BELLEVUE .com
REPORTER
NEWSLINE 425-453-4270
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | Village Theatre’s ‘Les Misérables’ a stunning and surreal dream [11]
Sports | Sea-King champ Williams looking for more titles at state 3A competition [18]
Business | Eastside is the new home of battery exchange kiosks [7]
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2013
Bellevue man faces charges in fiery crash
A 47-year-old Bellevue man is alleged to have struck this medical office in Mercer Island following a high-speed pursuit on Friday, Nov. 8. COURTESY PHOTO, Washington State Patrol
A 47-year-old Bellevue man is facing vehicular assault and drunk driving charges following a high-speed pursuit on the I-90 bridge Friday night, Nov. 8, that ended in a fiery collision at a medical office on Mercer Island. WSP reports a trooper on the I-90 bridge clocked Peter E. Kern traveling eastbound in an express lane at 150 mph in his 2013 Porsche Panamera and began pursuit around 11:30 p.m. Kern was observed exiting onto Island
Crest Way in Mercer Island where he lost control of his vehicle, striking a street sign and then the Mercer Park Dentistry building. The Porsche caught fire, but Kern and his female passenger, a 36-year-old Issaquah woman, were able to exit the vehicle with minor injuries. They remained on scene, according to WSP, and were taken to Overlake Medical Center. The Mercer Island Fire Department responded to the vehicle fire on the
3000 block of Island Crest Way and kept it from spreading to the building with the assistance of firefighters from Bellevue and Issaquah. Kern is facing DUI, reckless driving and vehicular assault charges, which Trooper Chris Webb said is due to the injuries sustained by the passenger. The Bellevue man is the confirmed owner of the Porsche Panamera, which Webb said are marketed at $75,000 to $175,000.
City hosts summit to reduce drop-outs BY BRANDON MACZ BELLEVUE REPORTER
A protester is arrested during an immigration reform rally inside the Washington State Republican Party Headquarters in Bellevue on Thursday, Nov. 7. BRANDON MACZ, Bellevue Reporter
More than 30 arrested at protest
Like Us On
facebook.com/OmegaPhoto
Visa • Immigration • All Countries • Infants
210 -105th Ave NE, Bellevue • (425) 455-2126 • www.OMEGAPHOTO.biz
We provide House Call Service. Our veterinarians and licensed technician brings caring and compassionate care to your home.
Bellevue Animal Hospital 10415 Main St, Bellevue, WA
For appt. call 425.454.1246
BellevueAnimalHospital.net
E 5 CONS E VU E LL
B BO 013 2
NER
WIN
Best f Belle o
v
I V E YE A R S
•
Home-Bound? No Transportation?
T CU
PASSPORT PHOTOS
SEE DROP-OUTS, 2
ue
SEE PROTEST, 2
BEST OF BE ED OT
More than 30 protesters were reported to have been arrested after refusing to leave the Washington State Republican Party Headquarters’ Bellevue office this afternoon. This was one of 10 acts of organized civil disobedience orchestrated by Washington CAN, the Alliance for a Just Society and We Belong Together and demanding Republican lawmakers get behind H.R. 15, an immigration reform bill stalled in the U.S. House of Representatives.
"This is something that Republicans and Democrats can come together on and need to come together on," said Pramila Jayapal with We Belong Together: Women for Common Sense Immigration Reform. Only three House Republicans currently support the Democrat-sponsored immigration reform bill, and Jayapal said today's protests were to encourage Republican lawmakers, such as Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodg-
V
BY BRANDON MACZ
BELLEVUE REPORTER
Bellevue School District 405 boasts a high graduation rate, but there remains a gap too large to ignore, according to a recent city summit. Putting the spotlight on a national issue of high school graduation and retention Nov. 8 was the 2013 Grad Nation Northwest Regional Summit where the dialogue was all about student success. The city hosted the summit with a $15,000 grant from America's Promise, which brought in students, educators and elected officials from King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties to hear from speakers about best practices for reducing drop-out levels and increasing graduation rates in the Pacific Northwest. Grad Nation has set a 2020 goal of reaching a 90 percent graduation rate nationwide. While the graduation rate is the highest its been in more than 30 years at 78 percent, it's not good enough. "We want these children to be agents of change when they grow up," said keynote speaker Ford Roosevelt, CEO of Project Grad - Los Angeles, grandson of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and a Seattle native. "They can be with our help." Roosevelt told attendees 2008 drop-out levels will cost $319 billion in lost wages in those students' lifetimes. The challenge lies in access and equity, which will effect the the security of generations of students for years to come unless change is made. Project Grad - Los Angeles approaches a sixth grade to college model serving more than 13,000 students annually through academic engagement and maintaining strong partnerships with colleges, universities and other community entities. "They say — and you've heard it here today and you'll hear