22 In Review -- The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Year's end always seems an appropriate time to look back and remember the good, the bad and the ugly.

South King and North Pierce counties have had their share of all three. For example: In a goodwill mission, a Federal Way woman spearheaded an effort to bring 15 Croatian and Bosnian teens to the United States to escape the war in the former Yugoslavia (the good); an Inaugural Day windstorm whipped up a frenzy and killed a Kent man (the bad), and guns brought death, including a fatal shooting in front of SeaTac Mall (the ugly).

Here's a look at some of the news in the South End in 1993:

------- JANUARY -------

The Boeing Co. announces production slowdowns that by year's end will cost 10,800 jobs here. Companies that supply Boeing also are forced to trim their work forces. The cuts hit South King County cities especially hard: Renton alone loses 10,000 jobs from layoffs and transfers.

Auburn developer Patrick Hendley is sentenced to six months of home confinement, five years of probation and 300 hours of community service after pleading guilty to bank fraud and bankruptcy fraud.

Auguring the troubles at Federal Way City Hall, which will end with City Manager Brent McFall's resignation later in the year, a City Council meeting deteriorates into a snipefest between council members and city workers. City employees complain council members interfere in their work. Council members complain about not getting enough respect from the staff.

On the day of Bill Clinton's inauguration as president, a windstorm rips through the Puget Sound area, scattering trees and downing power lines. A Kent man is killed by a falling tree, a Federal Way man is paralyzed, and thousands of people go for days without power.

The 562-foot brick Asarco smelter smokestack comes crashing down with a series of crackles and a cloud of dust in Ruston, outside Tacoma. The smokestack, built in 1917, is removed because of its deterioration and because the site is being cleaned of contamination.

-------- FEBRUARY --------

Removing a cloud over future residential development, a Kent School District task force recommends a new definition of school capacity. Its proposal would allow more students to attend classes in portable buildings.

The Federal Way City Council responds to the uproar after its decision to close a homeless shelter by arranging to give homeless people bus fare to Seattle, where they can stay at a Salvation Army shelter. The homeless, preferring Federal Way, do not go.

Japanese visitors from the sea town of Hachinohe tour Federal Way. In Japanese, they exclaim that the city's residential streets, the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center and other sites are "awesome." Federal Way officials had visited the Japanese town earlier. The two communities set up a sister-city arrangement that someday may bring Japanese businesses to Federal Way.

----- MARCH -----

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sides with Christian students at Lindbergh High School who have sought to form a Bible club since 1984. The court rejects the Renton School District's argument that the state constitution takes precedence over the federal Equal Access Act.

Boeing says it will vacate nearly 1.2 million square feet of office space in South King County during 1993 as it scales back airliner production, lays off workers and consolidates operations.

Fifteen Croatian and Bosnian teens are brought to King County for a year to escape the war in the former Yugoslavia. The program was begun by Kim Pennock, a 29-year-old Federal Way woman who decided one night in her quiet Federal Way apartment that she had to do something to help out.

Ricky Ray Thorp allegedly goes on a 45-minute shooting spree along the Old Sumner Buckley Highway, killing one person and injuring eight. Later, his attorney argues that Thorp was temporarily insane during the attack, but a judge rules otherwise and orders Thorp to stand trial early next year.

Ending two years of stormy debate, the King County Council decides Redondo Beach Road South is a better place to sit and stare at Puget Sound than to drive on. The council decides to shut the road and put a park there.

----- APRIL -----

Kent Matheson ends his 12-year tenure as Highline School District superintendent, accepting an offer to become superintendent of schools in Flagstaff, Ariz. The Highline School Board later hires Marv Evans as interim superintendent while searching for a permanent replacement.

Elected leaders in the Puget Sound area decide to pursue both a new airport and potential expansion of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The four-county Puget Sound Regional Council officially approves a resolution that calls for a three-year search for a new airport. At the same time, environmental studies begin on a third runway for Sea-Tac. If no new airport site is found by April 1996, and if Sea-Tac can meet noise and traffic-management standards, the third runway will go ahead.

--- MAY ---

The Federal Way School Board gives two schools its blessing to implement a year-round schedule in September. Students at Illahee Junior High may choose between a conventional and a modified calendar, while Sunnycrest Elementary shifts completely to year-round schooling.

Federal Way School District Superintendent Richard Harris promises an investigation after several Illahee parents and former teachers report students' complaints of sexual harassment by three teachers.

Despite a slowing regional economy, several large retailers say they will build stores near Southcenter, including Computer City and Home Depot, while Sears will occupy vacant anchor space at the mall.

Money problems kill a concert-amphitheater project proposed for rural Black Diamond by Renton-based Bauer/Kinnear Enterprises.

Gov. Mike Lowry says he won't influence the state Horse Racing Commission to reconsider issuing licenses to an investor group hoping to build a Thoroughbred racetrack in Fife. The commission sticks by a rival track project in Auburn, and the Fife group later disbands.

---- JUNE ----

After 52 residents are driven from their homes in a $1.5 million fire at the East Hill Apartments, the Kent Fire Department reports that one or more arsonists have set 31 fires in and around apartment buildings on East Hill.

Even though many of them opposed the project, Auburn downtown merchants say they expect their businesses to survive after the Supermall of the Great Northwest is built. City officials approve the $150 million behemoth, which is expected to provide stiff competition for smaller retailers when it opens in 1995.

Paccar Inc. opens a Kenworth truck plant in Renton, bringing needed jobs and tax revenues to the city. But the plant won't make up for losses from Boeing layoffs and a slower economy.

A Tukwila police officer is put on paid administrative leave after Des Moines police arrest him in a prostitution sting. He allegedly agreed to pay an undercover police officer for a sex act. Twelve other men are arrested in the sting, part of a continuing effort by Des Moines police to crack down on prostitution by targeting patrons.

---- JULY ----

Kong Liliko Lefeau, a 19-year-old Spanaway man, is found guilty of shooting 27-year-old Todd Musselman while Musselman drove along a dark Pierce County highway with his pregnant wife at his side. The jury says Lefeau acted with "extreme indifference to human life," telling friends he fired the shot "for no reason."

A pipe bomb is detonated at the Tacoma hall of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. A month later, skinhead Jeremiah Knesal, 19, of Auburn and Wayne Wooten Jr., 18, of Tacoma are arrested in Salinas, Calif. A couple of days later, skinhead Mark Kowaalski, 23, of Auburn is arrested in Auburn. All three eventually plead guilty to charges linked to the Tacoma bombing and a terrorist campaign against Jews and African Americans.

Setting up what will no doubt be a pivotal moment in Federal Way's history, the City Council agrees to put a bond before voters next year, asking them what sort of major projects they want to pay for. Their answer will determine the extent of the city's cultural life because one of the things likely to be covered by the bond is money to build a performing-arts center. Other projects, such as road improvements and parks, also will determine what sort of place Federal Way will become.

Facing an escape warrant issued more than 20 years ago, Charles Conway thought he might spend the rest of his life in an Oregon jail. But lawyers for the respected Puyallup Tribe member negotiate an agreement to commute the sentence. Conway, 52, pleads guilty to a minor drug-possession charge and is sentenced to 30 days in a tribal jail. In addition, Conway agrees to a one-year drug-treatment program. Under these conditions, Oregon officials agree to dismiss his sentence for a 1972 jail escape.

------ AUGUST ------

Tragedy strikes twice within five days in Auburn in hit-and-run accidents. Rolando Rosario Jr., 14, is killed while riding bikes with his brother and cousin. Police say Christopher Torkelson slammed into the boys while drunk, then fled the scene. In the other accident, Billy Finnegan, 18, is killed when William Wayne, driving while drunk, speeds through a red light and slams into Finnegan's car. Wayne later is convicted of vehicular homicide and felony hit and run.

The Tukwila City Council agrees to build a community center and fire station for $10 million. The money will come from general-fund revenues and won't require additional taxes.

Laura Foster, twice named Teacher of the Year by students at Kent-Meridian Junior High School, is charged with third-degree rape of one of her students. Foster later pleads guilty to the charges; she has yet to be sentenced.

--------- SEPTEMBER ---------

Illahee Junior High opens without band teacher Robert Panerio Jr., who is suspended for alleged sexual contact with three girls. A four-month misconduct investigation later ends with a letter of reprimand to a second teacher and verbal warning to a third.

The Muckleshoot Tribe begins clearing a site behind its Auburn bingo hall to build the state's largest limited-gambling casino. The tribe vows it will challenge the state to bring slot machines and higher betting limits to the casino after it opens in 1994.

The King County Fairgrounds are the site of a gay rodeo, an event most of the people in Enumclaw don't want near their city. The event goes smoothly, though, with only a few minor protests.

Chocolate cotton candy is introduced at the Puyallup Fair, becoming an instant hit and promising to become a fair institution on a par with raspberry scones.

------- OCTOBER -------

The Renton School Board authorizes religious clubs in schools after the U.S. Supreme Court refuses to consider the district's appeal of an appeals-court ruling.

Tahoma School District Superintendent Ed Heiser abruptly retires after two female employees complain that he used profanity and told offensive jokes. He has managed the Maple Valley-area district for 10 years.

Federal Way City Manager Brent McFall resigns after conflicts with City Council members, most notably Ron Gintz. McFall had become increasingly disturbed by what he considered council members' meddling in the day-to-day affairs of running the city and by their often-biting and public criticism of city workers. Assistant City Manager Ken Nyberg, who is expected to bring a more conciliatory attitude to the job, will become city manager Jan. 1.

Nothing riles people like messing with a local landmark, as the city of Renton learns when it considers switching the Gene Coulon Beach Park concession from Ivar's to McDonald's. After studying the fine print the City Council sticks with Ivar's.

-------- NOVEMBER --------

The city of SeaTac is chosen as the site for a metropolitan detention center for prisoners awaiting trial or sentencing in U.S. District Court. Up to 500 men and women accused of violating federal statutes will be incarcerated at the site, just south of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Congress appropriated $63 million for the center, which should be ready by 1997. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons said the facility will provide 225 permanent jobs when completed.

South King County voters help put a Republican majority on the new Metropolitan County Council with the election of Chris Vance, Pete von Reichbauer and Kent Pullen. In other election results, former SeaTac City Council member Julia Patterson hangs onto the 33rd District legislative seat she earned by appointment when Lorraine Hine moved to Gov. Mike Lowry's staff last January. Kent voters choose Jim White to be the city's first full-time mayor, and Auburn voters select Chuck Booth to lead their city.

Unable to recover from revelations that, 10 years earlier, he was convicted of promoting prostitution at a motel he owned in Kent, Federal Way City Council candidate Sam Yun loses. Hope Elder wins.

Voters in a 4.4-square-mile patch of land between Renton and Bellevue vote to form their own city, to begin life as Newport Hills. The vote is something of a slap to Renton because many voters apparently are motivated by a desire to stay out of that city. Other voters, however, cite the desire for closer local control.

Renton city workers, having stayed in their posts for more than 10 months without a contact, strike to preserve their benefits and earn a wage increase. The strike by 240 workers cripples most nonessential city services and leads the Police Department to ease up on its enforcement of minor violations. After two weeks, the city and its workers settle, with the workers keeping their benefits and gaining a token wage increase.

The saga of whether Federal Way should take over the water and sewer district serving the area continues, and a group of residents file a federal suit saying the takeover would be unconstitutional. The residents, who live outside the city but within the district, say the takeover would disenfranchise them because they cannot vote for City Council members. The suit is pending but helps delay a decision on the takeover.

Edison Kim, a 21-year-old senior cadet at West Point, N.Y., is found dead after apparently jumping from a local building. His death is the fifth of a young person in a two-week period within the tight-knit Korean-American community in Federal Way and Auburn. A week earlier Christina Park, 18, a sophomore biology student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, dies when the small plane she is riding in is hit by a skydiver. The week before that three Decatur High School students - Duke Rhee, Hyeng Shim and Brian Chon - are killed in a car accident.

Police arrest David M. White, a 22-year-old convicted sex offender from White Center, whom they suspect of being a rapist who has struck eight times in the Highline area.

-------- DECEMBER --------

Auburn Republican Les Thomas is chosen to succeed Chris Vance in the 31st District House seat, but the party machinery in the 30th District is gummed up when Pete von Reichbauer delays his resignation from the Senate. Von Reichbauer eventually resigns; the party schedules a vote on his replacement for early in 1994.

The King County Council gives the South 277th Street arterial project a symbolically important vote, clearing the way for Kent to seek permits necessary to build the long-planned road, which is designed to ease congestion between Kent and the highlands to its east.

The Federal Way School District delays action on a proposal that would allow students and employees to carry tear gas and pepper spray. High-school students report the self-defense sprays are carried to school by many girls already.

A 15-year-old Kent boy is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of 16-year-old Zacariah Spears. The boy allegedly shot Spears outside SeaTac Mall after getting into a dispute over gang signs with a friend of Spears.

In a bizarre meeting, the Federal Way City Council passes a 3 percent tax increase, proposed by perhaps the most conservative member of the council. The council votes down a nearly 25 percent increase proposed by another conservative on the council.

Antonio Jackson dies after being chased and held by Safeway employees and bystanders for having allegedly tried to steal a pack of cigarettes from the supermarket. His death raises claims of racism and questions about the actions of a police officer who kept him in handcuffs as he was dying.

South bureau reporters Keith Ervin, Wayne Wurzer, Kery Murakami, Christy Scattarella, John Stevens and Geordie Wilson contributed to this report.