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INSIDE | Rep. Sullivan pays district a visit [2]
It’s Blue Friday! See inside for our special
Seahawk Section
Friday, JANUARY 31, 2014
Kent awards $6.7 million bid to repair levee
KENT GEARS UP FOR SUPER BOWL XLVIII
Logo look Super shave: Billy-Cory Burgans carves a Seahawks logo into Kent resident Charles Belcher’s hair on Tuesday. Belcher is one of dozens of fans who have frequented Barry’s Barber Shop on Central Avenue to get a unique styled cut in celebration of the Seahawks’ season. Kent fans are excited about Sunday’s game, see story, page 5. ROSS COYLE, Kent Reporter
By Steve Hunter shunter@kentreporter.com
Off to the big game: from left, Jacqueline, Laura, Zoe and Geraldine are four Sea Gals from the Kent and Auburn area who will cheer on the Seahawks from the sideline at Super Bowl XLVIII in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday. ROSS COYLE, Kent Reporter
LOCAL SEA GALS SUPER BOWL BOUND By Steve Hunter shunter@kentreporter.com
T
he emotions of 33 women with a close-up view of the Seattle Seahawks couldn’t help but explode when they saw the play that saved the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers. “That last play when Richard Sherman tipped the ball, that was the moment when all of the Sea Gals looked at each other and starting tearing and crying, and
we were like ‘this is happening, we’re going to the Super Bowl,’” says Jacqueline, a 2012 Kentridge High School graduate and one of 33 members of the Seahawks NFL cheerleading squad. “I looked in the eyes of our fans and saw their faces all lit up, and that just set my heart on fire,” says Geraldine, a 2007 Kentwood graduate, about the tip heard
SUPER BOWL Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos, 3:25 p.m. Sunday, East Rutherford, N.J., FOX 13 TV, KIRO 710 AM, 97.3 FM
around the world. The Sea Gals, including four women who graduated from Kentridge, Kentwood or [ more SEA GALS page 5 ]
Crews are expected to start work this spring to repair the Briscoe-Desimone levee along the Green River that protects portions of Kent, Tukwila and Renton from flooding. The Kent City Council awarded a bid of $6.7 million on Jan. 21 to Tapani, Inc., to make the improvements along the levee that stretches from South 180th Street to South 200th Street. Tapani had the lowest of 10 bids that were as high as $9.2 million. City engineers estimated the cost at $8.4 million. “We’re very, very pleased with the bids,” Public Works Director Tim LaPorte said to the council. “We received excellent bids from 10 bidders, which really surprised me. I was expecting about four. They were very competitive and we have checked out the qualifications of the
low bidder. They’ve done their most recent work with Klickitat County and received a thumbs up rating.” Tapani is based in Battle Ground in Southwest Washington. Ironically, how to repair the levee became a battle ground between the city of Kent and King County officials. The King County Flood Control District board hired an outside consultant and eventually agreed to go with the city’s plan to repair the 2.5-mile levee rather than a much-more expensive county plan that included purchasing large amounts of property around the river. A state grant of $7 million and King County Flood Control District funds will pay for this project and a second project next year along the levee. Engineers estimate the total repair cost at about $18 million. [ more LEVEE page 4 ]
Six apply so far for council seat By Steve Hunter shunter@kentreporter.com
Six people have applied so far for the vacant Kent City Council position. The early applicants include Dean Carlson, Elliot Heifetz, Richard L. Mauser, Michael Sealfon, Lauren Stephan and Cheri Stewart, according to an email Tuesday from City Clerk Ronald Moore. Sealfon is the only one who has recently run for the coun-
SUNDAY AN-EAT HAPPY HOUR DRINKS & APPETIZERS ALL-YOU-C BRUNCH M Suzanne & Jim Berrios, Owners 9AM-1:30P
cil. He lost to Dana Ralph in a 2011 City Council race. He also applied for a council vacancy in 2008 filled by Jamie (Danielson) Perry. The position became vacant when Ken Sharp resigned Jan. 16 after only two weeks in office because of pending first-degree theft charges. His resignation left the sevenmember council one person short. [ more VACANCY page 4 ]
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