INSIDE | Binetti: Plant bulbs this month [18]
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Winter Wise | Now is the time to prepare for winter storms. [Inside]
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2012
Hargrove leads Sizemore in legislative race BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
Kent Democratic challenger Bud Sizemore continued to hold on to a chance he might overtake State Rep. Mark Hargrove, R-Covington, in what remained
a tight race for the State House District 47 Position 1 seat. But Hargrove remained confident he could maintain his lead and earn a return trip to Olympia for a second, two-year term. Hargrove led by 369 votes through Tuesday’s tally by King
County Elections, the latest count available prior to the Kent Reporter’s press deadline. Hargrove has 50.33 percent (25,162 votes) while Sizemore has 49.59 percent (24,793 votes). There were 44 write-in votes for 0.09 percent.
“Not knowing how many ballots are left in the 47th District, it’s too early to throw in the towel,” said Sizemore during a Tuesday phone interview. “There is still potential to close the gap. It’s an incredibly close race.” Close, but still in Hargrove’s
Neighbors and volunteers got dirty to help spruce up a part of an East Hill community greenbelt last weekend. Kenton Firs Community Association members and friends spent two sunny, crisp fall days last Friday and Saturday in Kent removing invasive overgrowth to plant an assortment of native trees, plants and shrubs. “It’s great … to beautify this,” said Donna Schell, a resident of the Kenton Firs neighborhood since 1981. The project was made possible through a matching $5,000 neighborhood grant the city of Kent awarded to the association. About 350 plants and trees of many native species and sizes were carefully planted throughout a quarter-acre parcel of the
Kenton Firs’ 3-acre greenbelt. “We want our community to see what it would look like when it’s taken care of properly,” said Marsha St. Louis, the Kenton Firs project coordinator. The association traditionally conducts spring and fall cleanups in the neighborhood, but had not focused on the greenbelt – until last weekend. St. Louis said it was important to restore the parcel so it could become a visible, beautiful, safe feature in the neighborhood. Joselyn Cook, St. Louis’ granddaughter, was more than happy to join the planting party. “It’s my grandmother’s pet project,” Cook said, “and I want to help out whenever I can.”
BY TRACEY COMPTON tcompton@soundpublishing.com
Joselyn Cook digs a hole for plants during a Kenton Firs Community Association work party along a greenbelt in the East Hill neighborhood. Volunteers put in nearly 350 plants and trees. MARK KLAAS, Kent Reporter
Man charged with assaulting his baby twins BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
King County prosecutors charged a 24-yearold Kent man with two counts of second-degree
assault of a child for allegedly inflicting substantial bodily harm upon his 7-week-old twins. Jason Mark Dodd is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, Nov. 19 in King
County Superior Court at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. As of Tuesday, Dodd
remained in custody at the county jail in Seattle with bail set at $250,000. “The defendant has little history with law en[ more TWINS page 4 ]
When Merriah Sample was 21 years old, she found herself a new mother in an abusive relationship looking for a better life for herself and her daughter. She had grown up in the foster care system since she was 14 and Merriah Sample, left with aged out of the program. She had son Nate, daughter Aryana and no resources to fall back on and dehusband Spencer. COURTESY PHOTO cided to call Kent Youth and Family Services to see if they might give her number to others as a potential roommate. Instead she got an interview with the program manager for the agency’s Watson Manor Transitional Living Program. It was a chance meeting that would turn her life around. Seventeen years later, Sample has a master’s degree from the University of Washington in social work, is an elementary school counselor and is married with two children. “It (Watson Manor) gave me an opportunity to get an education and become self-sufficient; I won’t need any type of assistance now,” said Sample. This is important to her, she says, coming from her original family who always seemed to need public assistance. Sample is able to give her children the kind of life she didn’t have growing up. It is due in part to “people believing in me and supporting me and being like a surrogate family for me,” she said. This is just one story from the program that’s been around since 1991. “I always try to tell myself and the staff we’re planting seeds,” said Laurie Peterson, the teen and parent program manager for Kent Youth and Family Services. “We may never even see them [ more WATSON page 8 ]
GOLDEN STEER CAN THROW YOUR HOLIDAY PARTY! PRIVATE PARTIES YOUR FAMILY GATHERING BANQUETS: HASOUTGROWN AVAILABLE THE HOUSE? IN THE LOUNGE! With DJ/Karaoke host.
[ more RACE page 2 ]
Watson Manor gives women chance to turn lives around
Neighbors spruce up greenbelt REPORTER STAFF
favor. “I feel pretty confident,” Hargrove said during a Tuesday phone interview. “The trend shifted the first few days but I think that was an aberration. Now
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