10/18/13: PhD Chemist Claims Watson Asphalt Co. Emissions Are Creating a Public Health Issue

David Morton addressed the City Council and Mayor about a potential public health issue in SE Redmond attributed to emissions from Watson Asphalt on 1922 NE Union Hill Road..  Mr. Morton is a PhD chemist with 15 years experience working in labs where he tested water and soil samples.

Morton's home is seven blocks East of the Watson Asphalt plant and every year he smells "stench" from the plant.  He claims waste petroleum is boiled off to make asphalt tar releasing invisible "VOC's" into the air.  He said these VOC emissions circulate a mile and a half from the plant to the Millinium Office Park,  Perrigo Park, Bear Creek School, and Friendly Village.  

Morton said the EPA states asphalt fumes are known toxins but the only regulation currently done locally is particle size of the emissions.  He asked the Mayor if the city could improve their air standards.  He ran off a long list of carcinogens that could be associated with the VOC fumes. 

Peter Shroeder, the Owner and Operator of Watson Asphalt addressed the Council stating the company has been in business in Redmond since 1964, has a 100 employees, and "saved the City $700,000 in the past four years by being a local company."  He explained the manufacturing process and concluded that air emissions are regulated, permitted, and inspected by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. 

Mayor Marchione said staff would look into the claims made by Morton and get back to him in the next two weeks. 

Reported By Bob Yoder

Youth Cyber-Safety and the Risks of Social Media - What Every Family Needs to Know

 

Upcoming parent presentations scheduled at four elementary schools

 

Redmond, Wash. – With more affordable smart phones and the growth of social media like Facebook and Twitter, everyone is getting connected. Yes, it is exciting but how do you protect your children when they participate? Not just from predators but from bad decisions that can impact their lives for years to come? How do you even talk to them about it, let alone understand it?  Read More >>

NAMI Current Events

September Forum

 

Join us on Tuesday, 17^th September from 7 to 9pm at Evergreen Hospital for an Educational Forum on Borderline Personality Disorder.

 

The speaker, Elizabeth LoTempio, PsyD, specializes in working with adults and adolescents diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and/or struggling with problems including emotion dysregulation, self-harm, suicidality, eating disorders, anxiety, and mood disorders. She has extensive training and experience using evidence-based treatments, including dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). She completed a pre-doctoral fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine in the Yale-New Haven Hospital Intensive Outpatient DBT program treating individuals with borderline personality disorder and chronic suicidality and self-harm. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in adolescent and adult DBT at the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Center of Seattle (DBTCS). She is currently a staff psychologist at DBTCS and provides individual therapy, skills groups, and multifamily skills groups for adults and adolescents.

 

September 8-14 is National Suicide Prevention Week   Read More >>

7th Annual Sammamish Arts Fair

7th Sammamish Arts Fair 

Sat Oct 12th & Sun Oct 13th 10:00 am - 5:00 pm 

At the Sammamish City Hall and Library - FREE

 

The Sammamish Arts Fair is an annual Arts Fair, which is now in its seventh year. It has grown in reputation to be one of the most anticipated arts events on the Eastside, and it will feature some of the best jury selected local artists in our area, 17 of which live in Sammamish. When Forbes recently ranked Sammamish as the number one friendliest town in America they made mention of our annual arts fair.  Read More >>

Thirty-two LWSD students named National Merit Semifinalists

Students now complete for 8,000 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $35 million

 

Redmond, Wash. – As announced by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), 32 Lake Washington School District (LWSD) high school seniors qualified as semifinalists in the 59th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

A total of 16,000 academically talented high school seniors nationwide have qualified. About 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation. These students will have the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,000 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $35 million, that will be offered next spring.

Students qualified for these awards by completing the 2012 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state.

Redmond High School had the highest number of recipients in the district, with 17 students named as semifinalists.  Read More for the listing of students >>

Kinnan W. Williams is running against Rebecca Hirt for EvergreenHealth Commissioner

Kinnan W. Williams is running against Rebecca Hirt for EvergreenHealth Commissioner

"Although I will [would] be new to the Board I am not inexperienced. I represent special purpose districts including the King Fire District 34 which serves the greater Redmond area outside of the City limits. I was also a Commissioner with the Northshore Utility District for 14 years and now serve as its general counsel. Finally, I have served on the Hospitals Charitable Foundation Board for several years and am now Vice Chair of the foundation. The only real downside to getting elected will be that I won’t be able to serve as Chair of the Foundation Board next year. I truly enjoy my work on the Board, especially on the EFAC committee which essentially distributes micro grants to various groups in the hospital to enhance education and patient care. This year we gave out grants from helping develop cooking skills classes for patients with special dietary needs to research on how to better serve new ethic populations in our communities. In the past we have provided special sexual training for nurses, so that victims of sexual assault on the Eastside don’t have to be transported down to Harborview during an already traumatic time and specialized equipment for the Emergency Room to prevent bed sores which is major problem for elderly patients.  It should be noted that the funds for this entire program ($50,000) came from hospital employee donations. By the way it was my proposal a few years ago to increase the distribution levels from a maximum of $2,500 per project to $5,000 per project and from an aggregate of $25,000 to $50,000. I am proud of the Board for increasing these amounts and more proud of the employees for continuing to fund these projects.

 

We should really be proud of the hospital it is doing a fine job, but the community is changing and we need to be dynamic which is why I am running."

 

By Kinnan W. Williams 

Lake Washington Institute of Technology Recognized as a Top Military Friendly School

Kirkland, Wash.: Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWIT) is one of Washington’s community and technical colleges named as one of the nation’s top military friendly schools.

The 2014 Military Friendly Schools list released this week honors the top 20 percent of colleges, universities, and trade schools in the country that do the most to embrace America’s military service members, veterans, and spouses as students and ensure their success on campus.

The list was compiled through research and data-driven analysis of surveys from more than 10,000 schools nationwide approved for VA funding. The national accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP independently audited the results, which were based on upon established weightings and methodology. LWIT was among only 1,868 schools nationwide to make the list.

For a complete list of schools in Washington and across the nation, visit www.militaryfriendlyschools.com/mfslist.aspx<http://www.militaryfriendlyschools.com/mfslist.aspx>

OPINION: Yes on 522 - labeling genetically engineered foods

Yes on 522

By Elizabeth Larter 

This November, Washington will decide whether to label genetically engineered foods in the grocery store by voting on initiative 522.

A Yes vote on initiative 522 is the only way we can know what we feed our families.

Companies label ingredients, nutrition facts, the country of origin, whether fish was farm raised or wild caught, whether vanilla extract is pure or artificial, and now even whether meat was tenderized mechanically. We should also know whether or not our food has been genetically engineered.  

 Opponents of labeling are funded by five  out-of-state corporations. Their average contributions to the No side are over $400,000. This contrasts greatly with the Yes on I-522’s numbers.  Yes on Initiative 522 is funded by over 6,000 individual donors with an average donation of $25. The people of Washington support I-522 and Big Ag and Big Food are trying to keep you from knowing what’s in your food.

As the election nears, the opposition, with their deep, corporate pockets, will put up  misleading ads trying to keep shoppers  in the dark about their foods. Our opposition will claim that farmers don’t support Yes on 522. That’s a lie. Hundreds of farmers support Yes on 522. Our opposition will claim that this will cost you at the grocery store. Also not true. Food manufacturers are constantly updating their packaging and don’t increase costs. This just adds a couple of words to the front of the package. It won’t increase cost. Lastly, our opposition will claim that this bill is confusing and arbitrary. False. This bill was written to conform to common labeling laws. Initiative 522 would label foods in the grocery store, just like we already label these foods with nutritional content and ingredients. Yes on 522 is supported by farmers, ranchers, small businesses, moms and dads, and Washingtonians across the state. You can read our full list of endorsements at yes on522.com/endorsements/.

Come November, you’ll have a choice. To vote for more transparency in your groceries or to oppose more information. We hope that you’ll join us and support labeling genetically engineered foods. It’s our right to know what’s in the groceries we are buying and feeding our families. Vote Yes on 522 this November!

What does the Lake Washington PTSA Council do?

By Jane Dulski, President LW-PTSA Council

Welcome, everyone, to the new school year. We know you have all been very busy preparing for the start of school, so we hope you take a moment to congratulate yourselves on all your hard work so far.

  

Many ask us, "What does Council do anyway?" or "Why do we have a Council?" There are over 900 local units in the state of Washington and having a Council allows for better customer service from the WA State PTA. Our Council has 41 school PTA/PTSAs (or local units in PTA lingo), over 400 elected officers, and over 15,000 members!  We are the second largest council and we

make up over 10% of the membership of the entire state!

  

The Lake Washington PTSA Council is here to help develop and mentor leaders in the local units in our school district. We have district-wide advocacy leaders who keep us informed about the issues and help all local units advocate on a state and national level. Our strong Special Needs Group brings resources to parents. We work closely with the Emergency Preparedness program in the district. Our Council partners with the school district to provide Parent Education programs.  With your participation in the annual Basket Auction, Council is able to offer 17 or more post-secondary scholarships each year for students and teachers.  Read More >>

Take the Plunge - Join Water Tenders!

Water Tenders Celebrate 25 Years with Anniversary Barbecue

 

It’s time to celebrate!

Water Tenders has been working hard the past 25 years to maintain and protect Bear Creek, it’s headwaters, creeks, streams, and wetlands that make up the Bear Creek Basin. It’s time to celebrate, acknowledge, and reconnect with the Water Tenders volunteers and members, past and present, who have helped make this accomplishment possible.

We are hosting a 25th Anniversary Barbecue, open to the public, at Mary Cash Farm, on Sunday, September 15 at 3:30 PM. We will be grilling hamburgers and veggie burgers and of course, we will have a 25th Anniversary cake for dessert. We will also provide the paper and plasticware for meals.

Participants are asked to bring an appetizer or salad and their own drinks (alcohol is not allowed in King County Parks).

We will have a variety of posters, booklets, flyers, and newsletters on display to illustrate our rich history.

Mary Cash Farm is located at the intersection of Woodinville-Duvall Road and 182nd Avenue NE. Overflow parking will be available  across the street in the upper parking lot of the Cottage lake Presbyterian Church and Preschool located at 18350 NE Woodinville-Duvall Place.

Please RSVP to jan-guy@hotmail.com if you think you will attend so we can get a headcount for burgers. We hope to see you there!

EvergreenHealth Commissioners refinance bonds, Save taxpayers $9 million

Kirkland, Wash. – Property taxpayers in King County Public Hospital District No. 2 – EvergreenHealth – will see their tax obligation drop by more than $9 million over the next 10 years, thanks to the decision by the EvergreenHealth Board of Commissioners to refinance tax-supported bonds issued in 2004.

“We can realize this reduction by taking advantage of historically low interest rates,” explained Al DeYoung, chairman of the EvergreenHealth Board of Commissioners. “By refinancing the 2004 Unlimited Tax General Obligation bonds now, we have more than halved the interest rate we were paying – from nearly 5 percent to less than 2 percent,” DeYoung said.

EvergreenHealth refinanced $59.5 million, from an original bond amount of more than $112.7 million. The new bonds, to which Moody’s Investor Service gave an Aa2 rating – the best rating for any hospital in the Puget Sound area – will mature in December 2023. The bond closing was May 14, 2013.

The 2004 bonds were primarily used to build the Silver Tower on the EvergreenHealth Medical Center campus in Kirkland. The nine-story Silver Tower houses EvergreenHealth’s Emergency Department, trauma services, the core part of the Halvorson Cancer Center and patient rooms.

“As part of our commitment to financial stewardship, we are able to reduce the total debt service that makes the Silver Tower possible from $89.7 million to $80.4 million with the same maturity date for the bonds,” said Chrissy Yamada, chief financial officer of EvergreenHealth.

“We are deeply gratified that the people of the district have supported our mission to provide them breakthrough care in facilities that we are constantly improving through bond issues such as this, as well as through private philanthropy,” added Bob Malte, CEO of EvergreenHealth.

The district includes the incorporated cities of Kirkland, Redmond, Woodinville, Kenmore and Duvall, portions of Bothell, Bellevue, Clyde Hill, Sammamish, Lake Forest Park and the town of Yarrow Point, as well as adjacent unincorporated areas.

Redmond can have two retail outlet stores for marijuana sales

According to the newest rules from Initiative 502 pot law the Washington Liquor Control Board has assigned retail outlet limits in cities throughout the state.  Redmond and Kirkland can each have two marijuana retail stores.  Issaquah and Sammamish can each have one store.  Federal Way, Kent and Renton can each have three stores.  Bellevue could have up to four stores. 

For the complete list of Washington State outlets visit this Washington State Liquor Control Board page. 

Reported By Bob Yoder

City Planning and Development Director Rob Odle and Capstone update Council on Overlake Village Development

Public process for the park is robust.  Sites are selected for off-site tree mitigation

When Capstone purchased the Overlake Group Health site this Spring to build their mixed-use urban village it didn't take them long to get to the drawing boards.  In last night's Council session Capstone's Mike Hubbard said the hotel and conference center would move to the Northwest corner and it was decided they would design, own, and maintain the park.  After the spine road and parcel access roads are built, residential units (near 152nd) owned by Avalon will be constructed in May/June of next year.  All other construction will come afterwards. 

1400 multi-family residential units, 1.2 million square feet of commercial (office and retail) an 180,000 sq. ft. hotel/conference center, 2.7 acre public park and 10 acres of off site forest canopy are slated to be constructed eventually in this transit friendly mixed-use village.  The Group Health Hospital has already been demolished; possibly the second largest demolition in the State after the Kingdome, according to Hubbard. 

The public process for development of the park will be robust.  The Parks Commission and Design Review Board will hold special meetings on the park.  A Public Hearing is scheduled for October 15.  The first of two Community Meetings will be held mid-November.  Councilmember Allen asked that Council have input before the project goes to a formal "Type II" Review.  So there will be plenty of public comment time up front before formal review. 

Off Site Tree mitigation of all the trees that will be chopped down at the site drew the most interest and discussion from Council.  After consulting with Sustainable Redmond, staff narrowed down the potential sites for 81% of the trees from 14 to 7 and then 6.  They based their site selection on visibility, closeness to trails, habitat value, connection points between critical areas, and proximity to Overlake.  Perrigo Park, Perrigo Heights Open Space, Cascade View Park, the 2.5 acres behind Swedish Medical offices, and wetlands near the Marymoor Storage Center were finalists.  Councilmember John Stilin asked if citizens living near parks and open space gave any input, besides Sustainable Redmond members   View Point Open Space Corridor was the closest available location to Overlake for the remaining 2 acres of mitigation...but the slopes are steep.  The small tree "specimens" will be planted this Fall. 

Reported by Bob Yoder

Council approves $78,000 for habitat restoration of streams and forests

The purpose of the agreement is to contract with the Washington State Department of Ecology
Conservation Corps (WCC) to maintain stream and habitat restoration sites around the City.

Maintenance is a follow-up activity that is crucial to the success of restoration and  Read More >>

Letter: Bragging about a 20-30% failure rate in the math MSP test is not impressive

"Lake Washington District students score above state in standardized tests"

  Anonymous said...

We are supposed to be pleased that collectively the students in the Lake Washington School District did better than students from across the state on the MSP, the state's standardized test. Let's remember that these MSP scores represent the number of students who passed the tests - and it also represents the number of students who failed. For 4th grade math, the district's 81.5 percent is certainly better than the state's 62.5 percent, but when we translate this into how each individual student fared on the 4th grade math exam, the numbers aren't so impressive.

For every 5 fourth graders in the Lake Washington School District, 1 student is failing math. For every 10 seventh graders, 3 are failing math. As a parent and volunteer in the district, I can tell you that when students fail the 4th grade math MSP, they are very far behind. When 7th graders fail the math MSP, they are far more likely to drop out. In 2011, when my child was a 5th grader at Horace Mann Elementary, there were a number of students who had failed the 4th grade MSP math test given the previous school year. Horace Mann had no formal plan for addressing failing students, so we inquired if supplemental funds were available from the district to target students with failing MSP scores. We were told that there was no money available "due to budget cuts." Eventually, an ad-hoc group of parents ended up tutoring the failing students to try to get them up to speed. This is no way to provide educational assistance to students who need help the most.  Read More >>

LWSD PTSA announces first meeting of the school year

from the LWSD PTSA...

I hope everyone was able to enjoy the fantastic weather this summer! Our first meeting of the year is the customary overview of the Special Education Department at LWSD. For those in a position to do so, please post this information..
Thank you.

MEETING AGENDA:

Paul Vine, Director of Special Education, will give an overview of the LWSD Special Education Department, including an introduction of the administrative team that supports all the schools.

Date: September 24, 2013 (Tuesday)
Time: 7 – 8:00 p.m. Presentation
8:00 – 8:30 p.m. Questions & Answers

Where: Board Room @ LWSD Resource Center
16250 NE 74th St
Redmond, WA 98052 (at Redmond Town Center)

Some facts and news on Redmond's water resources

UPDATED:  Redmond is known for it's green forest and stream buffers, trails and multi-faceted parks.  Of course it takes water and lots of it to keep our fair city green.   Jon Spangler, a resident of Redmond and 22 year city employee who manages the Department of Resources is expert on all things water in Redmond.   During his presentation to Council on "Water Resources Strategic Plan" some noteworthy facts and stories surfaced, as follows:  

Redmond's wells suck out 800 million gallons from the ground per year to supply 35-40% of Redmond's drinking water.  It rains 11 billion gallons of water/year in Redmond.  (The Mayor couldn't believe it but Jon proved his number on 42 inches/year of rain on 16 square miles.)  So even with rapid development a lot of rain should enter into the ground.  Jon said keeping the base flows in streams is important so they don't dry up in the summer.  The city's stormwater system is impressive with 220 miles of stormwater pipes, 100 major ponds and over 50 miles of small streams.  All of the treated stormwater eventually drains into ponds or Bear, Evans and Kelsey Creek and the Sammamish River. 

Our well water keeps the price of water low though the infrastructure costs are relatively high.  Cascade Water Alliance would supply Redmond with water piped in from the White River but demand for this water is falling and it's likely the Tolt River and our wells will provide for us adequately for quite some time. 

Jon said, some of our ground water is contaminated with hazardous waste from surface infiltration but Mr. Spangler said, "though it's at very low levels and it's not a risk to anybody's health but it's something we want to keep an eye on so it doesn't become a problem."  The city is working with select industries and commercial interests to mitigate the contamination.

Councilmember Hank Meyers asked about the ALL WOOD Recycling fire and the tons of water dumped on the fire which is an infiltration site for our groundwater.  The water ran into the creek and into the groundwater.  Spangler estimated 1900 fish were killed in Evans Creek from the fire foam that was used.  Spangler said, "I don't believe there's an imminent threat to the groundwater but we plan to do some indicator sampling over the next 6 months."  Aquifer monitoring wells are not in the immediate infiltration site of the fire. 

Reported By Bob Yoder

Letters: On growth in Lake Washington School District, the bond money and more

Susan Wilkins said...

The school district's long-term solution to the lack of elementary classroom space in Redmond is to tear down and rebuild Rockwell Elementary and to build a new school at the corner of 172nd Ave NE & NE 122nd Street. If the district follows its current building standards, each school will have enough space for 400 students. This is the only elementary school construction proposed for Redmond on the February 2014 ballot. When these schools open, they will probably have portables. Horace Mann, Redmond El and even Einstein all have room for portables, so it's just a matter of time until each school has its own village of portables.

The school district asks for bond money, builds small schools that are overcrowded when they open, adds portables and then asks for more money to build more schools because the district is "running out of space." This has been going on for as long as I can remember.

Maybe we should put up signs along NE 116th Street and in the downtown where all the construction is occurring that say: NO ROOM IN OUR SCHOOLS - DON'T MOVE HERE.

August 22, 2013 at 8:50 AM

Anonymous said...

During the last housing bubble, Redmond should have doubled it's building permit fees and given the money to LWSD to help build new schools - or at least pay for it's infamous portables. Growth should pay for growth, shouldn't it?
Too bad our liberal city government missed the opportunity!

Lake Washington District Students More Likely to Meet ACT College Readiness Standards

Redmond, Wash. – Lake Washington students who take the ACT, a standardized test widely used in college admissions, continue to be more likely to meet college readiness standards than other students in Washington state or in the U.S.  Far more district students score high enough on each of the four ACT tests to meet the college readiness benchmark that ACT has set for all four subjects – English, math, reading and science. While nationally only 26 percent of students met this standard for all four subjects and 39 percent met it statewide, 57 percent of the students in LWSD who took the ACT qualified. That maintains last year’s gains.  Ninety-two percent of LWSD students taking the ACT met the college readiness benchmark score in English, compared to 75 percent statewide and 64 percent nationwide. In math, 78 percent of district students met the readiness benchmark, while at the state level it was 60 percent and 44 percent nationally. For reading, 75 percent of district students met the benchmark compared to 58 percent statewide and 44 percent nationally. In science, 68 percent of LWSD students met the readiness benchmark while 49 percent statewide and 36 percent nationally met that standard.  Read More >>

Lake Washington District students score above state in standardized tests

Continued improvement in math shown;  writing scores down

Media Contact

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Redmond, Wash. –  Lake Washington School District students scored above state averages on state standardized tests, performing particularly well in mathematics. Math scores improved in five grades and the two high school end of course exams and fell in parallel with state scores in grade six. 

“Our staff and students have worked hard in mathematics to improve scores,” noted Dr. Traci Pierce, superintendent. “In most grades, we are seeing a clear upward trend over the last five years.”  Read More>>

King County Parks to smooth bumpy stretch of Sammamish River Trail through Bothell

Work gets under way Sept. 3 to remove intrusive tree roots, repave trail stretches; Trail users should expect short re-routes, delays during tree removal

Users of King County Parks’ Sammamish River Trail through Bothell will soon experience a smoother walk, run or ride, thanks to a King County project to remove protruding roots and repave portions of the trail.
Beginning Sept. 3, crews will remove trees with roots that are coming up through the surface along portions of the westernmost 2-½-mile-long stretch of the trail. A new root barrier system will also be installed, and all areas where the work occurs will be repaved.
While the scope of work does not warrant the closing of the trail, users should expect delays of up to 15 minutes during tree removal activities. Bicycle users should be prepared to dismount and walk around the construction zone, as directed by flaggers.  Read More >>

Lake Washington Schools Foundation Awards over $72,000 in Grants to 25 Schools

 Redmond, WA.  Lake Washington Schools Foundation is pleased to announce it has awarded over $72,000 in grants to schools across the Lake Washington School District for the 2013-2014 school year. Reaching for Success grants fund programs and equipment that provide valuable tools to students, teachers and principals such as online math practice, tutoring, student leadership opportunities and musical instruments. Grants give teachers an opportunity to implement proven programs or to create new approaches to learning, while helping schools meet their state-required, but unfunded, improvement goals. All district schools were invited to apply for grants of up to $3,000 each. Twenty-eight grants were awarded to 16 elementary, four middle and four high schools.  Read More >>

A Debris Pile Fire Prompts a Six Agency Response

Redmond, WA – The Redmond Fire Department, along with crews from Bellevue, Woodinville, Eastside Fire, Kirkland and Seattle are currently fighting a fire stemming from a large debris pile at All Wood Recycling located at 8504 192^nd Ave NE, Redmond.  *Note: this business is often referred to as residing at 19200 Union Hill Road as well.

Redmond Fire began receiving phone calls around 10:30 am on Wednesday, August 21^st regarding a fire in a debris pile. Crews arrived and discovered a large pile of wood debris on fire.  The debris are mainly from land clearing projects and include stumps, trees and other similar items.  The pile is estimated to be at least a couple of hundred feet wide and 70 feet tall.

There are no injuries and all major roads are open at this time.  The fire is fully contained to the debris pile.  Fire crews and heavy machinery crews from All Wood Recycling are working in conjunction to dismantle the debris pile and continue to apply water to the smoldering pile until it is fully extinguished.  At least 66 Fire Personnel have been fighting this fire so far today.  This work is expected to continue for at least 24 hours, if not longer, due to the sheer size of the debris pile.

At this time crew exhaustion, heavy smoke and water are major concerns.  Fire crews are working in rotation to ensure the safety of all teams.  Nearby roads are being constantly assessed for visibility issues and any road closures will be announced via press release. 

LETTER: We have an immediate crisis at Rockwell NOW

Jill Stoddart said...
 

While the Levy is an important topic, we have an immediate crisis at Rockwell NOW. As already mentioned, our enrollment is at 650+ (and certain to grow in the final weeks before school starts). We must put a serious plan in place to stop the overcrowding at Rockwell even before the Levy vote next February.

A number of Rockwell parents have made an urgent plea to LWSD to prevent any new neighborhoods from being added to the Rockwell population. Currently, there is a new development for 180 residences on 116th St. Additionally, there is a request for a new neighborhood off of Redmond-Woodinville Road (across from Kensington neighborhood and Washington Cathedral) for 33 new residences.

Our ask is that these neighborhoods under development be moved outside of the Rockwell school boundaries before the developers put any of these houses on the market. Additionally, the preschool should be moved out of Rockwell and allow for our elementary students to use this classroom.

Rockwell is now Rosa Parks II. If we wait for the Levy vote to make decisions on how to deal with the existing overcrowding emergency at Rockwell, then we will have lost our opportunity to move these new developments outside of the Rockwell boundaries without pain to new families.

LETTER: Do we really need another elementary school on Education Hill?

 Susan Wilkins said...

Do we really need another elementary school in North Redmond? Better question: Do we really need another elementary school at the top of Education Hill? We already have three: Mann, Rockwell and Einstein. Or would Redmond be better served by a new elementary school on the valley floor to serve all the students who live there - and there are many. Einstein Elementary gets hundreds of students from along Avondale Road. Rockwell Elementary gets hundreds of students from the condos and apartments near the Bella Botega QFC. Why aren't these students walking to neighborhood schools in the downtown or along Avondale Road where they live? Because the school district never figured out where to put new schools that would serve students living in the downtown areas. Redmond Elementary is the only elementary school for all the students in the downtown area and it is full. The school district should have built additional schools for all the downtown children long ago. Students from southeast Redmond in the Woodbridge neighborhoods have to leave the city and go 3 miles out to Alcott or Dickinson because there is no room for them at Redmond Elementary. (It would have made sense to build a school in southeast Redmond when Woodbridge was developed but instead 9 portables were added to Alcott. This is not wise planning.) Redmond has become a city without adequate school facilities for its students and families. The problem has been slowly festering for about 15 years as Redmond has added more and more housing units without the addition of adequate school facilities. Adding an elementary school in North Redmond isn't really the right solution to address the lack of adequate school facilities for residents in the downtown.

The school district should have seen this coming - literally. Their main office is at Towne Center in downtown Redmond. All they had to do was look out the window to see all the new buildings going up!

Besides purchasing the Washington Cathedral site and turning it into a K-5, K-8, 6-12 or 9-12, the district should look for other school locations in downtown Redmond. (Note that the Washington Cathedral site could be easily accessible by *walking* from the new neighborhoods being built along NE 116th Street.) The Woodbridge area still has medium sized parcels that aren't fully developed. It's unfortunate that the district didn't look to build a school there when Woodbridge was being built and large tracts were more easily available. There are also medium size parcels in the Willows Office Park area. The school district has said that it needs 10 acres to build an elementary school, but on closer investigation, this claim is not valid. The Washington Administrative Code (WAC 392-342-020) recommends 10 acres for elementary schools but it doesn't require 10 acres. (This explains why many elementary schools in Seattle are on only 4-6 acre parcels.)

Another large parcel that needs to be brought to the district's attention is the Keller Farm on Avondale Road. The northwest corner of the farm is zoned high-density. In 2007, the City of Redmond created the Bear Creek Overlay district and designated the 8.8 acres where the fruit stand is located as high density (for a retirement center that was never built.) A requirement of the plan was that the remaining 120 acres of the farm be left as permanently undeveloped. The City of Redmond is looking to purchase the farm for flood control and as an environmental mitigation bank. In a joint partnership, the school district and city could jointly purchase the property with the district getting 10 acres for a school and the city getting the rest for flood storage. The school would be an excellent location for students who live along Avondale Road and on the eastern edge of Redmond in the Woodbridge neighborhood.  It's just an idea

Redmond Historical Society Announces Saturday Speaker Series

 Speakers to Address Topics of Local, State and Regional Historical Interest

REDMOND, WA (August 16, 2013)  The Redmond Historical Society is pleased to announce its Saturday Speaker Series that will begin this fall on September 14^th.   The monthly program features eight speakers addressing topics of local, state and Pacific Northwest historical significance or interest.   Read More >>

Community news site Patch pulls plug in Washington State

An article in Geekwire and the Seattle Times reported today that hyperlocal community news site PATCH is laying off 500 staff and pulling the plug on all PATCH sites in Washington State.   Redmond Patch, Kirkland Patch, Edmonds Patch are a few of the sites that will be discontinued.

To read the Geekwire article click this link:
http://www.geekwire.com/2013/community-news-site-patch-pulls-plug-washington-state-lays-staffers/

Reported by Bob Yoder

Volunteer Naturalists Needed for Cedar River Salmon Journey

Interested in fish? Good with people? Sign up to be a volunteer naturalist on the Cedar River this fall. Naturalists will receive 20 hours of training from fish and watershed experts in September and early October. Then they'll spend three weekend days along the river, talking to the public about the spawning salmon and the natural and human history of the Cedar River Watershed.

Sponsors of the program, now entering its 16th year, include Friends of the Cedar River Watershed, Seattle Aquarium, Seattle Public Utilities, King County Flood Control District, City of Renton, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the WRIA8 Salmon Recovery Council.

Call Charlotte Spang at (206) 245-0143, email charlotte@cedarriver.org or visit www.cedarriver.org for more information.

So tell me about Redmond's Heron Rookery forest!

I found this 2.5 minute video on the City of Redmond's forested "Heron Rookery".  It's located across Leary from the Saturday Farmer's Market.  Presently the city is asking citizens for their ideas on what to name it.  (The herons have moved onto Marymoor and Issaquah.)  You can send your name nominations to Sharon Sato, Parks Dept. at SSato@redmond.gov.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL1T0anc-kzY9y6SZgPSstALPumAzmw4uk&v=SC5p_ovmEYk&feature=player_detailpage

LWIT Offers Early Achievers Opportunity Grant

 

Kirkland, Wash.: Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWIT), in collaboration with the Washington State Department of Early Learning’s Early Achievers program, is offering opportunities for childcare professionals to earn certificates and/or an associate degree in Early Childhood Education.  Read More >>