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feature | Redmond sisters are dancing up a storm [7] crime watch | Redmond Police Blotter [4]
FRIDAY, December 7, 2012
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
SPORTS | Redmond High boys and girls NEWS | City to update its Southeast Redmond basketball spotlight [8] neighborhood plan [3]
Let there be Redmond Lights
Rosa Parks temporary boundary change is in the works Samantha Pak spak@redmond-reporter.com
Two children pose for a family photo along the Luminary Trail during last Saturday’s Redmond Lights festival. andy nystrom, Redmond Reporter
14th annual holiday festival draws thousands of people ANDY NYSTROM anystrom@bothell-reporter.com
More than 10,000 people watched trees light up, listened to music and proudly sported their green blinking lights last Saturday evening at the 14th annual Redmond Lights festival. They hung out near City Hall and at Redmond Town Center and strolled along the 1.3-mile Luminary Trail bordering the Sammamish River. The events featured food, music, visits with Santa and children’s activities, including a carousel. “I love when people come together and form a community — and this is reinforcement of the community every time we gather,” said Mayor John Marchione, who attended his 10th Redmond Lights festival on Saturday. During the afternoon, ng Session! the Redmond Centennial Celebration featured the Redmond Chorale perform-
ing a special song to mark city’s 100 years. The Redmond Historical Society and the Eastside Heritage Center also shared artifacts from the past, and gingerbread houses depicting historic buildings in Redmond were on display in the City Hall lobby. Kevin Roscoe from Cascade Crystal Ice Sculptures carved centennial and Redmond Lights 2012 pieces. Redmond resident Barbara Dixon attended Redmond Lights for the fourth time and noted: “I think it’s pretty awesome. It’s a great turnout. We look forward to it every year.” Deb Wallace of Redmond added that she enjoys seeing all the people and their kids soaking up the experience. “Everybody’s happy and in a good mood. There’s good spirit,” she said. It was Randy Wallace’s first time at Redmond Lights and he was drawn in by one of the huge, lighted trees with
A child visits with a lighted snowman along the Luminary Trail. More than 10,000 people attended the Redmond Lights festival. andy nystrom, Redmond Reporter snowflakes and stars on it. The two trees near City Hall will remain lit through the end of the year. On the music front, Randy noted that the bagpipes and drums were his favorites. There was a lot of culture on the music side, Deb added, referring to a host of choirs along with Celtic and Hawaiian groups. The Redmond trio often rides their bikes on the
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So do we!
Sammamish River Trail and they were impressed with the 1,000-plus luminaries and the work organizers put into the trail’s holiday look. Nine-year-old Kaeli Mungaven said she’d never seen so many lights and summed up her Redmond Lights night: “It’s really pretty and cool. My favorite part was the bagpipes.” [ more lights page 6 ]
The Lake Washington School District (LWSD) lists the enrollment at Rosa Parks Elementary School, located at 22845 N.E. Cedar Park Crescent on Redmond Ridge, as 795. The building’s capacity is 483. Add in the 10 portable classrooms on campus and that number increases significantly to 713 but still remains 82 less than the school’s population. With the track it is currently set on, district officials project Rosa Parks’ enrollment — which includes students from both the Redmond Ridge and Redmond Ridge East communities — to reach as high as 1,024 come the 2015-16 school year. To help counteract this extreme overflow, LWSD has been working with the school, the public and nearby Laura Ingalls Wilder Elementary School, located at 22130 N.E. 133rd St. in Woodinville, to come up with a temporary boundary change that would send some Rosa Parks students to Wilder, which is under capacity with a population of 347 in a building that holds 552.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
On Nov. 29, the district held an open house at Evergreen Middle School in Redmond featuring three possible re-boundary solutions: Option A would relocate students in the northwestern portion [ more schools page 6 ]
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