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FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014
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City begins online discussions with residents about variety of issues
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Biking is first up on the agenda SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reporter.com
Celebration time: Redmond fastpitch scores state spot
Redmond High’s Kaija Gibson, her teammates and Mustang fans celebrate her home run in the third inning during the 4A Kingco fastpitch championship game on May 22 against Woodinville High. Redmond won, 7-4, and is headed to the state tournament today at the Merkel Sports Complex in Spokane. See story on page 13. Courtesy of Dale Garvey
Congresswoman DelBene addresses employment for veterans in manufacturing at Genie roundtable SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reporter.com
When discharged from military service, there are many things veterans have to adjust to in civilian life. One of those things is re-entering the workforce. In an effort to learn how to make that transition easier for returning veterans, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene of Washington’s 1st Congressional District, which includes Redmond, met with Puget Soundarea employers in the manufacturing industry and representatives from local colleges, veterans’ groups
and other organizations at Genie Industries in Redmond on May 23. During the roundtable conversation, the group discussed DelBene’s bill, the Manufacturing Jobs for Veterans Act, which if passed, would direct the U.S. Department of Labor to award $50 million in grants over the next five years to establish pilot state manufacturing employment programs to support on-the-job training, apprenticeships and certification classes for eligible veterans through employers and labor-management organizations. DelBene said the goal of her bill [ more VETERANS page 7 ]
David Jones of Genie Industries (left) and Congresswoman Suzan DelBene discuss how the Redmond company supports Jones as an active member of the U.S. Army Reserves. DelBene visited Genie on May 23. SAMANTHA PAK, Redmond Reporter
In an effort to hear from more and different people in the community, the City of Redmond recently started a community engagement process online through IdeaScale.com. The Redmond Police Department (RPD) has used IdeaScale in the past, but City of Redmond senior planner Kim Dietz said this is the first time other departments within the city have utilized the online forum. She said the city wanted to explore how they could engage the community online so they followed RPD’s example. She added that at the same time, RPD wanted to expand their topic questions on IdeaScale. “It all sort of happened,” Dietz said about the timing of how things came together. In honor of May being National Bike Month, the city’s first online discussion focuses on biking around town. Dietz said through the “Get Around — Biking in Redmond” campaign, the city wants to learn what people’s experiences of biking around town are like. The campaign is through the city’s neighborhoods program and so she said they want to know from neighborhood to neighborhood, what sorts of things support bicyclists and what sort of things are challenges that prevent them from riding. “Really, we want to know everything,” Dietz said. And as a city planner who oversees neighborhood planning, Dietz said the campaign is also a checkin for them with all 10 Redmond neighborhoods. “It really applies to everyone,” she said about biking. These online conversations will give community members a chance to speak with city staff as well as with each other to ask questions, share concerns and issues and to make possible suggestions. Dietz said the idea is for the topics discussed on the forum to lead to [ more BIKING page 6 ]