Independence Day
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Totem Lake 405 ramps closer to being passed in Olympia Redevelopment of Totem Lake Malls property moving ahead BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
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statewide transportation package passed by the Senate Monday includes $75 million to construct interchange ramps at 132nd Ave Northeast in Kirkland’s Totem Lake neighborhood. As of the Reporter’s
deadline on Wednesday morning, all of the transportation reform bills that the Senate passed have also been passed by the House, according to Kirkland Intergovernmental Relations Manager Lorrie McKay. However, the House will need to pass two separate bills, one for bonds to fund transportation and the other for additive trans-
portation funding and appropriations that includes the interchange ramp project, for it to be included in the final transportation package. Kirkland City Manager Kurt Triplett said they are optimistic that the final package will contain the ramp project as local representatives had indicated that inclusion is likely.
“That’s a great sign and pretty remarkable to where we started which was not being in the package at all,” he said. Triplett attributed the project’s inclusion to the united effort by Kirkland’s representatives in both the House and the Senate. “The neat thing was our entire delegation was supportive,” he said. “All of them were very supportive of this, which
is one the reasons it happened.” According to Triplett, the proposed funding for the project as currently written would have construction start around 2019. “We’re actually very happy with that, because the transportation package is a 25-year package,” he said. “The concern is that they’ll put it in but have it in 2030.” The Washington State
Department of Transportation (WSDOT) project, originally approved by the state in 2005 but postponed and moved to the unfunded list, is considered by both the city and businesses in Totem Lake as a vital update to Kirkland’s infrastructure in anticipation of the Totem Lake Malls redevelopment project by CenterCal Properties, among others. [ more 405 page 6 ]
Drug related thefts on the rise in Kirkland 50 thefts, 36 vehicle prowls in one week, KPD using all available resources BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
The recent spike in summer temperatures has brought with it a rise in the number of thefts and car prowls in Kirkland. According to data provided by the Kirkland Police Department, during a two-week period in June there were 63 thefts, 58 vehicle prowls and 16 car thefts. KPD Spokesperson Lt. Mike Murray said the sudden uptick in prowls and thefts has had the department, along with other departments on the Eastside, putting additional resources toward preventing future thefts while apprehending suspects. “We’re getting nailed,” he said. “These car prowls are just crazy. Everyone’s seeing them… we’re all kind of trying to fight the same battle.” While Murray attributed the increased thefts with the time of the year and the weather, he also said that the jump could be due
to new groups of thieves and prowlers entering the Eastside, as Kirkland is not the only city to suffer from the problem. According to Murray, the perpetrators are mostly drug addicts looking to get their daily fix. “They get what they can to pawn stuff and get a few bucks,” he said. “A lot of time you don’t have to pawn it. With craigslist, they sell valuables online.” Heroin use has been on the rise in King County in recent years. According to a report on drug trends from the University of Washington’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, heroin-involved deaths totaled 156 in 2014, “their highest number since at least 1997 and a substantial increase since the lowest number recorded, 49, in 2009.” On top of that, Washington metropolitan areas made the national top 10 list for highest vehicle theft rates, according to the [ more THEFTS page 5 ]
Kirkland youth march during the 2014 kids parade in downtown Kirkland. The kids events at Marina Park will kick off the annual Fourth of July festivities this year at 10 a.m. on Saturday for Independence Day. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO, Penny Sweet
An Independence Day tradition in Kirkland BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
For the estimated 33,000 people who plan on attending the city’s Fourth of July celebration in downtown, the festivities will include a 150-person marching band, a tank, the Seafair Pirates, a flyover by a World II B-25 Mitchell bomber - and of
course fireworks. It will also mark the 16th anniversary of the community parade, according to Kirkland City Councilmember and organizer Penny Sweet. The parade will begin at noon at Market and Central Way. The Children’s Parade will start earlier, at 11:30 a.m. at Marina Park,
Fourth of July events in Kirkland 10 a.m. 11:30 p.m. Noon 10:15 p.m.
Kids events at Marina Park Kids parade Fourth of July parade through downtown Public fireworks display at Marina Park
where it will also finish. For Sweet, who has been involved in planning the volunteer-run parade
since its inception, the city’s celebration has managed to maintain the same [ more FOURTH page 7 ]