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SPORTS | Redmond linksters shine at District 2 junior tournament [10] CRIME ALERT | Redmond Police Blotter [3] BUSINESS | Feed Co. Burgers offers highquality, counterservice roadside fare. [6]
FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2015
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
Prop. 2 focuses on parks maintenance and capital projects This week, the Redmond Reporter delves into Proposition 2, which will be on the Aug. 4 ballot. Last week, the Reporter examined Proposition 1, which is also on the upcoming ballot. SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reporter.com
Redmond voters have been given the opportunity
to voice whether or not they support additional maintenance and capital projects within the city’s parks system. Proposition 2 — a six-year, $6.9 million levy — is on Tuesday’s ballot and if passed, will pay for a number of things. Craig Larsen, parks and recreation director for the City of Redmond, said the levy can be divided into two
types of costs: capital and operational.
IMPROVING NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS
On the capital side of things, he said funds from the levy would go toward investing in three neighborhood parks — Southeast Redmond, Westside and Northeast Redmond parks. With Southeast Redmond
Park, Larsen said the levy would fund a planning process with the community as well as a “phase one” of development for the park, which does not have much to offer at the moment. “It’s basically flat grass,” he said. Larsen said they would like to enhance the park for casual recreation, but they don’t have any specifics in mind at
the moment as those would come up during the planning process with the community and depend on what people would want. But one thing is for sure. “It’ll start to look like a park,” Larsen said. Proposition 2 would also pay for the completion of the master plan for Westside Park. Larsen said the plan was started at the same time
as the plan for Spiritbrook Neighborhood Park, whose renovations were completed in June 2012. Westside Park is an older park and some of the work Larsen said that needs to be done include a new picnic pavilion as well as renovating the sports courts. With Smith Woods, he said the levy would fund an [ more PROP. 2 page 5 ]
Amazin’ Conforto Redmond star hits the big league with NY Mets ANDY NYSTROM anystrom@redmond-reporter.com
New York Mets player Michael Conforto swings away against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Courtesy of the Mets
Eleven Redmond businesses honored for recycling, waste reduction SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reporter.com
Eleven Redmond businesses have been named to the King County Solid Waste Division’s list of Best Workplaces for Recycling and Waste Reduction. The 11 businesses are City of Redmond, Clarisonic, FCS Group, Golder Associates, Inc., Honeywell Aerospace, Hot off the Press, Keeney’s Office Supply, Lake Washington School District, Magnitude Software (formerly Noetix Corporation),
Microsoft Corp. and Sammamish Montessori School. These businesses, which range in size, are among 112 county wide to receive the honor. Karen May, project manager for King County’s Solid Waste Division, said this is the highest number of businesses (29 of which are new this year) to make the list since the Best Workplaces program began in 2007. She said the program was started to provide recognition to businesses who are doing good things in waste prevention. And with 11 businesses, Redmond is among the top cities on the list. Other top cities include Bellevue with 22 businesses and Kirkland with 13 businesses. “These companies deserve special recognition for demonstrating their ingenuity and commitment in preventing waste,” said King County Executive Dow [ more BUSINESS page 8 ]
Athleticism, intelligence and perseverance. That’s what drives Redmond native Michael Conforto, according to one of his former baseball coaches Mark Sandquist, who first met up with the now-22-year-old when he was a young ballplayer getting his start in the Redmond North Little League program. Conforto brought those three crucial qualities to the plate last Friday night during his first Major League Baseball at-bats for the New York Mets. The lefty notched an RBI in his first game, and had a major breakout night on Saturday, going 4-for-4 with two doubles, an
RBI and four runs scored to help lead the host Mets to a 15-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citi Field in Queens. The left fielder’s first professional hit was a first-inning infield single during the Mets’ 21-hit barrage on the night. According to the Mets’ Twitter: “@ mconforto8 says the first hit baseball will go to his grandfather who couldn’t make the trip. His dad was here.” Surrounded by reporters in the locker room after Saturday’s game, Conforto noted in a video posted on the Mets’ Twitter: “Obviously, all the bats were going and we were scoring a lot of runs and I got that first win for myself. That’s [ more CONFORTO page 10 ]
Himitsu Teriyaki back in business after car accident in January SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reportet.com
Yon Hun Lee and his wife Sue Lee spent early Tuesday afternoon in the back kitchen at Himitsu Teriyaki, preparing teriyaki chicken for a takeout order that had been placed earlier in the day. For about nine years, this had been a common scene for the couple at their Redmond Ridge restaurant. But on Jan. 22, a 70-yearold woman coming out of a nearby Chevron gas station/car wash lost control of her vehicle, struck a post indicator valve in the [ more HIMITSU page 9 ]
Sue Lee stands behind the counter at the remodeled Himitsu Teriyaki. SAMANTHA PAK, Redmond Reporter