CRIME WATCH | Redmond Police Blotter [4] BUSINESS | Chamber postpones awards luncheon as it focuses on One Redmond [8]
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SPORTS | Redmond High boys’ basketball team beats Woodinville, wins fifth straight; Issaquah, Garfield up next [11]
COMMUNITY | Little Bit nearing FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2012 completion of new Redmond facility [10]
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
Team building with a twist Terex execs build 21 bikes for Starlight Foundation children AMY SISK
Dad believes son is with a friend or family member of mother
For the Reporter
T
his might not be 9-year-old Billy Dean’s first bike, but he’s never been more excited to cruise around on a new set of wheels. “I think it’s the best bike I’ve ever had,” he said. “It has a kickstand, and I’ve never, ever had a kickstand.” Billy is one of 21 kids who received bikes through the Redmond-based Starlight Foundation on Wednesday. The kids or their siblings have been diagnosed with serious illnesses. Executives of Terex Aerial Work Platforms, a manufacturer of heavy equipment headquartered in Redmond, gathered from around the world to assemble bikes in a team-building exercise at the company’s yearly kickoff conference. Billy and his sister both received bikes. Their mother, Patty, said she’s very thankful as the two kids have to sit through many doctors’ appointments for their younger brother, who has a disease where food attacks his body. “I was so excited – the bikes they have are thrashed,” Patty Dean said. “It’s very nice that (Terex) is reaching out to the consumers that buy their products.” The executives spent an hour assembling the bikes and were in for a surprise when they found out they would get to personally meet the families and give away the bikes. But before the grand finale, the employees underwent a rather elaborate assembly competition. It started with trivia questions – the conference’s 78 executives broke into teams, and each had to get 27 correct answers to earn enough tokens to “buy” the unassembled bikes. Once built, the bikes had to pass inspection before the teams could decorate them. “We have girls, all of us, so we know what is needed,” said Lars Raagaard, who works in Denmark as manager for the Scandinavian division. His team tied balloons to the bike’s handlebars and neatly wove streamers through the spokes and frame. [ more TEREX page 5 ]
MATT PHELPS Reporter Newspapers
who has been with LWSD for 17 years and is currently the deputy superintendent of instructional services. Pierce may potentially replace current superintendent Dr. Chip Kimball, who is leaving at the end of the school year to be superintendent
Many theories have been floated on the whereabouts of 2-year-old Sky Metalwala. The boy allegedly went missing more than two months ago while in the custody of his mother, Redmond resident Julia Biryukova. She, and Sky’s father Solomon Metalwala, had been in the midst of a bitter divorce and custody battle for their two children. But Solomon, of Kirkland, and his attorney Clay Terry are speaking out with their own theories as to where the boy may be and are taking action. One of the ways they are moving forward is to request that Solomon be granted sole custody of his daughter Maile, with no visitation by Biryukova. Solomon was granted custody of his daughter on Dec. 5. Maile, 5, was placed in foster care after her brother went missing. “When Maile was picked up by the police, she looked gaunt and weighed only 29 pounds,” Terry told the Reporter. “She went to a foster home with really nice people … She went from listless to active and now she is doing great.” Terry claims that Maile gained more than seven pounds in six weeks with the foster family. Solomon was back in court last Friday to ask the judge to withhold visitation for Biryukova due to the nature of the missing person’s case. “There are only two witnesses here. One of them is the person in position of authority, which is the mother, and the other is a minor child,” said Terry, last Friday, arguing that any time that Maile spends with Biryukova could jeopardize the investigation.
[ more PIERCE page 2 ]
[ more SKY page 3 ]
A Terex employee pushes Hayden Harbrige, 6, on her new bike as she is just SLIDESHOW ONLINE learning how to ride without training wheels. More than 70 executives of the www.redmond-reporter.com Aerial Work Platforms division gathered in Redmond Wednesday at their yearly kick-off conference to build bikes for kids through the Starlight Foundation. AMY SISK, For the Reporter
Community meets Pierce; more opportunities ahead SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reporter.com
Members of the Redmond community gathered in the Bytes Cafe at City Hall Tuesday night to meet Dr. Traci Pierce, the Lake Washington School District (LWSD) board of directors’ preferred candidate for its next
Father continues search for missing son
superintendent, and ask her questions about her views on K-12 education. The event was an opportunity for people to meet and mingle with Pierce in an informal setting. About two dozen people attended, a number Pierce was happy with as she understands people have busy schedules. “I was pleased with the turnout,” said Pierce,