Press Editorial
January 26, 2010
School levies deserve your attention, your vote
If your Feb. 9 election ballot is still sitting in a pile of unopened mail, dig it out and mail it in. The No. 1 concern with passing the levies is getting enough voters to care. If you have kids or grandkids in school or soon to be in school, you probably do care. If you don’t, then care anyway — because the kids in the neighborhood today don’t deserve any less of an education just because the economy is in turmoil. Read more
Sports calendar
January 26, 2010
Adult Sports
Issaquah Alps Trail Club
Jan. 28, 7 p.m., IATC annual meeting, Trail Center … Jan. 29, Dogs Welcome Hike, 5 mile, 600-1,000 gain. Call 206-322-0990 … Jan. 30, Cougar Mountain, hike to AA Peak, 4 miles, 1,000 gain. Call 427-8449. Read more
Arts calendar
January 26, 2010
JANUARY
28th
Release party for Jeremy Owen’s newest CD, “Rum of Faith,” 6-10 p.m., Vino Bella Read more
Dan Connolly to perform regularly at Zeeks Pizza
January 26, 2010
Dan Connolly performs a set at Zeeks Pizza in the Issaquah Highlands. By Kathleen R. Merrill
Issaquah residents have another place to hear live music in the city, and they’ll get an excellent performance from local musician Dan Connolly.
The talented guitarist is playing from 7:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesdays at Zeeks Pizza, 2525 N.E. Park Drive.
Not only will those in attendance get to hear soulful renditions of Connolly’s tunes from his album “Running Under Water,” they’ll also get hand-clapping, foot-stomping fun in the form of Irish drinking songs.
Many people at Zeeks last week had heard Connolly’s album and were calling out requests for songs from it. Read more
Entrepreneur launches clothing line from home
January 26, 2010
Issaquah High School graduate Ryan Atkins displays a T-shirt from his clothing line, Atty Clothing. By Tim Pfarr
Issaquah High School graduate Ryan Atkins has always been heavily influenced by music, and in college he began to take an interest in fashion.
“That last semester, my notes were all doodles,” Atkins said, recalling the end of his college career at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.
He graduated in 2008 with a degree in political science, and he began working at a Starbucks in Whistler. He transferred to a store on Mercer Island and moved back to his Issaquah home, and after seven months with the coffee chain, he decided it was time for a change.
“I needed to jump in the deep end,” he said. “I needed to do something on my own.” Read more
Issaquah, Sammamish chambers team with Issaquah Schools Foundation
January 26, 2010
The Issaquah and Sammamish chambers of commerce have partnered with the Issaquah Schools Foundation to promote the Great Schools, Great Communities campaign. Read more
Lose yourself in ‘Yonkers’ fine performances
January 26, 2010
Jennifer Lee Taylor (center) and Suzy Hunt enact the climactic confrontation between Aunt Bella and Grandma Kurnitz, as (from left) Mike Dooley, Nick Robinson, Collin Morris and Karen Skrinde, as Uncle Louie, Arty, Jay and Gert, look on in a scene from ‘Lost in Yonkers.’ By Jay Koh/Village Theatre
Silently, Arty and Jay Kurnitz wait in their grandmother’s living room. They question why they’ve come so far to see a woman they barely know and they plot their escape.
But leaving isn’t on the agenda.
What unfolds onstage in the next two and a half hours is nothing short of dramatic perfection and well-timed comedic relief, provided by a talented cast who embrace the irony of one of Neil Simon’s best-known plays — “Lost in Yonkers.”
Typically, reviewers find time to take light notes in the margins of their program during a play, but “Lost in Yonkers” proved so captivating that it didn’t happen this time.
Comfortable suspense — if there is such a thing — kept everyone in the audience waiting for the next character to unravel.
As the son’s broken father, Eddie, played by Bradford Farwell, tries to heal himself and the family bank account after his wife’s death, the boys are faced with the realities of adulthood.
The touching coming-of-age story is marked by realism, not simplicity or comfort. Rather, the two boys — Jay, played by Collin Morris, and Arty, played by Nick Robinson — learn no matter how simple they may seem, familial relationships are messy, complex and laden with history. Read more
King County planners will answer questions about growth plan
January 26, 2010
Officials will discuss the key King County growth blueprint at a Jan. 28 open house in Issaquah. Read more
Council picks Bellevue attorney to succeed Fred Jarrett in state Senate
January 26, 2010
Randy Gordon
The next lawmaker to represent southwest Issaquah in the state Senate will be Democrat Randy Gordon, a Bellevue attorney.
Gordon succeeded Fred Jarrett, a Democrat who stepped down last month after County Executive Dow Constantine named the then-lawmaker to the No. 2 spot in King County government. King County Council members appointed Gordon to the open seat Jan. 11, the opening day of the 60-day legislative session. Read more
Developer will answer Issaquah Highlands residents’ questions about growth
January 26, 2010
NEW — 5:15 p.m. Jan. 26, 2010
Port Blakely Communities executives will re-engage Issaquah Highlands residents in the days ahead, as the developer works to answer questions about the community’s future.
The outreach follows a busy year for the highlands developer, when officials broke ground on large-scale projects in the community, and residents grumbled about the highlands’ retail offerings.
Judd Kirk — a Port Blakely senior vice president, the chief real estate strategist and a key player in establishing the vision for the highlands — spearheaded the outreach effort.
Kirk and René Ancinas, the president and chief operating officer of parent company Port Blakely Companies, assumed responsibilities for the highlands after former Port Blakely President Alan Boeker resigned Jan. 15.
Kirk will outline a development strategy for the highlands in meetings Wednesday and Feb. 3. The initial meeting will be limited to highlands community leaders, but the Feb. 3 town hall meeting will open to the public. The town hall meeting will be 6-7:30 p.m. at Blakely Hall, 2550 N.E. Park Drive.
