News

Martin Sortun Elementary has created a “Green team” to help bring down the garbage to help promote a green school.  Fourth graders Sarah Stregne

Martin Sortun school staff, students go green

At the kick-off assembly for the new green schools program at Martin Sortun Elementary, the kids were excited to show off what they had learned. As the trained pairs of students set to monitor the new three can system of garbage, recyclables and compost took their places behind their respective garbage collection points in the school’s multi-purpose room, education assistant Scott Meyer tested the rest of the student body about what they learned in preparation for Tuesday’s launch event.

Martin Sortun Elementary has created a “Green team” to help bring down the garbage to help promote a green school.  Fourth graders Sarah Stregne

Multiple threats Wednesday to Regional Justice Center in Kent

An array of area fire and police agencies were summoned to two separate threats to Wednesday's activities at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.

  • Oct 2, 2008
  • BY Wire Service

Kentridge High School suspends 50 students after fight

Fifty Kentridge High School students were suspended this week in the aftermath of a Sept. 25 fight off campus between two students.

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.

Washington State School Security Officer of the Year Dave Fowler talks with Devin Topps and Alex Ferguson during lunch Sept. 26. Topps and Ferguson are both members of the football team and the Kingsmen.

Award-winning security officer helps keep Kentridge High School safe

With 2,300 ethnically and culturally diverse students and dozens of administrators and staff, Kentridge High School has a larger population than some towns. “It’s like a mini-city here,” says Dave Fowler, the school’s security officer.

Washington State School Security Officer of the Year Dave Fowler talks with Devin Topps and Alex Ferguson during lunch Sept. 26. Topps and Ferguson are both members of the football team and the Kingsmen.

Watch Kent firefighters on a hazardous-materials drill

The Kent Fire Department has scheduled a hazardous-materials drill for Oct. 8, and local folks can get a firsthand view of the action. The drill runs 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 8 at Univar USA, 8201 S. 212th St., Kent. Attendees must sign up by Oct. 3.

  • Sep 30, 2008
  • BY Wire Service
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 school district facing gloomy financial forecast

After having cut $2.6 million from its operating budget for the 2008-2009 school year, the Kent School District is facing further cuts in the future as expenditures continue to outstrip revenues and the district’s fund balance continues to shrink.

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.

Three Kent residents indicted as part of international drug ring

Three Kent residents were indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on accusations of conspiracy to distribute cocaine as part of an alleged drug-trafficking ring spanning the Seattle area, Idaho and Mexico.

  • Sep 26, 2008
  • BY Wire Service
Librarian Mary Lee O'Connor helps seventh-grader Amandip Kaur; 12; during the Sept. 24 deployment day for the One-to-One laptop program at Mill Creek Middle School.

Bridging the digital divide: Kent students get computers

Wednesday was a big day at Mill Creek Middle School in Kent, with every student in the school getting a new laptop computer as part of the kent School District's One-to-One program.

Librarian Mary Lee O'Connor helps seventh-grader Amandip Kaur; 12; during the Sept. 24 deployment day for the One-to-One laptop program at Mill Creek Middle School.

What kind of schools chief do you want? Give your input

Members of the Kent Community will have their opportunity to weigh in on exactly what kind of superintendent they want in charge of their school district during a series of meetings Oct. 1 and 2 in locales around the school district.

Responders search Wednesday morning for car in Green River

After being dispatched at 10:15 am, firefighters from Kent, Valley Regional Fire Authority, and Renton searched for more than an hour for a vehicle with a person possibly trapped that had been reported in the Green River near State Route 167. The call was a 9-1-1 transfer from King County Police

  • Sep 24, 2008
  • BY Wire Service
Tim Pettit

Kentwood students spinning a message of peace

Art students at Kentwood High School this past week were hard at work putting their thoughts about peace onto small pinwheels, which were displayed Sept. 21 as part of International Peace Day.

Tim Pettit

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.

‘…You say you hit a pergola?’

Last week, a semi-trailer truck clipped a corner of the historic downtown Pioneer Square pergola in Seattle. Luckily, the pergola wasn’t badly damaged and only needed some paint touchups. It was a far luckier outcome than what happened back in 2001 when a semi-truck driver from Greensburg, Pa., also clipped the pergola and caused the entire structure to collapse in ruin in the wee hours of the morning.

West Nile virus detected in King County bird, health officials report

A dead crow found in Kirkland Sept. 15 and tested last week was determined to be positive for West Nile virus. This is the first bird to test positive for West Nile virus in King County in 2008. This surveillance finding means residents of King County could potentially become infected this year, health officials say.

  • Sep 23, 2008
  • BY Wire Service

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.

Beverli DeWalt visits with some children in the Kapisa Province of Afghanistan.

Working for peace: Kent woman helping stabilize war-torn Afghanistan

Beverli J. DeWalt is the daughter of Kent residents Arnold and Sue DeWalt, and is an alumnus of Thomas Jefferson High School in Auburn. But right now, she’s about as far away from western Washington as she can be.

  • Sep 23, 2008
  • BY Wire Service
Beverli DeWalt visits with some children in the Kapisa Province of Afghanistan.