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.
He overcame a life-threatening car accident that landed him in a wheelchair and left scars on his arms and legs.
It could have either broken his spirit - or made him hungrier to live life to the fullest.
Kent resident Stefano Langone chose the latter route.
The 21-year-old Kentwood High School graduate is now about to take that drive to succeed all the way to Hollywood.
The East Hill Elementary community is celebrating the grand opening of the Parent Engagement Resource Center from 6-8:30 p.m. Feb. 24. The PERC, which encloses a former breezeway at the school, allows the students to eat their meals in one location rather than in classrooms. The remodel also provides parents and community members space for classes and meetings.
Steven Toleana has a lot to think about these days.
The Kent man, who survived a 2007 shooting at Denny's restaurant in Kent, learned this week that he'll be seeing the lion's share of a $13 million settlement from Denny's insurance carrier.
"I'm glad it's over," said Toleana, of the two-year legal effort by his attorney Ron Perey, that ended this week with a jury verdict in his favor, as well as the settlement.
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."
A lawsuit over a shooting at Denny's Restaurant in Kent has resulted in a $46.4 million verdict, a state record for a personal-injury case.
The jury returned after four days of deliberation Monday to announce its decision, in the Seattle courtroom of Judge Laura Middaugh.
The lion's share of that amount - $46,348,262 - will be going to Kent resident Steve Tolenoa, 31, rendered a quadriplegic during a 2007 shooting spree at the restaurant, and who has been residing in an Auburn assisted-living facility since the shooting, confined to a wheelchair and a bed.
In addition, two other Denny's customers from that night also were awarded smaller cash awards: Lisa Beltran-Walker, who was shot in the knee, and her husband Carl Walker, for emotional distress and medical bills. Beltran-Walker has physically recovered from the shooting.
It was party time Feb. 5 in Kent, as the Great Wall Mall celebrated the new Year of the Rabbit with a cultural arts festival. The Asian-influenced mall was the focal point for a variety of individual dancers and troupes, including a Vietnamese lion dance team (Au Lac Vovinam out of White Center), as well as dancers on the central stage in front of the Ranch 99 Market, whose repertoires included Korean and Chinese dances.
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.
The Western Bass Club is sponsoring a free event Feb. 16 aimed at recreational boaters.
The statewide club has asked Russ Baker, owner of Limit Out Performance Marine in Pacific, to speak about boat maintenance.
His presentation, "Must Do Preventative Maintenance Tips for Your Boat Before Your First Outing on the Lake," will take place 7 p.m. at Kennydale Community Hall, 2424 N.E. 27th St., Renton.
Organize a show and they will come.
Kent's first community-wide talent show was a bona fide success last week, drawing a healthy crowd and a full slate of performers - with talents that many in Kent probably didn't know they had.
The first-ever Kent's Got Talent Jan. 29 drew more than 140 audience members to the Kent Senior Activity Center.
Shawn David Gulseth pleaded not guilty Thursday in King County Superior Court in Kent to a charge of first-degree murder in connection with the Dec. 21 stabbing death of his Kent girlfriend at her apartment.
Duane Hamamura, for more than three decades one of the most prominent equine photographers in the state, died suddenly Saturday evening at home of heart failure.
Hamamura, a lifelong Auburn resident, was 57 years old.
A 1971 graduate of Auburn High School who studied photography at Green River Community College, Hamamura was a longtime photographer at the Valley Daily News in Kent, where he was a perennial award-winning photographer, according to colleague Mark Klaas, editor of the Auburn Reporter. Hamamura also worked as a photographer at the old Auburn Globe and as a photo technician for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Diane DeMeerleer used to love living in The Lakes neighborhood of Kent, along the Green River close to a popular walking and biking trail that stretches for miles through the city.
But that love has faded, ever since a heavy rainstorm in 2009 damaged an embankment next to the Howard Hanson Dam and raised the threat of flooding. Kent city officials placed giant sandbags atop the Green River Trail, and they will remain there until the dam is fully operational after repairs, probably by the end of 2012. Sandbags also surround the 26-unit condominium complex where DeMeerleer lives.
A Kent man remained in a King County jail in Seattle Wednesday with a bail of $80,000 after he had two alcohol-related bookings within three days last month as well as two driving under the influence arrests in the last eight months.
To those who have ever doubted there was a Holocaust, Magda Schaloum has news for them.
It happened.
Every terror, every faded photograph, every recollection whispered in a tear-roughened voice.
“Unfortunately, even today there are people who say the Holocaust never happened,” said Schaloum, now in her 80s,but buoyant with life.
To describe those years of dehumanizing treatment and fear is her way to countering the lies that the Holocaust never was.
“I think it is my obligation,” she told the gymnasium of
A developer might finally take over the half-built parking garage in downtown Kent to construct a mixed-use development that could include apartments, a hotel, and maybe office and retail space.
Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke revealed the upbeat news about the project during her sixth annual State of the City address Wednesday at the Kent Chamber of Commerce monthly membership luncheon at the ShoWare Center second-floor banquet room.
Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke swore in Ken Thomas as the Kent Police chief at the City Council meeting Tuesday at City Hall.
In a continuing effort to keep local students safe during the school day, the Kent Police Department has partnered with the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission to purchase and install flashing signals for school zones located throughout the city.
Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke will swear in Ken Thomas as the Kent Police chief at the City Council meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.
The Kent Predators Indoor Football League team has signed two former NFL wide receivers to its roster.
Aaron Straiten and Maurice Bryant will be joining the Predators for the team's second season. The team is based out of the Kent ShoWare Center.
