.com
COMMUNITY | Operation Write Home sends handmade cards to soldiers [6]
VOL. 16, NO. 32
MIRROR
F E D E R A L WAY
DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
OPINION | Editor’s Note: A look ahead at general election coverage [4] Roegner: City’s economic future conversation [4] POLICE | Man threatens to jump off Interstate 5 overpass in Federal Way [7] CLOSURE | King County Aquatic Center to close for improvements [9]
SPORTS | Desna Soccer Club to host FRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 2014 | 75¢ annual festival [14]
Man charged with vehicular homicide in 2013 DUI accident BY ALISA GRAMANN agramann@fedwaymirror.com
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Federal Way man was charged with vehicular homicide and second-degree manslaughter on July 24 in Grant County Superior Court. In addition to those charges, Darrell W. Harris, 56, also faces DUI charges in an accident that killed 35-year-old Sheri Ann Warner of Seattle. The alleged crimes occurred on Aug. 24, 2013, when Harris and Warner, his passenger, were riding on his motorcycle on eastbound Interstate 90 around 9:30 p.m. Both had been drinking, according to court documents. For reasons unknown, Warner fell off the motorcycle and Harris was unable to hold on to her. Warner was then struck by oncoming traffic an unknown number of times. One vehicle that unknowingly struck Warner was identified, Harris said an 18-wheeler also struck the victim, according to court documents. Warner was
pronounced dead at the scene. A witness said the motorcycle passed him going between 80 and 85 mph in a posted 70-mph zone, documents continue. The motorcycle was swerving in its lane and executed an “aggressive lane change.” The witness noticed debris in the road and saw the motorcycle turn around and head west in the eastbound lanes to collect what it dropped, the documents continue. After she fell off, Warner slid on the ground for more than 100 feet, resting in the middle of the left lane. Warner then experienced severe trauma as officers believe at least two cars struck her. Harris was sitting in the median when Washington State Patrol troopers arrived and became aggressive, cursing and yelling until an officer tased him twice, the documents state. Harris and Warner were heading to Soap Lake to meet Harris’s brother because their mother had died a week prior, according to court documents.
BUSINESS | Chamber CEO unveils new efforts to attract, retain businesses [16]
Blueberry farm celebrates 60 years BY RAECHEL DAWSON rdawson@federalwaymirror.com
Moroccan Mystique
Vendors show off their wares during FUSION’s “Moroccan Mystique” annual fundraiser on Wednesday at the Dumas Bay Centre. More than 500 people attended the event, which raised $170,000 to benefit the organization that provides housing and supportive services to homeless families. RAECHEL DAWSON, the Mirror
At the edge of Lake Dolloff sits five acres of organic blueberries ready to be picked. A girl named Ava holds up a blueberry and plops it in her mouth. She’s been coming to the farm with her grandmother and sisters for about two years. The blueberries at Higher Taste Blueberry Farm are nestled in a neighborhood between Federal Way and Auburn and sell for $2.50 a pound if picked, $5 already picked. Blueberry farm owner Mary King said this season marks the 60th anniversary the berries were planted and they’re currently in their prime. A married couple, the Olsons, bought the property along with three-and-a-half acres across the street 60 years ago and planted all of the trees themselves, King recalls. The two harvested the berries and also used it to make blueberry jam. King said she still has some of the recipes. The wife owned the property until she was 93 years old, King said. Then in 1998 the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, a Hindu religious organization, owned the property until 2000 when it was sold to a man who grew up around the farm. He owned the land for five years, keeping a cow on the property and later Indian Brahman cattle and race horses that would compete at Emerald Downs. But in 2005, the farm’s 51st anniversary, he sold King the five acres and kept the remaining three-and-a-half acres until [ more BLUEBERRY, page 6 ]
Comic book owner to auction first Superman comic for over $2 million BY ALISA GRAMANN agramann@fedwaymirror.com
In June 1938, Superman made his earth debut in “Action Comics No. 1.” Starting Aug. 14, comic
book fans, nerds, collectors and the general public alike can bid on the rare book, which is being auctioned on eBay. The book, which cost 10 cents when it was first printed, is expected to sell for a bit more. “The sky’s the limit on this book,” said Darren Adams, owner of the comic book and Pristine Com-
ics, an online comic book market. “Action Comics No. 1” introduced the world to Superman, the first of the superheroes, Adams said. “Superman was an instant hit,” he said. “The character came out of nowhere.” The idea took off and demand for the book spiked,
despite the Great Depression. “Out of nowhere this guy shows up in leotards and a cape and was a superhero,” Adams said. Superman was the first in a new trend of superheroes. One of perhaps only 34 unrestored originals, Adams’s book was rated 9.0 on the Certified Guaranty
Company’s rating scale. It is the highest grade an “Action Comics No. 1” has ever received. Only one other copy has received a 9.0 rating and that copy sold for nearly $2.2 million in 2011 — the most a comic book has sold for to date. Adams’s book is in even better condition. [ more COMIC, page 2 ]
“This book is in a class all itself,” Adams said. Certified Guaranty Company views comic books and provides a third-party grade based on any wear, tear and flaws in the book, such as page discoloration, tears and creases on pages. Books are viewed by multiple experts to determine a grade, which means