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REPORTER
Piano man | Evergreen volunteer, who has FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2011 MS, featured on Times Square billboard [2]
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Reporter staff wins journalism awards BY REPORTER STAFF
The Kirkland Reporter received several awards at the Society of Professional Journalists’ annual Northwest Excellence in Journalism contest. Winners were announced at the SPJ’s awards Carrie Wood banquet at Safeco Field in Seattle on Saturday. The Reporter competed in Matt Phelps the category of non-daily newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Kirkland Kevin Opsahl Reporter Editor Carrie Wood and Staff Writer Matt Phelps both won first place for General News Coverage of the quadruple murder trial of Conner Schierman, who was sentenced to death last May, and the rebuilding of [ more SPJ page 5 ]
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KIRKLAND WEDNESDAY MARKET | Farmers’ Market to open on Park Lake June 1 [11]
District title | Juanita High School returns to state tournament this weekend [13]
LWSD to lose $5.1 million during next two years State budget cuts hit school district hard, teacher pay cut 1.9 percent REPORTER STAFF
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he proposed joint budget released Wednesday by the state House of Representatives and Senate will result in $5.1 million less for Lake Washington School District’s instructional programs for each of the next
two years. The proposed state budget cuts the remaining funding for kindergarten through fourth-grade class size enhancements designed to keep classes in those grades smaller. Two million dollars of this revenue was cut mid-year and the remaining $600,000 will
be cut in 2011-12 for a total reduction of $2.6 million. In addition, the state will provide about $2 million less in revenue due to cuts to employee salary allocations. These reductions are 1.9 percent for teachers and classified staff
and 3 percent for administrators. Additional cuts in programs and pension-rate contribution increases amount to another $500,000 per year impact. “This additional cut further erodes the funding we receive to provide a basic
City to host ‘One Kirkland’ events
Martinez surprises kids at FanFest
BY MATT PHELPS mphelps@kirklandreporter.com
Seattle Mariner great Edgar Martinez signs Kirkland resident Nick Handfelt’s cast during a surprise appearance at the Kirkland National Little League celebration Saturday. See the full story on page 3. CATHARINE HANDFELT, Contributed photo
Kirkland man charged with leading international drug ring BY MATT PHELPS mphelps@kirklndreporter.com
A Kirkland man was charged by a federal grand jury as the head of a multimillion dollar international drug ring on May 11. Jacob Stuart, 39, is currently in the SeaTac Federal Detention
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education to our students,” noted Deputy Superintendent Janene Fogard. Plans for how these reductions will be implemented are yet to be developed. The state House and Senate are expected to vote on this compromise budget shortly. It must be approved by the two bodies and signed by the governor to become official.
Center and faces charges along with 23 others in connection with the ring that moved up to 2,000 pounds of marijuana and up to 200 kilograms of cocaine every month, according to court documents. Robert Wolverton, an investment mortgage broker
of Bothell, has also been charged by federal prosecutors in connection with the case. The drug smuggling was done by private airplane and in conjunction with the biker group Hells Angels to move the drugs to and from Canada, according to
charging documents. Stuart, who federal prosecutors allege was the leader of the ring in the United States, and others moved marijuana from Surrey, B.C. Canada to California, Illinois, Georgia, Missouri and New Jersey and then returned cocaine to Washington state. The
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cocaine was then moved to Canada, according to federal charging documents. A Surrey B.C. strip club owner, who also faces multiple charges and is believed to be the source of the marijuana, has strong ties to the British Columbia chapter of the [ more DRUGS page 5 ]
In just four days the City of Kirkland will nearly double in size as it incorporates the neighborhoods of Finn Hill, Juanita and Kingsgate. City officials have set up a series of three events to not only celebrate “One City; 1 Kirkland” but give new Kirkland residents a chance to learn about their new city. “We put together a celebration committee that had council members and annexation area residents,” said Kirkland City Manager Kurt Triplett, who will attend all three events. “They found that they had three different needs and came up with three solutions.” Those needs are allowing residents to explore the services of Kirkland, meet the city staff and council and bring together businesses from current Kirkland and the annexation neighbor[ more EVENTS page 5 ]
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