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Sound Transit to start probing along light rail line BY CELINA KAREIVA BELLEVUE REPORTER
A crowd quickly gathers outside the Tully’s at Lincoln Square on Friday, Jan. 4 as actor Patrick Dempsey (center, rear) visits the coffee shop. COURTESY PHOTO
Actor Patrick Dempsey brings star power to Tully’s stores BY LINDA BALL REPORTER NEWSPAPERS
Patrick Dempsey, who plays Dr. Derek Shepherd, aka Dr. McDreamy, on the hit television show Grey’s Anatomy, was the winning bidder for the ailing Tully’s coffee chain, paying $9.15 million in a 13-hour auction Thursday, Jan. 3. The following day, he toured the Tully’s stores around Seattle, Bellevue and the Eastside, appearing at the Mercer Island location around 12:30 p.m. Dempsey said he bought the chain because of brand loyalty. “It would be a tragedy to let it shut down,” he said. “There’s so much loyalty between employees, and this will preserve some jobs.” Outside, a woman was overheard thanking him for saving jobs. Dempsey said he plans to visit Seattle at least twice a month to check on his investment. He said he loves Seattle – where Grey’s Anatomy is set.
Actor Patrick Dempsey greets fans at the Tully’s Coffee on Mercer Island. Dempsey and his investment group purchased the Seattle-based coffee chain during an auction last week. LINDA BALL, Bellevue Reporter Dempsey lives in California. Linda Ball: 425-391-0363, ext. 5052 lball@issaquahreporter.com
East Link light rail’s finish date of 2023 might seem a ways off for commuters, but Bellevue residents can expect to see the project shift from the planning to a more nuanced design phase of operations early this year. Sound Transit will be collecting information on both public and private properties over the coming months, with fieldwork ranging from soil collection, to water level assessment and topography mapping. “From a project perspective, it’s exciting that we’re moving out of the planning phase to more detailed design activity,” said Don Billen, East Link deputy project director. “We’re one step closer to construction.” Fieldwork, says Billen, will help Sound Transit engineers create a detailed 3D model critical for project design. It will also help ST assess further cost-savings methods. Activities fall into four main categories. Geotechnical exploration will involve the drilling of holes four to 12 inches in diameter, to allow for the collection of core samples from the ground. Surveying will involve the tracking of buildings, roads, utilities, trees, fences and other features. Though utility maps exist for the city, crews also will dig holes to determine accurately where underground utilities like water or sewer pipes are located. Those holes are later refilled. Lastly, biologists will outline the city’s wetlands. East Link alignment in Mercer Slough Nature Park will impact the edges of wetlands and wetland buffers require a stricter definition of what those limits are, says Billen. That process may include the digging of shallow holes by biologists. While much of the fieldwork will be in public spaces, SEE SOUND TRANSIT, 11
Bellevue in top 10 in nation for new National Board Certified teachers The Bellevue School District has landed among the top 10 districts nationwide for numbers of new National Board Certified teachers. Numbers released Tuesday, Jan. 8 show Bellevue has 34 new National Board Certified teachers, more than any other district in the state. Bellevue currently has more than 380 National Board Certified teachers, which
amounts to nearly 30 percent of all teachers in Bellevue. National Board Certification is the highest credential available to educators. “The number of teachers who have chosen to pursue such a high standard is impressive, and directly supports the quality of instruction that all of our educators in the Bellevue district strive to provide to each child in every classroom, every day,”
observed Superintendent J. Tim Mills. Teachers who are Board Certified must complete a rigorous process and meet high standards regarding what educators should know and be able to do. Teachers who undertake the Board Certification process demonstrate an ongoing commitment to the education. The certification process takes one to three years and as many as 400
hours of work. Bellevue provides an unusually high level of support for teachers who seek board certification by helping them cover the cost of registration and initial assessment fees. In addition, the Bellevue Schools Foundation also provides support to NBCT candidates, investing more than $795,000 in the program since 2003.
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