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INSIDE | Suburban gang council takes shape [3] Sports | Kentridge girls lose division tiebreaker, playoffs next [11]
Music | Audience grows for Tess Henley’s soulful music [9]
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2015
ShoWare Center sets record operating losses in 2014 BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
Despite a small profit in the fourth quarter, the city-owned ShoWare Center had record-setting operating losses in 2014.
The Kent arena lost $752,324 last year, according to the ShoWare Center’s income statement. The arena had expenses of $2.74 million and revenue of $1.98 million. That’s the biggest operating loss since the arena opened in 2009.
The financial loss includes a hit of $182,373 for unexpected repairs to the ice plant equipment, said Arletta Voter, ShoWare finance director, at a Jan. 29 meeting of the Public Facilities District board that helps oversee
arena operations. Without that expense, the loss would have been $569,951. “We did have a very successful fourth quarter,” Voter said about the revenue of $24,781 for the months of October through
December. Tim Higgins, ShoWare Center general manager, said a large number of events helped boost the revenue for the fourth quarter. [ more SHOWARE page 4 ]
City officials consider charging vehicle tab fee BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
Timeless flight Kent’s Charles Asay, a member of the original U.S. Army 101st Airborne, an elite division that parachuted into Normandy on D-Day in 1944, prepares for his return to the skies at iFly Indoor Skydiving in Tukwila last Friday. Asay, who lives at Aegis of
Kent, celebrated his 92nd birthday on Sept. 29, and his birthday wish was to go skydiving. But his children preferred a safer way and worked with the Aegis staff to find an alternative – indoor skydiving. Story, more photos, page 8. ROSS COYLE, Kent Reporter
‘Reaching out from the inside out’ Sikh resident: Community can do more to bridge cultures
BY ROSS COYLE rcoyle@kentreporter.com
While Kent may be a statistically diverse area, its cultures remain considerably isolated among each
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other, and Paul Singh believes it’s time to end that trend. It started with a charity drive, Singh said, where he and his friend, Gurinder Grewal, worked to find
Valentine’s
blankets in the Sikh community to donate over the holidays. The drive raised 120 blankets in 10 days, which, for being the first [ more COMMUNITY page 5 ]
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Kent city officials continue to kick the tires about whether to implement an annual vehicle tab fee of $20 to help pay for street operations and maintenance. City staff gave the City Council a rundown at a Jan. 20 workshop about how the council would need to form a transportation benefit district in order to raise about $1.6 million a year with an annual vehicle license fee of $20 per year. The council would need to form the district and set a fee by June in order to start collecting the money in 2016, said Council Presi-
dent Dana Ralph during a phone interview. “No decision was made,” said Ralph, who added the workshop served mainly as an informational session as the council tries to figure out whether to charge residents the vehicle fee. The council will have a workshop on March 17 to hear from Tim LaPorte, city public works director, about the transportation system and the funding gap for maintenance and projects. “We’ll go further from there if the council shows enough interest to form a transportation benefit district,” Ralph said. [ more FEE page 4 ]
Making a difference: Paul Singh and the Sikhs of Kent are looking for ways to encourage more multicultural interaction in the city. ROSS COYLE, Kent Reporter
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