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FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2013
City Council searches for 256th Street funding options BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
When it comes to funding the Southeast 256th Street project, the Kent City Council might just take the approach if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
Property owners along the street last month turned in enough signatures to overturn the city’s plan to charge them extra property tax fees to help pay for improvements. The property owners dissolved a Lo-
cal Improvement District (LID) approved by the council to pay for about $2 million of an estimated $7 million project to upgrade and widen 256th Street on the East Hill from the “Y” intersection at Kent-Kangley Road to 116th
Avenue Southeast. But the three council members of the city’s Public Works Committee on Monday at City Hall voiced how upset they were that a few property owners had the power to stop the fees that
also could jeopardize a $2 million state grant for the project. They all want the project to move forward but need to figure out how to pay for the $2 million lost through the LID process. [ more PROJECT page 5 ]
Trucker gets 12-year prison sentence for drug conspiracy BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
Flash dance
more photos online… kentreporter.com
Marie Spieldenner, left, Kali Barnes and Hallie Keel dance with energy and excitement during the Allegro Performing Arts Academy’s first flash mob at Kent Station last Friday. Fifty Allegro students ages 6-16 performed in honor of National Dance Week. MICHELLE CONERLY, Kent Reporter
A Canadian truck driver who used a Kent warehouse as a hub for marijuana distribution, received a 12-year prison sentence Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle for conspiracy to distribute marijuana. James Postlethwaite, 60, of North Vancouver, British Columbia, drove cocaine and thousands of pounds of marijuana known as BC Bud across the U.S./Canadian border, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office media release.
Investigators identified Postlethwaite as a drug smuggler for a criminal group related to the Hells Angels. He was convicted in November following a three-day trial. He was a transporter in a criminal organization that was smuggling marijuana south into the U.S. and cocaine north into Canada. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour said at the sentencing that Postlethwaite, “understood the size and scope of the conspiracy,” and was responsible for smuggling vast [ more TRUCKER page 2 ]
Kent Elementary chosen for Green Schoolhouse project BY MICHELLE CONERLY mconerly@kentreporter.com
It’s going to get a little greener around Kent Elementary School in the next few years. Brighten A Life, a nonprofit organization committed to education and the environment, chose the school last fall to be the new site of a Green Schoolhouse, one of four in the country.
“This is a really cutting edge, 21st century concept,” said Page Meyer, principal of Kent Elementary School. “It’s pretty darn cool.” Brighten A Life “focuses on positively impacting the learning environments, living conditions and communities of disadvantaged children and families,” according to its website. The Green Schoolhouse series is the organization’s signature cause, focusing on “meeting the critical needs of chil-
dren, education and the environment,” according to Kent School District documents. This means the curriculum used in the new building will emphasize science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) lessons and environmental awareness. The Green Schoolhouse, intended [ more GREEN page 4 ]
Going green: Page Meyer stands in front of the 15,000-squarefoot area where the new Green Schoolhouse will be built. MICHELLE CONERLY, Kent Reporter
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