.com
COMMUNITY | Mirror’s Citizen of the Month for February is Bob Darrigan [4]
VOL. 16, NO. 9
Mirror
F E D E R A L WAY
division of Sound Publishing
OPINION | Introducing new Mirror editorial board members [4] Roegner: Rumors swirl around Miloscia’s comeback [4] BUSINESS | Kohl’s, Total Wine celebrating grand openings [12] LITERACY | Councilmember’s new book highlights diving adventures [13-24]
SPORTS | Four FW athletes win state FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2014 | 75¢ titles in wrestling, swimming [9]
Missing local girl added on trucking trailers
Outpouring of love for student with inoperable tumor
By Carrie Rodriguez crodriguez@fedwaymirror.com
Dianne Zoro had seen the girls along Pacific Highway South before. The mother of four daughters saw girls walking to the bus stop as she drove home from work to her Federal Way apartment near 272nd Street nearly every day since she moved here. She always felt bad for the girls who, for whatever reason, felt they needed to sell their bodies for money. She envisioned the girls as young single mothers with babies they couldn’t afford to feed. But she never paid much attention to them. Until her 17-year-old daughter went missing. “I started driving that stretch day and night and all of a sudden it struck me how many girls were out there,” said Zoro, whose daughter Danica Childs disappeared from a Kent motel associated with drugs and prostitution in December of 2007. “Then looking at their faces and realizing that Danica was 17, but I was seeing girls who were much younger.” Zoro later learned that her daughter’s boyfriend was a pimp and Danica was working as a prostitute. During an event on Monday morning, Zoro and three of her daughters were at Gordon Trucking in Pacific, Wash., where company officials and members of the Washington State Patrol unveiled a trucking trailer with a large poster of Danica on [ more MISSING, page 2 ]
BLOTTER | Cat injured in trap; teens assault homeless man [26]
By CASEY OLSON sports@fedwaymirror.com
T
Above, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin greets Decatur High School seniors Dom Cooks (glasses) and his twin sister, Diamond (left), during a special graduation ceremony held Feb. 20 at Decatur High School. Dom Cooks has terminal brain cancer and received his diploma in front of a packed audience of students, teachers, family and friends from throughout the community. Left, Dom Cooks watches the proceedings during the ceremony with dozens of candy necklaces on the outside of his graduation gown. photos by casey olson
here were dozens of Kleenex boxes lining every row of the bleachers inside the Decatur High School gymnasium on Feb. 20. The tissue was there because officials knew it would be needed. Decatur held a special early graduation ceremony for twin brother and sister, Dom and Diamond Cooks, in front of a packed audience. Decatur organized the commencement ceremony after Dom Cooks was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in the spring of 2012. Cooks, who was given three to six months to live earlier in the fall, also recently went to the doctor and was told that the tumor has spread throughout his brain. The cancer is sitting on Cooks’s brain and doctors cannot surgically remove it because of its location. Chemotherapy and radiation is the only option for shrinking the tumor. Last year, the treatments seemed to have killed the tumor in his brain. But the tumor grew back and led to a dire diagnosis. The National Cancer Institute estimates there were about 23,000 new cases of brain cancer diagnosed in 2012. The event had the feel of a normal high school graduation. Programs were distributed at the door, the Decatur orchestra played the recognizable processional and the school’s chorus sang a pair of songs. There was a long list of speakers, who spoke about the graduates, and the Federal Way school board accepted the graduation of the Cooks, who wore caps and gowns. But there was nothing “normal” about the event. Cooks’s infectious attitude has become a staple throughout the halls during his time at Decatur. He makes the morning announcements every day, which include some type of inspirational message. He was also appointed as an Associated Student Body officer by the Decatur students and was named the Homecoming King in the fall. “What stands out for me is that Dom treats every[ more DOM COOKS, page 3 ]
Meet the candidates: 16 up for vacant Federal Way City Council seat From staff reports
During a special Council meeting on Monday night, the Federal Way City Council unanimously voted to release the application materials for the vacant Council position to the
public. Mayor Jim Ferrell called the special meeting on Friday in response to The Mirror’s public request for city officials to disclose that information. Councilmember Dini Duclos was absent from the
meeting. The Council also voted to redact the candidate’s home addresses and phone numbers from the applications. The Council will choose from 16 candidates for the seat that Ferrell vacated when he became mayor in
January. They will interview the candidates and make the appointment during a public meeting that will run from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 1 at City Hall. A total of 20 candidates
ALLwww.AllRightAutoSale.com RIGHT AUTO SALES Quality Cars 33333 Pacific Hwy S • 253-839-4701
$500 OFF Downpayment Does not apply to already discounted internet/car sticker prices.
applied, however two did not meet residency requirements and two withdrew their applications. Here’s a short profile of the candidates based on information they submitted to the city: [ more COUNCIL, page 5 ]