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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2013
Property owner wants City to allow marijuana businesses BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
Chris Kealy wants to give the Kent City Council another option as it prepares to adopt a six-month moratorium against recreational marijuana businesses.
Kealy, of Tacoma, asked the council to wait on its moratorium because he wants to open a marijuana producing and processing plant on property he owns in the city’s warehouse district. Kealy, and his Seattle attorney Christine Masse, spoke Tuesday night at the
council’s Public Safety Committee meeting at City Hall. Despite the pleas, the committee of council members Les Thomas, Bill Boyce and Dana Ralph voted 3-0 to forward the six-month marijuana ban to the full seven-member council for consideration at 7 p.m.
on Tuesday, Nov. 19. “Your citizens voted for this so that should be considered,” Kealy said to the committee about the 2012 statewide Initiative 502 passed by voters to allow recreational marijuana producers, processors and retailers.
The city also has received more than a dozen other inquiries from people who want to operate recreational marijuana businesses in Kent, said Acting City Attorney Pat Fitzpatrick in an email on Wednesday. [ more POT page 4 ]
Topps murder case gets under way BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
A jury heard opening statements Tuesday about whether Jorge Lizarraga pulled the trigger of a gun that killed Devin Topps in Kent in 2010 during a fight after a Halloween party. The trial is expected to
last at least until the second week of December in front of King County Superior Court Judge Patrick Oishi and a 16-member jury, 12 of whom will later deliberate the case. Topps, 18, a popular Kentridge High School [ more TRIAL page 5 ]
Kentridge High student dies from car crash injuries BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
IN TRIBUTE Monte Fugate places flowers and a flag at the grave of his son, Bradley, at Hillcrest Cemetery in Kent, on Veterans Day, Monday. Bradley retired as a sergeant in the Air Force and died in 2004. Fugate, a Kent resident, placed yellow roses for Texas, the state Bradley retired to. ROSS COYLE, Kent Reporter
A 16-year-old Kentridge High School junior has died after injuries he suffered Tuesday morning in a multi-car collision in Kent as he drove to school. Teagan McGinnis, who
had been on life support at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, died Tuesday evening, according to Kent School District officials. “We received confirmation from the family that he did pass away during the [ more TEEN page 3 ]
Brewery finds its niche in historic downtown BY ROSS COYLE rosscoyle@kentreporter.com
The oven timer at the Airways Brewing Co. Beer & Bistro goes off, drawing the whole room’s attention to a potentially burned dinner. Chef Brandon Eckert, who
isn’t near the oven, makes an exaggerated dash past the bar, yelling “do it now!” in his best hammed up Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation. The crowd laughs and cheers him on. That’s the kind of atmosphere that Airways Brewery
founders wanted to create at their establishment – a relaxed, friendly and unpretentious brew pub built to help foster interaction in Kent. Airways Brewing celebrated the second anniversary of [ more AIRWAYS page 5 ]
Sharon Rountree, left, visits with Soren Browning at the Airways Brewing Co. Beer & Bistro in downtown Kent. Many of the patrons like the bistro for its communityoriented atmosphere. ROSS COYLE, Kent Reporter
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