Steve Hunter

Jeff Jarrett

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling hits Kent Friday

Jeff Jarrett promises "off the chart" matches and "fan friendly" interaction when the superstars of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling roll into Kent Friday night.

Jeff Jarrett
Stefano Langone

Kent’s Stefano Langone to perform Tuesday night on ‘American Idol’ among top 12 men

Kent's Stefano Langone will appear Tuesday night on "American Idol" as one of the top 12 male contestants. Viewers will determine which men move on. Viewers will be able to vote by phone, text or online through Facebook.

Stefano Langone

Ex-Kent jail guard charged with stealing cash from inmates

King County prosecutors charged a city of Kent corrections officer Tuesday with nine counts of third-degree theft for allegedly stealing money from property boxes used for storing cash and personal belongings of inmates.

Traffic lines up along Willis Street near the Union Pacific tracks. The Kent City Council is expected to consider changes to its Transportation Impact Fee at its 7 p.m. March 1 meeting at City Hall.

Tonight: Kent City Council to consider changes to Transportation Impact Fees

The Kent City Council is expected to vote on several changes to its new Transportation Impact Fee ordinance at its 7 p.m. regular meeting March 1 at City Hall.

Traffic lines up along Willis Street near the Union Pacific tracks. The Kent City Council is expected to consider changes to its Transportation Impact Fee at its 7 p.m. March 1 meeting at City Hall.
Stefano Langone

Kent’s Stefano Langone makes the top 24 on ‘American Idol’

Stefano Langone has cracked the top 24 of 'American Idol.' At tonight's nail-biter 'Idol' episode, judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler sat Langone down and after a some discussion pregnant with anxiety, they gave hin the news: He's in.

Stefano Langone

Kent streets could be a bit icy Thursday night, Friday

Kent city street crews will de-ice and sand streets as needed Thursday night and Friday morning as freezing temperatures are expected to turn any moisture on roads to ice.

Record-setting low temperatures expected in Kent

The snow showers appear to be over in Kent but record-setting low temperatures are expected for Thursday night and Friday.

Kent city budget takes $1.2 million hit as phone taxes drop

The Kent City Council last week approved a $1 million cut to the city’s 2011 general fund budget, and another $288,000 reduction in the city’s street and youth-fund budgets this year because of an unexpected major drop in revenue from the city’s 6 percent telephone-utility tax. “This is one more hit,” Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke said in a phone interview Tuesday. “We can’t seem to get a break. It took us all by surprise.” Cooke hopes the city gets a break from any Green River flooding the rest of this winter. That’s because the city plans to use its $1 million flood-emergency fund set aside in this year’s budget,to plug the hole in the general fund left by the drop in telephone-utility tax revenue. “Hopefully, we are still in a position where we do not need to use the flood money,” Cooke said, of events in the months ahead.

The first-degree murder trial of Randall Edward Connor is scheduled to start Feb. 23 in Seattle. Connor

Murder trial scheduled to start for man accused of Kent woman’s death in 2007

Jury selection is expected to start Wednesday at King County Superior Court in Seattle for the man charged with stabbing to death a Kent woman in 2007. King County prosecutors charged Randall Edward Connor, 31, with first-degree murder for killing Merianne Lorentson, 24, in her East Hill apartment.

The first-degree murder trial of Randall Edward Connor is scheduled to start Feb. 23 in Seattle. Connor
Kent Predators quarterback Charles McCullum prepares at a recent practice at Wilson Playfields for the Indoor Football League opener Feb. 25 at the ShoWare Center.

Kent Predators quarterback aims for higher-level league after second Indoor Football League season

Kent Predators quarterback Charles McCullum shares a hotel room with another player and gets one meal per day as an Indoor Football League player. The team covers the cost of the hotel and meal for McCullum and about 16 other out-of-state players on the 30-member squad. The rest of the players are from the Puget Sound area and most have full-time jobs. Players are paid $225 per game for their only football income.

Kent Predators quarterback Charles McCullum prepares at a recent practice at Wilson Playfields for the Indoor Football League opener Feb. 25 at the ShoWare Center.

Ex-wife of Kent man sentenced to 26 years for child rape and posting incident on Internet

A 32-year-old Burien woman was sentenced Friday to a minimum of 26 years in prison for first-degree rape of a child, first-degree child molestation, sexual exploitation of a minor and dealing in child pornography in connection with the rape of a 4-year-old girl as well as sending videos of the abuse to a pedophile in California. Hollie Beston received the same sentence that her ex-husband Brian K. Beston, 36, of Kent, received in June on the same charges in connection with the girl.

Thrilliant from left

Kent punk/rock band making its mark; Thrilliant features 3 teens, 12-year-old

Kent guitarist Ryan Johnson and Federal Way drummer Dennon Cowen just kind of blankly looked at each other the first time they met for a jam session. Their fathers, Robert Johnson and Doug Cowen, are Boeing co-workers and suggested last summer that their musical sons meet. "They didn't say a word," Doug Cowen recalled. Now, about eight months later, the pair, along with vocalist Jeremy Cooper and bass player Derek Karn, are part of Thrilliant, a Kent band that plays a mix of punk, rock and metal.

Thrilliant from left

Oregon man continues to fight extradition on Frankel murder charge

The Oregon man charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of a Kent city employee remains in a Portland jail nearly 10 weeks after his arrest. William L. Phillip Jr., 30, continues to fight his extradition to Washington to face the murder charge for the May 21 stabbing death of Seth Frankel.

Kent City Councilman Dennis Higgins stands on his head to help promote the ShoWare Center's Marquee Tickets Contest.

Kent’s ShoWare Center to offer free tickets for best marquee photo

Find a friend to take your photo in front of the ShoWare Center marquee in Kent if you would like to win a pair of tickets to one event each month for a year at the arena.

Kent City Councilman Dennis Higgins stands on his head to help promote the ShoWare Center's Marquee Tickets Contest.

Prosecutors charge Kent man with attempted child rape in Internet sting

King County prosecutors have charged a 29-year-old Kent man with second-degree attempted child rape after he allegedly agreed to have sex with a 13-year-old girl in response to his Internet advertisement seeking a mother-daughter threesome for sex.

Kent attorney Mark Prothero will represent Green River Killer Gary Ridgway in court Feb. 18 at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center.

Kent attorney describes Green River Killer Ridgway’s ‘bleak existence’

Gary Ridgway spends all but four hours per week in solitary confinement at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla as he serves a life sentence without parole for the murders of 48 women.

Kent attorney Mark Prothero will represent Green River Killer Gary Ridgway in court Feb. 18 at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center.
Oregon singer Caitlin Cardier performs Feb. 10 at the ShoWare Center as part of the Ladies Night Out

Singer Caitlin Cardier hopes to grow fan base at Kent’s ShoWare Center

Caitlin Cardier grew up in the 1990s listening to SWV, also known as Sisters With Voices. Now the 21-year-old Oregon singer will open for the rhythm-and-blues group at the ShoWare Center in Kent.

Oregon singer Caitlin Cardier performs Feb. 10 at the ShoWare Center as part of the Ladies Night Out
Ted Perkins

Kent property owners learn about Green River flooding

Tom Crandall might give up on buying some property near the Green River in Auburn after what he found out at a Federal Emergency Management Agency flood insurance map meeting Monday night in Kent. "The property I'm looking at is in the floodplain," said Crandall, of Kent, as he pointed to a map he received at the meeting. "If it floods, the speculation is it would be devastated."

Ted Perkins
02/04/11 Barry Saunders teared up as he apologized Jones family Friday

Saunders sentenced to 17 years for Southcenter Mall murder in 2008

Barry Saunders tried to fight off tears as he told a packed Kent courtroom Friday that he was truly sorry that he shot and killed a 17-year-old boy in 2008 during a fight inside a crowded Southcenter Mall in Tukwila.

02/04/11 Barry Saunders teared up as he apologized Jones family Friday
Giant sandbags line the Green River levee at Three Friends Fishing Hole in late December. The city of Kent is getting the levees evaluated by private firms to ensure flood protection and to meet federal standards for certification.

Flood-map meeting Feb. 7 in Kent: See how preliminary federal maps could affect your flood insurance

Kent residents and business owners near the Green River will soon find out how new preliminary Federal Emergency Management Agency flood-insurance maps could impact them. FEMA will present the new flood maps at an open house from 6-8 p.m. Feb. 7 at the Kent Senior Activity Center, 600 E. Smith St.

Giant sandbags line the Green River levee at Three Friends Fishing Hole in late December. The city of Kent is getting the levees evaluated by private firms to ensure flood protection and to meet federal standards for certification.