Kent Reporter, July 20, 2012

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INSIDE | Author gets book endorsement [9]

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Sports | Former Kentwood star takes flight in volleyball, engineering [15]

FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2012

City mulls property tax levy to pay for parks, streets BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com

Kent voters could face a property tax levy measure in November to help pay for city park and street projects. The Kent City Council also is considering a possible business tax as part of a package to help pay to fix up deteriorating streets

and parks. “We know this is a difficult process but we’re only trying to preserve infrastructure we have so it does not deteriorate further,” said Council President Dennis Higgins during a phone interview. “We hope the community recognizes that and gets behind it.” No decisions have been made

yet by the council. But in order to get a property tax levy measure on the Nov. 6 ballot, the council must submit the measure to King County Elections by Aug. 7. “We may need to set a special meeting for Aug. 2 about whether to put it on the ballot in November,” Higgins said. The council did not have the

proposal on its agenda Tuesday and does not meet again until Aug. 7 unless it calls a special meeting. The council formed citizen committees earlier this year to come up with recommendations for parks and street funding and to help prioritize projects. Those recommendations went to an

7 injured in fight near middle school

[ more MEASURE page 4 ]

CHIROPRACTOR CHOSEN TO HELP OLYMPIC ATHLETES

BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com

Details remain sketchy as Kent Police investigate a fight among numerous men Sunday near Meridian Middle School in Kent that left seven injured with nonlife threatening injuries. A Kent man who witnessed the fight contacted the Kent Reporter by email Tuesday and estimated as many as 60 men and a dozen or so cars showed up at the school parking lot. He said two groups showed up to fight and many of them were carrying bats and sticks. Police have not made any arrests, according to an email Monday from Sgt. Jarod Kasner. Officers are trying to figure out what started the fight at about 2:26 p.m. in the school [ more FIGHT page 3 ]

ad-hoc committee of council members Higgins, Dana Ralph and Elizabeth Albertson. That three-member committee recommended to the full council a six-year property tax levy lid lift of 37 cents per $1,000 assessed property value or about $111 per year on a $300,000 home.

BY SARAH KEHOE skehoe@kentreporter.com

Cornucopia color Lisa Hicka, Princess Rider for the ’Colors of Hawai’i Kau Lio Pa’u Riders Hawaiian Equestrian Group’ of Lake Stevens, waves to the crowd as they march during the Cornucopia Parade on Sunday. The group won the festival’s Best of the Best parade category. The community came together to celebrate the 41st Kent Cornucopia Days. More story, photos, pages 17-18. CHARLES CORTES, Reporter Newspapers

Chiropractor Greg Blackburn is taking his first vacation in almost 19 years. Blackburn was selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee Sports Medicine Team to come to the Olympic training center in Chula Vista, Calif., to help get Olympic athletes ready to compete in the Olympics. The prestigious opportunity only comes to those who possess certification and Blackburn medicinal credentials, such as a post-doctoral certificate and a certification by the Council of Extremity Adjusting. “I was so excited when I heard I was selected, but I was torn because I wasn’t sure I could leave my patients and my life here in Kent,” Blackburn said. “But I [ more BLACKBURN page 5 ]

Frustrated striking factory workers rally Robert Bruner, a Davis Wire factory worker, addresses a crowd at a community strike rally Tuesday at the Kent plant. MARK KLAAS, Kent Reporter

BY MARK KLAAS mklaas@kentreporter.com

A lingering strike is taking its toll on 85 Davis Wire mill employees in Kent and their families who joined labor and religious leaders and elected officials to voice their dismay with the impasse at an emotional community rally Tuesday. Union workers went on strike May 21, claiming poor

working conditions and inadequate compensation. Recent negotiations have gone nowhere, union leaders said, and workers are prepared for a long fight. Earlier Tuesday, striking workers converged at the King County Courthouse in Seattle, where 60 employees officially filed individual lawsuits, alleging the company has created “sweatshop-like” conditions by working employees off the

clock and denying them rest and meal breaks in an unsafe environment. They also claim the company is failing to pay them statutorily required overtime wages. “What we are asking for is very modest in our contract,” said Robert Bruner, a 15-year Davis Wire employee who is among the original plaintiffs [ more RALLY page 5 ]


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