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FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2014
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
45th District Senate race most expensive in state so far Hill, Isenhower combine to nearly reach a half million dollars in campaign contributions
BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
A
lthough it is early in the election season, the race for the 45th Legislative District Senate seat is already one of the most costly in the state - with more than a half a million dollars raised. As of Wednesday, state
Rep. Andy Hill (R-Redmond) has already raised nearly twice as much as any other legislative candidate in the entire state. According to the Public Disclosure Commission’s website, Hill has raised approximately $394,642, the highest of any candidate for the state Senate or state House. He is also on track to out-raise his 2010 campaign,
when he brought in $420,000, while his then-opponent Eric Oemig raised $290,697, according to PDC. Approximately $11,000 of what Hill has raised this time was carried over from his previous campaign. Sen. Joe Fain (R-Covington) of the 47th Legislative District has raised the second highest amount of any candidate with more
than $212,000, according to PDC. Hill stated in a phone interview that the amount raised so far indicates the wide-range of support he has in the district from Republicans, as well as Democrats. “People have confidence in my agenda and they want me to return,” he said. “I’ve been spending a lot of time knock-
ing on doors. Overwhelmingly, the feedback has been positive.” Hill’s opponent Matt Isenhower (D-Redmond) said he has raised $90,000, which puts him among the top 20 candidates of several hundred for the state legislature, including incumbents. According to PDC, he has raised $88,000, though the site does not always reflect current figures.
Culinary arts student discovers family recipe for her career BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
Ana Kasparova’s recent victory at a culinary arts competition confirmed what the 23-year-old discovered not too long ago. She was meant to cook. As the daughter of a chef and alumnus of Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWIT), Kasparova seems destined to follow in her father’s footsteps as she is set to graduate from LWIT’s culinary arts program, the same program her father completed. Her graduation follows her victory at the international “Global Taste of Korea” competition that was held on May 31. The competition, held at the Art Institute of Seattle,
allowed Kasparova the opportunity to display her passion for cooking. After a trip to Korea, she intends to return to the Eastside and see where her career in culinary arts takes her. Looking back, Kasparova said her calling should have been more obvious to her. The daughter of Armenian refugees, she was born in the Ukraine and immigrated to the United States when she was around four years old. Her family settled in Bellevue and her father entered the LWIT culinary arts program. Another inspiration for Kasparova was her grandmother, who cooked three-course meals of traditional Russian food for their extended family every day. Kasparova’s father eventu-
“We have a fundraising plan to win and we are right where we need to be,” Isenhower said. Hill declined to comment on the amount Isenhower has raised. When asked for comment on Hill’s fundraising success, Isenhower said he is not surprised. “We always expected he was going to raise a lot of money from special interests, [ more SENATE page 8 ]
Ana Kasparova works on a dish while studying in Korea. The 23-year-old Bellevue resident is set to graduate from the Lake Washington Institute of Technology’s culinary arts program, where her father graduated when she was a child. MATT DIMEO, Contributed
ally took a job at Fire Creek Grill at the Willows Run Golf Complex in Redmond and currently works there
as the head chef. Kasparova worked her first job at the grill as a server. It was there she said she first fell in love
with the restaurant industry. “I like the whole feel, the energy,” Kasparova said. After she finished her
associates degree from Bellevue College, she said she worked at various restau[ more CULINARY page 2 ]
Game of cops and robbers ends with Kirkland man arrested for assault BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
A Kirkland man has been charged with assault for allegedly threatening teens with a gun after he discovered several of them trespassing on his property late at night and mistook their game of cops and robbers for a potential robbery.
Christopher Raymond Dunn, 36, has been charged with two counts of assault by the King County Prosecutor’s Office for allegedly pointing a handgun at several teenagers after he and his fiancee allegedly discovered three of them on his property one night in February. According to a Kirkland Police report by responding officers, the
incident occurred at around 10:30 p.m. during heavy rainfall. The teens later stated they had been hiding on the property while playing cops and robbers as part of a birthday celebration. When Dunn yelled at the teenagers, they allegedly apologized and ran off the property, according to documents from a Kirkland Police
investigation of the incident. Dunn then allegedly got into his truck and pursued the teens. The investigation documents allege that Dunn went to drive back home when he didn’t see them, but then discovered two other teens near his neighbor’s property who were a part of the same group playing cops and robbers. Dunn
then exited the vehicle and confronted them with a semi-automatic handgun, the investigation documents allege. One of the teens claimed he was struck in the face by Dunn. Dunn allegedly then took the teens to a nearby fence and asked them for their wallets and they replied they didn’t have any. He also didn’t
believe them when they said they were Lake Washington High School students playing cops and robbers. Dunn later told police that while he was questioning them one of the teens reached into his pocket. Thinking he had a gun, Dunn told police he searched the teen and confiscated his [ more ASSAULT page 2 ]