January 29th, 2024

Sharing our local news, updates, our favorite spots, and the best deals on the Eastside.

Hi all! Thank you so much for reading newsletter #2. We’re happy to say that many of you are new subscribers. If you have any feedback, comments, suggestions, things you want to share, or anything at all, please reply to this email. We’re all ears and want to make this newsletter a thriving source of information and content for out east-of-Seattle community. If you love the newsletter so far, please tell all your friends to subscribe!

News

Bellevue:

• Skanska’s 25-story office tower in Bellevue lands Pokemon as anchor tenant. The building is expected to be completed in early spring.

• Lunchbox Laboratory in Bellevue is closing permanently due to health reasons and low interest. The space is now up for sale at $200,000.

• Bellevue has been working with a company called Circut to run a fleet of eight all-electric shuttles around the downtown portion of Bellevue. You can summon the vehicles to anywhere within a 6-square-mile zone for free. 

Redmond:

• The Overlake Village Pedestrian Bridge was opened on Jan. 25. Now you can bike from Overlake Village across 520!

• Eastside light rail train to start doing ‘practice runs’ between Redmond and Bellevue.

Kirkland:

• Lake Washington’s girl basketball team secured their fifth consecutive 3A KingCo championship. The team has won 47 league games in a row.

• Both directions of the NE 85th St between Kirkland Way/114th Ave NE and 120th Ave NE will be closed. Sidewalks too. All ramps at the I-405/NE 85th St interchange (exit 18) will also be closed.

• One Kirkland man’s passion for bicycles led to the transformation of his garage into a workshop where he repairs and restores bikes for commuters, collectors, and kids who need transportation to get to school.

Sammamish:

• Homeowners win against King County in Lake Sammamish trail dispute. Homeowners do not have to give up their land on the trail to the county.

• City council approves allowable 1% property tax increase for 2024 but this does not directly correspond to an increase in rates. The approved tax increase is expected to yield an additional $296,391 in revenues for the city in 2024.

• Sammamish recently adopted a 27-year plan to meet climate goals. Key goals include a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, a 30% decrease in per capita vehicle miles traveled, and others. The city has set aside $80,000 per year for these goals.

• Sammamish resident, Lisa Parkinson (65), hosted a garage sale at her home to raise money for the Sammamish-based non-profit Songea’s Kids. She raised $3,300 total!

Issaquah:

• The Issaquah school district, along with others such as Mercer Island and Bainbridge Island, has recorded some of the biggest enrollment losses in the Greater Seattle area since 2019.

• Gas prices hit a recent low at the Issaquah Costco. $3.89 per gallon.

Events

Bellevue:

• Wintergrass Bluegrass Music Festival, featuring Grammy winning musicians, impromptu jam session, dancing and workshops. Feb 22. - Feb. 25. (info)

• Joe Wong, a world renowned comedian, performs his event “This Asian Hates Asian Hate” on Feb. 24th. (info)

Redmond:

• OneRedmond Lunch & Learn: AI & Your Small Business. Feb 1st 12 - 1PM . (info)

• Valentine’s Donut Shoppe at FrogLegs Culinary. Feb 4th 10am-12pm. (info)

Kirkland:

• Lunar New Year Celebration. Feb 3rd 1PM. (info)

Sammamish:

• Join local community members for Pickleball every Thursday at the Sammamish YMCA between 12:30 pm and 3:00 pm. (info)

• Lunar New Year celebration at CWU - Sammamish. There will be vibrant performances, music, dance, arts, interactive booths for kids and delicious food trucks. (info)

Issaquah:

• Pick up and/or sell your unused kids items at Just Between Friends on Mar. 5th. (info)

What we are currently loving!

Food:

Our favorite picks for food this week are 👀👀

Oto Sushi by Chef Mike Lin - in both Redmond and Kirkland. Chef Mike Lin learned from sushi masters in SF before coming to the puget sound to open his own place. Chef Peter Ni joined him and they now both chef up very creative and delicious sushi rolls. Highly recommend this sushi spot for amazing, tasty and well-priced sushi rolls. We had a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian rolls and our top choices to order are: The Green Village Roll, The Veggie Lover Roll, Spider Roll, and a Dragon Roll. It’s overall a very nice, casual spot to have a family dinner at.

Our second favorite eat of the week is 12th Ave Cafe in Issaquah. I cannot even begin to describe how delicious the spuds are. They are the perfect side to their fluffy garden fresh scramble. There also is something very special about their house-made jam on the wheat toast. If you haven’t been yet, you got to give them a try.

Vibes:

Other random things we’re loving are:

• A nice Sunday morning walk around the Lake Sammamish trail

• Live music + coffee at SoulFood Coffee in Redmond

Check out these awesome photos taken Sammamish residents Kabir P. and Vikram J.

Another great community resource for Bellevue residents that we love is the Bellevue Neighbors group on Facebook! Check them out!