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VOL. 16, NO. 43
MIRROR
F E D E R A L WAY
DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
OPINION | Mirror endorses candidates for 30th District [6]
COMMUNITY | Business recovering after fire [10] POLICE | Woman pepper sprays man who refused to pay dinner tab [23]
SPORTS | Home run sends FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014 | 75¢ Giants to World Series [12]
CALENDAR | Freaky 5k Zombie Run coming to Celebration Park on Saturday [32]
District 30 political candidates speak out at Mirror’s forum BY SARAH KEHOE AND RAECHEL DAWSON Federal Way Mirror
T
he Federal Way Mirror hosted a public candidate forum Wednesday for the public to meet and speak to District 30 candidates. During the forum, candidates for
the three open legislative seats had the opportunity to speak out about several issues important to the district. Candidates Mark Miloscia, Shari Song, Rep. Linda Kochmar, Greg Baruso and Jack Dovey were present. Rep. Roger Freeman could not attend because he was under-
going cancer treatment. Freeman wrote a letter that was read to the audience, stating he regretted not attending the forum and would be back in good health soon. “I am optimistic that I will make a full recovery and my illness certainly has not stopped me from
being active in the community and continuing to represent the people of the 30th Legislative District,” he wrote. “I just completed my first successful term as your representative and I am proud of what I’ve accomplished.” Freeman’s letter addressed educa-
tion and transportation. “We must satisfy our obligation to fully funding education, but do so by being mindful of the impacts that education budget decisions have on other critical functions of government including law enforce[ more FORUM, page 3 ]
City Council delays marijuana business ban Lack of unanimous vote leaves 19day gap between moratoriums for applicants to apply BY RAECHEL DAWSON rdawson@fedwaymirror.com
Student artists unveil art in park Student artists representing every high school in Federal Way joined Mayor Jim Ferrell and other city leaders in the rain to unveil a series of 10 large murals at Town Square Park on Wednesday. The idea of having student art at the downtown park came about when the mayor spoke to an Advancing Leadership’s Youth 2.0 class. Ten free-standing, wall-size murals, painted in each of the high schools’ colors with the word “welcome” written in 130 languages (all spoken in Federal Way) were mounted all along the park. SARAH KEHOE, the Mirror
The Federal Way City Council voted to enact a six month extension of the moratorium on marijuana-related businesses, including medical marijuana gardens and stores, at a Council meeting on Tuesday. However, because the vote was not unanimous — 5-2 on first reading, 6-1 on second reading — the emergent nature of the law dissolved and the moratorium extension won’t take effect until Nov. 24. The current moratorium expires Nov. 5. An ordinance to a ban on all recreational marijuana businesses and one to extend a moratorium on medical marijuana businesses were initially before the Council that evening, but Councilwoman Susan Honda made a motion to extend the moratoriums for both industries for another six months, stating she felt she needed more information and input. Councilwoman Dini Duclos seconded her motion. “I’m open-minded, I want to learn more and I think the Council deserves the time to have experts come in and talk to us,” Duclos said. “In addition, 53 percent of our voters voted to make marijuana legal. We owe some respect to them.” Councilwoman Lydia Assefa-Dawson, and Deputy Mayor Jeanne Burbidge agreed that banning marijuana businesses in Federal Way was a significant decision to make and that it deserved a thorough analysis. [ more BAN, page 5 ]
Student expelled after police takedown, grandmother questions excessive force BY RAECHEL DAWSON rdawson@fedwaymirror.com
Katerena Lovett recalled it was a special morning before her grandson was taken down by a Federal Way police officer and arrested in a Federal Way High School
hallway. “That was the very first day Angel got his ID,” Lovett said of then-16-year-old Angel Lovett, who is her grandson that she adopted. The two spent the morning of March 5 going back and forth between the Department of Social and Health Services office and the Department of Licensing. Fifty-four dollars for a driver’s license was too much
when she could get it for $5 on a disability voucher. But the day would soon take a turn for the worse. “I dropped him off and about 45 minutes later I get a phone call,” Lovett said. It was from Federal Way police officer Kelly W. Smith. Angel was arrested on suspicion of a stolen backpack and was being transported to a juvenile detention center in Seattle.
Frantic, she called the school and discovered not only was he facing immediate expulsion but that he had allegedly assaulted a police officer. “I said no, my son wouldn’t do that,” said Lovett, who has challenged the school district over her grandson’s expulsion for six months and believes the police officer used excessive force against him. “He wants to be a police officer.”
According to a Federal Way police report, at around 11:18 a.m., Smith, the school resource officer of Federal Way High School, was informed over the high school radio that several staff members were looking for Angel. He had supposedly threatened to “swing” at David McColgan, the 10th and 11th grade Dean of Students administrative intern at the
time. In a written statement that the Mirror obtained through a public records request, McColgan wrote that he saw Angel walk into the school cafeteria carrying two backpacks and shortly after was told by then-interim principal Chad Littrell that a student’s backpack was stolen during lunch. McColgan followed Angel into the gym [ more STUDENT, page 11 ]