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ON A ROLL | Kirkland Performance Center receives new look, achieves success [8]
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Streets | Kirkland ramps up summer construction projects [15]
Kirkland Police Chief Eric Olsen to retire in September BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
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fter 27 years with the Kirkland Police Department and eight years as police chief, Eric Olsen has announced he is retiring at the end of September. For Olsen, retirement comes after what he feels is the successful accomplishment of goals for the department. “We’ve got a lot of community support,” he said. “The community supports us and it felt like it was the right time to pursue some other interests I’ve had for many years.” In addition to taking a position at Redmond-based Zetron, a communications solutions company for public safety, Olsen said
ERIC OLSEN
he’s looking forward to spending more time with his family. Olsen first started with the KPD in 1988 as a patrol officer. At the time, Kirkland’s population was less than 36,000. Olsen went on to be promoted to patrol
corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, captain and finally chief. He said the numerous roles gave him a wide perspective into how to manage the department from the top down. “Once I assumed the position of chief, I was able to understand the uniqueness of each assignment I had been in,” he said. “For example, I was a captain in charge of a major division. I knew what it was like to oversee patrol or the service side of it, because I had been in both of those positions. I could provide them insight and guidance.” His multiple roles also impacted his view of the work schedule for officers, which currently operates on a four day (two days, two [ more OLSEN page 7 ]
Lotz of training for STEM
City allocates fund for protection and maintenance on Cross Kirkland Corridor BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
With the interim trail of the Cross Kirkland Corridor finished, the city has appropriated funds to help maintain it while the Kirkland Police Department has purchased UTVs to patrol it. During its June 16 meeting, the City Council approved $70,000 for CKC maintenance on top of the $100,000 already allocated to it from the 2012
Parks Levy. The interim trail had its grand opening in February. According to CKC Coordinator Kari Page, the city has conducted an overall maintenance assessment of the 7.75 mile corridor that lists what projects need to be done to maintain the trail and how often. The additional $70,000 will allow them to have a full-time city worker maintain the trail. Page said the trail will require daily maintenance, though
Local teacher Jason Lotz went through astronaut training to gain more knowledge and ideas for teaching students STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Math) subjects. Lotz is a teacher at Rose Hill Middle School and hopes that his colleagues will take advantage of the program. CONTRIBUTED, Honeywell
Local teacher has all ‘the right stuff ’ to teach local students Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
the frequency of certain projects will vary. The fund allocation was necessary, Page said, because when the city first acquired the corridor it wasn’t known how much the costs would be. “We knew we would have to maintain it because we’re buying it,” she said. “We didn’t know what kind of trail, what kind of treatment (the city would add) at intersections.” At the same time, she said, the city has had no unexpected surprises in [ more CKC page 3 ]
BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
This upcoming school year, Rose Hill Middle School eighth grade teacher Jason Lotz will have all “the right stuff ” to help students appreciate Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) more, thanks to a week-long space camp in Huntsville, Ala. There, Lotz got the opportunity to do some real-life astronaut train-
ing including simulated astronaut training and shuttle missions, as well as designing, building and testing rockets. The trip was sponsored by Honeywell, which put on a school assembly at Rose Hill last fall focusing on Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. For Lotz, the space camp was an opportunity to learn more about STEM and how to teach it more effectively.
“I knew that was an area I needed to work on,” he said. “I wanted to try something new and different… When I received this opportunity I got really excited and wanted to give it a try.” The camp, held at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. had 200 educators from 24 countries and 39 states working together on teams. Lotz said the [ more LOTZ page 6 ]
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