Year in review: Top Kent stories in 2025

From a closed grocery store to crimes to streets shut down from flooding, here are the 10 most viewed stories in 2025 at kentreporter.com, according to Google Analytics:

1: Kroger to permanently close Kent Fred Meyer on East Hill

19,000 pageviews

Summary: Ohio-based Kroger announced plans in August to permanently close Fred Meyer, 10201 SE 240th St., in October. A Kroger spokesperson said the closure was “due to a steady rise in theft and a challenging regulatory environment that adds significant costs.”

2: City of Kent charges Golden Steer owners for buying stolen goods

17,100 pageviews

Summary: The city of Kent in October filed 15 misdemeanor charges against the two owners of the Golden Steer restaurant for allegedly buying and selling stolen alcohol and catfish during an undercover police operation that included three controlled purchases over a four-week period. Mohammed Alsadi and Widad Defar are scheduled for a Jan. 26 hearing in Kent Municipal Court.

3: Kent Police arrest Golden Steer restaurant owners

16,000 pageviews

Summary: Kent Police arrested the couple Oct. 15 that owns the Golden Steer restaurant after several months of investigation following a tip that they were regularly buying stolen alcohol and other items. The are the fourth group to own the restaurant, which opened in 1964 and for many years was the location where community groups met. It also offered an annual Thanksgiving dinner for 21 years (until 2019) for low-income residents.

4: Second Kent man charged in 2022 fatal shooting in Federal Way

13,100 pageviews

Summary: Although a 2024 website story, it climbed the most-viewed list in 2025. King County prosecutors charged Morris Phillips for murder in August 2024 in the July 4, 2022, drive-by shooting death of Matthew Saelor, 19, in Federal Way. Sir Antonio-Patrick Agee II was charged with first-degree murder with a firearm enhancement in July 2022. The case of Phillips remains in the King County court system. Agee recently pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received a sentence of nearly 13 years.

5: Kent closes portions of two more streets due to water over roadway

10,900 pageviews

Summary: This Dec. 11 posting, similar to other flooding update articles, received a lot of interest as the city and state closed streets across town, including a 6-mile stretch of State Route 167 and a more than 2-mile portion of West Valley Highway on the south end.

6: Fred Meyer stores also to close in Seattle, Redmond

10,700 pageviews

Summary: A day after announcing closures of stores in Kent and Everett, Kroger announced closures of stores in Seattle and Redmond. The four closures impacted more than 700 employees. The closures apparently align with Kroger’s plan to shutter stores in low-sales areas and open stores in potentially high-sales areas in 2026, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) 3000, the Seattle-based union that represents grocery workers.

7: Republic Services work stoppage continues in Kent

10,600 pageviews

Summary: Residential collection services for garbage stopped for several days in July as local drivers honored strikers in other parts of the nation.

8: Man recently released from state prison dies in Kent crash

10,500 pageviews

Summary: A 49-year-old man died Aug. 12 in a Kent vehicle crash just eight months after his early release from state prison after a 1994 first-degree murder conviction for killing a Sumner woman when he was just 18. Jason Lee Allison died from multiple blunt force injuries in a vehicle crash at South 272nd Street and 47th Place South, according to the Aug. 14 King County Medical Examiner’s Office report. The streets have a Kent address but are in unincorporated King County, outside of the city limits.

9: Kent woman sentenced for murdering daughter in Renton

10,400 pageviews

Summary: A Kent woman who in 2018 killed her daughter after tying up her son and husband has been sentenced to almost 32 and a half years in prison.On May 2, Svetlana Laurel, 58, whose last known address was in Kent, was sentenced to 390 months in prison for shooting and killing her daughter, Natalie Gulizia, 14, in Renton on Dec. 18, 2018. In addition to killing her daughter, court documents state that Laurel also bound her 12-year-old son and ex-husband with zip ties, then attempted to shoot and kill her ex-husband, but the gun jammed.

10: City of Kent closes portion of West Valley Highway due to flooding

9,900 pageviews

Summary: Water over the roadway caused the city of Kent Dec. 10 to close the West Valley Highway (aka 68h Avenue South) between Frager Road and South 277th Street near the city of Auburn. This was one of numerous street closures due to flooding from heavy rain that caused the Green River to flood in several areas.

RECAP OF TOP PRINT STORIES

A look at a couple of the top stories (not including most viewed website articles) each month in the Kent Reporter print editions from 2025:

January

• Three men charged in 2023 murder of 48-year-old woman: King County prosecutors charged three men with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting a 48-year-old Maple Valley woman in July 2023 in Kent. Jaiquane Sherrod Wheeler, 27; Dwight Harris, 48; and Artavious Zyshun Magee, 24, each were charged Dec. 23, 2024 for the July 27, 2023 murder of Amy Dyke as she rode in a vehicle at about 1:50 a.m. in the 23900 block of 112th Avenue SE, according to charging papers. A court hearing for the three men is set for Jan. 13.

• Blue Origin launches first flight of New Glenn rocket: Blue Origin’s unmanned New Glenn rocket safely reached its intended orbit during its first launch on Jan. 16 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

February

• Kent Police hire officer who fatally shot Kansas man on duty: A newly hired Kent Police officer remained the subject of a wrongful death federal civil lawsuit after he shot a man during a mental health crisis inside the man’s home in 2022 as a member of the Olathe Police Department in Kansas. An U.S. District Court judge in October 2024 in Kansas denied a motion by attorneys for the city of Olathe to dismiss the suit filed by the mother of the man killed by Officer Conner Thompson. The suit also alleges the Olathe Police Department doesn’t adequately train officers to de-escalate crisis situations. In July, the city of Olathe paid a settlement of $625,000 to the family of the man fatally shot.

• Man receives 35-year sentence for 2021 killing of mother: A man, who beat his 55-year-old mother to death in 2021 with a pipe wrench inside her Kent home, received a prison sentence of 35 years. Duane Alan Bates, 37, also received 36 months of community custody following his sentence, according to court documents. A jury convicted Bates Dec. 3, 2024 of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon enhancement.

March

• Kent fire burns more than 100 vehicles at wrecking yard: It took 40 fire personnel about seven hours to extinguish a two-alarm fire at an auto wrecking yard in Kent that burned over 100 vehicles. The fire broke out at about 1:16 a.m. March 16 at Binford Auto Wrecking, in the 26300 block of 78th Ave. S., in unincorporated King County in the Valley just south of Kent.

• Kent City Council plans to establish Stay Out of Drug Areas: The Kent City Council approved establishing three Stay Out of Drug Areas (SODA) in an effort to reduce drug activity in downtown, along a portion of West Meeker Street and on the East Hill along 104th Avenue SE/SE 240th Street. The council later added another SODA in the area of Pacific Highway South on the West Hill.

April

• Protest against Trump, Musk draws hundreds in Covington: Hundreds of people attended a “Hands Off!” rally April 5 in Covington to protest many of the actions the past couple of months by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Other rallies against the Trump administration also were held in Covington during the year, including several No Kings protests.

May

• Kent Police overtime costs jump to $4.1 million in 2024: The Kent Police Department spent $4.1 million in overtime pay in 2024, 28% higher than the $3.2 million spent in each of 2023 and 2022, and a whopping 58% higher than the $2.6 million spent in 2021. Those costs include two officers who made more than $100,000 each in overtime in 2024, according to a Kent Reporter public records request.

• Kent-Meridian teacher wins national civil rights award: The National Education Association named Kent-Meridian High School teacher Marissa Winmill as the 2025 winner of the prestigious Mary Hatwood Futrell Human and Civil Rights Award.

• Man who killed four in Renton crash sentenced: Chase Jones, 19, of Kent, who was traveling at 112 mph and crashed into a minivan, killing one woman and three kids, and injuring two other kids in the Renton area, was sentenced to 210 months in prison — a little over 17 years.

June

• Kent School District pays board member to settle dispute: The Kent School District paid $45,000 to Kent School Board member Donald Cook to settle a civil lawsuit Cook filed in 2024 against the district after the board adopted a controversial resolution to exclude Cook from a Labor Policy Committee.

• Man, juvenile face murder charges in Kent student’s death: A 20-year-old Auburn man and 16-year-old Auburn boy each face first-degree murder charges in the June 2024 shooting of Cristopher Yahir Medina-Zelaya, 18,a Kent-Meridian High School student. Jorge Mauricio Gonzalez Alvarado, 20, has a court hearing Jan. 14.

July

• Man faces murder charge in beating of Kent auto mechanic: Abdi Osman Abdi, 33, of Seattle, faces a second-degree murder charge after King County prosecutors amended a first-degree assault charge following the death in April of a Kent auto mechanic he allegedly attacked in 2024. The amended charging papers were filed July 1 by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office after a ruling June 24 by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office that Elvis Anolin Duran-Reyes, 56, died April 24 from head injuries he sustained in the May 8, 2024 attack. Abdi has a Feb. 9 court hearing.

• City-owned ShoWare Center loses $1 million in 2024: The city-owned accesso ShoWare Center in Kent lost $1.06 million in 2024, its largest operating loss since the arena opened in 2009. The facility had expenses of $4.25 million and income of $3.19 million in 2024, according to the 2024 income statement released by ASM Global, which manages the arena. It’s the first time losses exceeded $1 million.

• Man found not guilty in fatal shooting of mom’s boyfriend: A King County Superior Court jury found a then-20-year-old man acted in self-defense to aid his mother when he fatally shot her boyfriend in 2022 at a Kent house. The jury found Dondre Butler, 22, not guilty of second-degree murder when the five-week trial wrapped up July 8 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. The jury agreed on a special verdict form for self-defense that Butler proved “by a preponderance of the evidence that he acted in self-defense of himself or in aid of another who was in imminent danger of assault or murder,” according to court documents.

August

• Man, 51, faces murder charges in Kent double killing: A 51-year-old Seattle man faces two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly shooting two people during an attempted burglary after he kicked in the front door at a Kent apartment. Alphonzo Kelly is accused of killing Gary Winston, 34, and Migna Elizabeth Kennebrew, 46, each of Kent, on July 14 at the Kentwood Apartments, 10435 SE 224th St., on the East Hill, according to charging documents. Kelly has a court hearing scheduled for Jan. 26.

September

• Council approves $63.5 million campus relocation project: With descriptions such as “a historic moment” and “generational investments,” Kent city leaders unanimously approved a $63.5 million Municipal Campus Relocation Project. The 7-0 vote by the City Council on Sept. 2 begins a three-year process that will include newly remodeled offices for several city departments at the CenterPoint Corporate Park, 20610 68th Ave. S.; a remodeled Centennial Center, 400 W. Gowe St., for the new home of the police department; and the eventual demolition of the current City Hall, 220 Fourth Ave. S.

• Council approves higher sales tax to hire more police: The sales tax in Kent will go up a bit in 2026 to pay for 10 new police officers. The Kent City Council voted 7-0 on Sept. 16 to raise the sales tax 0.1% (1 cent on $10 purchase, 10 cents on $100 purchase) to pay for more police officers and four support positions. The annual revenue from the increase is an estimated $3.65 million.

October

• Space Force awards $78 million contract to Kent-based Blue Origin: U.S. Space Force awarded a $78.25 million contract to Kent-based Blue Origin to expand space vehicle processing capacity by 2028 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

• Bonaci Fine Jewelry to close in Kent after 35 years: After 35 years of owning and operating a jewelry store in Kent, Bob Bonaci is retiring and closing down Bonaci Fine Jewelry. The store, 302 E. Smith St., just east of Central Avenue, began a going-out-of business sale Nov. 7.

November

• Man facing Kent murder charge reportedly dismembered body: A man charged with second-degree murder for a 2021 killing in Kent of 36-year-old Austin Leming reportedly dismembered Leming’s body to get rid of him. The remains of Leming have yet to be found. Brian Christopher Mares, 46, whose last known address is listed as Kent, faces a second-degree murder charge in the Dec. 8, 2021 incident that allegedly involved a verbal dispute in a Kent apartment in the 1600 block of West Smith Street, according to charging papers filed Nov. 19 by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Mares has a court hearing scheduled for Feb. 2.

• City leaders lower speed limits to make travel safer: Speed limits will drop along several major Kent streets in 2026, including stretches of West Valley Highway, Kent-Kangley Road, Central Avenue South and Military Road South, in an effort to make travel safer. There are changes to 19 segments across the city, including state routes, streets in the Valley and on the West Hill and East Hill. The City Council approved the measure.

December

• Community celebrates local light rail stations: A multi-stop celebration in South King County marked the historic opening of three new Sound Transit Link light rail stops on Saturday, Dec. 6, including Kent-Des Moines, Star Lake (Kent) and Federal Way. The agency extended light rail 7.8 miles from Angle Lake in SeaTac to Federal Way.

• Murder case finally ends after 15 years in court system: Tied up in the court system for 15 years, the extremely long and winding road of an Auburn murder case against William Phillip Jr. for killing city of Kent employee Seth Frankel in 2010, finally concluded. “Justice has failed this family,” King County Superior Court Judge Kristin Ballinger said prior to sentencing Phillip for second-degree murder to 18 years, four months in a courtroom Dec. 19 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. “The system has failed you. You are right that you all have borne for 15 years the brunt, the force of that failure.” A first trial in 2013 ended in a hung jury. A jury convicted Phillip of first-degree murder in 2014, but the state Court of Appeals overturned the conviction in 2017 following defense motions and ordered a new trial, which led to numerous court motions over the next eight years. Phillip pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in September 2025.