Kent Reporter, April 18, 2014

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INSIDE | City concerned about cleanup plan for hazardous waste [3]

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Sports | Father, daughter poised to run first Boston Marathon [12]

FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2014

City Council extends marijuana business ban BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com

The Kent City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved renewal of a ban against marijuana businesses for another

six months. Six people testified against the ban during a public hearing before the 7-0 vote. Nobody spoke in favor of the ban. The city’s ban applies to recreational marijuana businesses that

voters approved statewide in 2012 when they passed Initiative 502 as well as medical marijuana collective gardens. The council passed its initial ban in November. The state Liquor Control Board is in the process of issuing licenses

for marijuana producers, processors and retailers. The first retail stores are expected to open this summer but won’t be allowed in Kent as the new ban runs from May 27 to Nov. 7. Councilman Dennis Higgins,

who opposed every previous council ban against marijuana businesses, voted in favor of the renewed ban. He said he hopes city staff ’s plan to submit zoning [ more BAN page 3 ]

Jury convicts Phillip for murder of city of Kent employee

William Phillip Jr. talks with one of his defense attorneys after a King County Superior Court jury convicted him last Friday of first-degree murder for the 2010 stabbing death of Seth Frankel. STEVE HUNTER, Kent Reporter BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com

It would be easy to think Richard Frankel might have closure after a jury convicted William L. Phillip Jr. of first-degree murder for the 2010 stabbing death of his son, Seth Frankel, an Auburn resident and city of Kent employee. But after sharing hugs and tears with family and friends following the verdict last Friday in King County Superior Court, Richard Frankel responded during an interview about whether he feels any closure. “I don’t think there is ever closure,” said Frankel, who traveled from his Hawaii home to attend the trial at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. “Most of us don’t have very many people in our lives who are so close to us and tell you every time they see you or talk to you ‘I love you.’ You can’t replace that.” [ more MURDER page 4 ]

MAGIC MAN

Master Payne, a ‘comedic conjurer,’ presents his audience with a trick based off the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe. Payne appeared at the Kent Library last Friday to provide a free show for all ages. Story, more photos, page 8. ROSS COYLE, Kent Reporter

Kent-Meridian trying to encourage more grads BY ROSS COYLE rcoyle@kentreporter.com

Kentridge High School sent 78 percent of its graduating class to college in 2012. Kentwood sent 77 percent, Kentlake 70 percent. But Kent-Meridian High School sent only 56 percent of its seniors to college, according to the Washington State Education Research and Data Center. So why did only 180 of the school’s 323 seniors in the 2012 class continue

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on to a postsecondary education? The school has averaged a postsecondary rate of 60 percent over the last eight years, according to state statistics. The problem is complex and sprawling, much like Kent itself, and can only be answered one piece at a time. Kent-Meridian Principal Wade Barringer put it simply that “we are a different school” from the Kent School District’s other high schools. “The big thing is to recognize that we

serve a different population, a different socioeconomic class,” Barringer explained. “We’re 44-percent transient. That, right there in itself, means that we don’t have the luxury of kids coming to K-M in ninth grade and stay here for four years.” The problems also are exacerbated by serving an area with low socioeconomic standing. Of the neighborhoods Kent-Meridian serves, which include [ more K-M page 3 ]

2014

23826 104th Ave. SE Kent Suzanne & Jim Berrios, Owners

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