Newcastle illustrator publishes his first book Page 12
Liberty grad Tim Lincecum pitches first career no hitter Page 15
AUGUST 2, 2013 VOL. 15, NO. 8
Meet the police
National Night Out returns Aug. 6. Page 3
Police blotter Pat Detmer
Page 6 Page 8
Former Husky named bank robbery suspect Prints from discarded water bottle leads to arrest of Luther Leonard By Sara Jean Green Seattle Times reporter Fingerprints found on a discarded water bottle led police to arrest two men on Monday who had been dubbed the “Big Top Bandits” in connection with a series of take-over style bank robberies, according to a probable-cause statement outlining the police case against the men. King County District Court Judge Mark Chow on Tuesday set bail at $1 million for
Jeffrey Pool, 48, a Texas fugitive who fled to the Seattle area after committing armed robberies in that state. Chow ordered Pool to be held on investigation of five counts of first-degree robbery and on a fugitive warrant from Texas. Pool’s alleged accomplice, Luther Ray Leonard, 23, was ordered held on one count of investigation of first-degree robbery, with Chow setting his bail at $100,000. Leonard is a former University of Washington football player, according to the probable-cause statement. Leonard’s girlfriend, Thidu Duch, spoke on his behalf, telling the judge Leonard was See ROBBERY, Page 5
Contributed
A suspect robs the Newcastle KeyBank branch at gunpoint Jan. 16.
Newcastle Days lineup takes shape By Christina Corrales-Toy
Gardening gurus
Newcastle Fruit & Produce sprouts ideas. Page 9
Photos by Greg Farrar
Having a blast
Above, children gleefully enjoy spinning on a playground toy in Lake Boren Park July 24 during the evening of family picnicking at the Newcastle Concerts in the Park featuring the music of the Randy Oxford Band. Oxford (left), inflates his cheeks to wail on the trombone with bandmates on soul, funk and blues tunes. Find more photos from the evening’s activities at www.newcastle-news.com.
Walk this way
Hikers get sneak peek of the city’s new trail. Page 14
You should know The Concerts in the Park series continues into August. Geoffrey Castle will perform Aug. 7 and Shaggy Sweet performs Aug 14. Shows start at 7 p.m. at Lake Boren Park. Contact us: newcastle@isspress.com 392-6434, ext. 239
50¢
Newcastle will celebrate its 19th year as an incorporated city Sept. 7 with the annual Newcastle Days festival. The daylong event held at Lake Boren Park will look decidedly different, though. The car show and a large portion of the vendor tents from last year’s festival have been scrapped. The freed up space will be replaced by an array of attractions from entertainment supplier Clowns Unlimited, including an obstacle course, a climbing wall and a swing chair ride, according to Newcastle Days organizers Diane Lewis and Mayor Rich Crispo. “Rich and I had heard from people that they thought a lot of Newcastle Days was boring, and we wanted to have something that will bring more people in,” Lewis said. The Clowns Unlimited attractions will be in a pay-for-play area, requiring admission to participate. The toddler-centric bouncy house and pony rides will still be free. See FESTIVAL, Page 5
Renton unveils new middle school designs By Christina Corrales-Toy The Renton School District and NAC Architecture released initial designs for a future middle school in Newcastle at a July 18 open house, giving locals a first glance at the plans for a two-story building. The school will occupy the 11-acre site of the Renton Academy, next to Hazelwood Elementary School. Middle
school sites normally sit on a space of about 15 acres, so it was up to the architects to get creative with the design, said Steve Shriver, the project manager with NAC Architecture, based in Seattle. “I think the largest challenge we have is the size of the site,” he said. “We had to design a building that was as compact as possible.” The result was a two-story
building with upper mezzanines and a central common area. Most importantly, however, the construction of the new middle school will not affect the popular east baseball fields. “The most commonly asked question that we had today was what are we going to do with the fields,” Shriver said. “People were excited to know that the existing fields will remain and will be improved as part of the
project.” A major feature of the school will be its transparency, complete with windows in every classroom, Shriver said. “Virtually every occupied room in the building has views to the exterior,” he said. “There are no interior classrooms.” Instead of walls, the school will utilize a lot of glass, providSee DESIGNS, Page 7