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2011 | Reporter editorial staff reflects on some of the biggest news of the year [4]
520 bridge | Tolling on the 520 bridge began FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2011 yesterday and will impact Kirkland drivers [2]
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
New public tennis facility underway in Kirkland
Redmond man pleads not guilty in cyclist’s death
BY CARRIE WOOD cwood@kirklandreporter.com
BY MATT PHELPS mphelps@kirklandreporter.com
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The Redmond man who struck and killed a Kirkland cyclist plead not guilty to charges of vehicular homicide Dec. 22. Nathan Jeremie Godwin, 26, was arrested Dec. 8 on suspicion of DUI afBrian Nakatani ter he hit Bradley Nakatani, 36, of Kirkland, with his SUV in the intersection of 132nd Avenue Northeast and Northeast 124th Street in Kirkland near the Redmond city limits. If convicted on the charges Godwin could face three-to-four years in prison. Godwin is suspected of hitting Nakatani in the intersection traveling 60 mph in the 35-mph zone. Godwin’s blood alcohol level was taken 45 minutes after the accident and registered at .078, according to Kirkland police. The legal limit in Washington State is .08. Godwin, a convicted felon, also admitted to taking two drugs, Lexapro and Suboxone, prior to the accident, which is used to treat an addiction to opiates. A case setting hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 24.
Saying goodbye | Former Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bill Vadino leaves for new post [5]
Skyler Skjelset, second from left, and Robin Pecknold, foreground, met at Kirkland Junior High before forming The Pineapples, which became the Fleet Foxes. Skjelset credits growing up in Kirkland for shaping the band’s sound. “Helplessness Blues,” below, is nominated for a Grammy. CONTRIBUTED BY SUB POP
Nominated for best Folk Album, original band members met at Kirkland Junior High BY MATT PHELPS mphelps@kirklandreporter.com
or most kids the last day of school is not a big deal - other than waiting for summer vacation. For Robin Pecknold and Skyler Skjelset, the last day of seventh grade at Kirkland Junior High would change their lives and popular music. “He was friends with some of my friends,” said Skjelset, about the day his friendship with Pecknold began. “We hung out over the summer. We both started playing guitar at the same time. But it took a year or two to find our musical connection.” But that connection has taken the two friends around the world with their band the Fleet Foxes.
Their second full-length album, “Helplessness Blues,” was recently nominated for a Grammy. “We never really had aspirations past just playing together,” said Skjelset over the phone from New York. “It has never been about getting somewhere with it. We just love playing music.” The band has been around since the two attended Lake Washington High School when they played under the name The Pineapples. The band’s first show was at the Old
Fire House Teen Center in Redmond. “We played two or three times at the Lion’s Den in Bothell and Victor’s Coffee in Redmond,” said Skjelset. The band got noticed pretty quickly after changing its name, adding a few more members to the lineup and playing their first show as the Fleet Foxes at Neumos on Capital Hill in Seattle. The band signed with the Seattle music label Sub Pop, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Records, in January
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2008. They released their first album that year, simply titled “Fleet Foxes,” and toured for a year to support it. Skjelset said the members of the band have a pretty diverse background in styles. “It’s all pretty eclectic. Robin is more into folk music, Morgan (Henderson) was in the thrash band ‘Blood Brothers’ in Kirkland and I really like stuff like Sonic Youth,” said Skjelset. “Our sound is pretty organic.” The band utilizes vocal harmonies and acoustic instruments. Pecknold writes most of the vocals and music, while Skjelset brings a distinct lead [ more FOXES page 2 ]
After years of struggling to find space to offer youth tennis programs, Tennis Outreach Programs (TOPs) will soon have a home of its own. The Redmond-based nonprofit, which offers lowcost tennis classes to underserved and at-risk Eastside youth, secured Travis Roach $1 million in funding to renovate a 58,000-squarefoot facility in Kirkland. Construction is underway on the vacant warehouse in Kirkland’s Totem Lake neighborhood and is set for completion by the end of January. The new public Outreach & Performance Tennis Center (OPTC) will include six full-sized indoor tennis courts, with six additional 36-foot courts designed to give kids 8 and under a less intimidating introduction to the game. The facility is located at 10822 117th Place N.E. just off of I-405 in Kirkland. Marceil Whitney, who founded TOPS in 2003, is a tennis educator who has taught and coached tennis for over 36 years. She said the Eastside is currently underserved in public indoor tennis courts. There are only 16 public indoor tennis courts in King County, only one of which is located on the Eastside in Bellevue. [ more TENNIS page 3 ]
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