It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone, but with 2016 upon us, it’s time to take a look into the rearview mirror at some of the stories that affected our readers this year.
From the resignation of the Renton schools superintendent to the launch of a new line of 737s at the Boeing plant to the grand opening of the city’s new downtown library, 2015 had a little bit of everything.
Here are some of the stories that we followed this year:
For Part 1 of this list, click here.
Boeing goes to the MAX
2015 marked another milestone for the Boeing 737 assembly plant located in Renton as this past November the company completed the final assembly of the first 737 MAX 8, named the Spirit of Renton.
The first 737 MAX 8 fuselage arrived from Kansas Aug. 21 and crews began assembling the new plane Sept. 15. A new production line was created at the facility for the assembly.
The airplane is on track for first flight in early 2016. The launch customer is Southwest Airlines. With the second and third 737 MAX 8 flight test airplanes currently in final assembly and the fourth (and final) in sub-assembly, the 737 MAX remains on track for first delivery to Southwest Airlines in the third quarter of 2017, according to the release.
The 737 MAX family already has nearly 3,000 orders from 60 customers worldwide, according to Boeing.
Superintendent resignation
In a surprise move at a school board meeting in May, Renton Schools Superintendent Merri Rieger resigned her position over “differing viewpoints” and left the district to pursue other options. She received 18 months salary as part of her settlement with the district.
The district and board both said that while there were no performance issues, there was a “difference in philosophy” between Rieger and the board.
No additional explanation of what those differences are has ever been given.
The Board appointed Dr. Art Jarvis as interim superintendent, effective July 1. Jarvis is a former superintendent of the Tacoma and Enumclaw school districts.
In November, the board extended Jarvis’s contract through June 2017.
Housesitter homicide
One of, if not the most, shocking crime stories of the year came to us in July when a family returned to their Rolling Hills home to find their housesitter murdered. The 21-year-old woman was shot to death.
Police arrested and charged Zachary Damien Craven, 24, who had just hours earlier also killed his grandmother at her home in Skyway.
Craven and the residents’ daughter had dated and recently broken up. According to the residents of the house, Craven sent threatening texts and phone calls to their daughter saying he would kill her and her family.
As police talked with the resident, Craven called and asked her to pick him up at a store on Rainier Avenue South. Police recognized Craven, who ignored officer commands to stop and had to be tazed and taken into custody. He was carrying the break-up noted with him at the time.
Craven had previously been arrested for making threats against his grandmother and assaulted his grandfather, as well as for animal cruelty.
He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
Hazen teacher charged with rape
Former Hazen High School teacher Jeffrey C. Willis, 43, was fired in August and then charged in October with third-degree rape of a child for allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old student in 2006, when he worked at Dimmit Middle School.
His firing occurred following an internal investigation by the school district, triggered when the student, now 23 years old, in August revealed to district officials the incident. According to charging papers, the two had sexual relations multiple times at each of their homes, in his car and on a trail behind a school.
The girl broke off the relationship in fall 2006 when she was a freshman at Hazen High School. Willis was still at Dimmitt Middle School.
On Sept. 24, Willis acknowledged the sexual relationship to investigators. According to the district, no other students were involved.
New library opens
After several years of discussion, votes, heated appeals and construction, Renton residents were finally able to go into their new library in August, when the ribbon was officially cut on the new building over the River.
The opening was nearly three years to the day of a 2012 special election in which resident overwhelmingly voted to keep the library in its iconic location over the Cedar River.
On hand to cut the ribbon was Laurie (Renton) Teddy-Skok, grandniece of city namesake William Renton. Teddy-Skok cut the ribbon on the original Cedar River Library in 1961 and returned this summer along with brother Steve Renton to assist in opening the new building.
Featuring floor-to-ceiling glass on the sides that overlook the Cedar, an increase in computers and a wide-open floor plan that includes the newly-christened King Parker Meeting Room, the new building drew mostly rave reviews from the crowds that gathered to get a first look.
The project’s overall budget was $11.8 million, with the City of Renton paying $10.4 million and KCLS paying $1.4 million.
