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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015
City Council postpones fireworks ban vote for further discussion BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
The Kent City Council’s vote on a potential fireworks ban turned out
to be a dud. The council voted 6-0 on Tuesday night to delay a scheduled vote on a fireworks ban. Instead, the council will further discuss
the proposed ordinance at a Jan. 19 council workshop. Kent voters approved a ban in an advisory vote to the council on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.
A total of 10,430 (62.59 percent) favored a ban while 6,233 (37.41 percent) opposed it. The ban would prohibit the sale, possession and discharge of consumer
fireworks. “I made this motion so that the entire council can have an opportunity to discuss the actual ordinance before us,” Council
President Dana Ralph said about removing the action item from the agenda to postpone a vote. “We did [ more BAN page 4 ]
Fincher admits to campaign report violations after complaint filed BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
Kent City Councilwoman Brenda Fincher admitted on Tuesday that she had failed to meet the deadlines for filing campaign expenditures and contributions reports with the state Public Disclosure Commission (PDC). The PDC posted Nov. 12 on its website that it is reviewing a complaint filed by Kent resident Bailey Stober that during Fincher’s recent winning campaign for the council, she failed to timely disclose Fincher candidate expenditures made by her campaign and failed to timely deposit campaign contributions dating to Sept. 1. “They were actually filed late,” Fincher said during an interview prior to the
Fall ride
A cyclist puts in some miles along the Interurban Trail between storms last week. The Green River Valley was deluged with powerful rain and windstorms, but forecasters expected drier, colder weather to move into the area by week’s end. MARK KLAAS, Kent Reporter
[ more FINCHER page 4 ]
Tenants seek eviction help from City Council Auditors investigating college BY STEVE HUNTER shunter@kentreporter.com
Tenants are rising up in Kent in an effort to get the City Council to adopt what’s known as a just cause eviction ordinance. Tenants, community lead-
ers and a Tenants Union of Washington State representative are part of a group that early next year plans to approach the council to approve a new ordinance to give renters protection from landlords who plan to evict them or force them to move without a just cause.
BY HEIDI SANDERS
The city of Seattle has a just cause ordinance and many other cities around the country have it, says Josh Camacho, a community organizer with Tenants Union of Washington State, who is working with Kent tenants to get a new law passed.
hsanders@kentreporter.com
A team of auditors from the U.S. Department of Education visited Green River College’s campus this week to investigate potential Clery Act violations. The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and
Campus Crime Statistics Act is a federal statute that requires colleges and universities participating in federal student aid programs to publish an annual security report that accurately discloses campus crime statistics [ more COLLEGE page 5 ]
[ more TENANTS page 5 ]
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