Kent Reporter, September 20, 2013

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KENT .com

REPORTER

NEWSLINE 253-872-6600

INSIDE | Kent Fire adds SeaTac to its service area [3]

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2013

Sports | Young star joins the Thunderbirds [22]

State officials to study coal train impact on Kent BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com

The state Department of Ecology (DOE) will study the impact of coal trains on Kent and other cities as part of its draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to be released in 2014 or later in

connection with the proposed Gateway Pacific terminal near Bellingham to ship coal to China. As many as 18 trains per day could run through Kent if the shipping facility is built. The state DOE decided in late July it would conduct a full-scope study.

“It’s an unprecedented scope that includes the environmental impacts to air, land and water from the mines in Montana and Wyoming, through the entire shipment process including short term and long term global effects of burning coal in China and

other points in Asia,” said city of Kent transportation engineering manager Steve Mullen in an email. That includes studying Kent and other cities along the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad tracks.

“(State) Ecology will look at a wide range of issues from rail impacts; how the rail and ship traffic would affect human health, the effects of increased greenhouse gas emissions from rail and ship [ more COAL page 5 ]

City Council debates controversial North Park downtown rezone BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com

Kent City Council members focused on a controversial rezone in North Park near the ShoWare Center during a Tuesday workshop discussion about a new downtown development plan. City staff updated the council about the downtown plan, but the council will not vote on the issue until November.

REPORTER STAFF

King County began to take down the Alvord T. Bridge in Kent this week. Demolition of the bridge and paving of the turn-around are expected to be complete by mid-October. The bridge, originally built in 1914, spans the Green River on 78th Avenue South at the southern city limits. The bridge had low traffic volumes. It was rated as one of the most deficient bridges in the state of Washington and classified as structurally deficient and functionally obsolete. ROSS COYLE, Kent Reporter

Leaders fear hardship with fed food aid cuts BY ROBERT WHALE

The Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act Congress votes on this week would cut food aid by $40 billion over 10 years, affecting up to 6 million hungry families, say alarmed community advocates and people who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP.

Wednesday morning, people with personal knowledge of what such a loss would mean to the people they serve, came together at the Auburn Food Bank to say no. And to urge Congress, particularly U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Auburn, to say no. Among those speaking out were Auburn Food Bank Director Debbie Christian, Kent City

[ more REZONE page 4 ]

Kent man dies from gunshot wound

BRIDGE TO NOWHERE

rwhale@auburn-reporter.com

The city’s Land Use and Planning Board voted 4-3 last month to keep a half block between Fourth and Fifth Avenues, south of Cloudy Street, zoned for townhouses and condos rather than changing it to commercial use. City staff had recommended a rezone to commercial as part of an overall Downtown Subarea Action Plan designed to

Councilwoman Elizabeth Albertson, members of the Washington Community Action Network, members of SNAP, and the Rev. Jimmie James, director of Holistic Opportunities for Personal Empowerment and head of the Kent Black Action Commission. SNAP – also known as Food Stamps – is an anti-poverty [ more CUTS page 11 ]

Kent Police have a homicide investigation under way after the Kent man shot Sept. 10 in the McDonald’s parking lot on the East Hill died Saturday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Gregory Harris, 22, died from a gunshot wound to the head, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. “He was taken off life support (last) Friday, and passed [ more SHOOTING page 4 ]

Difficult times: Kent City Councilmember Elizabeth Albertson looks on after Christina Wong, right, public policy manager of Northwest Harvest and co-chair of the Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Coalition, spoke at a Wednesday news conference at the Auburn Food Bank. ROBERT WHALE, Auburn Reporter


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