Liquor sales expand in Issaquah, statewide June 1
May 15, 2012
Jeffrey Roh, of Milton, purchased the right to sell spirits at a liquor store under construction in the Klahanie Shopping Center. By Greg Farrar
The availability of liquor in Issaquah is poised to expand beyond a single storefront in Issaquah next month, as major retailers prepare to add spirits to store shelves and the state completes the process to privatize liquor sales.
Bartell Drugs, Fred Meyer, Front Street Market, Rite Aid, Safeway, Target, QFC, Walgreens and Costco received licenses to sell liquor. (QFC received licenses for the Northwest Gilman Boulevard and Klahanie stores.)
Until the transition to liquor privatization is completed, liquor is available only at a state-run store.
In the meantime, entrepreneurs purchased the rights to apply for a retail spirits license at the state-run liquor store along Northwest Gilman Boulevard and a liquor store under construction in the Klahanie Shopping Center.
State records show the right to the Issaquah store sold to Seattle merchant Leon Capelouto for $251,000. The right to the unfinished Klahanie store sold to Milton entrepreneur Jeffrey Roh for $82,100.
Puget Sound Energy hikes electricity, natural gas rates
May 15, 2012
Issaquah residents started paying more for electricity and natural gas May 14.
In a recent decision, state utility regulators allowed Puget Sound Energy to increase rates 3.2 percent for electricity and 1.3 percent for natural gas customers.
The average residential electric customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours-per-month should pay about $3.30 more, for a bill total of $102.56. The typical natural gas customer using 68 therms per month should pay $1.08 more, for a bill total of $86.09.
Issaquah startup transforms trash into treasure at local grocery store
May 15, 2012
City Council President Tola Marts speaks at WISErg’s public unveiling of a food-scrap harvester at PCC Natural Market on May 8. By Autumn Monahan
The castoffs from daily activity in a grocery store — fruit peels from the juice bar, meat trimmings from the deli, discarded vegetable leaves from the produce section — no longer go to the compost heap at the PCC Natural Markets store at Pickering Place.
Instead, employees dump the refuse into a boxy structure tucked near the loading dock. The apparatus, a machine called a harvester, transforms the peels and trimmings into sludge — a building block for organic fertilizer.
Issaquah-based WISErg developed the harvester and built the prototype for the local grocery co-op. The company also uses the sludge to produce fertilizer, a tawny liquid no thicker than water.
Microsoft alumni Larry LeSueur and Jose Lugo founded WISErg in 2009. The startup venture is based across the street from Pickering Place. (The company name is a nod to the erg, a tiny unit of energy.)
“We all know the scraps headed for the Dumpsters are full of nutrients and value,” LeSueur said at a public debut for the harvester May 8. “The last thing we should do is landfill them and create more environmental and community headaches.”
WISErg approached Diana Crane, director of sustainability for Seattle-based PCC, and broached the idea of installing a harvester at a store.
“How exciting it is that the trash produced daily from our juice bar, deli, meat and produce departments that would otherwise be sent to landfills is now being offered in our PCC stores as a high-quality plant food,” Issaquah Store Director Debbi Montgomery said.
Get ready, set, shop for Young Issaquah Professionals cash mob
May 15, 2012
Issaquah Chamber of Commerce leaders asked merchants and shoppers to prepare for another cash mob.
The event is planned to occur at a still-unknown business at 4 p.m. May 23, as part of National Small Business Week.
In a cash mob, a group of people descends on a business to buy, buy, buy. The destination is revealed through social media services. Then, the mob pops up at the business to browse and shop.
The organizers — Young Issaquah Professionals, or YIPPIES, 20- and 30-something business leaders in the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce — modeled the cash mob on similar events in other locales.
Learn the cash mob destination May 16 at www.facebook.com/CashMobIssaquah and www.facebook.com/YoungIssaquahProfessionals.
Organizers said most participants spend about $20 apiece, but any amount is acceptable.
The inaugural cash mob in Issaquah unfolded last month at Gilman Village merchant Lucky You. Mobbers purchased almost $3,000 in merchandise.
“We’ll be trying different times, days and locations for our mobs.” YIPPIES Chairwoman Audrey Slade said. “Moving this mob to an early evening start time, will hopefully allow more people to take part at the end of their workday.”
Agencies’ website is meant to crack down on fraud
May 15, 2012
Several state agencies have rolled out a tool to help protect consumers from fraud.
The agency encourages consumers to go to www.suspectfraud.com to see if a business is registered and in good standing. In addition, links on suspectfraud.com allow consumers to check to see if a registered business is properly licensed, owes the state taxes, has had complaints filed against it or is the subject of state enforcement actions.
The site is a collaboration among the state departments of Revenue, Labor & Industries, and Employment Security to cut down on businesses operating beyond regulators’ reach and to pursue tax evaders.
Concerned citizens also can use the site to notify the agencies about possible tax evasion or other types of fraud, such as illegally claiming unemployment benefits, billing the state for unnecessary medical services, or evading state taxes on boats, planes and vehicles.
Yoga studio earns advanced status to teach other instructors
May 15, 2012
Issaquah yoga studio Terra Yoga was accredited by the Yoga Alliance this month as a Registered Yoga School at the 200-hour level, and will now be listed in the online directory of the national association.
Acknowledgment by the Yoga Alliance qualifies graduates of the 200-hour coursework to apply for Registered Yoga Teacher status with the Yoga Alliance. The alliance sets the national and internationally standards recognized for yoga instruction. Studio owner Carina Terra has already capitalized on the advanced recognition by scheduling Terra Yoga’s first international training session in her native Brazil during March 2013.
As one of only five Pranassage practitioners in Washington certified by the Nosara Yoga Institute in Costa Rica, Terra offers Pranassage, a combination of yoga and bodywork to generate deep relaxation, to her students.
The studio is at 485 Front St N. Call 392-6878 or go to www.terra-yoga.com.
Construction could start on Issaquah Highlands retail center soon
May 8, 2012
More options to shop and dine in the Issaquah Highlands could open as soon as next year, after a landmark decision by city officials to approve a long-awaited retail complex in the neighborhood.
Regency Centers, a real estate investment trust based in Florida, intends to build the retail complex, dubbed Grand Ridge Plaza, on vacant land along Highlands Drive Northeast between Swedish/Issaquah and the Issaquah Highlands Park & Ride. Construction could start as early as next month.
The decision by the Urban Village Development Commission represents a milestone in the stop-and-go effort to add more retail options in the neighborhood. The commission — a city board to oversee large-scale projects in the highlands and Talus — OK’d the site development permit for Grand Ridge Plaza in a May 1 decision.
City’s sales tax revenue is down so far in 2012
May 8, 2012
Issaquah municipal government did not collect as much revenue January through March as it did during the same period a year ago, although planned developments could strengthen city finances.
In 2011, sales tax revenues increased almost 10 percent from 2010, but only due to sales tax on construction, mostly related to Swedish/Issaquah.
However, the city received about $6.1 million in revenue through March, down 6 percent — or $393,286 — from the same period a year ago. The figure includes sales tax revenue, building permits, grants and other funding sources.
The construction of Swedish/Issaquah bolstered the 2011 total.
Issaquah sales decline, state sales increase
May 8, 2012
Taxable retail sales in the state increased 3 percent to $103.8 billion in calendar year 2011, the state Department of Revenue reported April 27.
The 3 percent gain for 2011 compares to a 0.1 percent drop in overall sales in 2010. Overall sales dropped 11.2 percent in 2009 due to the recession.
In 2011, retail trade, a component of all taxable retail sales including retailers but excluding other industries, increased 3.5 percent from 2010 to $47.9 billion.
Construction dropped 1.7 percent last year, a smaller decline than the 12 percent drop in 2010. In addition, new and used auto sales climbed 8.3 percent last year, compared to a 2.8 percent gain in 2010.
In 2011, accommodations and food services rose 5.1 percent; apparel and accessories increased 5.5 percent; and sales of building materials, garden equipment and supplies declined 0.3 percent.
Sales of taxable retail sales in Issaquah amounted to $1.1 billion last year — down 2.61 percent from 2010.
King County recorded $40.4 billion in taxable retail sales last year — a 4.2 percent increase from the previous year. Overall retail trade in King County amounted to $16.7 billion — a 4.6 percent increase from 2010.
Ride safely and in style in a licensed limo
May 8, 2012
Springtime is prime time for limousine rentals, but before hiring a limousine or town car for a ride to the prom or a wedding, the state Department of Licensing reminds people to check to see if the company is licensed and legitimate.
Limousine operators in Washington must be licensed, carry sufficient liability insurance and undergo annual safety inspections by the Washington State Patrol. Chauffeurs must be at least 21, hold a valid driver’s license, complete a training course and pass a state patrol background check.
Check limousine companies’ licenses at the Department of Licensing website, www.dol.wa.gov/business/limousine.
“There are many quality limousine companies to choose from in Washington state, but you don’t want to be taken for a ride by an unlicensed limousine company,” Department of Licensing Director Alan Haight said in a statement. “Always check references and make sure the company is licensed before you hire them.”
