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FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
School bell rings again after storm closes doors
Numbers tell the story of snowstorm
BY KRIS HILL
BY STEVE HUNTER
khill@covingtonreporter.com
shunter@kentreporter.com
A snow day is one thing but a snow week can wreak havoc on a school district’s schedule. Officials from the Kent School District had to cancel school on Monday due SCHOOL to a litany of DAYS weather-related issues from last week’s storms, but all schools had power and were open on Tuesday morning. Power outages, downed tree limbs and disrupted supply deliveries forced the district to take another day to recover from the snow and ice storms which hit the week of Jan. 16. On Monday, Kentwood High still didn’t have power, along with several elementary schools
The numbers in Kent tell the story about the impact of January’s snow and ice storms.
t
Brown works on clearing his East Hill yard of fallen branches, Saturday, Jan. 21, after After the Storm Anthony the snow and ice storm. CHARLES CORTES, Kent Reporter To view a slide show go to www.kentreporter. com and to buy photos go to the website and click on the photo reprints tab.
[ more SCHOOL page 11]
Homeless: A view from the streets - Part III BY DENNIS BOX dbox@kentreporter.com
H
That’s the record number of calls the Kent Fire Department responded to on Thursday, Jan. 19 when the ice storm hit. Firefighters average about 44 calls per day, said Kent Fire Department spokesman Kyle Ohashi. Most of the 453 calls were for fallen trees and power lines in addition to medical aid. That number shattered the previous 24-hour record of 226 calls during the Dec. 15 2006 windstorm that caused extensive power outages. “I was working at our emergency coordination center most of the day so I knew we had a lot of crews out,” Ohashi said. “But
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 home
less 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 third of a three-part series on homelessness and living on the streets in and around Kent. In the previous two installment in this series, 51-year-old Orville Tate and a 50-year-old man who is referred to as J.T.
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15423 SE 272nd St., Ste. 110; Kent, WA 98042
because he asked that his real name not be used, described the experiences they have encountered on the streets in Kent and around the region. J.T has been working for about a year and is no longer homeless. He spends much of his off time helping the homeless. Tate has been homeless since 2009. He lived for a period of time in shelters, but now survives on the streets day and night. Both told stories of men and women who are surviving tough times, and others who have given up. J.T. stated alcohol and drug abuse are a major factors for many who have lost hope. He added some of the homeless simply drink so they don’t feel anything. “They are always trying to be numb, and it takes more and more to do that,” J.T. said. Each man said there are services available to help the homeless, but the problem
SAME NUMBER 253-631-1222
[ more STORM page 13 ]
is both deep and wide and not easily addressed by a government or humanitarian groups. “There are a lot of facilities out there you just have to go find it,” J.T. said.
YOUTH ON THE STREET J.T. and Tate both described a growing problem of teenagers living on the streets in the Kent area. Along with teens, there is the serious trouble of drugs. According to J.T., there are kids who have a home who come to live on the streets for a weekend or a week as a party. A check with official sources confirmed the statements J.T. and Tate made about some of the kids living on the streets.
[ more HOMELESS page 10 ]
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