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ENTERTAINMENT | Redmond trombonist set for epic Thanksgiving performance [5] CRIME ALERT | Redmond Police Blotter [3]
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
SPORTS | Bear Creek’s Perkins rounds the bases to University of Washington [13]
Wang’s Sleepless in Seattle project helps homeless population SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reporter.com
While Eddie Wang was attending the University of Washington (UW), he observed many homeless individuals living on the streets. “It’s pretty unavoidable around here,” the Red-
mond native said. Wang said he would then invite some of these individuals to his home with his friends to get to know them. He said after hearing many people’s stories, he felt more compassion for them. In response to what he witnessed, Wang,
who graduated from Redmond High School in 2009, began Sleepless in Seattle, a grassroots community project with the goal to raise money to provide sleeping bags for the homeless population throughout Seattle and King County. Wang said he got the
idea to do this after hearing another group of people doing the same thing, just on a smaller scale. He then enlisted help from his friends. Together, they created a website, video, graphics and more for the campaign. Wang said his own church also got involved, hosting a fundrais-
ing dinner for the cause. Sleepless in Seattle began in September with a goal of raising $75,000. So far, Wang said they have raised $44,093 as of Thursday morning. They have also received a $25,000 matching grant, so the group now has to raise just under $6,000
by their Thanksgiving deadline.
HELP FROM THE COLD
Wang acknowledged that “sleeping bags aren’t solving the problem of homelessness” but it helps — especially as winter approaches. [ more SLEEPLESS page 7 ]
Residents share thoughts about proposed budget SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reporter.com
The City of Redmond held its final public hearing for its $617 million budget for 2015-16 at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. A total of 17 people testified at the meeting, showing more interest in budget matters than Mike Bailey, finance director for the city, has seen since Redmond Mayor John Marchione introduced his Budgeting by Priorities (BP) process in 2008. “It was a good turnout,” Bailey said. He said since the process was adopted, community feedback and participation had dropped when it came to planning the budget. Bailey said it can be difficult to create a connection with the community over something that can be as difficult and obtuse as the budget, unless people find problems. Otherwise, he said, people are usually supportive. This year, in addition to many people attending the public hearing, Bailey said many people also partici-
pated in the Your City Your Choice poll on the city’s website. “Things have gone very well,” he said. One of the people who spoke at Tuesday’s public hearing was Erica Wright, who was representing Hopelink. Wright said historically, Hopelink has received funding from the City of Redmond based on recommendations from the Redmond Human Services Commission. She was at Tuesday’s meeting to thank the city for its ongoing support as well as ask for its continued support. Wright said while it would still be possible to run Hopelink without the city’s funding, it would make things difficult. “Without that funding, it jeopardizes our programs,” she said. Some of those programs includes Hopelink’s food bank, financial assistance program and its adult education programs. Brenda Roach, who has lived in Redmond for more
CITY NEWS
Vikram Madan works on an imaginary creature for his “Imagination Northwest!” mural on Monday morning at the VALA Art Center in Redmond Town Center. The creatures in the mural are inspired by drawings from local kids. SAMANTHA PAK, Redmond Reporter
Artist paints a new path Madan leaves tech career in pursuit of art and creates mural for Redmond Town Center SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reporter.com
Vikram Madan has dabbled in art his whole life. But growing up in India, there was not much exposure to art and he had no real role models. Being creative was more of a hobby for him, so he ended up
going into engineering. In 1990, Madan moved to the Pacific Northwest from New Delhi to attend graduate school at the University of Washington (UW). He worked in the local tech industry until 2012, when he decided to pursue his passion for art, attending Gage Academy of Art in Seattle for two years to study drawing and painting. Now, the Bellevue resident is the artist in residence at the VALA Art Center in Redmond Town Center (RTC). In addition, Madan is painting a mural entitled “Imagination Northwest!” that will be installed by the water feature in Center Court at RTC. [ more ART page 2 ]
[ more BUDGET page 7 ]