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ELECTION UPDATE | Councilman Dave Asher and hopeful Jason Gardiner lead in Kirkland Council race [8]
Celebration of life | Remembrance of local FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011 man David Tucker to be held Friday at KPC [9]
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
Family, banks clash in multimillion dollar suit
George’s Place still serving after 35 years Police help neighbors with noise issues BY CARRIE WOOD cwood@kirklandreporter.com
Prominent family involved in one of the most complex financial battles BY PEYTON WHITELY pwhitely@kirklandreporter.com
The security gate on the house at 226 Seventh Ave. has been jammed open for months. Weeds are growing in the driveway. Phone books are piling up in the yard. The abandoned property along one of downtown Kirkland’s main streets looks like it might be part of another sad story of the collapse of the national economy, and, in a way, it is, but there also is far more involved. In fact, the house is visual evidence of what’s officially described as one of the most complex financial battles ever to take place in Western [ more CLASH page 3 ]
Kidney donor | Kirkland kids help spread word on need for life-saving kidney donor [13]
Pete Mangouras sits in the space that formed the original “George’s Place,”complete with the red-leatherette upholstery and plastic countertops adopted by his father 35 years ago, including a now-burned building that stood where George’s now operates. PEYTON WHITELY, Kirkland Reporter BY PEYTON WHITELY pwhitely@kirklandreporter.com
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tocks are down. Unemployment’s up. Is anything good happening? How about a family that came to the United States, worked hard, and now is throwing a party to celebrate 35 years of success? That true saga can be found in downtown
Kirkland, where George’s restaurant will mark those 35 years with a celebration for family and friends beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27 at the business at 108 Kirkland Ave. There’ll be drink specials, the introduction of a new line of T-shirts and souvenir key chains. But that the party is occurring at all is somewhat
improbable, considering Kirkland’s history of businesses coming and going, of storefronts filling and emptying. It’s probably even more improbable if anyone takes a close look at George’s, which features Formica countertops, plastic upholstery, and non-trendy woodgrain paneling. Yet that’s all part of
exactly what’s allowed George’s to endure, said Pete Mangouras, who now runs the business he took over from his father, along with friend and now-partner from boyhood, Derek MacKenzie. “It’s nothing fancy,” said Pete. “The booths up front are my dad’s.” And while they’ve been [ more GEORGE’S page 2 ]
Editor’s Note: This is the final story of a four-part series on policing in Kirkland’s new annexed neighborhoods of Finn Hill, Kingsgate and North Juanita. Clifford Walter was raised in South Philadelphia in the early 50’s, a street kid who learned very early to never trust a cop. He was taught that there were only two kinds of cops – good and bad – and to always assume the one you are dealing with is a bad cop. So with many of his police encounters, Walter was not impressed – until he met the Kirkland Police. For nearly two years, Walter and a group of neighbors at the Olympic Village Condos in Kingsgate have struggled to find quiet from Tony’s Bar & Grill (formerly Suede Sports Bar), which the group believes is a noise nuisance. The Reporter published a story last August, [ more POLICE page 12 ]
Driver who killed Kirkland bicyclist could face charges BY PEYTON WHITELY pwhitely@kirklandreporter.com
A Kirkland Police investigation into a fatal bicycle accident on Juanita Drive last month has been referred to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for the possible filing of charges. It may be several weeks before the case is reviewed
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and a decision is made on whether to file a charge or what types of charges may be brought, said a spokesman for the prosecutor. The accident took place July 22 as John Przychodzen, 49, was riding northbound along the shoulder of Juanita Drive Northeast near 86th Avenue Northeast, police reported. Pryzychodzen, who had
moved to Kirkland from Glastonbury, Conn., about eight months earlier, was riding his bike home from work when he was struck about 3:45 p.m., said family members. Investigators and witnesses determined that Przychodzen was struck from behind by a truck driven by an 18-year-old man who hit the bicycle. Emergency
workers were unable to revive Przychodzen. The roadway at the accident scene is heavily used by bicyclists and is configured with a bike lane that’s about six feet wide and marked by a painted stripe separating the lane from vehicles. The roadway, however, also is used by thousands of vehicles daily and has limited visibility [ more BICYCLIST page 8 ]
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The section of Juanita Drive where a bicyclist was killed in July is heavily used by bicyclists. PEYTON WHITELY, Kirkland Reporter
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