MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR: KELLIE JORDAN
Highlands resident Kellie Jordan worked at the Kirkland Downtown Association for six years, organizing events and communications related to downtown Kirkland. She'll now be putting her impressive public relations skills to work getting the word out about green cars, and helping reduce CO2 in the process.
Kellie is the new community outreach director for The Green Car Company on Eighth Street, just north of the Maintenance Center. She took me out for a test drive in a zippy, fuel-efficient Smart Car. They sell several kinds of electric mobiles, including a cute little two-seater that tops out at 35 MPH.
"These are perfect for teen drivers," Kellie said. "They can't go on the freeway, they can't go too fast, and they can't take more than one friend!" And they plug in to a regular outlet. Electric scooters come in several sizes, including one that can go 60 mph.
Kellie has lived in the Highlands for most of the last 25 years, in four different houses. Her husband Jim owns a residential and commercial development company called Progressive Equities, and has built over 100 homes in the Highlands.
Their son Fletcher is a junior at Lake Washington High School and daughter Blair goes to Kirkland Junior High School. Following in her ecologically-minded mother's footsteps, she helped start a lunch recycling program at the school. Ask your kids about it!
GOODBYE TO LONGTIME HIGHLANDS RESIDENT GEORGE KNIERT
If you ever saw an older gentleman driving an orange Ford pickup truck down 116th Avenue N.E., that was longtime Highlands resident George Kniert at the wheel. George died on April 6 at age 89. He had lived in the Highlands for most of his life.
George was born in Upper Preston on Sept. 29, 1917 to Gus and Bertha Kniert. The family moved to property on N.E. 94th Street and 116th Avenue N.E. around 1920. When George was young he fished all over this area, including Little Lake (now Forbes Lake) and Lake Windermere (now Totem Lake), with his friend Chris Mathewson (who now lives close by).
George worked for the National Youth Administration until World War II started, and then he went to work for Boeing. In 1942 he joined the Army Air Force repairing war planes in North Africa and Italy. After the war he worked for Western Electric until his retirement in 1983.
After retirement, George fished, hiked and gardened. He loved the mountains and for 59 years he was a member of the Trail Blazers, a group of dedicated volunteers who stocked high lakes with fish fry they carried in tanks on their backs!
The Kniert family sold their home but kept the land next door, on the corner of 94th and 116th. When Central Avenue was widened, George had one of the condemned houses moved to the property and renovated by his nephew Jerry Heidel and Jerry's wife Marla. George then lived there until he died.
George is survived by his sister Annabel, his sister-in-law Loraine (the wife of George and Annabel's late older brother, Bert), and their children and grandchildren.
SIXTH ANNUAL EGG HUNT A SUCCESS
Thank you to Debbie Ohman, who organized another fun and successful Highlands Spring Egg Hunt on April 6. About 40 kids came and had a great time. Thank you to Parkplace Starbucks for donating coffee.
HIGHLANDS FAREWELL TO THE DINNER TRAIN MAY 20
At the end of July, the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train will blow her whistle in our neighborhood for the last time. A group of Highlands neighbors and friends are planning a farewell ride, on May 20, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Prices include brunch, tax and gratuity and are $56.47 for adults and $23.60 for kids.
If you'd like to go, call 1-800-876-RAIL and refer to reservation number 835060.
NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME PREVENTION
A Kirkland police officer will talk about crime prevention and two Highlands CERT graduates will share what they learned at the Citizen Emergency Response Team training course. Don't miss the Highlands general meeting on May 17, at 7 p.m. at the Maintenance Center at 915 Eighth St. This is our last meeting until September.
Speaking of crime prevention, the Highlands crime committee met for the first time on April 1. Thirteen people attended and came away with action items including asking the police to speak at our next meeting, and asking other neighborhoods what crime prevention programs they've set up. As more information becomes available I will be sure to send it out to our e-mail list.
WATER MAIN PROJECT NEARS COMPLETION
The water main project should be complete around the middle of May. The contractor will install a smooth trench patch, but they will not resurface the roads. Northeast 87th Street is scheduled to be resurfaced within the next two to five years. And 114th Avenue N.E. is not currently scheduled for resurfacing.
The contractor will need to use the corner by the railroad tracks as a staging area until the end of the water main project, so the 112th Avenue sidewalk project won't recommence until mid-May at the earliest.
Thank you to Mark Berntsen and the Public Works street crew for building a planting bed around our entrance sign! Our sign is rotting and needs to be repaired before we can begin planting.
Please e-mail me (karen@tinyisland.com) if you would like to help with picking out plants.
Honors and awards
I would like to congratulate my son, Ian Story, a junior at Lake Washington High School. Ian was one of 25 kids from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, and British Columbia who were accepted into the Summer Institute of Mathematics at the University of Washington. (See page 12 for more details.
NOT GETTING THE E-MAIL YOU SIGNED UP FOR?
Did you sign up for the Highlands e-mail list, but aren't receiving any e-mails? I may have entered your address incorrectly, or perhaps your e-mail address has changed.
Please e-mail me or go to www.KirklandHighlands.org and follow the simple instructions to sign up again.[[In-content Ad]]
