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FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2013
Flood district board to decide on best fix for levee BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
The King County Flood Control District Executive Committee expects to decide within two weeks whether to choose the city
of Kent or King County plan to spend millions of dollars to repair a 2.7-mile stretch of a Green River levee to improve flood protection and reduce insurance costs to businesses. The four-member committee
heard a one-hour report Wednesday at the King County Courthouse in Seattle by a third-party consultant it hired to help resolve a dispute between Kent and the county about the best way to repair the Briscoe-Desimone Levee
that runs from South 200th Street to South 180th Street. Kent proposes to install a flood wall at an estimated cost of $17 million. The county proposes a setback levee with estimated costs of $420 million to $920 million
because of the need to buy property and reconfigure roads. Robert Gilbert, a University of Texas professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, was hired for $25,000 [ more LEVEE page 7 ]
Kent woman shows ‘Moxie’ in new book MICHELLE CONERLY mconerly@kenteporter.com
Fur on ice The Seattle Thunderbirds junior hockey team collects donated teddy bears and stuffed animals during the WARM 106.9 Teddy Bear Toss Game presented by Fred Meyer at the ShoWare Center last Saturday. Fans were encouraged to bring as many teddy bears and stuffed
animals as possible to the game. The bears will later be distributed to local police and fire departments that give them to children in times of emergency and crisis. The T-Birds beat Portland, 4-3, to snap a 15-game losing streak. CHARLES CORTES, Kent Reporter
Maureen Ezekwugo was raised to be respectful, even if that meant downplaying her talents. “There were many times where I didn't push ideas that I strongly believed in hard enough because somewhere inside of my Asian-self I believed, ‘If someone with authority is telling me it should be another way, I need to respect that’,” Ezekwugo said. Growing up in a home where modesty was valued, she felt uncomfortable challenging authority. But eventually, Ezekwugo overcame those feelings and worked her way to a successful job in sales. Today the Kent woman is the executive vice president of RealSelf (www.realself.com), a growing national website that connects doctors with patients. Ezekwugo instructs physicians on how to use social media to
Maureens making moves: Maureen Ezekwugo, left, and Maureen Francisco pose for the book release red carpet event MICHELLE CONERLY, Kent Reporter
better engage and treat patients. Ezekwugo's ascension in business is one of the many motivational stories in Maureen Francisco's new book, “It Takes Moxie: Off the Boat or Out of School to Making it Your Way in America”. Francisco, an immigrant from [ more MOXIE page 7 ]
Firefighters to climb skyscraper stairs for leukemia fundraiser BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
Kent firefighter Art Weichbrodt will have plenty of motivation when he runs up 69 flights of stairs at the Columbia Center
skyscraper in Seattle in full fire gear and a self contained breathing apparatus. The 22nd annual Scott Firefighter Stairclimb race is a fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Weichbrodt and
13 other Kent Fire Department Regional Fire Authority members will compete in the March 10 event. Climb, conquer and cure is the fundraising theme. “I'm competitive and like the challenge physically and I have
friends whose children are affected by leukemia,” Weichbrodt said. “One lost a daughter and the other friend has a child with leukemia.” Each firefighter will race up 1,311 steps on 69 flights of stairs
for an elevation gain of 788 feet to the Columbia Center's observation deck. A total of 1,552 firefighters from 281 departments participated last year and raised a record $1.2 million for blood [ more FIREFIGHTERS page 2 ]
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