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ROYAL TREATMENT | Kent-Meridian boys WEBSITE | Check the website for breaking basketball moves into first place with win. news, sports stories and weather updates. www.kentreporter.com FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2012 [14]
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
City takes first step in case of tree topping
Educators weigh in on Supreme Court ruling
BY STEVE HUNTER
BY SARAH KEHOE
shunter@kentreporter.com
skehoe@kentreporter.com
The city of Kent will serve three West Hill property owners with a correction letter in connection with an illegal topping of more than two dozen large trees last fall on city property. Property owners were expected CITY OF to receive the letter by the end of the week, said Tami Perdue, city chief prosecuting attorney, in a phone interview Tuesday. The property is along a steep slope near Reith Road in the area of South 253rd Street and 42nd Avenue South. The correction letter is the first step in the city’s code enforcement process, said Perdue, who is overseeing the investigation. Property owners will have 30 days
Many educators in Kent say they can’t wait until 2018 to receive the funds they need to properly educate their students. “Our teachers are doing they best they can with the limited resources they are given, FUNDING but any more cuts schools will hurt our students’ education,” said Antonio Morales, Mill Creek Middle School principal. “We can’t sit back and say, ‘well this funding will come in 2018,’ we need to be proactive now.” This discussion follows a decision made Jan. 5 by the Washington State Supreme Court, who ruled in favor of a lower court’s finding that the government is failing to meet its constitutional [ more RULING page 16 ]
KENT
SCHOOLS
hockey player Max Sulivan, 6, scores a goal at a skating demo during the Hockey Hopes Future intermission of the Seattle Thunderbirds-Spokane Chiefs game Jan. 7 at the ShoWare Center. a slide show go to www.kentreporter.com and to buy photos and Dreams go to the website and clickToonview the photo reprints tab. CHARLES CORTES, Kent Reporter.
[ more TREES page 12 ]
Homeless: A view from the streets BY DENNIS BOX dbox@kentreporter.com
H
omelessness – it is a word, a tragedy and an issue that reflects the complex problems facing our region, state and nation. Every school district, city and community has homeless adults and children living in a nearly invisible world of streets, parking lots, doorways, porches and cars.
Kent, as the sixth largest city in the state, has had a fast-growing population of homeless people since the Great Recession hit in 2008. There are government officials, religious and humanitarian groups trying to bring assistance to those who have fallen on tough times. This story is the first of a threepart series on homelessness and living on the streets in and around Kent.
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15423 SE 272nd St., Ste. 110; Kent, WA 98042
affected Schwartz was “There are so a young man suffering many things Wade Schwartz has from bipolar disorder helped the homeless for we could so as a whose parents kicked more than two decades. group. It’s about him out of the house. He currently owns a putting back into “Where does he go?” hair salon at 207 E. the community.” he said. “He’s living on Meeker in downtown Wade Schwartz the street.” Kent, Blanc ‘n Schwartz. Schwartz recalled in Every week he takes in 1991 in Seattle he tried clothes from homeless to help some homeless people, washes them and has them folded and ready for folks living under the viaduct and it taught him a lesson. He pickup on Sunday morning. had bought them a box of apples He also gives haircuts to those rather than give money. who are trying to get jobs. “No one wanted them,” “I want to help them feel good, Schwartz said. “Their teeth be cleaned up and presentable,” Schwartz said. “It is part of feeling weren’t good enough. It ripped me apart.” good about themselves.” Schwartz has presented the city One of the people that deeply A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
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and community with a plan to form a committee of local business members, government officials and health professionals. He said there would be no cost to the city. The committee would work in the community with the homeless and help deal with complexities of the issue including health, personal care and getting a job. “There are so many things we could do as a group,” Schwartz said. “It’s about putting back into the community.” Schwartz said his estimate is the current population of homeless in Kent is more than 400 — and growing.
[ more HOMELESS page 2 ]
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