City safety questionnaire...and more police news

Redmond Safety Alerts, by Jim Bove, RPD community facilitator

What say you?

Our police and fire departments, along with city planning, have created a questionnaire asking for YOUR feedback regarding public safety resources. This is part of the long range public safety strategic plan – so as we prepare for the future, what is it that you want more or or less of when it comes to public safety resources? As we grow as a city, what do you envision being important? It’s a total of 20 questions, but shouldn’t take any more than 6-ish minutes. We value your feedback and encourage you to participate, regardless of whether you live here, work here, drive through here, play, eat, drink, etc….www.surveymonkey.com/s/QVDDWQ5  You can also access the link on our main PD website: www.redmond.gov/police.

Give that girl a badge!

You may have heard or seen the story about a car prowler that was arrested a few weeks ago
here in Redmond (by the way, had another one arrested yesterday!). Please note the witness in the story: an 11 year old girl who heard the prowler at 4 in the morning Read More >>

Redmond "Acts Out" Outdoor Theaterfest

LETTER: Portables at LWSD: Cost vs. Value

Cost vs. Value -- Portables at LWSD

By Paige Norman

As you drive by Redmond Middle School and Redmond High School this summer; make sure you count the number of portable buildings on site at each school.  RMS will be adding one more portable; and RHS will have an additional two; bringing the total to 7 between the two schools.  Read More >>

The Hammer breaks a velodrome record at the Marymoor Grand Prix

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Rosanna, King County Blog

A longstanding track record held at the Marymoor Park velodrome, circa 1986, has finally been broken by the force that is Sarah Hammer, a four-time world track cycling champion. The record for the 3k individual pursuit had been held by Rebecca Twigg, a Northwest native and two-time Olympic medalist with an extensively decorated cycling resume as impressive as the number of years it took to break the velodrome record itself.The record-breaking time occurred during the Marymoor Grand Prix, an event described as the ‘fastest show on two wheels’ and to the cheers of spectators circled around the track.

New 3k Individual Pursuit Record at Marymoor Velodrome by Sarah Hammer:  3.44.36

See for yourself, how Sarah put down the ‘Hammer’ to break the record!

Plus, a full recap and race results of the Marymoor Grand Prix posted by the awesome Marymoor Velodrome Association.

What is "One Redmond?" - an interview with President Eric Scroggins

One Redmond

One Redmond President, Dr. Eric Scroggins talks goals, funding, desires and community in an interview with Comcast Newsmakers. This interview and more from local Eastside representatives will be shown at various times this week on CNN Headline News. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEAbd5jklpo&feature=share&list=UUpME5qJHypriVH4TfjqUVGw 

The "One Redmond" website is here.  www.oneredmond.org 

City of Redmond making progress with industries to keep drinking water clean, ratepayers pick up most of the tab

UPDATED:  A significant amount of our city drinking water comes from five or six wellheads that tap into a shallow aquifer.  This aquifer is at risk of contamination (from stormwater and hazardous run-off) and the city has been working with an advisory group of Redmond industries and commercial companies to implement aquifer safeguards.

Last night, Council listened to Planning Director Rob Odle and Department of Natural Resources Manager Jon Spangler discuss progress with these industries as related to the "Wellhead Protection Implementation Program."  City water rate-payers will share the cost of design and construction of the improvements with the all the parties (industries and commercial businesses) involved.  The Plan is scheduled for Council approval in August.

The greater the threat, the more the city will reimburse them. For Category One High Priority parties, costs will be reimbursed 75% if their improvement project is completed within 2.5 years and 50% if reimbursed within 2.5-3 years.  Category Two Lower Priority parties, costs will be reimbursed 60% if completed within 4 years.  All city water rate-payers will pay the cost for these reimbursements regardless of whether their drinking water comes from the aquifer.  Establishing a mediation process is the last remaining issue before the new program starts on October 1, 2013.  Costs of the program were not discussed.  Negotiations have been going on for around two years. 

Spangler said the city tests 130 aquifer monitoring wells every six months for contaminants.  Regarding value of the aquifer, Spangler said "the city saves over $1.5 million/year over buying water from Seattle."  And, "If we lost our aquifer to contamination it's a $51 million buy-in to Cascade Water Alliance for that quantity of water."  Spangler said, "the city has already spent $28 million to upgrade our wells which now have a useful life of 50 years."

Spangler concluded:  "Based on activities in the city and projected densities and the shallowness of the aquifer and industrial activities, the risk is high if we do nothing. Some older systems direct stormwater from parking lots directly into the groundwater.  Hopefully, we'll have an aquifer that's clean and healthy for a decade to come and will save the city millions in keeping that safe." 

Reported by Bob Yoder
Source:  7/23 City Council Study Session

The Timber Outdoor Music Festival!

If Timber! tickets fall in the woods, do they make a noise?

Posted on July 18, 2013 by parksmonkey

Looking to experience the Timber! Outdoor Music Festival for free? Who isn’t, tickets are selling fast, so we thought we’d show you some love. Tell us what your favorite memory, or summertime activity is, in one of our parks. This means simply comment on this post (in whichever media you find it in). We will draw a winner on Wed 7/24 at noon, so pick your favorite – WordPress, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, don’t matter, we just want your stories… your tasty, heart-warming stories, yessssss.  Read More >>

4th Annual Ananda Mela Festival is July 27-28

The fourth Ananda Mela: Joyful Festival of India will take place at the Redmond City Hall campus, on Saturday July 27^th and Sunday July 28^th, from 12 noon to 8:30 pm. Ananda Mela is organized and produced by the Vedic Cultural Center (VCC, www.vedicculturalcenter.org ).

The outdoor festival, free for the public, attracts a large number of audiences from far and wide to converge at the Redmond City Hall campus for a memorable weekend of joy, conviviality and cultural experiences that are exuberantly Indian.  Read More >>

LETTER: Reader questions LWSD press release on Advisory Committee's levy and bond options

"Citizen Advisory Committee recommends levy and bond options"

1 Comment - Show Original Post 

Anonymous said...

More details on this bond measure would be nice. One new elementary school would be built at Redmond Ridge, but where would the other 2 be built? A new STEM high school on the west side of the district - where? An international high school on the east side - where? Would there be a need for additions at Eastlake and LWHS if Juanita is being rebuilt and 2 high schools are being added? Five of 8 schools will be modernized - which 5 will be modernised and what about the other 3? Does modernization mean a remodel or will they tear the schools down and rebuild from the ground up? Why tear-down/rebuild 5 schools when they could spread the money out and update all 8? How much money will be budgeted for each school?

$755 million (or $.75 BILLION) is a lot of money and yet they barely explain how the money will be spent. There was a committee that spent a lot of time on this. The lack of detail in the press release is alarming.

Council approves $594,704 for new synthetic turf at Grasslawn soccer and softball fields

UPDATED:  In 2002, the City of Redmond installed its first soccer field using synthetic turf with a

surrounding rubber walking track at Grass Lawn Park. In 2003, the City's first synthetic

softball field was constructed by converting Field #1 from natural grass to synthetic turf.

The improvements made the fields available for use twelve months out of the year.

Grass Lawn Park is one of the City of Redmond's most visited recreational facilities.

With three lit synthetic sports fields, six lit tennis courts, multiple basketball hoops, two

playgrounds, climbing rocks, a walking track, one rentable picnic shelter, one rentable

pavilion, and an assortment of walking paths, the park hosts hundreds of thousands of

visitors every year. The synthetic fields are a major component of the park and are

heavily used year-round as a result of rentals, sports camps, and significant drop-in use.

In 2012, there were 838 booked events with over 47,000 scheduled users on just these

 

two fields.   (scroll for remainder of story).   Read More >>

Overlake Squadron cadets receive donation from Redmond Rotary

A dozen Overlake Squadron members attended the launch event for #Redspoke this morning at the Redmond Hyatt House.  This grueling 5-day bike ride will take 58 riders across the Cascades to Spokane.   Cadets helped to load luggage and supplies while our cadet Color Guard presented the colors during breakfast.

#Redspoke is a major fund-raising event for the Redmond Rotary and today our unit received a generous donation to support our cadet flying program.  Each summer our unit sends 6-8 cadets to the CAP Flight Academy in Ephrata for 2 weeks of flight training in both gliders and powered aircraft. 

Many of these cadets will fly solo before they are old enough to drive a car by themselves, which will hopefully lead to an aviation career.  Flight training is expensive and our program could not send so many cadets into the air without the generous support of organizations like the Rotary.

Our unit meets weekly on Tuesday evenings in Redmond.  The Cadet program is open to youth aged 12+

www.overlakecap.org

www.facebook.com/overlakesquadron
www.RedmondRotary.org

Redmond High Student Wins Firefighter Scholarship

REDMOND FIREFIGHTER UNION, LOCAL 2829, AWARDS $1,000 COMMUNITY SCHOLARSHIP TO REDMOND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT

 

Alexandra Minsk, a graduate of Redmond High School, was awarded a $1,000 college scholarship, funded by the Redmond Firefighter Union, Local 2829.

 

Minsk received the scholarship for her many academic and extra-curricular activities. She is a four-year member of the robotics team, the founder and editor-in-chief of The Equus, a literary magazine at Redmond High School, and has performed clarinet in both the school band and the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra. Minsk also worked as a math tutor and as an intern for the East African Community Services, while volunteering for Tent City among many other organizations.

 

The scholarship will go toward tuition and expenses at Dartmouth College, where Minsk plans to study economics and international relations.

Citizen Advisory Committee recommends levy and bond options

School board to consider measures in August

Redmond, Wash. – At its June 24 meeting, a citizens’ advisory committee provided the Lake Washington School District Board of Directors a recommendation for school funding levy and bond measures to place on the ballot in February 2014. The levies would replace current measures that expire at the end of 2014 while the bonds would address building schools to house projected enrollment growth and to modernize existing schools.  Read More>>

School board association hosts meeting on charter schools; 12 districts delay plans to open charter schools

By Liv Finne
July 10, 2013

 

Monday, July 1st was an important date in the implementation of Initiative 1240, the voter-approved measure that legalized charter schools for Washington school children.  That was the deadline for interested school districts to submit an application to the State Board of Education to become a charter school authorizer.

 

Surprisingly, 12 of the 13 school districts that earlier had expressed interest in opening charter schools have delayed plans to become charter school authorizers.  Only education leaders at the Spokane School District say they will move ahead to provide access to charter schools for their students the fall of 2014.  Read More >>

Lake Washington School District budget proposed; Some additional funding now expected from the State

Redmond, Wash. – At its June 24 meeting, the Lake Washington School District Board of Directors received a draft budget for the 2013-14 school year. However, the state of Washington, the district’s largest funding source, did not yet have a budget. That left plenty of question marks in the district’s draft budget. Now that the state budget has been signed into law, the legislative impacts on the Lake Washington School District and the budget draft have become clearer. An updated budget proposal will be presented to the Board of Directors at its August 5 meeting that reflects an expected increase in state funding.

                “This additional funding is a step toward fully funding basic education,” noted Dr. Traci Pierce, superintendent. “After many years of budget cuts or flat budgets, it is a change in the right direction. Many basic needs remain unfunded or dependent on local levies, however.”  Read More >>

LWIT Students Place First, Second and Third in the Nation in SkillsUSA Competition

 

Kirkland, Wash.: All three LWIT students who attended the 2013 SkillsUSA National Competition June 24-28, in Kansas City, Mo., brought home medals.

 

Jonathan Anderson placed first in the country in Marine Service Technology with a gold medal. Nikolaos Antonopoulos placed second in the nation in Motorcycle Service Technology with a silver medal (winning LWIT a Harley-Davidson^® motorcycle courtesy of Harley-Davidson^®). Jeremy Talley placed third in the nation in Power Equipment Technology with a bronze medal. Talley was the silver medal winner in Motorcycle Service Technology in the 2012 SkillsUSA national competition, which won LWIT a Harley- Davidson^® motorcycle.  Read More>>

Tiger Swallowtail behind the Redmond Senior Center

Here is a photo I took a few days ago of a western tiger swallowtail.  It was swooping down and feeding on flowers in the garden area behind the Redmond Senior Center.  

The caterpillars of this species feed on the leaves of a variety of trees.  The caterpillars molt 5 times, eventually reaching a length of up to 2 inches before pupating. In summer, the butterfly can emerge as little as 15 days after the caterpillar pupated, but when the caterpillar pupates in the fall, the butterfly will not emerge until the spring.  Adult females will lay up to 100 eggs, deposited singly on the underside of leaves.

Report and photo by John Reinke

An Educational Forum On Treatments for Mood Disorders July 16th

An Educational Forum On

Treatments For Mood Disorders

Speaker:                David A Harrison, MD, PhD
Date:                      Tuesday, July 16, 2013  7 PM - 9 PM

Location:               Evergreen Hospital, Suite Tan 100, 12303 NE 130th Lane, Kirkland, WA 98034

Dr. David Harrison is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He currently works as a consulting psychiatrist for the Mental Health Integration Program (MHIP), a statewide program for improving mental health care in the primary care setting, as an attending psychiatrist on the UW Medical Center consult-liaison and inpatient psychiatry services, and as course chair of the first year medical student course on behavior medicine called Systems of Human Behavior. Dr. Harrison’s professional interests also involve improving the integration of spiritual care and complementary and alternative medicine into psychiatry.

 

Dr. Harrison has spoken at NAMI Forum’s before and has always enjoyed answering your questions.

Happy Fourth of July!

To all my readers, Best Wishes for a Happy and Safe Fourth of July!

Bob Yoder

Redmond City Council approves over $1,785,874 in sidewalk improvements

The 2011-2012 Sidewalk Improvements are this year’s portion of the City’s on-going sidewalk program to improve pedestrian safety and fill in missing sidewalk segments.

Project Description

 

A description of proposed improvements at each site is as follows:

171st Ave NE at NE 100th Street

This project component will construct curb, gutter, and 6’ concrete sidewalk on the eastside of 171st Ave NE at NE 100th Street, and two ADA ramps at the end of 172nd  Ave NE near Hartman Park in coordination with the Bike Park project. This section will also construct a driveway ramp to enter the park and minor landscaping.  Read More >>

School Board approves Eastlake video scoreboard

The School Board voted 4-1 (Pendergrass) to approve the Eastlake Football Booster and Evergreen Ford donation for a $160,000 video scoreboard.  Pendergrass was not for it and recommended to clear up confusion that the district was not buying the scoreboard that the Boosters be advertised as major contributors.  Director Siri Bliesner seconded Director Doug Egglington's motion to approve the scoreboard saying that it provided a media educational  opportunity for students.  The majority of the Board voiced concern that the community spent 6 years on the donation drive while the Board was in the dark on it.   They recommended a policy change on community projects of this magnitude to be kept better informed. 

Reported by Bob Yoder

Hill annouces bipartisan agreement on new state budget

OLYMPIA... State Sen. Andy Hill, the Senate’s chief budget writer, this morning announced that leaders from the Senate and House of Representatives have reached agreement on a new state operating budget that would take effect July 1. The compromise spending plan, which is expected to go before members of both chambers soon, will cover the 2013-15 fiscal biennium.

“All year I’ve been working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Legislature to establish a sustainable plan that prioritizes education and lives within our means,” said Hill, of Redmond, who serves as chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. “I’m looking forward to finalizing and voting on a budget that puts an additional 1 billion dollars directly toward the basic-education obligations associated with the McCleary court ruling; protects our state’s economic slow but steady recovery; and provides relief for college students and their parents by ending tuition increases during the upcoming two year budget.”  Read More >>

Significant King County Parks levy on the August 6 ballot

City Council studied King County Park's Director Kevin Brown's presentation on two combined and enhanced Parks levies slated for the August 6 election.  The levy combines two 2008-2013 levies that are expiring - the Operations and Maintenance (M&O) Levy and the Open Space and Trails Levy.  Total cost of the levy increases from it's present 13.4cent/thousand assessed property value to 18.77cent/thousand assessed value.  Extra enhancements account for 20% of the levy.  The levy funds 72% of the park systems operating expenses.  If the August 6 levy fails M&O funds are reduced to zero.  51% is needed to pass. 

Councilmembers Margeson, Flynn, Vache' and Carson all considered it "risky" to lump the two levies together for an all or none vote with possible shutdown of some parks if the vote failed.   Margeson said there's a "big grab" for taxdollars, including a needed King County METRO levy to help people get to work.  Flynn "wasn't thrilled about the package".  (King County Council voted 7-2 for it.).  Carson said the levy would cost close to double than $45/year county average for a Redmond household.  Margeson was not pleased with King County's unwillingness to transfer Marymoor Park to the City of Redmond.

Reported by Bob Yoder

Sunset Gardens Park Free Summer Lunch for Kids and Teens

Redmond, WA - Join us for a summer of sun, fun, and lunch! Community Lunch at Sunset Garden’s Park is a FREE program for kids and teens ages 18 and under that runs July 8^th-August 23^rd, Monday-Friday from 11:30am-12:30.  Each day starting at 11:30am we’ll host different activities that include playing team sports, conducting science experiments, participating in active games, creating fun take-home crafts, and visits from special guests. At 12:00pm we’ll serve a healthy and delicious lunch provided by the Family Pancake House and sponsored by USDA. Sunset Gardens Park is located near the intersection of NE 95 Street and Avondale Road NE.  Read More >>

City doubles size of petty cash balance to $20,000

Traditionally, the Parks Department through a contracted event coordinator disburses up to $10,000 in prize money for the Criterium Race held over the Derby Days weekend. The largest cash prize is $500. 

 

To mitigate past difficulties with tax recording, Parks and Finance staff have agreed the City should take on the responsibility of disbursing the prize money. The two departments have worked out cash handling/disbursement procedures to be followed before, during, and after the event to protect the employees involved, as well as the funds.  The ordinance enables staff to have the prize money on-hand when needed. The $10,000 funds would be used solely for special event purposes and not for general petty cash.
The new ordinance allows the City to increase cash available in the Petty Cash and Revolving Fund by $10,000 to a maximum amount of $20,000. The additional $10,000 will be used solely for special event purposes.

By Bob Yoder 
Source:  Consent agenda, 6/18/13