School district graduation rate gaps

"Our overall graduation rate for the class of 2016 is 91.3%. This is one of the highest rates in Washington State. We are proud of our overall rate. However, when we dig deeper into our results, we find that the rate for our Latino students is 85%. The rate for our Black/African American students is 81.5%. The rate for our low-income students is 79.2%. The rate for our [special education] students with IEPs is 76.3%. The rate for our English Language Learners is 70.8%. These rates represent actual students with hope and dreams for the future. We need to improve these rates. Lake Washington is committed to closing achievement and opportunity gaps for students where they exist."

   -- Dr. Traci Pierce
      March, 2017

Community Immigration Forum

The City of Redmond, Lake Washington School District. and Eastside Legal Assistance Program, are partnering to host a community meeting on the issue of Immigration Wednesday, March 22 from 6–8 p.m. at the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center, 16600 NE 80th St. in Redmond.

The goal of the meeting is to provide accurate and timely information on the current Immigration situation.  Immigration attorneys will present.  

Community members will have the opportunity to ask questions and share their concerns. English-Spanish interpretation will be provided. The event is free and open to the public.

6:00 Welcome Remarks

·         City official - Council President Margeson

·         Jerry Kroon – Eastside Legal Assistance Program Executive Director

6:05 - MC to provide overview of program, introduce speakers – Aneelah Afzali, MAPS

6:10 - Police Chief Wilson

6:15  - School District Representatives – Kelly Pease/Dr. Pierce

6:20 - Presentation by Attorneys, ELAP and CAIR

·         Jay Stratton, Attorney-at-Law

·         Joan Thomas, Attorney-at-Law

7:05 - Q & A with cards

MAPS video:  http://www.mapsredmond.org/who-we-are/our-mosque/

Questions?  Contact Lisa Maher, City Communications Manager  lmaher@redmond.gov

UPDATED: Jerry's Art Collection

Jerry Torell proudly showing off  his art collection - he has over 100  pieces

Have you ever in your life seen a collection of art in a dry-cleaners? It would have to be a first, don't you think?  Well here is Jerry Torell beaming in front of part of his collection. He managed to work a deal with the owner to work part-time if he could display and sell his art on the side.    

"Camms/Northstar Dry Cleaners" is located on 14701 N.E 20th Street by I-Hop off of 148th Avenue.  Jerry frames most of his art and sells the pieces at affordable prices.  His collection is diverse and quite interesting.  I may be buying a piece.  Jerry normally has not sold his art online, preferring the personal touch.  You can find him at the dry-cleaners Thursday's and Friday's 10 am to 6 pm, or make an appointment (425-957-0485.) for other times.

Jerry, now a Redmond "old timer," has a fascinating background.  His father immigrated from Germany on a "tall ship" and settled in Seattle into a marriage of 66 years.  Jerry moved to Redmond 50-years ago to run "One Hour Martinizing."  At the time, the city had one stoplight and no more were needed. Most of Redmond was trees and open space.   

I first met Jerry at a Redmond Kiwanis Club meeting a few months ago.  He's an amazing community-minded guy.   Only by persistent questioning did he reveal his community service credentials:  In years past, Jerry was Vice-President of the Redmond Chamber, he's a charter member and JCI Senator of the Redmond Jaycees, the co-founder of Redmond Toastmasters and last year's President of Redmond Kiwanis and also creator of the Redmond Bicycle Entrance sign. Several pictures of him are in Naomi Hardy's  "Redmond Reflections, from settlers to software."

Everybody enjoys his ready smile and custom service from several past Redmond dry 
cleaners. Crumpled clothes to clean or not, you must say Hi!

Bob Yoder

edited by Jerry

by

Where are all the homeless tents?

My interview with homeless sheltered in Camp Unity.  

Since writing this piece it appears the screening around the tent is partially removed from the tents.  I saw Dan in his orange vest walking the sidewalk picking up litter so his job is more than security.    

I live only a quarter mile from the St. Jude homeless encampment and walk by there often. Where are all the tents? The western parking lot is almost empty and in years past the lot was always full. What's going on?  Aren't we in a crisis?

With mild trepidation, I approached Dan, an encampment resident to try to understand the dearth of tents.  Dan is a nice guy and articulate and very graciously offered to give me a tour of the facility.

Dan wears a City of Redmond safety vest
while on security duty.  

We found only 16 tents in the "village" -- 2 of of them were empty -- and there was space for five others. My goodness!  He said most of the homeless prefer shelters where the "facilities" are nicer;

Dan said the corrupt Camp Unity board was purged last year and their new leadership is running a very tight ship. Once the "applicants" pass a warrant check, breathalyzer, and upon presenting an I.D. they are  registered and can move in.  Camp Unity charges them $30/month in dues.  It almost seems like a club. If you don't have the money they'll take cashed-in food stamps.

Dan emphasized the "crazies" and the drug infested homeless live in Bellevue's "low barrier" encampment where they'll take anyone.  He was little concerned about heroin.

For job and other personal assistance a case worker visits the encampment.  The camp (village) is on a bus line and residents have bikes to get to employers. Dan bikes down to the library. Recently a church donated a large van.  I asked if the van could transport residents to Home Depot to find day labor; Dan thought long and hard but didn't respond. If you listen to the YouTube clip, the need of WiFi for jobs and affordable housing is a high priority over community supplied food, blankets and clothing.

Bob Yoder, opinion

St. Jude hosts a car camp in the parking lot next to Camp Unity.  According to Dan, about 4-12 cars are parked there at night and the parish runs this camp.  Dinner is served inside every evening for all the homeless on site.  

Barn Again

Posted on March 1, 2017 by claudiabalducci

King County’s “Barn Again” program provides grants to preserve historic barns and outbuildings that reflect our agriculture heritage.  In 2016, six barns, three milk houses, one milking parlor and one chicken house located in eastern and southern rural areas have received Barn Again grants totaling more than $235,000.  The next round of grants is coming up this Spring!  If you have a barn or outbuilding that is historically associated with the working life of a farm, please consider applying!  To be eligible, buildings must be:

Redmond City Council to select a new member Tuesday

Redmond City Hall

This is a very good article by Samantha Pak of the "Redmond Reporter." She writes about the three finalists under consideration to replace Council position #4 vacated by Ms. Allen on January 31st. The article describes the selection process and some very interesting information about the candidates. Councilmembers Angela Birney and John Stilin answer a few questions about "what it takes to be a councilmember." The article was published in yesterday's print and online editions.

Bob Yoder

Letter: March Can Madness fights hunger

I wanted to reach out to each of you to help us fight hunger on the Eastside.

Starting today you can drop off food at our Lake  Washington Physical Therapy clinic in support of the upcoming Hopelink Can Drive or you can simply do a Google Review. Our clinic is donating $10 to Hopelink for each review our clinic receives this weekend. Last year LWPT raised about $1,500 and 3,000 lbs of food. The overall tournament raised $25,000 and 55,000 lbs. of food.

This is the tournament I started back in 2008 in Redmond and it has now grown to include Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland, and beyond. Thanks for your ongoing support.

Sincerely,

-Ben Wobker

Google Reviews:

https://www.google.com/#q=lake+washington+physical+therapy+kirkland&*&lrd=0x549012dd7b23400f:0x2034c3eabcde2dc8,1,

More Info About Hopelink's Can Drive (March 3 - April 7)

https://www.hopelink.org/take-action/can-madness

Redmond City Council is Podcasting their Committee Meetings

City of Redmond leads the eastside with innovative Open Government podcasts

The City of Redmond published their first Video Podcast of a Council Committee meeting this week. These Council Committee meetings are really the only time Council can gather as a whole to mingle and discuss business with staff.  The meetings are critical to city workings; and where the rubber meets the road.  Council committee meetings are held at 4:30.  The convenience of a podcast (video file) opens government.  I'll publish the podcasts as I can and they're available on the city website.

The Council Public Safety Committee meeting was their first audio-filed meeting.  It was chaired by CM Byron Shutz, with CM Stilin, CM Carson, CM Birney, and CM Margeson in attendance. 


Some interesting topics were discussed:  The glue truck spill, emergency preparedness for the snowfall, a new CPR system, School Resources Officers, the who's and what's of Fire personnel promotions and at the end of the meeting a funny chatter about "Police Badges."

Council holds four Committee Meetings a month at 4:30 p.m. 

--Parks and Human Resources (1st Tues of the month,) -- Parks and Public Works (2nd Tues of the month,) -- Public Safety (3rd Tues. of the month,) and -- Finance, Administration and Communication (4th Tuesday of the month.) 

Wouldn't it be helpful and healthy if the Lake Washington School District Directors would podcast their study sessions?   They meet with staff  at 5:30 over a catered dinner.   
  

Redmond Police Institutes Narcan Program To Decrease Deaths for Opiate Overdoses

Narcan Training

REDMOND, WA - The Redmond Police Department has now joined a number of departments across the country trained to administer Nasal Naloxone (also known as Narcan) in an effort to decrease deaths from opiate overdoses. Patrol and commissioned officers below the rank of commander have recently been trained by Redmond Fire Department paramedics and have been issued Narcan kits.

“Over the last few years, our officers, like many cities around us, have seen an increase in the number of people under the influence of opiates, especially heroin. We don’t expect to use Narcan frequently, but the kits are another tool officers can use. It's not a long-term solution for heroin issues, but is low-risk to use and saves lives," said Chief Kristi Wilson.

Educators, Community Members To Gather At Lake Washington Schools Foundation Spring Events

The Lake Washington Schools Foundation will host its 12th annual luncheon and 2nd annual breakfast at the Redmond Town Center Marriott hotel.

Emmy nominated journalist Roberta Romero will host this year’s luncheon on March 28th , 11:30-1:00PM and renowned sportscaster Tony Ventrella will host this year’s breakfast on March 30th, 7:-8:30AM. Guest speakers include LWSD superintendent Dr. Traci Pierce and LWSD students and teachers who will highlight innovative programs and educational opportunities made possible by the foundation.

Please join us to support a beyond-basic public education for all students in the Lake Washington School District. Register to attend or donate to support the event at www.lwsf.org or call (425) 936-1414 to be a table captain, corporate partner, or volunteer to help make the events a success.

Lake Washington Schools Foundation is a nonprofit organization raising funds from parents, business, local government, and community leaders to support academic excellence and success for all students in the Lake Washington School District. To learn more contact Executive Director Larry Wright at (425) 936-1317 or larry@lwsf.org, or visit www.lwsf.org. 

UPDATED: Bear Creek advocates hold meeting

Credit/ Water Tender John Reinke 

Water Tenders is a group of people who care about the wetlands and streams in the Bear Creek area and King county.

The torch of Water Tenders (WT) leadership was passed from President Eric Soshea to Susan Wilkins at the WT Annual Meeting last week.  Many of the of the original tenders were present, including a relative of the founder. Leader Terry Lavender and past president Dick Schaetzel were out of town. Gary Smith was present. Debbie Aftebro from Novelty Hill had never attended a WT meeting yet she collects and measures rainwater for Guy Baltzelle's program. She wanted to meet Guy but unfortunately he wasn't at the meeting.  Shirley Doolittle-Egerdahl was up front with Susan and Eric. Shirley was once President and is now the Treasurer, replacing John Reinke,who replaced Dick S.  One of the new board members, Heather Poe was president and secretary for WT in the Early 2000 - 2005 era (before Susan became a member.) Shirley Doolittle-Egerdahl was also once a president along with five others. 

In her presentation, (video) Susan held up a map of the entire Bear Creek watershed. She was re-directing and expanding our attention to the entire Bear Creek watershed.  She states:

"The Bear Creek Basin is an exceptionally natural and healthy environment for our native salmon runs given that it is so close to a major metropolitan area.  We want to direct more community involvement into observing the stream habitat and collecting year-round data (such as rainfall, water temperature, stream flow) across the whole Bear Creek Basin.  We also want to carefully monitor land use planning by the local government jurisdictions to encourage preservation and protection of our land and water resources."

Five members who volunteered for the new Board met with Susan after the meeting.  The first order of business was to select officers.  Susan is the President, Mark Reynolds is the V.P. (he told a touching "avatar" story about the value of engaging children.)  Mark is a software engineer for Nordstrom and a "take charge" kind of guy.  He is working on a new website and very motivated for WT to make a difference for kids.  Me too.

Youth have been involved in WT over the years:

My daughter, Lexie Conley, was once a Youth Board member -- the first and last.  She wrote an article on the history of environmentalism that was published in the WT's 25th Anniversary Issue of the newsletter.  Terry recruited her to lead the Green Team in a Derby Day parade...and work the booth. Lexie recruited her Key Club members to help restore a forest in what is now the Redmond Bike Park site.  Notably, Dick S. attended that.  The Key Club also spent a day restoring a northern Bear Creek tributary -- an ongoing WT project.

Susan Wilkins actively engaged her children in the environment.  Her daughter was a docent for the annual WT salmon "SEEson" event.  In 2007 her children surveyed the Camwest Perrigo Heights preliminary plat's northern forest boundary ...in preparation for the citizen/council/mayor/Eric Campbell's woodland march to the proposed Steep Slope sewer location.

Colorful salmon cut-outs were made for children. (don't have the details.)  Kiosks were built to educate children and adults. Exhibits were held at REI.  Terry Lavender worked at the Redmond Medical Center from where the Derby Day Children's Parade started every year. She organized the kids and I think gave them a short education on salmon before they took off on their bikes. 

### 

A 5-minute YouTube of Susan Willkin's presentation at the Annual Meeting:  https://youtu.be/_SfMBTinhqg

A slide show of my daughter and her Key Club/ Bio-Chem classmates restoring the Bear Creek tributary.