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Thoughts are with Paris Redmond bakery owner, Microsoft worker who both grew up in Paris discuss attacks SAMANTHA PAK
Kaskou, who owns the Belle Pastry bakeries in Redmond and Bellevue, grew up in Paris and still has family and friends living in the area. He and one of his sisters — Nadia — live on the Eastside, but he said their mother, other sister and youngest brother still live in Paris. In addition, Kaskou said he has a friend who lives very close to the city’s 11th arrondissement, or district, near the Bataclan theater. This was where terrorists took concertgoers attending an Eagles of Death Metal show hostage and in the end, killed 89 people.
Police arrest daytime home burglar after resident quickly calls 911 Redmond police officers arrested a burglar inside a home in the 16000 block of Northeast 50th Way on Nov. 19. At noon, two adult Redmond residents were inside their home when they heard the doorbell ring and then saw someone in their back yard. They heard loud noises and believed someone had entered their home, according to Becky Range, Redmond Police Department public information officer. After going into a locked
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On Nov. 13, Khalid Kaskou was listening to the French soccer match against Germany when he learned about the explosions just outside of the Stade de France — the French national stadium. The radio announcers initially thought the explosions were fireworks, but Kaskou learned shortly that French President François Hollande had been removed from the stadium. “It was pretty confusing,” Kaskou said. “Nobody knew what was happening.” It wasn’t long after that moment that he and the rest of the world learned that the explosions were part of multiple, simultaneous attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead.
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bedroom, one resident quickly called 911 and the dispatcher stayed on the line, talking them through the situation. The resident reported hearing rummaging sounds downstairs, which the dispatcher then passed on to officers, who arrived and quickly established a perimeter around the residence. Officers spotted the subject inside, removed him from the home and took him into custody. He had made entry by breaking a bedroom window, and
officers found related property from the residence on him, along with a screwdriver and dark gloves. He was booked into jail for burglary and seconddegree possession of stolen property. “The 911 dispatcher noted later that our resident was great on the phone, remaining calm and providing clear updates on what she was hearing in her house, which allowed the dispatcher to provide updates to responding officers,” Range said.
Lundstedt, church make a difference with Operation Christmas Child
Khalid Kaskou stands in front of his high school, Lycée Arago, in Paris in June, five months before recent terrorists attacks. Courtesy of Khalid Kaskou Fortunately, all of their family and friends are OK. Kaskou, who moved to the United States in 2009 and lives in Bellevue, said his family is from Paris’s 12th arrondissement. He said they live only a few blocks away from the Jewish grocery store that was the site of a siege following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January. “We all know these places,” Kaskou said about his familiarity with the points of attack, adding that the Bataclan was one of his favorite places to go on Friday and Saturday nights. For Olivier Fontana, the confusion and worry-
ing about loved ones was not that different once he learned about the Paris attacks. Both he and his wife are originally from Paris and now they live in Issaquah. Fontana works at Microsoft in Redmond. Like Kaskou, both Fontana and his wife still have family and friends in Paris or the Paris suburbs. Fontana said they were able to get a hold of everyone and they’re OK. “It was reassuring,” he said, adding that his brother lives very close to one of the areas hit, but fortunately, he was out of town at the time of the attacks. [ more PARIS page 5 ]
Cathy Lundstedt is all smiles during a recent trip to Tanzania in which she distributed gifts as part of Operation Christmas Child, which is a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse. Courtesy of Cathy Lundstedt SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reporter.com
All last week as well as part of the beginning of this week, the Bear Creek Community Church (BCCC) has been acting as a collection point for Operation Christmas Child (OCC). The Woodinville church was one of five locations on the Eastside doing their part to help children from around the world. Longtime Redmond resident Cathy Lundstedt — who currently lives in Seattle but still attends BCCC — is the collection center coordinator for BCCC and this was the ninth year she has been involved with OCC.
OCC is a ministry under Samaritan’s Purse, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to aiding the world’s poor, sick and suffering. “We are an effective means of reaching hurting people in countries around the world with food, medicine, and other assistance in the Name of Jesus Christ,” the organization’s website reads. BCCC’s collection week for OCC was part of Samaritan’s Purse’s national collection week for the ministry, which took place from Nov. 16 through Monday. This year, the organization’s goal is to collect enough shoebox gifts to reach more than 11 million children. [ more MINISTRY page 3]