Steve Hunter

Mark Hillman; a King County Superior Court family law commissioner; advocates for Family Court Services at a public hearing held Thursday at the Regional Justice Center. Family Court Services is one of the social services facing cuts under King County Executive Ron Sims' proposed budget.

Proposed budget cuts bring crowd to Kent

More than 80 people packed a courtroom Thursday night at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent to protest the 2009 budget cuts King County Executive Ron Sims is proposing for the county's human-services, public-health and the criminal-justice departments.

Mark Hillman; a King County Superior Court family law commissioner; advocates for Family Court Services at a public hearing held Thursday at the Regional Justice Center. Family Court Services is one of the social services facing cuts under King County Executive Ron Sims' proposed budget.
Brian Raynes

‘We are our brother’s keeper’: Local merchant aids homeless in Kent

Nearly 50 homeless people arrived for a free hot meal of ham and mashed potatoes on a rainy Thursday night at a business parking lot along Railroad Avenue South in downtown Kent.

Brian Raynes
Members of the Kent City Council listen as West Hill resident Reynold Eicke asks a question Tuesday in a town hall meeting held at Kent Fire Station No. 75. About 20 citizens attended. Council members

Town Hall: Kent Council gets earful from residents

The idea for the city to install cameras to catch drivers who run red lights turned into a hot topic Tuesday night at a Kent City Council Town Hall meeting.

Members of the Kent City Council listen as West Hill resident Reynold Eicke asks a question Tuesday in a town hall meeting held at Kent Fire Station No. 75. About 20 citizens attended. Council members

Blotter: Woman claiming to be God arrested at Kent mall

A 42-year-old woman claiming to be God reportedly kicked another woman and left a trail of broken bowls and overturned tables and chairs during an incident at about 1:45 p.m. Oct. 2 at a shopping mall in the 18200 block of East Valley Highway.

City of Kent maintenance worker Janet Henderson keeps Kent blooming. She shown Sept. 19 sitting near some of the city's downtown landscaping.

For this Kent worker, it’s all about the blooms

No matter the season, the work never stops for the flower lady of Kent. Janet Henderson, a city of Kent parks nursery and maintenance worker, orders plants in the fall and starts growing them in the winter. That preparation leads to more than 200 hanging baskets of flowers in full bloom to decorate downtown streets and several city parks from May through September.

City of Kent maintenance worker Janet Henderson keeps Kent blooming. She shown Sept. 19 sitting near some of the city's downtown landscaping.

Kent: 2009 proposed budget reflects lean financial times

Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke proposed a “hold-the-line” 2009 budget Tuesday to the City Council in an effort to keep the city away from job or service cuts during a struggling economy.

A lost cat brought in by the man who found it waits to be checked in at the King County Animal Shelter in Kent. The animal control officer handling the intake

County ponders getting out of shelter business

King County could turn over the animal-sheltering business to a private agency, under a proposal that county staff presented Monday to the King County Metropolitan Council.

A lost cat brought in by the man who found it waits to be checked in at the King County Animal Shelter in Kent. The animal control officer handling the intake
Kaibara Park in Kent has been renovated over the summer and is near completion.  City of Kent maintenance worker Shane Sehlin plants a giant gunera near the edge of the pond Sept. 18.

Hey! Are those fish? City pond is clear again

Visitors to Kaibara Park in downtown Kent can see fish in the park's pond clearly again. City workers drained the pond earlier this summer to clear out a foot of sludge and to seal leaks on the concrete bottom. The park is on First Avenue between West Smith and West Meeker streets.

Kaibara Park in Kent has been renovated over the summer and is near completion.  City of Kent maintenance worker Shane Sehlin plants a giant gunera near the edge of the pond Sept. 18.
Free parking permits will be required by the city of Kent to park in the North Park neighborhood once the Kent Events Center opens in January. City officials hope to keep events center attendees from parking in the neighborhood.

Permit parking coming to Kent neighborhood

Permit parking is coming to the city of Kent for the first time, because of the Kent Events Center. The message? Don’t park in North Park without a permit. It’s the area just east of the city-owned events center.

Free parking permits will be required by the city of Kent to park in the North Park neighborhood once the Kent Events Center opens in January. City officials hope to keep events center attendees from parking in the neighborhood.
Jeff Veach

For Kent city worker, good deed goes rewarded

What would you do if you found a bag of cash? When city of Kent employee Jeff Veach found a money bag with $1,200 early one morning this summer at a cash machine in downtown Kent, he picked up the bag, waved to the security camera and took the money to his boss.

Jeff Veach

Charges filed in armed domestic-violence case

The King County Prosecutor’s Office filed a second-degree assault charge Oct. 1 in King County Superior Court against a Kent man who allegedly made threats Sept. 27 to shoot his girlfriend at his West Hill home.

Police Blotter: Airborne blender sends girlfriend to jail

A verbal dispute turned physical when a girlfriend threw a blender at her boyfriend at about 6:15 p.m. Sept. 21 in the kitchen of a Kent home in the 27000 block of 125th Avenue Southeast.

In some respects

Kent couple devoted to each other, even in shadow of disease

Because of Merrill Vesper’s fight against kidney disease, the long hikes he and his wife first took together more than 20 years ago are out. But the city of Kent worker carefully researches hikes he still can take with Mary, his wife of 22 years.

In some respects

Grandma gets cited for prostitution | Kent Reporter Police Blotter

Prostitution Kent Police cited a grandmother and a married man for investigation of prostitution loitering after officers found the two sitting in a car at 2:32 a.m. Sept. 19 in a parking lot in the 25500 block of Pacific Highway South.

Kent Fire Department's Hazmat Team

Is new fire agency in Kent’s future?

City of Kent and King County Fire District 37 officials continue to give serious thought to forming a regional fire authority. A regional fire authority would be able to levy a property tax as well as a new fire benefit fee to help provide more stable funding and increase response times to medical and fire calls, officials from both entities say.

Kent Fire Department's Hazmat Team

Kent Council to mull water-rate hikes for ‘09 budget

Kent utility customers could see monthly jumps next year in water rates and storm drainage rates under a proposal outlined Tuesday at a City Council workshop.

The East Village Opera Company will perform 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Kentwood High Performing Arts Center in Covington as part of the city of Kent Spotlight Series.

A little bit opera, and a little rock’n’roll

Music fans can expect a new sound and a new experience at the East Village Opera Company concert 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Kentwood High School.

The East Village Opera Company will perform 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Kentwood High Performing Arts Center in Covington as part of the city of Kent Spotlight Series.

Blotter: Brothers’ squabble ends in zap with Taser

Disturbing the peace: Officers used a Taser gun on a man to help break up a reported fight between him and his adult brother during a party 9:20 p.m. Sept. 7 in the 22600 block of 41st Place South.

City fees could see increase

Commercial and housing developers in Kent could face a 15 percent increase in city permit fees next year, if a proposal outlined by Mayor Suzette Cooke and city staff garners Kent City Council approval. Cooke and her staff presented the proposal during a Sept. 16 City Council workshop.

Blotter: Man says he robbed gas station to fuel heroin habit

A 26-year-old Kent man admitted to Kent Police that he robbed a service station in late August to support a heroin habit.