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INVESTIGATION | Former Kirkland coach Troy Hennum resigns Roosevelt job, allegedly sent players to find him dates [11]
Arts | Annual CACHET arts award recognizes FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013 Sue Contreras, Studio East [6]
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
Business | New infertility clinic offers hope to families [10]
Sky Metalwala’s father speaks on homelessness As more than 160 people listened to Metalwala, a KITH client, tell his unforgetSolomon Metalwala’s small table story, a screen behind Kirkland apartment doesn’t him showed a picture of his have crown molding, big smiling children, 6-year-old screen TVs or many fancy Maile and Sky, who was 2 things that people years old when he usually furnish a new went missing in Belhome with. levue in 2011. But it’s home. And In a soft spoken it’s the start of a new voice, he described life with his young his two homes daughter after more he had before he than a year searching became homeless – a Solomon Metalwala $265,000 Bellevue for his missing son Sky. condo overlooking “Well, my life has Lake Washington been pretty interesting but and a nearly $1 million home I only have three minutes, in Kirkland’s South Rose Hill so I’ll make it really quick,” neighborhood. said Metalwala to a room full “I had a beautiful house in of laughter during KITH’s Bellevue and Kirkland – but fourth annual fighting home- it was never a home,” said lessness luncheon on March Metalwala. “We had beautiful 8 at The Westin Bellevue. pictures, crown molding, The fundraising event raised TVs – I had all the bells and approximately $65,000. [ more SKY page 6 ] BY CARRIE RODRIGUEZ
crodriguez@kirklandreporter.com
Longtime mail carrier retires Conover began working as a mail carrier for the Kirkland Post Office on April On any regular day, chil8, 1977, 36 years ago. As a dren and dogs can be seen born-and-raised Kirklander, waiting for Steve Conover to he and his wife Wendy have pull up in his mail truck. He continued to live in Kirkland hands out lollipops and dog for their entire lives. treats amidst letters, coupons Originally, Conover and bills. wanted to follow in his But on Friday, father’s footsteps and March 8, Conover become a police offipulled up to a crowd cer with the Kirkland of around 20 chilPolice Department, dren and adults and but after “things just a star-adorned banweren’t happening,” ner that read “Finish he decided to apply line” over a mailbox for a position with hut. Cupcakes were Steve Conover the U.S. Postal Serhanded out, hands vice after his mother were shaken and called his attention to hugs were given. It was Conthe civil service exams. over’s last day. “When I first got hired at “We’ve lived in this the post office, we had anneighborhood for 20 years, other carrier down there. He he’s the only (mail carrier) was up in years and he had we’ve known,” said Kirkland the same route for the majorresident Aly Barger, who lives ity of his career. I thought in the Juanita neighborhood. how great that was,” Conover “Seeing him in his mail truck said. “My goal was to get a was better than seeing the ice route and keep that route my cream man on a hot summer entire career. I wanted people day (minus the bills he delivto know me versus some ered, ha!) … He always had a [ more MAIL page 3 ] smile on his face.” BY RAECHEL DAWSON
rdawson@kirklandreporter.com
Gov. Jay Inslee speaks about Google’s announcement to double its footprint in Kirkland. The new 180,000 square-foot structure will be adjacent to the current campus, across the Cross Kirkland Corridor, and is expected to be finished in 2015. CARRIE RODRIGUEZ, Kirkland Reporter
Google announces plans to expand BY RAECHEL DAWSON rdawson@kirklandreporter.com
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ov. Jay Inslee, Kirkland Mayor Joan McBride, and officials from Google and SRM Development announced Tuesday evening plans to double Kirkland’s Google campus. “This is something all of Washington should be celebrating,” said Inslee. “Kirkland is not just a label of Costco, it’s a great place to innovate.” The new 180,000 squarefoot building is set to finish in the spring of 2015 but construction with SRM Development may begin as early as late June. It will be placed at the formerly contaminated 5-acre Pace National Corporation site, adjacent to the current location. Two buildings in an “Lshape” with two stories and two levels of underground parking will have, at minimum, a LEED Gold certification. But Dave Tomson, the development manager of SRM Development, said
they are going to try to work with DLR Group, the architectural firm, to make LEED Platinum certification a possibility. “The new site will be fun, whimsical and stimulating, but it will also have large investments in environmental responsibility,” said Chee Chew, the vice president of engineering at Google. Whether it be eliminating 16,000 metric tons of carbon waste or designing a cafeteria with a bicycle powered milkshake machine – such as what the current building has – the new location will
also be one of innovation. “We’re focused on creating healthy work environments that help Googlers perform at their best every day and reflect our open and collaborative culture,” said a Google spokesperson in an email. The expansion comes at a time when the City of Kirkland has its own plans of developing the Cross Kirkland Corridor for trail use. Tomson said they are working with the city to use the corridor to connect the current Google campus to the new one. McBride said Google has
been an exceptional corporate citizen since it arrived in 2009. The current campus holds 195,000-squarefeet of office space and roughly 1,000 employees but upon construction of the new building, employees will likely double. In 2012 alone, Google hired hundreds of employees in the Puget Sound area. Kirkland engineers have worked on high profile projects such as Google+, Cloud and Chrome. Some may say Chew’s leadership has made Kirkland’s campus a “hotbed for innovation and product development” for some of Google’s most popular and heavily used services. Chew believes this is a great opportunity for the company and the surrounding community. Since 2011, Google gave $4.5 million in grants for programs in engineering research, the STEM education program and other nonprofits. Statistics for 2011 indicate Google’s economic impact has reached $3.5 billion for Washington businesses and nonprofits.