Federal Way Mirror, April 05, 2013

Page 1

.com

BREAKFAST FOR KIDS | Fundraiser nets $40,000 for Boys and Girls Club [2]

VOL. 15, NO. 14

Mirror

F E D E R A L WAY

division of Sound Publishing

OPINION | Editorial: Vote of confidence in moving forward with PACC design [4] Roegner: Legacy of Booth Gardner [4] CRIME NEWS | Prisoner’s DNA, motel key are linked to 2011 rape and burglary [3] STATE NEWS | Gov. Jay Inslee announces his ‘Working Washington’ budget [7]

SPORTS | Benton named All-State. Plus: CALENDAR | Federal Way Symphony will FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2013 | 50¢ When parents spoil the coach’s fun [15] perform Mahler’s Resurrection [6 and 9]

Program touts transit-related development By Greg Allmain gallmain@fedwaymirror.com

The Federal Way High School RoboEagles: Troy Moss, Dustin Martin, Rohit Sharma, Douglas Kon, Matthew Gillis, Dave Larson, Jillian Honrade, Joy McConville, Ezekiel McNeal, Mark Hentges, Chris Martin, Dave Basham, Justin Kon, Nicole Polykov. COURTESY PHOTO

RoboEagles earn world championship berth Mirror staff reports

Federal Way High School’s RoboEagles earned a berth to the FIRST Robotics 2013 Championship, slated for April 24-27 in St. Louis. FIRST Robotics is dubbed a “sport of the mind” because it combines the competition aspect of sports with the disciplines of science and technology. The goal is to foster the next generation of engineers and innovators by having them dream, design and build a robot. As a rookie team, the RoboEagles will compete at the St. Louis championship against thousands of students YOUR RECIPE: The Mirror seeks great recipes for the inaugural edition of the Let’s Eat restaurant guide. This new section will tell visitors and residents where to eat. Your recipe can be included in this guide. A local gift certificate will be awarded to all recipes picked for this section. Deadline is June 14. Submissions may come from individuals or businesses. Email ralcott@fedwaymirror.com.

NEWSPAPER RACKS: To see a list of rack locations for the print edition of The Mirror, visit federalwaymirror.com/about_us.

from around the world. Throughout the six-week build period in January and February, the Federal Way students applied the skills and concepts they learned in the classroom to build a robot that shoots discs into goals. At the Seattle FIRST Robotics Regional Competition on March 30, the Federal Way team earned the Highest Rookie Seed and Regional Finalist honors with a fifth-place overall finish. Teams from Decatur and Thomas Jefferson high schools also competed at regionals. Organizers of FIRST Robotics say that high school students who participate in the project are 50 per-

cent more likely to go to college and twice as likely to major in science or engineering. “Let’s inspire these kids to be big thinkers the way Shaquille O’Neal inspired them to spend dozens of hours a week bouncing a ball,” said founder Dean Kamen in a 2011 promotional video. “The only difference between this sport and all the others is every kid on our teams can turn pro. There’s a job out there for every one of these kids.”

Learn more To learn about FIRST Robotics in Washington, visit www.firstwa.org.

Light rail may be decades away in Federal Way and other cities, but one program encourages the region to seize today’s opportunities for transit-related development. The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) — which encompasses King, Pierce, Kitsap and Snohomish counties — shared its vision for the region’s transportation future with the Federal Way City Council. Growing Transit Communities (GTC) is funded by $5 million in federal grants. The program identifies and develops transit strategies throughout the region — especially in cities that either already have light rail service, or like Federal Way, are slated to receive such service in the future. “Our coalition, locally, has as its mission to promote what we call ‘thriving and equitable transit communities’ throughout the region,” said PSRC senior planner Michael Hubner during the council’s April 2 meeting.

FYI: LIGHT RAIL In 2008, voters approved the ST2 plan to build light rail to South 272nd Street, linking the city with Seattle and the airport. However, Sound Transit has delayed the extension to Federal Way until at least 2040, citing a 31 percent shortfall in tax revenue from South King County. According to the original plan, Federal Way was supposed to see a station at South 272nd Street by 2023. The ultimate goal for Sound Transit is to eventually connect the King County system with Tacoma. Plans are in the works to make light rail “shovel ready” in Federal Way for when funding is available. Sound Transit is looking at pursuing federal funding to meet the tax revenue shortfall caused by the economic downturn that began in 2008. The region is investing $15 billion in transit during the next two decades, which presents an opportunity for community development around transit stations and hubs, he said. “We already have solid regional and local plans in place,” Hubner said. “This is [ more TRANSIT, page 10 ]

Mall manager praises PACC’s potential Divisive project moves ahead with design phase By GREG ALLMAIN gallmain@fedwaymirror.com

While the debate continues on the merits of a proposed performing arts and conference center (PACC) for Federal Way’s downtown, Cindy Stanley-Lee, general manager for The Commons Mall,

threw her support behind the idea. mons, she sees the PACC as a boon “When I saw the illustrations (of for the downtown area. the PACC), I thought they were “Clearly, having something like beautiful. They were impressive and this fills a gap. People want to know, they were powerful,” Stanleywhy can’t we bring in great Lee said during the city retailers? We want to shop NEWS council’s April 2 meeting. “It at home, we need to have said something about Fedretailers that are exciting eral Way, it said something to us,” she said. “Well, they about the people of Federal look for dollars, and when Way.” people are shopping downtown, From Stanley-Lee’s perspective as when we have conference centers the general manager of The Comand traffic and excitement, and per-

UPDATE

forming arts, this all brings dollars to the downtown core.” Stanley-Lee continued, making an argument that city officials have made recently — that the PACC will be the proverbial “economic engine” to kickstart Federal Way’s dilapidated downtown area. “These retailers look at that, it draws their attention, and they say, ‘I want to be there,’” she said. “And then we begin to attract, it becomes [ more PACC, page 12 ]


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Federal Way Mirror, April 05, 2013 by Sound Publishing - Issuu