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IN OTHER NEWS | Brand new Federal Way 320th Library opens this month [2]
VOL. 15, NO. 36
Mirror
F E D E R A L WAY
division of Sound Publishing
OPINION | Roegner: Superintendent and school board plan trip to Europe [4] Jarvis: Our disconnected government [4] SEX IN THE SUBURBS | Transgender issues and wisdom from a kindergartener [9] PET GOATS | Committee will review city code for pet goats in Federal Way [16]
SPORTS | Soccer updates, Henderson FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013 | 75¢ loses UFC title and more [10-15]
CALENDAR | Events include dog festival, live jazz and Lobsterfest [18-19]
City targets sex offenders
Renovation in Westway opens door for family
Single-family residence housed men who caused problems for neighbors By GREG ALLMAIN
By ANDY HOBBS
gallmain@federalwaymirror.com
editor@federalwaymirror.com
April Hoffman wants her children to have a stable home. Her twin 15-year-old sons, DaShaun and Marschae Davis-Sanders, were born with cerebral palsy. DaShaun needs a wheelchair to get around, but their current apartment is not handicapped-accessible. Eight months ago, Hoffman reached out to Habitat for Humanity and was soon selected to become a new homeowner. Hoffman, who works as a school bus driver in Federal Way, never thought her dream of homeownership was possible. Hoffman began putting in “sweat equity” last month on a house on SW 328th Street in the Westway neighborhood. The renovation marks Habitat for Humanity’s 39th project of its kind in Westway. This project is funded by Delta Airlines’ in-flight recycling program. Delta employees will volunteer three days a week for the next six weeks to help build the home. This marks the [ more WESTWAY, page 26 ]
April Hoffman and her twin sons, DaShaun and Marschae, express gratitude for a Habitat for Humanity project that will benefit their family. ANDY HOBBS, The Mirror
The Federal Way City Council unanimously approved an emergency ordinance that will require group homes for sex offenders or other violators to acquire a business license. The ordinance will also restrict such homes with zoning requirements. In addition to this, the council approved a six-month moratorium on such businesses/arrangements, in order for the city to “develop a legal framework for restricting these facilities to specific zones.” “We discovered a house in a single family zone that was housing at least as many as seven registered sex offenders, and took immediate actions to close the residence for building code violations,” said Mayor Skip Priest during the city council’s Sept. 3 meeting.
“After hearing from the neighbors that people were living in the house, as of last night, I personally visited the residence, and spoke to the owner, and observed individuals inside. Based on those reports and my observations, law enforcement action will be taken, including possible criminal charges.” According to Priest and other city officials, much of this problem came to light when neighbors noticed building code violations occurring at the residence in the 2800 block of South 284th Street. Among the violations were un-permitted electrical work and additions to the house. On top of housing sex offenders, the city also discovered that more than the allowable limit of “unrelated” persons in a singlefamily home — five — had been exceeded. [ more OFFENDERS, page 27 ]
Burglaries: Less residential, more commercial By GREG ALLMAIN gallmain@federalwaymirror.com
NEWSPAPER RACKS: To see a list of rack locations for the print edition of The Mirror, visit federalwaymirror.com/about_us.
Residential burglaries have declined in Federal Way, while commercial burglaries have increased, according to recent statistics provided by police. Federal Way Police Chief Brian Wilson reported a significant drop in residential burglaries between the second quarter of 2013 and the same period of time in 2012.
“(Overall) burglary was down 31 percent,” Wilson said in an update on crime statistics at the city council’s Sept. 3 meeting. “Residential burglary in that (same) quarter was a phenomenal drop — 41 percent.” According to the statistics compiled by FWPD, for the 2nd quarter of 2013 (April to June), 129 reports of residential burglary were made, compared to 220 in 2012. Total burglaries for the second quarter — commercial and residential com-
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bined — dropped from 254 in 2012 to 174 this year. Wilson credits the Safe City program, an online monitoring/reporting program that’s been in use in the past few years. “I’m convinced that it’s Safe City. That is our citizens calling us, letting us know about suspicious circumstances and us being able to identify and solve those particular crimes,” Wilson noted. Wilson also had a year-to-year comparison spanning six months,
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and the same downward trend in residential burglary rates was seen for that time period as well. “(That’s) a pretty significant number. (Residential burglary) is down 32 percent, looking at that six-month to six-month comparison,” he said. So far in 2013, 288 incidents of residential burglary have been reported, while in 2012, that number was 424. [ more BURGLARIES, page 26 ]