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CAR ACCIDENT | Elderly woman injured after she was trapped in her vehicle that veered off the road [5]
New business | Top Shelf Broiler opens with FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012 small-town Kirkland vibe [6]
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
One for Sophia | Businesses help raise funds for homeless women [3]
Baskin-Robbins employee robbed at gunpoint Worker claims he was fired after requesting to have another employee work night shifts with him BY RAECHEL DAWSON rdawson@kirklandreporter.com
International Community School seniors Sophia Szilagyi (left) and Ioana Ungureanasu volunteer for Key Club at the Kiwanis Club of Kirkland tree lot at Juanita Beach Park. The Kiwanis Club has been selling trees in Kirkland since the 1950s. Proceeds fund children’s programs. RAECHEL DAWSON/KIRKLAND REPORTER
Kiwanis Christmas trees help children
Local businesses offer ceremonies and more for same-sex couples BY RAECHEL DAWSON
rdawson@kirklandreporter.com
T
he Kirkland community is making sure same-sex couples will have an opportunity to have a wedding this Sunday, instead of simply going to City Hall. Dec. 9 marks the first day marriage licenses, obtained by gay and lesbian couples on Dec. 6, will go into effect. “We’re doing (this) because we worked so hard for Ref. 74 that this is the natural extension,” said Rev. Marian Stewart of Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church. The church is offering group ceremonies at 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Sunday. The wedding package only
costs $25 but includes a champagne toast, cake, a reception with a DJ, two photographs and allows couples up to 20 guests. Stewart thinks the church will reach maximum capacity and couples are still inquiring about the package less than one week before the event. But surprisingly many of the couples do not belong to Northlake Unitarian. “This is in no way a money maker,” Stewart said, who is a lesbian herself. “We are doing a service to the gay community, which has been historically marginalized and this is a service to say, ‘we welcome you and we’ll celebrate with you.’”
But the church is not the only Kirkland organization open to offering LGBT couples an easy, yet meaningful, wedding. VOWS Wedding and Event Planning, a Kirklandbased business, has partnered with the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle and will offer a higher-end experience on Dec. 9-10 from 3-10 p.m. The $1,000 wedding package includes a private ceremony with 20 guests, an officiant, music, photography and decor; and the shared ballroom reception will include a champagne toast and a wedding cake served at the couple’s private table with other food and drink available. The Four Seasons
will provide a special rate for the couple’s hotel room with valet parking as well. Katy Griffiths, owner of VOWS, said it was important to her for same-sex couples to have a wedding that was more special than a courtroom “I do.” “It’s a personal thing for me: my sister’s gay. We put a wedding on for her, and being a wedding planner, I felt robbed at the end of the wedding because she couldn’t sign the marriage license,” Griffiths said of her sister’s wedding before Ref. 74 passed. “It was a frustrating thing, (it) not being recognized by the state.” About four couples have [ more SAME-SEX page 6 ]
A Baskin-Robbins employee claims he was terminated after requesting to have an extra employee by his side for night shifts. The request came after the ice cream shop was robbed on Nov. 28. Kirkland police responded at 7:20 p.m. when employee Jarred Alverio, 19, called 911. A white man with a white bandanna on his face entered the Rose Hill Baskin-Robbins on N.E. 85th
St., drew his gun and told Alverio, who was decorating a cake, to give him the money. Police arrived within five minutes after the man, who wore a black hoodie, black leather jacket and blue jeans, left with $200. Alverio called his manager to get the password for the security camera so that police could obtain the video footage. Within 30 minutes, the manager walked in the door. “She didn’t seem like she was fully connected, but her husband did ask if I was okay,” Alverio said. [ more ROBBERY page 7 ]
Montana man charged in 1996 murder BY RAECHEL DAWSON rdawson@kirklandreporter.com
A Montana man was charged Monday for the murder of a Kirkland woman that occurred in 1996. Clifford Everell Reed faces second-degree murder charges after allegedly killing Sandi Rae Johnson, a former Kirkland resident, on April 26, 1996. King County detectives from the Cold Case Unit recently arrested the 59-yearold at his home in Victor, Mont. He is being held on $5 million bail and will be extradited to King County Jail. Reed was a co-worker of Johnson’s during her disappearance, and according to charging documents, he left
Washington shortly after she was reported missing. Detectives conducted multiple interviews throughout the investigation and friends of Reed revealed his alleged infatuation with Johnson. “Reed told friends that Sandi was ‘a very special person,’ that they had an active sexual relationship and that they would eventually marry,” according to charging documents. “In reality, Sandi did not return his affections, denied any romantic relationship and told friends Reed needed to leave her alone.” Reed had allegedly loaned Johnson $1,800 for a house payment and often spoke of wanting to find a steady job [ more MURDER page 3 ]