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BURGLARS | Four men charged with two home burglaries in Kirkland, one in Kenmore [8]
Sports | Juanita football beats Lake Washington 40-0 [15]
Halloween | Things to do around Kirkland for FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012 the spookiest holiday [10]
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
Many liquor store owners feel burned by state, terms of privatization Houghton neighborhood liquor store closes, suffers big losses BY RAECHEL DAWSON rdawson@kirklandreporter.com
D
on Sidhu has held various jobs at gas stations, he’s driven ice cream trucks and taxi cabs and worked in a small business since he came to the United States from India in 1992. Sidhu put a lot of money into his new business when the Liquor Control Board auctioned off the 167 state-run liquor stores to private retailers in April. He says
he and his brother have put in $1.5 to $2 million from the four stores they bid on, including one in Kirkland’s Houghton neighborhood. But Sidhu – like several other liquor store owners in the state – has felt the impact since liquor privatization took effect last June. He was forced to close Liquor Store No. 57 in Houghton two weeks ago because he said the store lost 85 percent of business since privatization.
“We’re broke. The landlord (at one location outside of Kirkland) is coming after us because the personal guarantee is signed,” said Sidhu. “I’m looking for everything, there’s nothing I can do.” Bankruptcy may be inevitable, he says. Sidhu, who bought two stores in Vancouver and one in Kennewick, which is now closed, purchased the right to the Houghton location at 10609 N.E. 68th St. for $344,712. The right to operate the others
were purchased at state auction for $264,125, $263,152 and $212,106 respectively. Many retailers would say the state packaged the liquor stores as a great business opportunity. The highest bidders were promised “special rights,” such as the exclusive right to apply for a liquor license at the current state-run locations. And under Initiative-1183, the stores couldn’t sell liquor if their retail space was under 10,000 square feet, but these stores could. Additional cost control by [ more LIQUOR page 9 ]
The Houghton neighborhood liquor store was purchased by Don Sidhu in June for $344,712 during an auction. The store has since lost 85 percent of its business and was forced to close. RAECHEL DAWSON, Kirkland Reporter
City officials hope for Potala resolution, extend moratorium BY CARRIE RODRIGUEZ crodriguez@kirklandreporter.com
The Kirkland Council delayed the development of the proposed Potala Village project for the fourth time during its Oct. 16 meeting, however city officials are hoping for good news soon with the controversial project. The council voted unanimously on Oct. 16 to extend the moratorium on development in the Business Neighborhood (BN) zone through Dec. 31. The moratorium, which was initially imposed last November, was set to expire Nov. 15. But the Potala Village, which is proposed to be built in the Moss Bay neighborhood’s BN zone, may finally be moving in a positive direction for city officials, developer Lobsang Dargey of Dargey Enterprises and the surrounding community. “The positive news is that we are still in very productive discussions. We are all still at the table,” said City Manager Kurt Triplett, noting that the
city has been in mediation for the past couple of weeks with Dargey and several residents concerned about the project’s scale and neighborhood impact. “Hopefully we can reach some sort of agreement.” Triplett could not comment further on the details of the mediation. But he did say the developer “has stayed his litigation, which we appreciate while mediations are going on.” If the group does reach a mediated agreement, the council would take action to implement that agreement some time in November and the lawsuit would be dropped, said Triplett. Dargey could not be reached for comment. When Dargey proposed a 144 apartment unit on a 1.2 acre lot with a view of Lake Washington in the BN zone last year, the surrounding community protested. Project opponents said the BN zoning code’s unlimited-density issue conflicts with the city’s Comprehensive Plan. The BN zone permits such uses as retail, office [ more POTALA page 4 ]
Kirkland man sentenced for leading international drug ring BY RAECHEL DAWSON rdawson@kirklandreporter.com
You want fries with that latte? Kirkland residents Jared Menssen and sister, Hailey, dressed in their Halloween costumes that their grandmother, Jo Ann Geer, made for them. They visited the Houghton Starbucks and the kids liked it so much, the store gave them a free cocoa. The Reporter recently asked residents to submit photos of their most creative Halloween costumes and selected this photo to be published. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
A Kirkland man was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison for leading an international marijuana and cocaine drug ring. Jacob Saul Stuart, 39, who was detained at the Seatac Federal Detention Center after his arrest in April 2011, was sentenced in U.S. District Court. Two dozen other people from U.S. and Canada were also charged in the case and five have been sentenced. Drug dealers brought marijuana in from Canada via a private airplane and distributed it across the U.S., reaching California, Illinois, Missouri, Georgia and New Jersey, according to charging documents. Money from marijuana sales was used to purchase cocaine in Southern California, which was transported to British Columbia for distribution. “This is one of the largest drug cases we have had in [ more DRUG page 8 ]