Summertime is slipping by, so get out and King County Parks

Aug. 20: Summertime is slipping by, so get out and enjoy King County Parks – Your Big Backyard:

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Labor Day and the unofficial end of summer are just around the corner.  Don’t despair. King County Parks is prepared to fill the remainder of August with fantastic live music plus lots of other outdoor activities."

Read More

What's up with the "green bikes" in downtown Redmond?

The city's first green bike rack was placed outside the Library for over three years before they  launched their Bike Rack program big-time two years ago. This one in front of Redmond Physical Therapy and scores of others have since been installed in the downtown.  Have you seen them?  Now you know how they can be used!  Read More for a full explanation.

Lake Washington School District has a new LOGO

new logo

The Chip Kimball administration is redefining Lake Washington School District culture.  It's most visible in their new LOGO.  Do you like it?  

The existing, oval LOGO was thirty years old and according to Kathryn Reith, Communications Director, "it didn't express who we are".

NAMI Newsletter announces new Mental Health Court in Issaquah

Preface:   Councilmember Hank Margeson pushed hard for an Eastside  Mental Health Court during his "Leadership Eastside" training project.  I believe John Marchione also worked on this project.   BY

The Issaquah branch of the new King County District Regional Mental Health Court held its grand opening on July 9th. This Court represents an effort to effectively increase cooperation between the mental health treatment system and the criminal justice system — two systems that have traditionally not worked closely together.

The Mental Health Court aims to reduce recidivism (the repeated or habitual relapse into criminal or antisocial behavior patterns) and improve access to public mental health treatment services for persons
with mental illnesses who find themselves in the criminal justice system. By reaching these goals, the
safety of the general public will be improved. 

READ MORE   about the Mental Health Court and  the latest NAMI-Eastside educational and workshop events.

GO HERE  for the Issaquah Press Online article about the Court and Eastside Leadership's involvement.

Submitted By Clark Graves
National Alliance of the Mentally Ill,  NAMI - Eastside
Photo courtesey of Issaquah Press - Commissioner Kathy Lambert and NAMI'S Mike Rynas in photo.

The Latest Results of the King County Primary Elections

These are the latest King County election results posted at 4:30 p.m. August 18. You can find all election results online.  Results will continue to be updated here until September 1.

State Senator Legislative Dist No. 45

Eric Oemig 48.68%
Andy Hill 51.20%

Lake Washington School District ACT Scores Continue to Rise

Lake Washington School District ACT Scores Continue to Rise

More district students meet college readiness benchmarks than state, national averages

Redmond, Wash. – While national mean scores for college-bound students fell slightly this year, Lake Washington School District (LWSD) students scored higher on three of the four ACT tests (English, Reading and Science) and improved their average composite score. In addition, Lake Washington students continue to show significantly greater college readiness than state and national averages.

The district’s average composite score rose by two tenths from 2009 to reach 25.3, compared to the state average of 23.0 (up .2), and the national average of 21.0, down .1 from 2008. At the same time, the number of LWSD students taking the test remained about the same, rising from 403 in 2009 to 408 in 2010.

Residential Neighborhoods Are Subsidizing Stormwater Costs of Private Developments

UPDATED:  The Redmond Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is many things to many people.  DNR is division of Public Works, the largest department in the city.  Our utility bill pays for DNR's stormwater management costs and if you didn't notice, our rates have increased dramatically over the past few years.

Council recently held a study session on our Utility rates.  Council was pleased with the value DNR brings to sustainability of our environment; however, Councilman Cole complained Redmond has the #1 stormwater rate in the area.  For example, Bellevue's stormwater rate is less than half our rate.

Much of our high rate is attributable to a grandiose plan to build spend  $90,000,000 on two regional stormwater facilities - in Overlake and Downtown.   Commercial and high rise development costs will be significantly less since they will not have to build their own facilities or use their land.   Council, obviously pro-business, decided several years ago that the residential rate-payer would front most of these facilities costs, including the very high cost of  land acquisition.

Free (almost) Greener All-Purpose Cleaner!

This is hilarious....

Free (almost) Greener All-Purpose Cleaner!

By Michael Bergman, Washington State Department of Ecology

LETTER: A View Of Our Awful Traffic On Education Hill

1st Video of traffic in front of Redmond Junior High during school, Tuesday, June 15, 2010

2nd Video of summer traffic in front of Redmond Junior High, Tuesday, August 3, 2010 

A VIEW OF OUR AWFUL TRAFFIC ON EDUCATION HILL, by Susan Wilkins

Many years ago, the main north-south road to the top of Education had only one lane in each direction. Over the years, as more and more houses were added to the neighborhoods, the two lanes couldn’t handle all the cars going up and down the hill so the road was widened to two lanes in each direction.

Fast forward to 2008 and the City of Redmond decided that they once again wanted only one lane of traffic in each direction on 166th Avenue NE with a center turn lane.

Student Innovation Contest - Microsoft rethinks the keyboard

Microsoft rethinks the keyboard:

"Microsoft rethinks the keyboard"

Is there a more efficient way to input text, graphics and images on desktop computers? That's the latest brainstorm from Microsoft Hardware, which has begun showing off a new touch-based LCD 'Adaptive Keyboard' as part of the Student Innovation Contest." Read More.  Watch Video

By Todd Bishop
Tech Flash

Donations to LWSD on Record in the August Board Minutes

Superintendent Kimball reads the Donation List at the beginning of each Regular Board Meeting

$35,311 in Donations were recorded in the August.  The top three donors were:  Inglewood Junior High PTSA ($9377), Mark Twain PTSA ($4735), and Wilder PTSA ($5419).  To see all nine donations and how they are broken down click "Read More"

Puget Sound Energy tries to save the wildlife and wetlands during easement widening.

UPDATED:  Puget Sound Energy's power easement is being widened by 100 feet to make room for a new transmission line.   

As you can see from the long brown strip going up the hill from Bear Creek near Avondale, hundreds of trees were removed to make way for a new power line.  Along some sections, you'll see parts of the trees cut off.   As ugly as it looks, these trees were purposely cut this way to provide habitat for the remaining wildlife and to try to "save:" the wetlands.  Look at the woodpecker eating on the snag.  This snag was nearby in the cooler forest where there is shelter from the sun and protection and food from the forest.

According to Ron Ainslie of King County and Thara Johnson of the City of Redmond, there are seven wetlands in the 3 mile easement project; 36 acres in all.  The trees in these wetlands were manually cut into "snags" to keep heavy equipment off the fragile vegetation.  Two wetlands are high priority, Class 2 wetlands with permanent pools.  Even with these snags the wetlands will dry from the lack of shade and poor water retention.  The city project planner said the forested wetlands will change to drier "scrub-scrub" wetlands providing habitat for different species.

A PSE worker said their biggest concern is Summer and Fall rain storms.  With vegetation and trees removed, the dry, silty soil can easily flood into Bear Creek unless measures are taken.   Silt fences need to go up - black, permeable cloth and burlap rolls.  Have you been out there, yet?   My wife and I saw a Bald Eagle, this Hairy Woodpecker, and a hummingbird when I took these pictures. 

By Bob Yoder
Photos By Yoder

Emergency Response, Map your Neighborhood, and Neighborhood Watch Programs offered by City

Jim Bove says....

The Redmond Police and Fire Departments are pleased to offer an information session on three programs recommended in your neighborhood to make it safer and more prepared for emergencies and disasters. The session is Wednesday, August 25th at 6:00 p.m. at the RPD Training Room (8701 160th Avenue NE) and will focus on the following programs:

   o  Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)

   o  Map your Neighborhood

  o   Neighborhood Watch

 Councilmember Dave Carson is a recent CERT graduate.  Read More about these programs.

Theno's Dairy is upgrading their facility after an inspection by the FDA

UPDATED:  The Redmond Neighborhood Blog received a tip from a neighborhood mom, who wished to remain anonymous, that Thenos was inspected by the FDA and warned on July 21 for "serious violations of the current Good Manufacturing Practice regulation for foods." 

 "I'm just a mom who wants to know...what they are doing about it etc....as my kids ask all the time "to go to the ice cream place with the cow."

I called Thenos owner, Doug Bloor for his response.  Doug said:  "Absolutely no food has been contaminated, tainted, or recalled. "

Doug went onto say:  The FDA letter was "boiler plate" and that the issues had nothing directly to do with the processing areas.  Remedies are underway and should be completed in a few weeks.  Ice cream will be loaded in closed containment vessels and carted on stainless steel wheels.  A bid is out to modernize the sink drains.  The bathroom is being re-painted and upgraded.  Terminix has inspected the area and taken any necessary measures.  

Mr. Bloor noted that "Thenos started on a farm 26 years ago and has been the same operation all along.  The State Department of Agriculture inspects the processing areas 4 times/year.  The County Health Department is out 1-2 times/year." 

Reported By Bob Yoder
Photo By Yoder

Source:
 FDA Warning Letter, dated 7/21/2010
"Food and Safety News"

UPDATED! Rebecca Meredith is Redmond's Poet Laureate; read her poetry!

This just in! Rebecca will be speaking to The Redmond Historical Society on Saturday, September 11, 2010, 10:30 to 12:00 noon at The Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center, 16600 NE 80 Street,
Redmond, WA.  

Redmond’s Poet Laureate, Rebecca Meredith, lived in Redmond for more than 20 years.  She will be speaking September 11 about the power of place, and how poets’ works, as well as audiences’ responses, are shaped by their relationships to places in their lives, both past and present. Don’t miss this meeting. To receive the monthly RHS newsletter, contact the Society office at 425-885-2919, or email your request to info@redmondhistoricalsociety.org. 

Rebecca Meredith is the first Redmond Poet Laureate, a position established to promote the literary arts through workshops, public readings and special events throughout the city.  She is paid a stipend by the City to work part-time as our Laureate. 

Rebecca is a poet, writer, and psychotherapist, as well as a Redmond Association SPokenword (RASP) cofounder. She has performed at the Burning Word Poetry Festival, the Seattle Moon Viewing Festival, and on KUOW's The Beat. Her chapbook Intergenerational Delta Blues was published by Pudding House Press. She was a fellow of the Jack Straw Writers' Program and an alumna of Hedgebrook Women Writers' Colony.

Organizations interested in working with the Poet Laureate should contact rac@redmond.gov .

Click here to read The Seattle Times article and my news about Redmond's new Poet Laureate.

Three of Rebecca's poems are listed  "here"     Arts Commissioner, Tom Flynn's poetry site is well worth a visit, too!

Posted By Bob Yoder

Photo on city website

Commissioner Tom Hinman Leads Council Session On "Sustainability"

UPDATED (8/12):  At the Redmond City Council Derby Days booth our representatives weren't just handing out ice-cold  "Otter Pops" !   Councilmembers also listened to comments from passing citizens..

According to a Council report, one citizen wanted to learn more about the Planning Commission and how to connect to them.

Presto!   Wouldn't you know it?   Council invited the Planning Commission to their study session meeting last night - to address the value and need for "Sustainability" in Redmond.  Commission Chair Tom Hinman masterfully lead the thought provoking conversation.   Do you care to listen in?

Tom's 4+ minute talk begins right at the start of the meeting.  The entire council joins in.   This is one of the most revealing  Council meetings (video) I've seen.

Definition of "Sustainability": "to satisfy the needs of today without compromising the future's ability to meet its needs." The three components of sustainability are: environmental, economic, and social dimensions. Ref. United Nations.

Reported By Bob Yoder
Commission Photo on City Website - Tom Hinman (purple shirt)

Rough notes on the meeting  (read more)

UPDATED: Minutes from Evergreen Hospital's Public Meeting sheds light on the organization

>>  In a June, 2010 Public  Meeting CEO Rob Malte announced  Evergreen Medical Center has been recognized, as follows:   

o Seattle Business Magazine – one of the best places to work;

o King County – one of the best places for recycling;

o Seattle Magazine & 425 – Evergreen had over a 100 physicians listed as best doctors; and 

o Healthgrades – Evergreen Maternity Center was ranked inthe top 5% in the country

In addition, Administrative Director Laurene Burton  recorded the following  Minutes: 

>>  "Ms. Peterson, Executive Director of the Evergreen Healthcare Foundation, introduced Teddy Overleese, Chair of the Foundation Board.  Ms. Overleese provided an overview of the Foundation’s accomplishments, including the website redevelopment, inaugural Hospice luncheon, and the annual gala.  Events have raised over $900,000. It was noted that in 2009, there was an increase in major donors of 18% over 2008 and there were 970 first-time donors to the Foundation. Ms. Peterson closed by thanking Ms. Yamada (Dir. of Finance) and her staff for all of their assistance in helping with the finances of the Foundation. Commissioner DeYoung thanked Ms. Peterson and Ms. Overleese and offered appreciation for all the work they have done for the Foundation."

>> "The recent focus on RN specimen collection has demonstrated 100% knowledge of the correct collection process and consequence of errors, and Dr. Pheifer was pleased to see a declining trend in collection errors."

Why Every City Needs A Beat Reporter

This article starts out with an extreme example of  prolonged public apathy....

They are worth more than you think.  Just ask the residents of Bell, CA.

There’s a municipality in Southern California called Bell. Thirty-eight thousand people live there. It’s largely inhabited by Latino immigrants, and the per capita income is just $25,000 per year. It may be hard to believe, but had its residents banded together five years ago to hire a top-notch beat reporter, even paying him the handsome salary of $200,000 per year, the return on their value would’ve been immense. 
Read More.

By Conor Friedersdorf, 07/29
Forbes.com

Aug. 6: King County Primary off to Strong Start!

Aug. 6: King County Primary off to Strong Start!:

"King County voters are returning ballots at a greater rate than projected for the first week of the Primary Election. Over 100,000 ballots have already been returned and Elections officials are busy processing them. As in all elections, there are some ballots that can't be opened because of problems associated with voter signatures.

'It's really helpful that voters are getting their ballots mailed back to us early,' noted Sherril Huff, Elections Director. 'The top two reasons some ballots never get counted are due to being mailed back to us too late or the voter forgetting to sign the oath on the back of the return envelope.'

In the previous election, almost 6,000 ballots could not be counted for these reasons." Read More

King County website

Resources:  "Voting for Judges"
Municipal League of Women Voters recommendations
Posted by Yoder

Recovery Updates - Fundraisers continue to raise support for Redmond High graduate Chanel Cogan to pay for medical bills

IMPORTANT UPDATE:  12/29/2010: Click for Story  http://redmondcity.blogspot.com/2010/12/redmonds-chanel-cogan-hospitalized-for.html

 Last night was a home run derby fundraiser.   Today, 8/7,  is a car wash fundraiser at the RAC from 8 - 3 p.m.   Future fundraisers and news of Chenal's recovery progress will  be posted here.

Chenal fell off a 100 foot cliff while hiking near Kachess Lake and was air-lifted to Harborview a few days ago.  As of last night she was in a medically induced coma for brain damage, her spleen was removed, and she has a severely broken arm.

Posted by Yoder, 8/7
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/chanelcogan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORQAFjS5ZVw&feature=player_embedded

UPDATES:    Chanel Cogan's Support Group - Facebook Updates

Update:  August 11:  GOOD NEWS! MISS CHANEL WAS EXTUBATED AT 3:40PM TODAY!!!'


It feels so good not to have that tube down her throat, she's been sleeping ever since!!! Breathing away in dream land she rests peacefully, and so do we :)
Correction on the radial nerve surgery, the arm remains bent because the nerve is short and will heal stronger if not stretched out straight too early!

Chanel will probably not cough so much now, trying to get that tube out, her face is so beautiful without the garb and hardware on.

Now, with all possible tests done the elevated level of white blood cells remains a mystery??? She's been tested head to toe, inside and out for any type of infection. Her feeding tube was switched to the other nostril today too.

We keep our knees bent and one foot on the ground at all times. We couldn't be more proud of you today, Chanel !!!

I think you almost have a smile on your face :)      MeMe & Pat

Redmond is Restoring The Upper Reach of Willows Creek

Willows Creek

Have you ever been to Willows Creek?  Oh my!  It's probably one of the most beautiful, urban natural open spaces remaining in Redmond.   If you look hard you'll find an unmarked trail-head in Willows Creek Park that will take you to it.  We hiked the creek a couple of weeks ago and took a few pictures. 

Willows Creek is good size stream that drains the western "Rose Hill" watershed area.  It flows into the Sammamish River in the vicinity of Willows Golf Course.   According to Tom Hardy of the Redmond Department of Natural Resources Department, (DNR) federally protected Chinook salmon often find "safe harbor" in the cool waters of the mouth of Willows Creek.   Chinook linger in Willows Creek as they swim upstream toward Bear Creek to spawn.   But they no longer spawn in here owing to habitat destruction.

Years ago, the creek forests were severely logged  and the salmon stopped spawning to the upper reaches of the creek.  As you can see, it's a beautiful meandering stream with gravel beds, perfect for salmon rearing.   Tom Hardy's crew has a project underway this summer to restore the creek banks and improve the habitat for fish.