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COMMUNITY | Noisy private-party fireworks show over Meydenbauer Bay upsets neighbors [8]
Sports | Newport Hills Swim and Tennis Club develops new scholarship program for team FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 members [13]
Schools | New program transforming computer science educartion in Bellevue [9]
Coal Creek project receives funding for flood control
R.J. Naugle and his wife, Anne, met while on duty. Naugle’s work with Direct Technology helps veterans transition into civilian jobs. COURTESY
Still serving
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Local business helps veterans transition into civilian workforce BY CELINA KAREIVA BELLEVUE REPORTER
For R.J. Naugle, entering the military soon after Sept. 11 gave him a sense of purpose that was critical to his being. When he left, he wanted his civilian job to employ the same sense of pride. “When you transition out, sometimes you lose your identity,” says Naugle, director of military and veteran recruiting programs at local tech consulting firm, Direct Technology (DT). In the next five years, 1.5 million service members will return from active duty, he says. Veterans often face the
grim reality of unemployment, addiction, homelessness and high rates of suicide. But while these are truisms, a growing number of federal, state and private entities are attempting to funnel veterans into technology, IT and engineering jobs that are suffering from talent gaps. Among them is Direct Technology, which recruits and trains veterans on everything from resume writing to interview skills. It comes easily to the company, where 20 percent of the employeebase has served in the military. “It's interesting, when you're young
and you enter the military, they shave your head, they put you in the same uniform and you know whose team you're on,” says Rick Nelson CEO of DT and an Air Force veteran. “When you come back to civilian life everyone dresses the same...and when you take a job you don't always connect immediately with the higher goals or how the task lends itself to that mission.” There are programs in place on a federal level to rehabilitate veterans, but Naugle and Nelson both insist that the
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The city of Bellevue can begin solving longstanding Coal Creek flooding issues in Newport Shores a year earlier than planned, following funding from the King County Flood Control District. Over the last two decades, Bellevue has received and responded to dozens of flooding issues in the neighborhood after rain storms, such as storm drain back-ups, culvert blockages, and Coal Creek overflows. At Bellevue’s request, the district is providing approximately $200,000 to help the city accelerate a study of flood causes in the neighborhood, an analysis of possible solutions, and a recommendation of how best to address the flooding issues. Improvements could range from actions such as increasing channel or culvert capacity, to retrofitting a detention pond, to constructing a bypass. A total of $8.3 million has been appropriated by the district for use when the project is ready to proceed. “It was important to move on getting this project underway,” said Reagan Dunn, chair of of the King County Flood Control District Board of Supervisors.“The flooding history in this part of Bellevue needed a solution and I am pleased the Flood Control District could step in and provide that fix.” Jane Hague, who represents Bellevue on the King County Council, which supervises the district, also backed the move. “I applaud this proactive study of the causes as well as solutions for this reoccurring challenge that overwhelms storm drains, culverts and creek flooding,” Hague said. “We appreciate the funding coming at this time from the Flood Control District,” said Don Davidson, Bellevue Councilmember and member of the King County Flood Control District Advisory Committee. “It means that residents and property owners in Newport Shores will see this important project begin a year earlier than expected.” Bellevue is scheduled to choose a final project design and acquire needed permits for the project in 2014, with construction work on the project to begin in 2015. The Flood District was created in 2007 to provide funding and oversight for flood protection projects and programs across King County.
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