archaeological site with stone tools in Western Washington. It was first identified in 2008 during a routine environmental survey for a City habitat restoration project, and since then it has generated a wealth of information about Native American life from over 10,000 years ago near the outlet of Lake Sammamish.
Dr. Kopperl will be on-hand to informally provide information about the Bear Creek site and to answer questions about the project and Washington state’s shared archaeological heritage.
Learn more about the Bear Creek site here.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Red-breasted Sapsucker behind the Senior Center


Red-breasted Sapsucker
(click to enlarge)
By John Reinke
Education Hill resident

On a recent sunny May afternoon, I decided to sit out on the patio behind the Redmond Senior Center and read my newspaper.  No sooner had I unfolded it, when I noticed a beautiful red-breasted sapsucker hammering the bark of a silver birch growing up against the side of the Center.
I was astonished to see this normally shy bird so close to human habitation, with folks occasionally passing in and out of the door no more than 25 feet away.  Unwilling to let the opportunity escape me, I fished out my pocket camera and snapped off a few quick shots.  Then I remembered that my much better zoom camera was in the trunk of my car.  I scurried away to the parking lot and retrieved it, hopeful that the bird would still be there when I returned.
Indeed it was, and I proceeded to click away.  To my surprise, the sapsucker let me approach quite close to the tree without flying off.  I observed that there were several rows of holes that it had drilled at various levels.  Sap was flowing down the trunk in a frothy stream from a few of the more recent holes.
I gradually moved closer, until ultimately I was no more than about seven feet from the tree.  The sapsucker was clinging to the bark perhaps eight feet up from the ground and seemed quite unperturbed by my approach.  Over the course of the next several days, I returned to take more photos, and frequently found it busily enlarging holes or making new ones.  I also observed butterflies, ants, and a wasp feeding on the bubbly sap.  I even took photos of a land snail high up on the trunk near the holes, but I couldn't tell if it was there because it had been attracted by the sap.  After a few weeks, the sapsucker no longer showed up.
Curiously enough, in mid April, I had photographed a red-breasted sapsucker entering its nest hole very high up in a dying poplar.  The tree was located on the east side of the Sammamish River Trail across from the rusty bridge, about a half mile north of the Senior Center.  I wondered if it could have been the same bird?

Red-breasted sapsuckers are classified as fairly common west of the Cascade Mountains, according to the Seattle Audubon Society.  Males and females look much alike and vary in size from slightly less than 8 inches to slightly less than 9 inches.  They also feed on insects that are attracted to sap.