New to the area and exploring schools. I have heard decent things about the Bellevue school district but highland middle school seems to have mixed feedback (and a low great schools rating). Would love first hand perspectives on that school!

Hi Eastside. We're Learner Labs, an Eastside team that makes SAT Prep Quest. We're running a free practice SAT with the King County Library System and wanted to share it with families here who have high schoolers.

**When:** Sunday, October 18, 2:00 to 5:30 PM Pacific

**Where:** Redmond Library, or online from home

**Who:** High school students, grades 9 to 12

**Cost:** Free, with registration through KCLS

**What students get**

- A full-length practice SAT

- Real test timing, so the pacing on test day isn't a surprise

- A score review afterward that shows where to focus next

**Register:** https://1.kcls.org/RedmondLibrarySAT

We'll be in the comments to answer questions about the format or the online option.

Hey everyone! I'm a big England national team fan, absolutely loved the atmosphere during the World Cup. Now that it's over, really missing the excitement of watching soccer with a crowd, especially since most sports bars have switched back to NFL and basketball.

Does anyone know of any soccer-friendly bars around Seattle or the Eastside that regularly show matches? Especially big games like El Clásico, the Nations League, or other international matches.

Would love to find a place where people actually get excited about soccer and cheer together!

FALL BALL IS BACK Y’ALL. And what better way to celebrate than with a steaming hot kupp of closures? We’ve got a full closure of southbound I-405 in Bothell, ongoing northbound I-5 lane reductions and an overnight closure of the I-5 express lanes in Seattle. Add Seahawks and Huskies football games to the mix, and you’ll definitely want a game plan before heading out. 

-BOTHELL: SB I-405 will CLOSE from 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9 to 4 a.m. Monday, Oct. 12 between SR 527 and SR 522. The following ramps will also close at this time: SR 527 on-ramp to SB I-405, NE 195th on-/off-ramps to I-405 and SR 522 off-ramp to SB I-405. Crews will use this closure to work on drainage, pavement reconstruction and bridge repair.

-SEATTLE: NB I-5 express lanes will CLOSE overnight from 11 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9 to 8 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10 to complete drainage work underneath the Ship Canal Bridge. The two right lanes of NB I-5 and the SB express lanes across the bridge also remain closed around-the-clock. 

Before you grab your Paint Map pitchforks, we know there’s more happening this weekend than football. But if you couldn’t already tell, this isn’t a traditional Paint Map, so we didn’t pack this one with all the usual drawings. Consider this our little fall-football-freeway crossover episode.

You know the drill. Plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time to get where you're going. GO HAWKS and GO DAWGS! 

Hey everyone, where do you guys go for interior-only car cleaning on the eastside?

My car isn’t super dirty or anything, but it’s got the usual crumbs, dust, dirt in the floor mat grooves, cup holders, etc. I just want a good vacuum + wipe down of the dash/doors/console/cup holders and interior windows.

I don’t need a full detail or anything with shampoo.
Trying to figure out if it’s worth just paying someone to do this every few weeks or if I should buy a little Bissell from Costco and do it myself 😂

Heyo, spotted a dog this morning near the Laura Ingalls Wilder elementary. Posting here with a picture. Little guy ran across the road and gave me a heart attack. Couldn't pick him up because he bolted into the woods nearby. If you lost your dog check around this area.

I want to have a pumpkin carving party for my staff and wanted to know where I could get ~30 pumpkins a little cheaper than the typical stores. Do nurseries generally have them? Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone! I'm an adult intermediate tap dancer, would love to find a studio for classes that are more focused on rhythm tap rather than broadway/theater tap. Would appreciate any recommendations in or around Bellevue!

Also willing to drive to Seattle, but preferably sticking to south Seattle/easily accessible w the I-90

Wondering what the best neighborhoods are for trick or treating in or near Kirkland. We’re new to the Eastside and this will be our first Halloween here.

Any leads or recommendations for badminton coaching nearby Redmond/Sammamish? Looking for kids/middle school coaching!

Prefer it with a ton of toppings, an excess amount.

Hey everyone,
I’m a local founder on the Eastside and I’ve been building Sporkei, a platform for finding and organizing pickup sports around Seattle.
The idea came from a pretty simple problem: finding people to play with is harder than it should be. Soccer groups are in WhatsApp, basketball games are somewhere else, pickleball players have another group, and if you’re new to the area you often don’t know where to start.
Sporkei puts local games on one map. You can find a nearby game, join it, or create your own. We’re starting with the Seattle / Bellevue / Redmond area before trying to expand anywhere else.
I’m not posting this because we need thousands of random downloads. What we really need right now is a small group of local people who will actually use it and tell us what sucks. :)
That’s where you can help us.
Try Sporkei, create or join a local game, and tell me what you would change. If you already organize a regular soccer, basketball, tennis, pickleball, volleyball, running or other sports group, I’d especially love to talk to you.
Even telling us what sport you play and what Seattle neighborhood you’re in would help a lot, because it tells us where we should concentrate the first games.
I’m personally reading the feedback and building around the Seattle community, so criticism is absolutely welcome.
Sporkei: sporkei.com

If people here are interested, I can also create a Reddit-specific Seattle pickup game so we can actually meet and test it together.

Thanks — and if you already run a pickup group around Seattle/Eastside, please DM me.

Hey folks,

Moved to the downtown Kirkland area less than a year ago and am looking to connect with people after work on weekdays.

I am 28, married, and open to meeting anyone around Kirkland, Bellevue, or Redmond for a casual coffee, dinner or just grabbing snacks and sitting outside.

Logistics:

- Timing: Weekdays, starting anytime around 6pm (aiming for 45-90 mins).

- Location: Downtown Kirkland, Kirkland Urban or nearby (Bellevue or Redmond also works).

Interests:

- Fitness, coffee, food, tech and hitting the road (good drive and discovering new places)

- Always down to chat about tech, everyday life, travel, or anything you are currently obsessed with - I love listening to people nerd out about things outside my domain.

Comment below or shoot a message if you are up for grabbing a coffee or dinner sometime soon!

There's currently 2for1 Tickets available to this production with Hayden until Oct 8th! We're not sharing this outside of the eastside space because we want locals to enjoy the show!

Looking for recommendations for chocolate birthday cake, thanks!

Does anyone know if the salmon are running in the Cedar River by the Renton library yet?

Hi! We've got some extra pizza from a birthday party, fresh and still good. Does anyone know a place nearby in Redmond that takes donated food on a Sunday evening? Shelter, community fridge, anything works. Thanks!

Hi! We found these two doggos running around with no owner or leashes. Found them near May Creek Park Drive (Newcastle near Renton). We tried taking them to a couple of vets nearby to see if they were chipped but the vets were closed/told us to try the local animal shelter. We are going to try and drop them off at Regional Animal Services of King County.

Looking for recommendations for a nice drive or walk to see fall foliage, good for pictures, etc. I've seen some nice areas in Redmond (along w lk Samm pkwy), im sure there are other nice viewing spots on the Eastside. Thanks in advance!

I’m interested in playing guitar and/or drums. I’m obsessed with music and have always wanted to learn. I need a teacher to help me pick the right instrument for me and then teach me how to play it.

Thank you!

I’m looking for a photographer to take photos of my family and I for my son’s first birthday. We will be doing different activities in Belleuve. So someone in Belleuve would be ideal or someone willing to come to Belleuve. We are open to doing outside shots or inside a studio. Thanks!

I’d like to share how something that happened at the Salmon Days parade recently affected me personally and also impacted my children.

I was marching in the parade with my children as a candidate for our upcoming election. My children are nine and 13. It was a great and sunny day with awesome vendors, music, great bands, and wonderful performers.
As we went by a number of spectators, some of them flipped us off, put their thumbs down, and some booed and scowled. My girlfriend/fiancé was present as well.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions certainly. That said, I think we should all be civil and respectful, especially when there are children present.
It’s difficult to explain to your children why some people would behave in such a way, especially when they love their mama so much.
Again, everyone’s entitled to their opinions, but do you really know the person that you’re flipping off? Do you know what they really believe or stand for? Unless you know the person personally, you certainly do not.

I support peaceful discourse, kind behavior, and civility. I think it’s important in all walks of life to be kind and thoughtful.

It was also ironic when after the parade, I sat next to the tent for some of these people who were displaying these negative actions to come up to visit and socialize. There was a giant sign on this tent that said, “No hate in Washington state.”
I had to wonder, is that statement true only if people agree with who they believe you are?
I’ll tell you what though, I went over, started conversations, and befriended people who were working inside that tent. We had great conversations.
We don’t have to hate each other, ever.

Any local stores on the east side that sell good salty black licorice? Or general Nordic foods? I used to go with my grandma to Ballard back in the day for finnish treats, but I dont think those places are around anymore and I also dont feel like driving that far.

If your weekend travels involve I-405, we’ve got two areas you’ll want to know about: lane reductions in Tukwila that could affect trips to SEA Airport and an interchange closure in Kirkland.

TUKWILA: SOUTHBOUND I-405 LANE REDUCTIONS AND HOV RAMP CLOSURE

Up to two lanes of southbound I-405 in Tukwila will close from 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, to 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4.

The southbound I-405 HOV off-ramp to northbound I-5 will also close.

Crews will be paving the roadway as part of the I-405/Renton to Bellevue Widening and Express Toll Lanes Project.

If you're heading to SEA Airport during this window, this is NOT the weekend to cut it close. Expect congestion on southbound I-405 and give yourself extra time to get to the airport.

KIRKLAND: NE 85TH STREET INTERCHANGE CLOSURE

Farther north, the northbound and southbound I-405 on- and off-ramps at NE 85th Street (Exit 18) will close from 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, to 5 a.m. Monday, Oct. 5.

NE 85th Street will also close between Sixth Street and 120th Avenue NE.

Crews will use the closure to pave NE 85th Street as part of the I-405/NE 85th Street Interchange and Inline BRT Station Project.

Signed detours will be in place.

THE WEEKEND TAKEAWAY

Whether you're catching a flight, traveling through Kirkland or just using I-405 for your usual weekend plans, check your route before you leave, use our app and real-time travel map and give yourself extra time.

A private Bellevue club runs a junior tennis program that sells mislabeled classes, refills itself with beginners, and routes every complaint back to the staff it concerns. Coaches earn their income from adult member teams, so member grievances outrank children's welfare. The program trains 0–1% of the competitive juniors its top tier claims to serve. One case shows what the structure permits: adults carried a political dispute into the program and aimed it at a child, and no one inside the club stopped them.

The Staff

Stephanie Koetje: Junior Tennis Director. RSPA Elite Professional. Elected RSPA Pacific Northwest representative for Northwest Washington.

Brian Nash: Tennis Director. RSPA Elite Professional. RSPA Pacific Northwest Division 2023 Professional of the Year. Supervises the tennis department.

Scott Petersen: Teaching pro. Coaches adult USTA teams at the club.

Zuzana Brogdon: Tennis office administrator.

The Business Model

Mislabeled classes. The Gold tier is marketed as intermediate to advanced and varsity caliber. Players in the Gold tier perform at an advanced beginner level. When parents question progress, Koetje gives warm and convincing talks and moves their kids up a tier. The instruction does not change. By the time a family moves up, the parents are already visiting other tennis centers.

Labels as marketing. The club keeps the tier labels to market a holistic program. The labels signal progress where no progress exists. The program's club tennis team fields advanced beginner middle schoolers rather than juniors who compete for local high schools and in tournaments.

Premium rates. The program charges premium rates to advanced beginners in classes labeled Gold and Silver. The program cannot give the Gold and Silver tiers away to the competitive juniors who actually meet the published class descriptions.

Market Share: 0–1% of the Program's Own Target Market

Over 100 tournament and varsity level juniors play across local high schools and USTA circuits. The program trains 0–1 of them, a 0–1% share of its own target market. Enrollment is open to non-members, so access is not the reason. 25 of those competitive juniors hold memberships at the same club. Some place at the state high school tournament. They train at other facilities and practice with each other in hitting groups on the club's own courts, bypassing the club's program entirely. The club's most advanced junior group left the club entirely in 2025.

Beginner backfill. Program revenue does not depend on competitive players. Beginners ages 5 to 7 keep enrollment totals steady, and their parents cannot yet judge instruction. Informed families leave around ages 12 to 13 and never return. Enrollment totals look healthy because new beginners keep replacing the families able to see the gap between labels and coaching.

Threatened departures outrank real ones. The coaches act on adult members who threaten to leave and never do. The same coaches cannot account for the junior families who leave the program every year and actually go.

The Closed Loop

Complaints about the junior program go to the same tennis office whose staff are the subject of the complaints. Nash confirmed that Koetje and the coaching staff would sit in any review of a complaint about their own conduct. No one outside the tennis office reviews how tennis staff treat children.

Accounts about families leave the tennis office, circulate among members, and return to the office as "member concerns." The tennis office then treats its own echo as evidence.

Supervision runs backward. Nash once promised a parent his child would be kept safe. Petersen overrode the promise in front of him, and Nash said nothing.

One Rule for Coaches, Another for Parents

Coaches talk freely about families to other parents. Parents who talk to one another about the junior program get reported. Koetje reported a parent to management for speaking in the lobby with a second parent. The second parent had already withdrawn her daughter and was the one describing the program's problems.

Club management answered the written concerns it had requested by offering the reporting parent an exit. Management reviewed no staff.

Credentials Without Oversight

Two of the four staff hold the RSPA Elite credential, the association's highest designation. Koetje holds the division's elected seat. Nash holds the division's 2023 Professional of the Year award. The RSPA reviewed Koetje's conduct using information supplied by her own employer and stated no reasons. A professional body cannot regulate its own board members and award winners. Parents who read an Elite credential as an assurance are relying on a standard nobody enforces.

What the Structure Allowed

A club member who informally advised the coaches belonged to a political network that had lost a 2021 school board race and a King County Superior Court case. The member never disclosed that dispute to the coaches. He told them his family felt disrespected by "some Asian households." His wife's USTA team, coached by Petersen, threatened for two years to leave the club unless the coaches acted against an Asian family. None of them ever left.

The coaches acted anyway, against the family's daughter. Petersen announced a staff wide refusal to coach a child he had never coached. Koetje kept the child off a program trip the family never signed up for and told other parents in her class. Koetje also told parents the child's mother was not really a piano teacher.

Brogdon held no role in the trip and had no child in the program. Brogdon booked herself and her mother on the program trip at the group travel discount for a personal vacation, while working to exclude a child whose family never signed up.

Koetje and Nash heard the "Asian households" statement and corrected nothing.

No staff member ever cited anything the child did. Every mechanism above made the targeting possible: the closed loop kept it unreviewed, the double standard silenced the parent, and the credentials gave it cover.

Why Parents Should Know

Families who run into the junior program's mechanism leave quietly, so the next family enrolls with no warning. A junior program built on high churn, beginner backfill, closed loop complaint handling, inverted enforcement incentives that protects coaches rather than kids, aims the same tools at the next family.