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FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013
Botanical gardens to grow visitors center $10 million project to add space for lectures, workshops BY CELINA KAREIVA BELLEVUE REPORTER
Bellevue Botanical Garden (BBG) will break ground on its new visitors center this May in response to growing community demand for the facilities. The City Council on Monday OK’d the $10 million contract for the work.
“It’s going to allow improvements across the board for adult education, children’s education and enrich the visitor’s experience,” said Nancy Kartes of BBG. The buildings will feature a total of 8,500 square feet, including a covered orientation space, meeting rooms, offices, a gift shop and restrooms. The expanded facilities also will include space for lectures and workshops much like Seattle’s Urban Horticulture Center. Near the entrance, an interactive digital map will guide visitors. A new parking lot
will double capacity within the same footprint and landscaping improvements will further the garden experience. Kartes says that the parking lot will resemble a garden itself and a Sun Courtyard will link the new visitor’s center with the outdoor space. A Spring Courtyard, to serve as a focal point for the various gardens, will be enveloped by a Tapestry Hedge. The Shorts House, which is currently used as BBG’s visitors center, will be restored to its residential decor.
Friends for Life
Celina Kareiva: 425-453-4290; ckareiva@bellevuereporter.com
Bellevue residents indicted in sex trafficking ring
Chance meeting leads to bonding and, later, Bellevue man’s donation of one of his kidneys
BY CELINA KAREIVA BELLEVUE REPORTER
fly rod had busted, so he sat back and watched Losey bring in one 18-inch rainbow trout after another. “It was magical moment, something we won’t forget,” Short said. “We were amazed at God’s creation on that perfect day. I guess it was a bonding moment for me and Lance.” The next time they would see each other would be in a Seattle hospital.
Six people were identified in a multi-state sex trafficking ring Monday afternoon, which included residential brothels in Bellevue and Kirkland. That same day, four pled not-guilty in U.S. District Court after a grand-jury indictment brought to a head a years-long investigation. “These defendants exploited vulnerable women immigrants to enrich themselves,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan in a release. “We will work with our partners to stop this exploitation.” Unruean Aboulafia, a 34-year-old Bellevue resident, believed to be working with her ex-husband, has been accused of leading the operation, managing advertisements on the controversial website backpages.com. Law-enforcement officials say apartments were leased in Bellevue, Kirkland, Chicago, Scottsdale, Ariz. and Falls Church, Va. Charging papers indicate many of the women were from Thailand and were here illegally, having overstayed their tourist visas. Among them is Aboulafia, herself a Thai national. Aboulafia is charged with money laundering, conspiracy to use a communication facility to promote prostitution, conspiracy to transport individuals for prostitution and for the use of cellphones to advertise and facilitate services. Also indicted are Thanyathorn Mohr, 35, of Bellevue, alleged to have scheduled and directed clients; Xinping Zhang, 39, of Bellevue, accused of renting apartments and collecting funds; Jeff Chu, 48, also a resident of Bellevue and Chu’s ex-husband, for leasing apartments in Washing-
SEE KIDNEY, 7
SEE SEX TRAFFICKING, 7
BY GALE FIEGE SPECIAL TO THE REPORTER
The story of how Lance Losey of Bellevue came to donate a kidney to Patrick Short revolves around acts of confidence that eventually overcame doubts. After all, Losey barely knew Short, who lives in Mill Creek. But Losey’s donation of a vital organ was a gift that forever changed Short’s life, physically and spiritually. “We live in a world where apathy can easily take hold,” Short said. “Trying to make life better for others is enriching the life I came so close to losing.” Short, 48, and Losey, 40, first met on a fly-fishing trip to Rock Creek, which
BBG still needs to raise one million for the project, but construction is otherwise on track. BBG will remain open throughout. Entrance to the gardens will be temporarily shifted around the corner, to the Lake to Lake Trail, at the back of the Yao garden; parking will be contained to the Wilburton Hills park.
Lance Losey (left) gave a kidney to Patrick Short, last year. The pair met on a fishing trip through mutual friends, and Losey proved to be a tissue match for Short, who was on dialysis at the time. MARK MULLIGAN, The Herald of Everett runs east of Missoula, Mont. They were a looseknit group of Losey’s buddies, and Short was a friend of one of those friends. They fished together for a few days over several summers in Montana and on the Yakima River in Eastern Washington. “I first clued in to Patrick’s condition (in the summer of 2009) when I realized he brought a kidney dialysis machine with
him that summer,” Losey said. “Even when we’re out on the raft, he would do a gravity dialysis, holding his bag (of flushing water) high above his head. “All of us that weekend spent time with him, noticing that he was in poor health.” Losey and Short were the only ones on a particular stretch of the river when they realized they were in the middle of a school of rainbows. Short’s heavier
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2012-12-06 9:47:50 PM