Thumbs up, thumbs down

March 3, 2010 5:04 pm

Thumbs up

• To United Methodist Church for acting to house Tent City 4 in April. The homeless encampment has been in Kirkland several times, including last summer at Holy Spirit Lutheran Church.

• To John Muir 4th grader Eric Yang who recently won the Washington State Elks Hoop Shoot Contest in Bellevue. Eric finished in first place by making 21 out of 25 free throw shots and beating five other kids from the state.

• To the Lake Washington High School boys basketball team for qualifying for the State Tournament for the first time since 1997 and the Juanita High School girls basketball team for winning a district playoff game for the first time in 20 years.

Thumbs down

• To the handful of community members who made threatening comments on the Reporter Web site to a student who was the subject of the bullying story run in the Feb. 24 issue. Regardless of alleged past actions of the student, it is not legal nor constructive to threaten anyone using a Web site or any other means. The acts of the few reflect poorly on the school and the community.

• To Kirkland based broker Rhonda Breard, who is under investigation by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions and the Washington State Attourney General’s office. No wrong doing has been proven at this point and Breard is innocent until proven guilty but the appearance of wrong doing should be met by at least a statement and not the silent treatment. If Breard is innocent a statement to that effect should be conveyed to her clients and along with an explanation as to her disappearance.

• To the City of Kirkland for admitting mistakes were made in the approval of the PSE substation in Juanita and then refusing to correct mistakes within the system or help the neighbors. This is a prime example of why some do not trust government. The Reporter calls for the City of Kirkland to have an independent investigation into the process that resulted in the substation being built. If systemic errors were made on the approval of this project by the City of Kirkland, the citizens have a right to know and have rules put in place so it does not happen again.