MIRROR
BUSINESS BUZZ | Federal Way man buys local pizza shop on Craigslist [9]
SPORTS | Once again, the Decatur girls SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2011 golf team is the best in the SPSL [10]
CALENDAR | Don’t miss the Howl-O-Ween Dog Party at French Lake Park [7 and 16]
.com
YOU’LL LIKE WHAT YOU SEE IN THE MIRROR
| 50¢
It’s OK to view porn at county libraries BY ANDY HOBBS
6 89076 19979
7
LETTERS | Lots of letters on election topics with more letters available online [4-6]
Progress made in quest to end homelessness Committee reports increase in people helped into housing
editor@federalwaymirror.com
When surfing the Internet at King County libraries, adult patrons have the right to access anything they wish – including porn. “Pornography is a subjective term, and what may be porn to one person may not be to another,” said Julie Brand, King County Library System spokeswoman. “We in no way try to censor or monitor what anyone deems appropriate for themselves.” The King County Library System adheres to the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). This federal law requires K-12 schools and libraries to install Internet filters that protect children from potentially harmful online content. CIPA was signed into law in 2000, and was declared constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003. King County libraries, including both Federal Way branches, filter Internet access for patrons ages 17 and under. Anyone over age 17 may request that the filter be removed. Unless they are accessing illegal content such as child pornography, for example, adults have no Internet restrictions at public libraries. The issue surfaced earlier this month after a man was caught masturbating at the Federal Way Regional Library. According to the police report, the man was viewing pornography on a library computer. He was detained by police without incident over the lewd act. [ more PORN, page 13 ]
FIRE SERVICE | Cash-strapped South King Fire and Rescue announces layoffs [3]
VOL. 13, NO. 388
F E D E R A L WAY
DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
OPINION | Editorial board: Vote yes on I-1183, get WA out of liquor business [4] Palmer: Nominate your local hero today [4]
BY GREG ALLMAIN gallmain@fedwaymirror.com
The former AMC Theatres site, which is a vacant parking lot on 20th Avenue South near the Federal Way Transit Center, is in the process of being sold to a developer. ARCADD, an architecture firm based in West Newton, Mass., was selected by the Federal Way City Council to move forward on a proposed “Crystal Palace” design (pictured below) at the site. ANDY HOBBS, The Mirror
Crystal Palace moves forward with land sale Purchase price of vacant parking lot depends on appraisal BY GREG ALLMAIN gallmain@fedwaymirror.com
The Federal Way City Council voted unanimously to move forward with a purchase/sale agreement with ARCAAD Inc., the Bostonbased firm that hopes to build an ambitious Crystal Palace design on the former AMC Theatres site in downtown Federal Way. The purchase price will be determined by the two parties agreeing on an appraisal value, said city attorney Pat Richardson at the council’s Oct. 18 meeting. “Both parties will submit appraisals, exchange appraisals,” she said. “If we can’t agree upon a purchase price based upon the appraisals, if necessary, the process is we would agree to hire an independent appraiser
Five years ago, King County took on the daunting task of attempting to end homelessness in the region. Through the creation of the Committee to End Homelessness, and the adoption of a 10-year plan, the county set out to find the ways and means to get people off the streets and into stable housing. Bill Block, project director for the committee, gave
a five-year update to the Federal Way City Council on Oct. 18. The committee has seen a lot of success in those five years, Block said, but there is still a lot of work to do going forward into the next five years. “We’ve transformed the program for the chronically homeless single adults, the folks who are struggling with mental illness,” Block said. “We figured out how to get those people into housing and stabilize their lives. 1811 Eastlake, one of our early projects, had 75 units. The folks who moved into it dropped their emergency service usage $4 million in the first year alone.” [ more HOMELESS, page 13 ]
Schools tap grant by Gates Foundation for classroom projects two school districts allowed access to $500,000 of availgallmain@fedwaymirror.com able money to help fund Earlier this month, comclassroom projects. munity leaders gathered to Trise Moore said the raise awareness that Federal project works through Way Public Schools the website Dowas chosen to be norsChoose.org. part of a funding EDUCATION FWPS teachers subproject through the mit an essay to the Bill and Melinda website describing Gates Foundation. their project, which On Oct. 5, Federal is usually between Way Mayor Skip Priest, $400 to $700, and the essay FWPS Superintendent gets posted to the Donors Rob Neu, school board Choose website. On Oct. President Tony Moore and 5, $10 cards were given out family and community for people to donate toward partnership director Trise a project of their choosing. Moore got together at The Those interested in helping Commons Mall Starbucks. out can get a free $10 donaTheir announcement: tion card from Moore. Federal Way was one of [ more CLASSROOMS, page 13 ] BY GREG ALLMAIN
who would act as an arbitrator.” If needed, the arbitrator would not generate its own appraisal, but would choose between the city’s appraisal and ARCAAD’s appraisal, Richardson said. Another detail of the agreement is that up to $300,000 would be provided for public art, Richardson said. Along with this, both parties would agree to share the
costs of an environmental assessment of the property, which would take between two to six weeks, Richardson said. Patrick Doherty, the city’s economic development director, shared some of the design elements that are part of the agreement. Among those are a “variety of materiality and expression,” although the project would still express a “cohesive [ more CRYSTAL, page 8 ]
NEWS