Map Your Neighborhood
Here’s your chance to be prepared if there’s ever an emergency. Neighbors can help neighbors. Remember, the police and fire departments will be taking care of the most serious problems to start. You may be on your own for a few days and it’s important to know how to handle an emergency.
Peter Kirk Elementary starts it’s first day of school at 8:45 AM on September 1st. So please be careful out there and watch for the school kids who will be out and about. They’ll probably be pretty excited, so they may not be paying as close attention to traffic as they should.
Peter Kirk Elementary
Meet and Greet the teachers from Peter Kirk on August 27th from 11-12 noon. If you need more information about events in the Lake Washington School District, there’s a pretty complete website.
Picture a commuter train whizzing by in Kirkland during the morning commute on its way to Bellevue. The tracks completely separate the Kirkland Highlands neighborhood from Peter Kirk Elementary School and Kirkland Junior High. There’s no other way to walk to school and Peter Kirk is a “walking” school. Picture kids crossing the tracks to visit friends after school hours when there’s no supervision at the crossing.
The following videos show school children crossing the railroad tracks on the way to school from the Kirkland Highlands neighborhood. The entire neighborhood of over 600 homes is separated by the railroad tracks from the school. The kids cross over 110th Ave NE and the railroad tracks behind Peter Kirk Elementary to get to school. As you can see, the kids are walking and running to school.
The crossing guard raised her concern about kids walking down the tracks to get to school in the morning. Someone can come to educate the kids about railroad safety, but having worked with middle school kids for 13 years in the past, I’m familiar with typical teen and “kid” behavior. Kids won’t remember what someone told them three months ago about not walking on the railroad tracks. Walking on the tracks is more of a problem when kids go from neighborhood to neighborhood to see their friends or walk to downtown Kirkland, not just to school. There are no crossing guards watching over them at those times.
From the Highlands neighborhood, kids also cross over the railroad tracks in Cotton Hill Park, a few blocks north, to get to Kirkland Junior High. That crossing is far more concerning because young teens tend to be busy multi-tasking as they walk to school. Picture typical teen behavior and you see teens talking to friends, talking on cell phones, running, and listening to IPods. You do not picture kids paying attention as well as they should to their surroundings. How many teens do you know who think they are invincible and will try to tempt fate by running in front of a train as they are rushing late to school?
If a fence is erected to stop people from walking down the tracks, kids will be cut off from their friends. Walking paths will be cut off to schools. Neighborhoods will be cut off from each other. Not only is the rail line as a commuter line a safety hazard, it will hurt the fabric of the community.
The gym at Peter Kirk Elementary was hopping. It was estimated there were 3 times the number of attendees than at the 2004 presidential caucus. The 45th precinct committee had planned for twice the number of people, but not three times the number. Last caucus there were 35 people from the Highlands, this year there were 79! The level of excitement was palpable.
The caucus was the first step in determining who Washington State will support for the Democratic Presidential nominee.
The 45th district was fortunate to have Laura Ruderman, the former state congresswoman, running the meeting. The caucus started with a speech from a Hillary backer and a speech from an Obama backer. It was clear from the start where emotions lay.
At the end of the vote, the Kirkland Highlands supported Obama by 81%, Hillary by 15%, and the rest (3 people) were uncommitted. Everyone was then able to change their vote, if they so chose. In the end, the Highlands supported Obama with 6 of the 7 delegates, with one delegate for Hillary.
The 45th precinct is sending on 34 delegates with 26 for Obama and 6 for Hillary. Today was a great day to see democracy in action. It was exciting to see people energized and committed.
No matter what your political persuasion is, it is important for you to vote. As we have seen only too often lately, every last vote counts.
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