Kirkland burglary suspect is charged

KIRKLAND — A Bremerton man who police suspect may have committed as many as 24 burglaries in Kirkland was charged with one count of residential burglary yesterday in King County Superior Court.

According to court documents, Alfred Leroy Hills, 53, was arrested in Kirkland on Monday after he knocked on the door of a condo to see if anyone was home. The woman who answered thought he looked like the man in a sketch police had circulated throughout the community, the documents say.

The woman called police and officers arrested him as he walked down a hallway carrying a backpack filled with items police suspect were taken from another unit in the woman's building, court documents say.

Hills is being held in King County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

He is scheduled to be arraigned later this month.

Lake Hills homeowner digs up 9 military canisters in back yard

BELLEVUE — A homeowner digging in his back yard in the Lake Hills neighborhood yesterday found a cache of nine cardboard canisters, buried about 5 inches underground. When he saw the tubes seemed to be military-issue and had the words "rocket motor" stenciled on them, he called police.

The Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from Fort Lewis came to the house and determined that the canisters, all of which were empty, were harmless.

"It basically turned out to be a big nothing," said Bellevue police spokeswoman Carla Iafrate.

Redmond teen arrested in March car collision that killed girlfriend

KIRKLAND — Police yesterday arrested Nick Young, 18, of Redmond, in connection with the March 3 collision that killed his girlfriend, 16-year-old Teresa Jones, and gravely injured 87-year-old Robert Brinkley of Kirkland.

Young allegedly was racing another car along the 11000 block of Northeast 124th Street when he lost control of his car and struck Brinkley's 1965 Dodge Coronet in a head-on collision. Young, released from Harborview Medical Center in late March, was recuperating at home while police investigated the accident.

Bellevue police to celebrate Law Enforcement Memorial Day

BELLEVUE — In celebration of National Law Enforcement Memorial Day, which was yesterday, the Bellevue Police Department and the All American Memorial Foundation are sponsoring the first Eastside Law Enforcement Memorial Service at 1 p.m. tomorrow.

The ceremony will be at Sunset Hills Memorial Park, 1575 145th Place S.E. in Bellevue.

The intent of the service is to honor police officers who have died in the line of duty. The service includes officers from the King County Sheriff's Office and Kirkland, Redmond, Snoqualmie, Mercer Island and Issaquah police departments.

Speaking at the event will be Mayor Connie Marshall, Bellevue Police Chief James Montgomery and Frank Kampsen, president of the Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial.

Eastside Preparatory School signs lease in Kirkland office park

KIRKLAND — Eastside Preparatory School, a new independent secondary school opening this autumn, has signed a three-year lease to locate its classrooms in the Linbrook Office Park.

The building is on Northeast 38th Place across from the South Kirkland Park and Ride at 108th Avenue Northeast.

Eastside Prep, which still is accepting applications for the 2003-04 school year, was created earlier this year by a group of parents seeking more school choices. The head of school is Judy Lightfoot, an educator for more than 30 years at Seattle's Lakeside School.

The school will open next year with the sixth and seventh grades and add grades as the years progress. The curriculum will focus on interdisciplinary work, strategic thinking and other teaching techniques shown by research as particularly effective, Lightfoot said.

Eastside Prep will hold an information night for parents and others interested in the school on Thursday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Crossroads Community Center, 16000 N.E. 10th St., Bellevue.

Issaquah School Board approves $1.5 million in cuts to budget

ISSAQUAH — The Issaquah School Board approved $1.5 million in cuts to next year's operating budget this week, including proposals that would increase K-2 class size from 20 to 21 and eliminate the fifth-grade orchestra.

Mary Waggoner, director of communications for the district, said the board approved the cuts based on recommendations from the district's budget committee. The committee is made up of representatives from the school community.

The committee named small class size as its top concern and recommended the board add two teachers in the buildings where K-2 class sizes are the largest. The board approved that proposal Wednesday, Waggoner said.

The district expects a shortfall of about $2 million next year, even after it spends $500,000 from its reserves. Public hearings on the proposed budget are scheduled for August.