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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014
City considers starting up FM radio station sors can be found to fund the operation. Mayor Suzette Cooke, who proposed the idea for the radio station, has asked the City Council for up to $50,000 in the 2015 budget to hire a consultant to study the
BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
If the city of Kent operated an FM radio station, would anyone listen to it? That’s a question city officials would like to Cooke know the answer to as they try decide whethissue. er it would be worth starting “I have to admit it made up a radio station. They also [ more RADIO page 11 ] want to know whether spon-
Kent-Meridian High School substitute Shelly Falkner patrols her IB Spanish classroom to keep students on task and encourage study time. While Falkner knows little about Spanish, she’s needed at least to be an adult in the room and be there to answer questions students have about assignments. ROSS COYLE, Kent Reporter
Dispute continues over mayor’s condo fees BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke still hasn’t paid Meridian Valley Country Club condo association fees and assessments that have reached more than $25,000 for new roofs and painting, according to a condo owner in the same complex. But Cooke told the Kent Reporter on Tuesday that she
SUBSTITUTE SHORTAGE School districts scramble to fill the gaps, and empty classrooms
hasn’t paid any fees and assessments because the condo isn’t hers. “It’s not my condo,” she said. “It belonged to my husband and his estate. He leveraged the condo for his business and the estate is bankrupt. …It now belongs to the mortgage company.”
BY ROSS COYLE AND ROBERT WHALE Reporter newspapers
As the economy continues its upswing, school districts in South King County are seeing a decline in substitute teachers. Since the beginning of 2014, the Kent School District has managed to fill an average of 78 percent of its needs for substitute slots, according to
[ more COOKE page 5 ]
district spokesman Chris Loftis. According to a Northwood Middle School teacher in Kent, who spoke about the issue anonymously, that number may be even smaller. On any given day the Auburn and Kent school districts may each need as many as 300 substitute teachers yet be able to find only half that number, he said. What that means, the teacher says, is that too often the district has to pull teachers away from their break periods or combine classes. [ more SHORTAGE page 4 ]
Woman wants to keep her food bank going But the city says private operation violates code BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
Sharon Carter scrambles up into a pickup to help unload produce boxes of spinach, lettuce and celery for the food distribution she
does the next day for anyone who is hungry. “If they come in with a lot of bling-bling or come in all muddy, I’m not here to judge, I’m here to feed people,” Carter says about the
Wednesday and Saturday morning food bank she’s run since 2008 out of her home on Kent’s East Hill. But the 64-year-old woman ran into a problem this month when the city of Kent sent her a final notice of a code violation for [ more CARTER page 2 ]
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Kent’s Sharon Carter just wants to feed people despite the fact her food bank is in violation of city code. STEVE HUNTER,
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