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SCHOOLS | McLean named new interim superintendent of school district [2]
VOL. 16, NO. 20
MIRROR
F E D E R A L WAY
DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
OPINION | Editorial: Lessons learned from school district turbulence [4] Roegner: Will mayor keep PACC promise? [4] CRIME | Employee charged with embezzling from Community Center [3] COMMUNITY | Decatur to offer free heart screenings on May 21 [8]
SPORTS | Beamer baseball team thrives CITY | City outlines impacts of Metro cuts, FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2014 | 75¢ on remodeled home field [10] reductions due to Prop 1 failure [13]
Suspect wanted in fatal shooting spree
Panel finds proposed PACC a positive for city BY GREG ALLMAIN gallmain@fedwaymirror.com
The Blue Ribbon Panel (BRP) found that the proposed Performing Arts and Conference Center (PACC) is a feasible project for the city to pursue and presented its findings to the Federal Way City Council during a special Council meeting on May 8. Some of the sub-committees the BRP created to study the issue also added some new information to the overall picture of the PACC’s feasibility. “Frankly, this is an opportunity for the Council and myself to hear these recommendations, these findings for the first time, and it will be an opportunity for the Council to really drill down on these and have some discussion,” Mayor Jim Ferrell said. Ferrell’s chief of staff Brian Wilson explained the mission of the BRP and how the work was divided among its nine members. “There were three areas that were under the purview of the panel to make findings and review objective information: The review of construction cost estimates and financing options, (a) review of the operational pro forma, and (a) review of the potential economic and fiscal impacts, of the proposed Performing Arts and Conference Center,” Wilson said. “(This) was
Two victims in Federal Way shootings identified BY CARRIE RODRIGUEZ AND GREG ALLMAIN The Mirror
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King rings in new market season
Danny Vernon brings the energy of Elvis to the stage during the opening day of the Federal Way Farmers Market’s 11th season on May 10. Mayor Jim Ferrell and local elected officials helped kick off the opening day celebrations, while a record number of people shopped at the market, said Rose Ehl, the market’s events coordinator. The farmers market runs through Oct. 25 at at The Commons Mall near Sears. COURTESY OF BRUCE HONDA
BY CARRIE RODRIGUEZ editor@fedwaymirror.com
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An African American teacher at TAF Academy who refused to publicly read a poem entitled “Niggerlips” in 2013 has filed a civil lawsuit against Federal Way Public Schools. Tenesha Fremstad claims the school district discriminated MOUNTING • AIR CHECKS • ROTATIONS against her when the school’s ROAD HAZARD • FLAT REPAIR then-instructional coach Pam Wise handed out
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Bernard Bellerouche, 28, is wanted in connection with three shootings that killed two victims in Federal Way. COURTESY FWPD Mount Rainier graduate Sean Copeland, a private in the Marines who served with Gabriel during training at the Naval Air Station in Pensicola, Fla., said Gabriel inspired him to join the military last year. “We used to work out a lot,” Copeland said, noting how Gabriel motivated him. “He helped me lose all the weight.” Gabriel enlisted in the Marines in 2011, according to his Facebook page. He was a lance corporal. A second victim was shot and killed in the Silver Shadow apartments parking lot on May 7, within one week of the second shooting in Federal Way. According to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, Demario Washington, 27, died of a [ more SHOOTINGS, page 11 ]
Teacher files lawsuit against school district over racial discrimination
[ more PANEL, page 9 ]
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olice are searching for a suspect they believe is involved in three recent shootings that killed two victims in Federal Way and injured another victim in Des Moines. “We have reason to believe, through witness statements, that (the suspect) and several unnamed associates were present at all three incidents,” said Federal Way police spokesperson Cathy Schrock in an email. The most recent shooting on Tuesday killed a Marine, 22-year-old George J. Gabriel, who was on military leave during the incident. He and his wife were visiting his mother at the Mariposa Apartments in the 28100 block of 18th Ave. S. when the suspect shot and killed Gabriel in the parking lot, police said. He died of his wounds while at Harborview Medical Center. Gabriel graduated in 2010 from Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines. Many in the school community grieved his loss this week, including teachers, and current and former students.
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poems to staff during a meeting on the school’s professional development day, known as Data Day, on May 3, 2013. Fremstad refused to read the poem by Martín Espada because she did not want to use the word “nigger” as the only African American teacher in the room full of staff, according to the lawsuit that was filed on May 9 in King County Superior Court. Fremstad was unavailable for comment. District spokesperson Debra Stenberg said
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due to the pending litigation, the district is unable to comment on this matter. After several meetings with TAF principal Paul Tytler, other administrators and union president Jason Brown in May 2013, Fremstad filed a grievance with the district later that month over the perceived “racially offensive poem.” Fremstad claims district staff and administra[ more LAWSUIT, page 12 ]
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