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Graduation | See the lists of Kirkland students who graduated from Lake Washington, Juanita, FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2015 Emerson and International Community School high schools in the class of 2015 [8-11]
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
Tolling company for 405 sued for operations on 520 Class-action lawsuit claims ETC failed to notify drivers of toll bills BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
T
he vendor handling the tolling fees for the HOV lanes on Interstate 405 going through Kirkland starting this fall is the same vendor WSDOT has for the 520 bridge tolling. Electronic Transaction Consultants (ETC) currently processes tolling transactions for the 520 bridge, as well as han-
dling the lane systems for the State Route 167 hotlane. ETC’s handling of public tolls has met with criticism in recent years. In 2012, they agreed to compensate the state for $6.4 million due to delays on the tolling. In January, both ETC and WSDOT were hit with a class-action lawsuit over billing for the Good to Go Pass, claim-
ing that ETC failed to notify drivers of toll bills by taking advantage of WAC 468-305-130, which says a bill “may be sent” to the vehicle owner but does not require it. The lawsuit alleged that the policy is “an intentional act by the WSDOT to dodge the fundamental constitutional protections of notice and due process.” WSDOT Director of
Former Kirkland journalists chase their passions
Patch work success
BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
Last weekend three Kirkland residents and former Kirkland Patch employees came together to showcase their creativity in wine making, publishing and painting - and celebrate their successes since parting from the national media company. Former Kirkland Patch editor and Seattle PostIntelligencer outdoors reporter Greg Johnston and Patch columnists Julie Arnon and Jennifer Armstrong held a joint event Saturday at the Armstrong Family Winery in Woodinville. There, attendants got a chance to sample wine made by Tim Armstrong, Jennifer Armstrong’s husband, while listening to Johnston discuss his new book, “Washington’s Pacific Coast: A Guide to Hiking, Camping, Fishing & Other Adventures,” and view a series of Arnon’s social-media inspired paintings. “It’s fun to be able to showcase and celebrate with people from your past who have known about the hard work you put in to make these things happen,” Arm-
Cooperations Patty Rubstello said that the delays with the 520 tolling were due to the fact that ETC was implementing the tolling process for the first time. Now that it has been done before, they don’t anticipate any delays with I-405. “It just took more time for them to develop that functionality,” she said. “Since that functionality exists now, we don’t think it will be an issue.” Rubstello stated that the class-action lawsuit
is still ongoing but hasn’t led to any changes for I-405 tolling. “Everything we’re looking at is in concert with how we’re implementing tolling on our other facilities and taking the necessary steps to test everything out so that when we go live everything works,” she said. The Washington State Transportation Commission (WSTC) voted in March to set the toll rates for I-405 after deciding whether or not
Violent wrecks alter Kirkland residents’ lives Truck driver dies going nearly 100 MPH only five days after motorcyclist hits woman in downtown crosswalk BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
From left, former Kirkland Patch staff members Jennifer Armstrong, Greg Johnston and Julie Arnon celebrate their careers after leaving the news website business. CONTRIBUTED strong said. The event also showcased their passions and accomplishments. All three had already discovered their respective passions and interests when they first starting working for Kirkland Patch, a community news website, in 2010. Johnston, who had worked for the Seattle PI for 25 years, developed a fascination with the Washington coastline, where he had spent many family summer vacations. “That began my love affair with the coast of
Washington,” he said. “It was just a magical place for me as a kid.” During his time reporting, he discovered that while there were books on specific aspects of the coast, there was no comprehensive guide. “People used to call me occasionally and ask me ‘What’s a good book on the coast of Washington?’” he said. “I said, ‘there isn’t any.’” When the Seattle PI closed its print publication and laid off most of its staff in 2009, Johnston
began conducting research, writing the initial chapters for the book. “I was suddenly left unemployed and nothing to do,” he said. “So I did what I do best, which was write… The research wasn’t too intense because I had this long history with the coast. A friend I was talking to recently, he asked what was the big surprise was (while researching). I said there wasn’t anything, because I knew the coast so well.” One thing he didn’t [ more PATCH page 6 ]
to implement a toll on the existing carpool lane from State Route 522 to Interstate 5, along with two lanes between Northeast 6th Street in Bellevue and SR 522 in Bothell, a total of 17 miles. At the moment, they are testing the system used for the toll lanes to ensure that it can read license plates correctly, according to WSDOT Toll Communications Jennifer Rash. Rubstello also said that they are testing to [ more TOLLS page 2 ]
A man in his 50s was killed early Tuesday morning when the truck he was driving crashed into four cars located at an apartment complex in the North Rose Hill neighborhood. The crash occurred just five days after a motorcyclist hit a woman and her two dogs in a crosswalk in downtown Kirkland. According to Kirkland police spokesperson Lt. Mike Murray, the truck crash occurred at around 2 a.m. when the man was driving a fullsize Ford pickup truck northbound on 132nd Avenue Northeast past the Lake Washington Institute of Technology. As he was driving toward the left to go westbound on Northeast 120th Avenue, he in-
stead continued driving straight into the Montebello Apartment Homes located across the road. The truck struck a tree, then a dumpster before smashing into four other cars. All vehicles were totaled, Murray said. Police estimate the truck’s speed to have been 90-100 miles per hour at the time of the crash. Although the vehicle is registered to a Kirkland resident, it is not known whether the driver was the owner, according to Murray. It is also not known at this time whether he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A 20-year-old male motorcyclist was arrested by Kirkland police on June 10 for reckless driving and vehicular assault after he struck a [ more KPD page 5 ]