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ROBBERY SUSPECT CAUGHT | Convicted felon charged with robbery, burglaries in Kingsgate and Kirkland [3]
Spring sports | Catch up on the wins and losses of Kirkland prep teams, including baseball [10]
Oh yeah! | Thumbs up to free ice FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2011 cream at Ben & Jerry’s [4]
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
Traffic stops surge as officers hired for annexation BY MATT PHELPS mphelps@kirklandreporter.com
L
ocal motorists can expect to see more red and blue lights flashing in their rearview mirrors if they don’t slow down, thanks to more officers out on Kirkland streets doing traffic stops. In fact, the number of
traffic stops in Kirkland has spiked by 30 percent in the first three months of 2011 compared to the same time last year, according to Reporter statistics. The increase in traffic stops is directly attributable to the annexation ramp up, said Kirkland Police Department Sgt. Rob Saloum. “There have been more
bodies out there,” said Saloum. “We have 20 additional officers on the street.” The increase in traffic stops within the city will continue until the annexation date of June 1, when it is assumed that the same average will be spread over the bigger geographic region. When officers are not responding to calls they are free to use their time, at their discretion, in other ways. “They can allocate their time as they want,” said [ more POLICE page 7 ]
“Little Roos” preschool says goodbye after 25 years
Community celebrates artist’s life
Celebration for Vicki Bundy, old LWHS building held tomorrow from 2-5 p.m.
Prominent local artist diagnosed with terminal leukemia
BY MATT PHELPS mphelps@kirklandreporter.com
BY CARRIE WOOD cwood@kirklandreporter.com
Looking out over the 800foot summit of Dunstable Downs – part of the Chiltern Hills in Bedfordshire, England – Petronella Fursman waits for the wind to blow against the face of the hill. When the glider pilot gets her ridge lift, she sets adrift. “Then you soar to and fro in that up current,” Fursman explains in an English accent of her adventures as a glider pilot when she was 25 years old. Now at 76, Fursman still beams when she describes the experience. “You can just go anywhere. It’s lovely – very free and very quiet. It’s beautiful.” During a celebration of life event in her honor at the
MORE PHOTOS ONLINE… kirklandreporter.com
Petronella Fursman, right, shares a laugh with her grandson, Talus Book, during a celebration of life event in Fursman’s honor at the Peter Kirk Senior Center on April 7. Fursman, who was one of the founding members of the Kirkland Artist Studio Tour, was diagnosed with terminal leukemia. CARRIE WOOD, Kirkland Reporter Peter Kirk Senior Center on April 7, more than 50 friends and family members came to share memories with Fursman and thank her for her artistic contributions to the community as one of the founding members of the annual Kirkland Artist Studio Tour (KAST). Fursman was recently diagnosed with terminal leukemia.
A photo collage set up on a table displayed pictures of Fursman’s adventuresome life: a young lady in an open cockpit as a glider pilot, windsurfing on Lake Washington, ice climbing in Alaska and trekking in the Himalayas. Ask Fursman about any one of her experiences, and she has an extraordinary
story for each one. There was camping in a Belize jungle. A local boat guide took her and some friends up the river, where they camped alongside the Monkey River. “We swam in it and the top half was cold and the bottom half was warm,” she recalled. “We couldn’t make [ more ARTIST page 8 ]
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Many people’s first social recollections come from preschool. Learning their ABCs, to count, tie their shoes, making their first friends of the same age. For about 1,000 current and former Kirkland residents, those memories will forever live in the basement of Lake Washington High School in the classroom of Vicki Bundy – even after the building is torn down later this year. The Little Roos preschool program is linked with the high school’s “life skills” child psychology elective, which along with Bundy’s career will all come to a close, but not before the community is invited to say goodbye tomorrow. “My best memories are from when former preschoolers come back and tell us how much of an impact we had on their lives,” said Bundy, who retires this
year after 25 years with the preschool program. “And, when former students bring their kids to us. To know that we made a difference is great. It is amazing how many kids become teachers and have other careers that are related to kids.” The “Farewell to Old Lake Washington” event will take place from 2-5 p.m. Saturday at the high school, in conjunction with the farewell event for the Little Roos program. The farewell to Bundy will be treated like an open house, with old preschool graduation movies being played as well. “We want to invite all current and former ‘Little Roos’ and their families to come and say goodbye to Ms. Vicki,” said Lynne Luckey, a child psychology teacher, who teaches the high school students associated with the preschool and life skills elective. “It is sad because it is a real loss for the community. [ more ROOS page 2 ]
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