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SPORTS | DeLay playing for Eastlake in Little League World Series [10] CRIME ALERT | Redmond Police Blotter [2] FEATURE | Herb Bartlett celebrates 30 years working at Physio-Control with a barbecue, Elvis Presley impersonation [5]
FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 2013
Bear Creek Village Safeway cleared after bomb threat SAMANTHA PAK AND ANDY NYSTROM Redmond Reporter
A 19-year-old Redmond female entered the Bear Creek Village Safeway on Monday morning carrying at least one knife and a backpack and wearing a mask and a hooded sweatshirt over her face. At 10:10 a.m., the woman was behaving suspiciously and told staff to leave. Redmond Police Department (RPD) spokesperson officer Julie Beard said they did just that and then called 911. “She said it in such a way that made me fear for our safety in the store,” said Safeway assistant manager Dollen Stroup, who grabbed one of his checkers and the meat department manager and began escorting employees, customers and vendors out of the store. No one made an announcement
over the intercom because Stroup didn’t want to create “pandemonium.” “Someone told us to get out … evacuate,” said one female Safeway employee who was inside the store, which Stroup said was “busy,” but couldn’t confirm a number of people within. Stroup and the employee were two of about 30 Safeway and Starbucks employees who spent late Monday morning and early afternoon outside while RPD cleared the building, which they deemed safe at 12:36 p.m. “The female damaged property inside the store and also left a backpack on a store aisle, prompting officers to request the Bellevue Police Bomb Squad and King County Sheriff ’s Office bomb canine unit to respond to the scene,” Beard said. Beard said the Bellevue Police Bomb [ more SAFEWAY page 10 ]
Soaking up the sunshine with water relay race
A Redmond police officer walks toward one of the Safeway entrances as another officer speaks with customers about the bomb threat on Monday morning. ANDY NYSTROM, Redmond Reporter
City receives $500,000 grant for Redmond Central Connector SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reporter.com
The Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) recently awarded a $500,000 grant to the City of Redmond for the Redmond Central Connector (RCC). This money will go toward funding Phase 2 of the trail park, extending it from just east of the Sammamish River up to the 9900 block of Willows Road Northeast. Carolyn Hope, a senior planner for the City of Redmond, said the RCC is made up of three phases and Phase 3 will extend the trail from the
9900 block of Willows Road Northeast to the city line at Northeast 124th Street. The city has entered a contract with Otak, Inc., a multidisciplinary design firm from Kirkland, to design the next phase of the RCC and Hope said they are working to have 30 percent plans complete by September and 60 percent plans by the end of this year. “Our goal is (to have) final plans and (documents) by next spring,” she said.
CITY NEWS
A PROGRAM TO BENEFIT ALL
The WWRP is a grant program through the Washington
Wildlife and Recreation Coalition (WWRC), an organization made up of more than 280 businesses, recreation groups, nonprofits and more, who all work to ensure access to the outdoors for all Washington residents. Frances Dinger, spokesperson for WWRC, said the grant program is administered by the state’s capital construction budget, and for the 2014-15, $65 million has been allocated to the WWRP. This allows them to help fund more than 80 projects statewide. Dinger said these projects include local parks, trails and farms as well as state parks. “It benefits everyone,” she said about WWRP. Dinger said applicant projects are ranked by a group of independent experts who “ensure that only the best projects get the funding,” adding that [ more TRAIL page 10 ]
Redmond listed in massive two-state burglary spree KEVIN ENDEJAN Reporter Newspapers
With the help of a Redmond firefighter, Megan Page and Nicolette Sirotta spray water into a recycling bin on Tuesday morning at the TalkingRain relay race event at the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center. Whichever team filled their bin the quickest won at the TalkingRain benefit event. TalkingRain donated $1,000 to Camp Korey, a Carnation camp for seriously ill children, in the name of the Redmond Fire Department. TalkingRain presented the check following the relay races. The event tees up Party Camp — a one-day adult summer camp — tomorrow at Seattle Center. For information, visit www.SeattlePartyCamp.com. ANDY NYSTROM, Redmond Reporter
Detectives from the Sammamish Police Department played a major role Aug. 6 in busting up a burglary ring that stretched from Mill Creek to Beaverton, Ore., including Redmond. While serving a warrant at a Puyallup storage facility, detectives discovered 66
bags, bins, safes and suitcases loaded with stolen property from more than 60 burglaries across the region. The earliest burglary was traced back to June 2012. Six of the burglaries were in Sammamish, including one July 13 that led to the eventual arrest of suspects. “A case like this highlights the quality work these detectives do every day,” said Sgt.
Jessica Sullivan of the Sammamish Police Department. Many of the bags contained jewelry, silver, sports memorabilia and personal documents and photographs. One bag contained a soldier’s Purple Heart and Bronze Star military medals. At least seven firearms from the burglaries are still missing. The search warrant is the [ more BURGLARIES page 2 ]