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CANNERY PURCHASED | Depression era icon to be renovated [12]
Pottmeyer | Former Friends of Youth CEO to FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 2015 help in transition [9]
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
CKC | Transit board denies motion to reopen rail line through Kirkland [10]
Union claims internal poll shows firefighters dissatisfied with city BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
T
he Kirkland firefighters’ union has released a new letter articulating its recently declared opposition to proposed new fire station
locations along with the results of an internal poll that ostensibly shows growing dissatisfaction among firefighters with the city. In a Jan. 6 letter, Bryan Vadney, president of IAFF Local 2545, wrote that an internal poll conducted by
the union of firefighters revealed overwhelming opposition to the new station siting proposal. Additionally, the poll showed that roughly 88 percent of firefighters believed the city “is unlikely to change” its mind on the fire station
siting and that firefighters’ input had “little value” to them, according to the union. The union’s chief complaint of the city’s plans is that it will not add any additional firefighters for the new station. Instead, it will
move existing staff to the the new station, which the union believes will be at the expense of Totem Lake and Kingsgate neighborhood residents. In 2004, King County Fire District 41 first started planning a consolidation
project to combine Stations 24 and 25, which are located on Finn Hill. The fire district initially looked into placing the fire station in Big Finn Hill Park, but the possible move sparked a backlash from residents [ more UNION page 11 ]
No charges for Sound Transit bus driver in 2013 fatal collision
Olympic dreams Kirkland resident Helena Scutt and the crew of her high performance skiff compete in Helsinki, Finland during the 2014 FX European Championship. MICK ANDERSON, Contributed
Nothing will stop Kirkland native Helena Scutt from reaching 2016 games in Rio BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
There’s no stopping Kirkland native Helena Scutt from sailing in the Women’s High Performance Skiff for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Not the severe injuries sustained last year during the 2013 World Championship in southern France, nor her pursuit of a master’s in mechanical engineering at Stanford
University. It’s not just about competing in the Olympics, but a chance to compete in the high performance skiff, the first time the category has been introduced in the women’s competition. It was first introduced for men at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. “I think we can inspire the next generation of [ more SCUTT page 3 ]
Helena Scutt and Paris Henken. CONTRIBUTED
PREMIUM HAND SELECTED CANNABIS FROM AROUND THE STATE
The King County Prosecutor’s Office has declined to move forward with vehicular homicide charges due to insufficient evidence against a Sound Transit bus driver. The man caused a collision that killed two people in Kirkland last year on an overpass in the Totem Lake neighborhood. The May 6, 2013 collision occurred when Sound Transit bus Aleksandr Rukhlin, 56, failed to stop for a red light after exiting a freeway exit ramp. The bus traveled through an intersection and collided with a Ford Escape. Two passengers in the Ford Escape, Robert and Elizabeth Rotta, were killed, and their son Kendall Rotta was injured. After the collision, the bus continued forward down an onramp toward Interstate 405. At this point, Rukhlin told one passenger that he “has no brakes.” A follow-up investigation, however, determined there was no mechanical issue with the bus or the brakes.
Collision reconstruction and an examination of computers on the bus indicate that the driver applied the accelerator before and after the crash. Rukhlin was interviewed after the collision and found to have no sign of impairment, and a blood draw found no drugs or alcohol. “Despite a thorough investigation, the reasons for Rukhlin’s driving through the red light remain uncertain,” King County Prosecutor Office spokesperson Dan Donohoe wrote in a press release. “There is no evidence that Rukhlin was deliberately attempting to run the light. There is no evidence that prior to the collision that he was aware that his speed was unusually fast or he was intentionally speeding.” The case was later submitted for review of a felony hit and run charge due to the fact that the bus did not stop for nearly a mile after the collision, but the charges were later declined, as there was no [ more BUS page 12 ]
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BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
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