Kent Reporter, January 16, 2015

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INSIDE | Man gets 25 years for attack on corrections officer at RJC [3]

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Sports | Kentridge’s Dugan shines as recordsetting scorer [8]

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015

Board chair: city should call ShoWare loan a subsidy BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com

If a city loan to the ShoWare Center is really a subsidy, then it should be called a subsidy. That’s the opinion of the Public Facilities District (PFD) board

chairman Mike Miller, who helps oversees operations at the cityowned arena, in connection with a finding by the state Auditor’s Office that the board’s financial statement misrepresented the $18 million debt because the district cannot generate enough money to

repay the city for the loan. “The point I am trying to make is it’s not an asset in my opinion,” Miller said at an exit conference on Jan. 9 with the state Auditor’s Office. “The wording should have been changed sometime ago. If I came in as a loan underwriter

and looked at the financials and saw a large loan payable and loan receivable from an entity, I would question that as a loan receivable.” The City Council voted in December to table a decision until March about changing the city’s agreement with the PFD to call

CHANGES FOR IMPLODED IMPACT New ownership in the works for troubled franchise

the debt a loan or a subsidy. Several council members have said they think the arena could still make money and then the PFD could begin to pay back the loan. City officials set up the repayment [ more SHOWARE page 2 ]

King County jails consider bookand-release policy

BY ROSS COYLE BY STEVE HUNTER

rcoyle@kentreporter.com

Dion Earl was so sure of his ability to raise a top arena soccer team. Six months ago at the Seattle Impact FC’s opening news conference, Earl expected to fill the 6,500seat ShoWare Center. Six months later, the Impact are faltering, dropping to last place in the Major Arena Soccer League’s Pacific Division at 3-10, with six games left in the regular season. Star player Gordy Gurson was traded to the St. Louis Ambush on Monday morning. Attendance at home games has been in the double digits.

shunter@kentreporter.com

The Impact’s Francisco Cisneros battles San Diego’s Nick Perera for the ball during MASL action at the ShoWare Center earlier this season. The lowly Impact are 3-10 and up for sale. ROSS COYLE, Reporter And now the Tacoma Stars are on the verge of buying the fledgling franchise. The MASL has vetted Stars owner Lane

Smith and approved him for team ownership, with the transition “95 percent complete,” as of noon Wednesday, according to

a news release. Smith clarified that he won’t be taking over the [ more IMPACT page 9 ]

King County officials are backing off on a new book-and-release program at county jails in Kent and Seattle for people arrested for stealing cars, vehicle prowls and other nonviolent felony crimes. County officials had planned to release, starting Feb. 1, anyone arrested for such a crime within hours rather than a few days after police officers bring them in to the Maleng Regional Justice Center (RJC) in Kent or to the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle. But after a week of objections to the proposal by elected officials and

police chiefs, the county will look at other options to save money before implementing the book-andrelease plan. The early release would cut costs by about $5.2 million over the next two years by keeping vacant units at each jail closed. “This will not result in more people being released from jail into Seattle or Kent,” said Chad Lewis, deputy director of communications for County Executive Dow Constantine, during a phone interview. “This will result in people being released within a few hours rather than few days (after a hearing before a [ more POLICY page 4 ]

Parents, teachers concerned about problems with special education BY ROSS COYLE rcoyle@kentreporter.com

Heidi is the stepmother of a special needs student at KentMeridian High School. She can’t always understand what he says, which comes out in short bursts

of “ye” and “nu,” but she can see the fear in his eyes when she talks about sending him to school. Heidi’s son functions at a level barely above third grade, and Heidi says he learns best through repetition and constant coaching. Such tasks can be sweeping

or writing a word, but learning requires constant repetition, specified on his IEP (individualized education program). Heidi is concerned that the school never even looked at the IEP. She requested that her last name and her stepson’s name be

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withheld for privacy. Heidi believes that the problem is that K-M hasn’t tailored its special education instruction to students’ IEPs, instead opting for top-down curriculum. Because her stepson isn’t getting the repeated instruction that he

needs, she said he’s regressed in his limited intellectual ability. Heidi has written multiple extensive emails to the school district and teachers, and has repeatedly gotten the runaround [ more SPECIAL ED page 3 ]

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