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CRIME BLOTTER | Unknown suspect passes off counterfeit $20 bills [2]
VOL. 15, NO. 52
Mirror
F E D E R A L WAY
division of Sound Publishing
OPINION | Publisher: 2014 resolutions [4] Roegner: News you may have missed from 2013 [4] FAMILY FUNLAND | Park to get new merry-go-round for special needs kids [7] CITIZEN OF THE MONTH | The Mirror recognizes local handyman [10]
SPORTS | 2013 year in review for Federal CALENDAR | Curbside holiday tree collection coming your way [11] FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2013 | 75¢ Way sports [18]
Big changes ahead for Federal Way in 2014 Mayor-elect moves police chief to new position
New Mayor Jim Ferrell to take Federal Way driver’s seat By Carrie Rodriguez
by Greg Allmain
editor@fedwaymirror.com
gallmain@fedwaymirror.com
im Ferrell didn’t smoke. A self-described straight-laced student, Ferrell had a list of things he didn’t do — sticking up for his fellow students at Yelm High School wasn’t one of them. So when Ferrell lost the election for junior class president, he dusted off the devastation of losing and found a new way to help students. “I didn’t smoke, I didn’t drink — very straight-laced. But there were a lot of kids who wanted to smoke in high school,” recalled Ferrell, now 47. “So here’s this little square who was a good student and an athlete and I become this proponent of a smoking area at school and making sure there was a demarcation.” Ferrell began attending and speaking up during school board meetings. “We really started making progress on this smoking area and people really started noticing and I took on other issues in regard to bullying and curriculum development,” he said. “So even though I’d lost this position for junior class
Federal Way Mayor-elect Jim Ferrell is changing the city’s management structure, moving current Federal Way Police Department (FWPD) Chief Brian Wilson to a new position as chief of staff, Brian Wilson he announced in a press release Monday. Wilson will be replaced, on an interim basis, by current FWPD Deputy Police Chief Andy Hwang. “I am pleased that our directors have all agreed to continue working for the community,” said Ferrell in the release. “City staff has done tremendous work to provide high-quality services to the community, even during difficult recessionary years. That’s an indication of the quality of the management team, as well, and it’s important to keep this team together.” Wilson said he was pleased to be Ferrell’s chief of staff. [ more CHIEF, page 7 ]
J
Mayor-elect Jim Ferrell recently toured the city of Federal Way’s Public Works maintenance yard and facilities as he gears up to take over the mayor’s office on Jan. 1, 2014. chris carrel, City of Federal Way president, I became even more involved in reform in the school.” By his senior year, he ran again for student body president and he won. “I just remember that moment because I had been on the outside for so long and then walking up to the podium in this little theater in Yelm High School and all of a sudden I’m like, wow, now it’s on me. Now I’ve got to figure out what
we’re going to do and I just remember that transition,” recalled Ferrell, who will officially take his new seat as mayor of Federal Way on Jan. 1, 2014. “I’m in that moment now.”
From Federal Way to football Ferrell has fond memories of growing up in Federal Way, where his family owned a horse farm.
As a boy, he played with his identical twin brother Jeff in the Hylebos Creek, once “catching” a salmon. “I have this distinct memory of grabbing this huge fish by the gills, dragging it all the way up to the house and … my mom goes, ‘Oh my God, what is this,” Ferrell laughed during a recent interview at the Black Bear Diner. “What we didn’t realize was this fish had come upstream to spawn. So
here’s this dead fish on the side of the stream and we thought we caught it.” His father died of a heart attack at the age of 43 when Ferrell was 9 years old. He later moved with his mother and three siblings to Yelm, where he became captain of the football team and graduated from Yelm High School in 1985. When his goals of getting into West Point didn’t pan [ more MAYOR, page 12 ]
Federal Way’s top 10 news stories of 2013
Mirror editorial staff
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The year 2013 was another remarkable one for Federal Way. From fatal shootings that shocked the community, to the city moving forward on an ambitious project that many hope will revitalize the city’s economy, Federal Way saw it all in 2013. Here are the top 10 sto-
ries from 2013, as compiled by The Mirror’s editorial staff: 1. Pinewood Village apartment shooting: In one of the deadliest incidents in Federal Way history, 27-year-old Dennis Clark III fatally shot his girlfriend, Justine E. Baez, in her apartment at the Pinewood Village Apartments in April. Clark,
attempting to flee the scene, was confronted by two men: Ceasar A. Valdovinos, 23 and 47-year-old Bradley Fischer. Clark fatally shot both men. He also killed 62-year-old Roland L. Scobee inside his apartment while Scobee attempted to call 911. Federal Way Police Department officers then shot and killed Clark. [ more 2013, page 13 ]
A memorial site at the Pinewood Village apartments honors four victims who were shot and killed in April. file photo