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INSIDE | Kent-Meridian hurdler chases state berth [17] SEE INSIDE
FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014
Kent pursues new FAA facility for downtown site Seattle among cities competing for large complex
BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
City officials are making another pitch to bring a new Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facility to vacant land in downtown Kent. Kent submitted an expression of interest on May 16 to the U.S. Gen-
eral Services Administration (GSA), which will oversee selection of a new site for a 300,000-square-foot facility to handle approximately 1,600 employees. The GSA plans to award a site in March 2015 and the new offices are scheduled to open in August 2017 as the FAA leaves its current SeaTac
and Renton locations that do not meet criteria for the larger facility. The new site will require about 1,200 parking spaces. “The competition will be strong but early indications are we will be competitive,” Ben Wolters, city economic and community development director, told the City Council on
May 6. “Downtown Seattle is going for it as well.” The city of Kent owns the Naden property downtown that it would use for the FAA offices. The Naden site is south of West Meeker Street and north of Willis Street. Its western [ more FAA page 5 ]
City, state clash on whether pot retail outlets violate buffer
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND
BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
State Liquor Control Board and city of Kent officials disagree about how many proposed recreational marijuana retail stores in town sit outside of the 1,000-foot state buffer requirement from schools, parks and daycare centers. Just three of the nine retail store applicants in Kent on the liquor board are outside of the 1,000-foot barrier, according to city officials. The state claims all nine are outside of it. Both the city and state say they use a geographic information system (GIS) to measure the distances. A GIS is a computer system that captures the geographic data.
Don Hanson sailed many seas during World War II aboard the USS Idaho, a formidable battleship. MARK KLAAS, Kent Reporter
FULFILLING HIS DUTY ON HOSTILE SEAS Local man looks back on eventful, fortuitous career in the Navy
[ more BUFFER page 5 ]
School district reviews practices BY ROSS COYLE rcoyle@kentreporter.com
BY MARK KLAAS mklaas@kentreporter.com
F
ar off though he was, the young sailor witnessed the ebb and flow of monumental, bloody battles, as American amphibious forces landed on enemy-occupied islands in the Pacific theater of World War II.
Saw a gravely wounded Pearl Harbor stagger to its feet in the aftermath of Imperial Japan’s surprise attack. Walked the streets of Nagasaki, flattened only months before by an atomic bomb. Don Hanson saw many things in his swift, eventful, unforgettable five years aboard a U.S. Navy battleship. And as he reflects this holiday week-
end on his military career and on the many friends who never came back, the Kent man, a member of Auburn VFW Post 1741, knows he has a lot to be thankful for. Fit, sharp and active at 91, Hanson often returns to his days as a gunner’s
Two weeks after an estimated 80 concerned parents and teachers aired their grievances about the state of early elementary special services at a Kent School Board meeting, the district has responded. District officials presented the board with the Inclusive Education Review, an assessment
[ more HANSON page 2 ]
[ more REVIEW page 11 ]
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