Today, I clean out my desk, leaving one great place for another.
Stanford offered me a full-tuition scholarship. Some things you don’t refuse.
U.S. Senate hopeful Dino Rossi spoke this week at a Bellevue Rotary Club luncheon, delivering his standard doomsday America message in hopes of persuading voters to unseat Democrat Patty Murray.
“America is in trouble,” he said. “If we don’t change things in this election, we’re going to wake up 24 months from now in a country you don’t even recognize.”
Rossi focused on the economy and jobs, blaming Democrats for lingering stagnation on both fronts.
A former Bellevue attorney entered a plea agreement last week over alleged connections with the state’s largest mortgage-fraud scheme.
Jacob A. Korn, of Seattle, pleaded guilty to charges of willful failure to file a tax return and willful failure to supply information to the IRS.
Federal prosecutors say Korn did not report real-estate transactions that he helped close, and also did not file an income tax return for 2008. He faces up to one year in prison or five years probation, and a $25,000 fine.
Korn was the founder of Bellevue-based Emerald City Escrow, which played a central role in a scheme to siphon money from multi-million dollar home loans. The plot relied on a system of “straw buyers” and falsified mortgages.
Prosecutors say Korn was responsible for closing real-estate transactions and for holding money in trust accounts.
Dick’s Drive-In has named Bellevue as one of several possible homes for its first expansion in 36 years.
The iconic fast-food chain announced this week that it would select a location for a new restaurant with help from an online poll.
Coca-Cola employees in Bellevue and Western Washington returned to work Tuesday, ending a week-long strike over stalled contract negotiations.
Teamsters Local 117 accused the beverage maker of trying to raise workers’ health-insurance rates and terminating the company’s retiree health benefits.
Coca-Cola quickly canceled the picketers’ health insurance after the strike began August 23.
Teamsters Local 117 spokesman Paul Zilli said the move played a major role in nudging employees back to work after a week.
“That was putting a lot of our members in a precarious position,” he said. “Some are facing chronic conditions.
Final designs are in place for a new $6-million facility that would house the Bellevue Youth Theatre organization and all its shows at Crossroads International Park.
The goal is to insert a 150-seat, eco-friendly theater into an existing hillside, avoiding significant loss of green space and allowing park users to picnic on the roof if they like.
The project is a wrap in terms of planning. All that’s left to do is pin down the last bit of funding – just under $2 million.
Taxing food is one of those third-rail issues that politicians rarely want to touch.
But in a time when lawmakers have already tread through the daunting realm of health-care reform, government bailouts, and raising taxes to fill massive deficits, why not go there?
That’s what the state legislature did this year.
Initiative 1107 would eliminate all the new taxes on food manufacturing, candy, soda, and bottled water.
El Zacatecano is one of the oldest and best-selling mezcal brands in Mexico, but few Americans recognize the name, let alone what type of liquor it is.
Hairstyling legend Gene Juarez and former Mariner great Edgar Martinez are out to change that with a bit of their own widespread popularity.
The two Bellevue residents, both former all-stars in their respective professions, have brought the label stateside.
Mezcal, a stronger, smokier cousin of Tequila, is traditionally made from an agave plant known as maguey.
Production of the liquor starts with removing the heart of the agave.
Picketing Coca-Cola workers have virtually halted production at the company’s Bellevue bottling and distribution center with less than two weeks to go before the soda-friendly Labor Day weekend.
Around 500 employees from six Western Washington locations have been on strike over stalled contract negotiations since Monday.
Teamsters Local 117 says the beverage maker wants to raise workers’ health-insurance rates and stop retirees from buying into the health-care program.
Around 300 of the Coca-Cola employees striking in Western Washington work at company’s Bellevue facility, located at the corner of 124th Avenue NE and Bel-Red Road.
Results from Tuesday’s top-two primary showed little in the way of an anti-establishment mood among Eastsiders, as all but one incumbent from the region was in first place at the Reporter deadline Wednesday.
However, the election did come with slight signs for concern, particularly in the federal races.
John Robertson, who owns the commercial real-estate firm Robertson Capital, has spent over a year making plans for the Bellevue Brewing Company, a new brew pub that Bellevue could call its own.
Those plans hit the fast track on August 12, when Robertson signed a six-year lease on a 12,000 square-foot space at the Evergreen Center, located off 130th Ave. NE near the Bel-Red corridor.
A man who stole money from the Chinook Elementary PTSA during his time as the group’s treasurer will spend 30 days of electronic home detention and 240 hours of community service.
A King County Superior Court judge on Friday issued the sentence to John “David” Glass, 53, of Clyde Hill, who pleaded guilty in July to first-degree theft for embezzling over $63,000 from the PTSA organization.
Cancer survivor Jacob Sears, 16, of Lynnwood, meets with The Blue Genie for a “dream day” starting with a ride in a 2010 Dodge Challenger at the Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealership in Bellevue on Monday morning.
The clock began ticking Wednesday for a Bellevue homebuilder who has six months to repay more than $600,000 in stolen sales-tax revenue before facing possible prison time.
Grey T. Lundberg, 48, pleaded guilty in King County Superior Court Wednesday to 13 counts of first-degree theft for stealing $629,000 in sales tax he collected on construction work from July 2006 through December 2008.
The state Department of Revenue has recommended a five-year prison sentence for the former owner of CMI Homes – currently the owner of Grey Lundberg Inc.
Superior Court Judge Ronald Kessler delayed Lundberg’s sentencing until Feb. 16, giving the builder time to pay back at least some of the money.
Lundberg may be able to delay his sentencing a second time if he repays a substantial amount of the money he owes. An addendum to the plea agreement says that the sentence he faces can be reduced depending on how much money he returns.
Bellevue’s hopes for an expensive downtown light-rail tunnel may be in jeopardy as Sound Transit tries to overcome a growing budget gap expected to reach $3.9 billion.
The agency’s board of directors is preparing to make cost-cutting decisions this fall, with the sputtering economy cutting into revenue projections for the voter-approved Sound Transit 2 package.
Bellevue-based Intelius has agreed to a $1.3 million settlement over allegations that it tricked customers into deceptive credit card charges, state Attorney General Rob McKenna said Tuesday.
Intelius specializes in background checks and public-records searches through the internet.
McKenna says the company trapped unwittingly customers into programs they didn’t want – often with the simple click of a mouse.
The alleged “post-transaction marketing” scheme worked by getting customers to buy services like background checks, and then forcing them to click through prompts that appeared to confirm their orders once Intelius had their credit card information.
The problem is that some of those clicks would sign people up for additional services that included monthly fees.
McKenna says Intelius swindled $62 million in one year with one such program called Identity Protect.
“Post-transaction marketing plunges you into an online labyrinth where the only way out is to click and click and click,” McKenna said. “One wrong turn and you’re enrolled in a membership program that costs you $20 or more each month. And you’d never know until you scrutinize your credit card bill.”
Intelius admitted no wrongdoing in its settlement, but the company agreed not to do business with several companies it was involved with before. It also promised not to share credit card information with other organizations.
In addition, customers must now give their express consent before Intelius can enroll them in membership programs.
Consumers from Washington state are eligible for refunds if they were enrolled in the company’s Identity Protect program before Aug. 12, 2009, have not received full refunds, and have not used any “member-enabled benefit.”
The Attorney General’s Office has been monitoring several companies that it claims use “post-transaction marketing” schemes.
“Investigations by our office suggest more than $50 million has been deceptively obtained from Washington consumers by a handful of businesses,” McKenna said.
Intelius CEO Naveen Jain was aware of thousands of consumer complaints about his company, but he did nothing about them, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
Jain, who lives in west Bellevue, settled a previous case over alleged trade-rules violations with InfoSpace, an internet-search company he founded in 1996.
The suicide of a former University of Florida football player last Thursday marked the third falling death at Lincoln Square since 2006.
John Curtis IV jumped to his death from a fourth-floor railing at the downtown Bellevue complex on August 5. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office said he died of injuries caused by suicide.
In January 2009, newly hired Microsoft worker Jin Chen died at age 22 after falling from 28th floor of the Lincoln Square office complex.
The Kirkland woman who accused magician David Copperfield of raping her during a trip to his private island in 2007 has pleaded guilty in a separate case to obstructing a Bellevue police officer.
Lacey Carroll entered the plea Monday in Bellevue District Court, after prosecutors agreed to drop charges of prostitution and filing a false police report.
A judge ordered the aspiring model to pay a $953 fine, complete 30 hours of community service, and participate in an alcohol-awareness class. The court will eventually dismiss the obstruction charges against Carroll and clear her record if she stays out of trouble.
The former Miss Washington USA runner-up allegedly asked a 31-year-old Mukilteo businessman to pay $2,000 for sex with her at a Bellevue hotel following a night of heavy drinking.
The man said he refused, but Carroll told police an altogether different story, saying he had drugged and then tried to rape her.
Prosecutors sided with the man based on surveillance from the hotel and witness accounts, including a concierge who said Carroll talked about wanting a threesome with her purported attacker that night.
Carroll told police she didn’t want to pursue the case because it could affect her lawsuit against Copperfield. She also refused to sign over the results from a rape test at Overlake Hospital.
Federal prosecutors stopped investigating Copperfield for rape after learning of the alleged prostitution case, but they have not said whether that decision was linked with the Bellevue matter.
Carroll dropped a lawsuit against Copperfield in April.
Seattle Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik preached patience and guaranteed future success as he spoke about team development at a Bellevue Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday at the downtown Bellevue Westin.
“I assure you that there is a commitment to this organization, a commitment to this community, and a commitment to this fanbase,” Zduriencik said. “I give my word that we’re going to get this thing right.”
The talk on Tuesday came in the midst of a disappointing season that has seen Ken Griffey Jr. brusquely retire, Cy Young lefty Cliff Lee barely touching the mound before signing with Texas, and the last-place Mariners falling short of expectations at nearly every turn.
“This has been a year of disappointments, a year of setbacks, and a year of issues,” Zduriencik said.
The second-year GM promised that hope will spring from the Mariners’ farm system as he rattled off statistics about its minor-league teams ranking number one in home runs and slugging percentage, number two in runs scored and winning percentage, and fourth in batting average.
Campaign signs are cropping up all over Bellevue – and disappearing in many cases – as election time nears.
The signs may seem ubiquitous, but there are actually rules restricting where they can be, and for how long, on public or private property.
Campaign signs are allowed on city rights-of-way with certain restrictions, but they are prohibited on state-highway property.
The Washington Department of Transportation has a few clues to help distinguish the boundaries for state rights-of-way, since they’re not always marked.
For instance, utility poles can make for good delineators, since they generally exist just outside of state property. A safe bet is to consider the area between highways and utility polls off limits, according to WSDOT.
Fence lines also serve as a separator between right-of-way and private property.
Temporary political signs are allowed on private property that is visible from state highways, but the following rules apply: the signs must comply with Washington Administrative Code, they can’t be larger than 32 square feet in area, and they must come down within 10 days of an election.
Bellevue code requires signs to be removed sooner, within one week of an election. The city sends out three reminder letters to campaign organizations leading up to election day.
Political signs are not allowed on utility poles, nor on public buildings or structures in Bellevue.
Signs are allowed on city rights-of-way, so long as they do not obstruct traffic or create a hazard. Their size must be limited to 4 square feet and 5 feet in height.
Responsibility for removing signs rests with campaign officers.
Political signs on private property cannot be larger than 32 square feet, and the total of all signs on a given piece of private land cannot exceed 64 square feet.
The penalty for violating sign rules in Bellevue is $100 per sign. The city handed out 34 citations in 2008, but there have been only four so far this year.
The most common complaints about campaign signs are related to clutter and lines of sight in the rights of way, according Bellevue assistant development director Joe Guinasso.
Knowing the guidelines for sign placement is only half the concern for most campaigns. Sign theft is widespread during the thick of an election cycle, and it causes more distress for some than others.
State senator Rodney Tom of Medina said he’s accustomed to losing around 75 percent of his signs during a campaign.
“They disappear,” he said. “It’s kind of like socks in the dryer.”
Tom’s opponent, political newcomer Gregg Bennett, is not so familiar with the game. He said he felt frustrated and helpless after losing around 100 signs in one night, followed by an incident in which he caught a man in the act of systematically stealing more.
Campaign signs generally cost around $4 apiece.
A police report shows that Bellevue resident Doug Stock took Bennett’s signs and later returned them to police following an investigation.
Bennett called Tom and left a message suggesting that the incumbent senator had encouraged the thefts. He also threatened to have a team of his teenage supporters retaliate with some sign removals of their own.
Tom denies that he had anything to do with the thefts.
“This is my fourth election,” he said. “I have always told every campaign worker that you never touch an opponent’s signs.”
Bennett explained his phone message to The Reporter, saying: “It was an emotional thing. I’d just been notified that a bunch of my signs were stolen, and then I caught some people red-handed. I was upset, and I called (Tom) not knowing what to do.”
Tom said Bennett’s threats indicate a “lack of judgement that shows he does not have the values to be a state senator.”
As for any lingering resentment about the disappearance of his signs, Bennett said he’s ready to move on.
“I want to talk about the issues, not get distracted by this stuff,” he said.
Bennett also issued a statement to his campaign saying: “I need to make sure that I am clear that stealing yard signs is not something we do; it is against the law and it just isn’t ethical.”
A new summer-reading initiative is giving Bellevue school kids a chance to check out books and decide for themselves whether to return them.
The Fabulous Fun Fridays program brings donated reading materials to local apartment complexes and allows children to grab as much as they like, for as long as they want – even if it means forever.
“I usually just keep them when I’m done because my baby sister likes playing with them and looking at the pictures,” said 10-year-old Fernando Javier, a student at Stevenson Elementary who attended one of the events July 23.
Free nutritional snacks are also available during the programs, and organizers occasionally arrange for an ice cream truck to stop by.
The Sound Transit board voted unanimously on Thursday to advance planning of an East Link light-rail line along the west side of 112th Avenue in Bellevue.
The decision puts Sound Transit at odds with a Bellevue City Council majority that doesn’t want trains moving through that part of town.
The City Council voted 4-3 this year to recommend a line known as B7, which would run East Link along the abandoned Burlington-Northern rail corridor west of I-90 on its way downtown.
Sound Transit halted planning for that route in April, when its board of directors named 112th Avenue as its preferred route.
The city council sent a letter to the Sound Transit board this week reiterating its support for B7 and opposing all options for 112th Avenue.
Bellevue Mayor Don Davidson spoke before the board on Thursday, criticizing Sound Transit for sidestepping the City Council’s recommendation.
“Shame on you,” he said. “You wouldn’t expect an agency outside your government to say your local government is irrelevant.”
Board member Julia Patterson responded to Davidson’s comments by reminding the mayor that Bellevue is still pleading for a downtown tunnel that does not fit within the voter-approved budget for East Link. She said Sound Transit has “bent over backwards” to accommodate that desire.
“Are you saying that you want the B7 alignment and you want us to continue to try to find a way to build a tunnel for Bellevue as well?” Patterson asked.
“Yes,” Davidson replied.
“I am not going to throw the residents of Bellevue under the train for the downtown,” the mayor continued. “I want excellence in all parts of our community.”
Board member Joe Marine later spoke about Davidson’s comments, saying: “I’m a little offended by the mayor of Bellevue coming up here and trying to shame us.
“Understand that there is a reason this is a regional board. It is not one community driving this. If it was, I would imagine Seattle’s alignment might look different.”
A tunnel was part of the voter-approved plan for light rail through downtown Seattle.
Sound Transit proposed six options for running East Link along 112th Avenue: two for the east side of the road, two for the west, and two for the center.
Businesses and residents in the area formed an alliance last week to support the west-running alignments, which protect the property of three major hotels.
Condo owners along 112th Avenue will lose their homes with the favored alignment, but the vast majority said they prefer buyouts to dealing with noise and vibrations from having light rail across the street.
Residents of the Surrey Downs community face the same impacts, but Sound Transit hasn’t proposed buyouts for most of them, since few of their homes will be displaced. A special light-rail committee for the neighborhood has shown strong opposition toward the 112th Avenue options.
“It might have been easier to join the alliance, but our community firmly believes the fundamental facts of the situation cannot be changed,” said Surrey Downs resident Betsy Blackstock. “None of the (112th Avenue) alignments are acceptable.”
Sound Transit board member Claudia Balducci is part of the Bellevue City Council minority that supports the 112th Avenue route.
“This is a very good option for the city, and I think we should embrace it,” she said.
One of the main advantages of the 112th Avenue alignment was its inclusion of the South Bellevue Park and Ride, which experts say would maximize ridership.
The city hired a firm to draft plans for moving that facility southward to connect with the B7 line, but the top designs each had drawbacks, including additional costs, property takings, and environmental impacts.
People say politics are polarized these days. It took a faltering product concept for Patrick Phipps to figure out just how true that statement really is.
The Bellevue entrepreneur tried late last year to market Prez BaRock, a sort of Pet Rock with stickers that would help people speak their minds about the president, regardless of their political leanings.
The concept was bi-partisan, and it didn’t fly with consumers.
“Right-leaning people weren’t sure if they wanted something that represented the president at all, and the Left found it disrespectful,” Phipps said.
Now Phipps is taking a different approach, launching a product that shows his true political colors – which only include shades of red.
The NObama Countdown Clock ticks off the days, hours, minutes and seconds until President Barack Obama finishes his first term. The item is roughly the size of a credit card, and hangs from a keychain. It sells online for $9.95.
“I’m a die-hard Conservative who decided I’d roll out a product that represents my views,” Phipps said. “This one is clear on who its market is and what it represents.”
Phipps claims sales of the clock are skyrocketing as Obama’s poll numbers drop. It helps that several major news outlets – including the L.A. Times, CNBC, and the Daily Mail of England – have incorporated the product in recent articles.
The goal with Prez BaRock was to create a lighthearted and snarky novelty item that would satisfy everyone in the market. But the product didn’t resonate with anyone in the end.
It wasn’t just consumers who rejected the concept. Retailers spurned it as well, saying the product was too controversial and questioning whether anything political could really be funny.
Phipps tried to boost Prez BaRock sales by donating a portion of the proceeds to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund.
“Frankly, that hasn’t even been resonating,” he said.
The NObama Countdown Clock is a different story. The item outsold Prez BaRock in its first week.
Phipps wouldn’t disclose sales figures for his two latest products, except to say that neither has sold 1 million units. He also said he had to order more clocks this week.
So what made one product more successful than the other?
“The clock is very clear in its message,” Phipps said.
