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TRAGEDY | Devon King, a 2009 graduate of TJ High School, dies in Maui accident [2]
VOL. 14, NO. 44
Mirror
F E D E R A L WAY
division of Sound Publishing
OPINION | Roegner: Election predictions for hot races [4] Guest column: Students need a quality learning environment [4] IN OTHER NEWS | Ballot information, plus an upcoming Veterans Day observance [6] CRIME BLOTTER | Driver fires three shots in alleged road rage incident [9]
SPORTS | FW Eagles continue a season of HEROICS | FEMA honors Federal Way man FRIDAY, Nov. 2, 2012 | 50¢ dominance. Plus: Swimming update [15] for helping people during a storm [10]
FW man brutally assaults cab driver Mirror staff reports
A Federal Way man faces a hate crime charge after the savage beating of a Sikh cab driver. The alleged assault took place at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 17 in the 1200 block of SW 301st Street in Federal Way. Police responded to reports of a fight between an intoxicated male suspect and a cab driver. Two witnesses described the attack as savage, according to a Federal Way police report. Jaime W. Larson, 48, has been charged with third-degree assault as well as felony malicious harassment under the state’s hate crime law. On Oct. 17, Auburn police had asked the cab driver to take Larson to an address in Federal Way because he was too intoxicated to walk or drive. The cab driver said Larson began commenting on the turban he wore as part of his Sikhism religion. Larson began assaulting the cab driver and making comments regarding his religion and ethnicity, according to the report. Larson punched the cab driver repeatedly in the body and face, and caused one of his teeth to become loose, according to the report. The suspect ripped part of the cab driver’s beard off his face. The piece of beard was [ more ASSAULT, p. 14 ] NEWSPAPER RACKS: To see a list of rack locations for the print edition of The Mirror, visit federalwaymirror.com/about_us.
Project targets traffic at intersection By GREG ALLMAIN gallmain@federalwaymirror.com
An upcoming road construction project is expected to reduce congestion at 21st Avenue SW and SW 336th Street in Federal Way. The project will install a light
at the troubled intersection, and allow for two left turns from both directions. The project will also add a right turn for westbound and northbound commuters. Brian Roberts, street systems project engineer for the city, explained the need for the project and
how the city hopes to make a busy and hazard-filled intersection safer for all. “The intersection at 21st and 336th experiences severe congestion during the morning and evening commute peaks,” Roberts said at an open house Oct. 30 at
City Hall. “This project will essentially alleviate that. Currently those movements tend to choke up the intersection. There are more left turning vehicles today than can fit in the existing turn pockets.” [ more TRAFFIC, p. 23 ]
Federal Way school helps AIDS orphans in Kenya By Heather Hamashima Special to The Mirror
The bridge over the Hylebos Creek on South 373rd Street in Federal Way was constructed in 2007.
ANDY HOBBS, The Mirror
Wildlife agents hunt beavers to stop flooding on S. 373rd St. By ANDY HOBBS editor@federalwaymirror.com
State wildlife agents are hunting beavers in Federal Way over concerns of flooding on South 373rd Street. The rising water levels in the Hylebos Creek, as caused by beaver dams, pose a threat to the road’s infrastructure and the safety of drivers. Three beavers were trapped and euthanized last week at the Federal Way site, with one more beaver at large, said Matt Cleland, district supervisor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Wildlife Services. Wildlife agents catch the
beavers with body-grip traps, also known as Conibear traps. A beaver will die within minutes after the baited trap springs shut. The state Department of Transportation, which owns the site, was contacted by the City of Federal Way and the Puyallup tribe to address the flooding. In 2007, the Spring Valley Restoration Project was intended to control flooding on South 373rd Street and expand the spawning grounds for salmon. WSDOT built a bridge and rerouted the creek through a culvert. Friends of the Hylebos, a local conservation group, helped plant trees and vegetation at the site. [ more BEAVERS, p. 23 ]
Beavers are the largest rodents in North America. Adults weigh an average of 40 pounds and measure more than 3 feet long, including the tail. COURTESY PHOTO
On a morning in May 2005, a thirdgrade student named Anastasia donned her pink and blue uniform and walked to school. Her mother had died that morning, following the death of her father earlier. She found loving care, food, clothing, shelter and education at Crossroads Springs Institute, a school and orphan center in Hamisi, Kenya. Anastasia spoke, and the students from the Federal Way Public Academy listened. Their aim was to build bridges of understanding through work projects for children who are at a crossroads in their lives. They believed there were springs of hope if they were energetic and decisive in their planning. Today, we can hear the sounds of trowels slapping mortar between bricks, and African drums beating rhythms for children’s feet, because Federal Way Public Academy students have opened their hearts to the HIV/AIDS orphans of Crossroads Springs. The Academy became aware of Hamisi (located in the Western province of Kenya next to Uganda, 20 miles from Kisumo) by the grandparents of two of its students. They had helped build the school and knew that the children whose parents had died of AIDS were struggling to get food, take care of younger siblings, and stay in school. Crossroads Springs was founded in 2004 by Dr. R. Meshack Isiaho, who took an unfinished brick building, originally intended as a tourist hotel, and built a school that now houses and serves 350 children from early childhood development to the eighth grade. Students consistently score first in the district and region on national exams, earning awards, school trophies, and acceptance in boarding schools for grades [ more KENYA, p. 13 ]