Here are the top 10 most viewed stories on the Kent Reporter’s website for 2024, with the number of pageviews, according to Google Analytics:
1: Second Kent-Meridian High School student in 3 days fatally shot
15,300 pageviews
Summary: Another Kent-Meridian High School student was fatally shot this week, the second in a three-day period. Hazrat Ali Rohani, 17, of Kent, died after a shooting Wednesday evening, June 5 in the 600 block of South Grady Way in Renton. Kent-Meridian Principal David Radford confirmed the death of Rohani in a June 6 email to school parents and families. On June 3, Cristopher Medina Zelaya, 18, also a Kent-Meridian student, was fatally shot in the city of Kent’s Campus Park parking lot, which is next to the school campus.
2: Kentwood High student dies from medical event
13,300 pageviews
Summary: A Kentwood High School student died Wednesday morning, Feb. 7 in Covington from a “medical event.” The King County Sheriff’s Office, which contracts with the City of Covington for police services, issued the following statement Feb. 8: “This incident is not being investigated as a ‘suspicious’ (death),” said Sgt. Eric White, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, in an email. “This appears to be associated with a medical event only.”
3: Abused Kent woman’s death identified as homicide
12,000 pageviews
Summary: Three months following her death, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the manner of death of a 28-year-old Kent woman — allegedly abused daily by her mother — as a homicide. Esther Arunong, 28, died in Renton on April 29 at Valley Medical Center, one day after her sister called 911 to request an ambulance for her, reporting that the sisters’ mother recently struck her.
4: Kent mom who beat daughter to death in Renton is charged with homicide
10,700 pageviews
Summary: Following the identification of an abused Kent woman’s death as a homicide, prosecutors have charged the mother of the deceased, a 59-year-old woman, with murder. Amending her original charges of two felony counts of domestic violence assault in the second degree, King County prosecutors charged 59-year-old Sepe Harrison George of Kent on Aug. 2 with murder in the second degree in the death of her daughter, Esther Arunong, 28, in April. George faces a March 31, 2025 trial date.
5: Kent Police arrest two high school students for alleged beating death
10,400 pageviews
Summary: Kent Police arrested a student at Kent-Meridian High School and another one at Kentridge High for investigation of second-degree murder after an alleged beating of a 56-year-old man on a bicycle in August. Detectives are still looking for a 15-year-old boy and asking for the public’s help to find him, according to an Oct. 3 Kent Police news release. Kent Police issued a news release Sept. 10 that detectives were looking for three or four juvenile suspects in the beating. On Sept. 26, police arrested a 17-year-old male student at Kent-Meridian and a 16-year-old male student at Kentridge.
6: Medical examiner: Cause and manner of death of Kentwood student are pending
10,000 pageviews
Summary: The King County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the cause and manner of death are pending of a Kentwood High student. The medical examiner confirmed the identity of Oscar Lindsay, 15, who died Feb. 7 at 16400 SE 251st St., which is the address of Mattson Middle School in Covington. The report identified the location as a medic rig or paramedic vehicle.
7: Asylum seekers in Kent moved from tent encampment to housing, shelter
9,700 pageviews
Summary: An encampment of 192 asylum seekers living in tents next to the former Econo Lodge in Kent is gone after King County and its partners found housing for everyone. The people, including 31 families, were moved from the encampment on Tuesday, Sept. 24 to housing or temporary shelter, according to a Sept. 25 email from Amy Enbysk, spokesperson for the King County Executive’s Office. Asylum seekers from Venezuela, Congo and Angola set up a camp at the site June 1 with the hope of moving into the vacant hotel that the county bought for $3.4 million in 2020 to serve as a quarantine facility during the COVID-19 pandemic. But with high renovation costs and land use restrictions by the city of Kent, the option of living in the hotel, 1233 Central Ave. N., quickly disappeared.
8: 16-year-old girl dies in Covington single-car crash
8,600 pageviews
Summary: A 16-year-old girl died after the car she was driving crashed into a tree at about 11:40 a.m. Friday, Nov. 15 in the 15600 block of SE 256th Street in Covington. Grace Maureen Province died from multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Monday, Nov. 18 media report by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. “It appears that the car hit a tree and despite aid given at the site of the crash, the driver was deceased at the scene,” according to an Nov. 18 email from a King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson.
9: Kentwood High School teacher faces sexual misconduct charge
8,500 pageviews
Summary: A Kentwood High School teacher faces a first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor charge for an alleged relationship with a student from 2017 to 2019. King County prosecutors charged Steve A. Bilvais, 55, on Aug. 9. He pleaded not guilty on Aug. 22, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Bilvais has a trial date of Feb. 24, 2025.
10: Kent School District places elementary music teacher on leave
8,400 pageviews
Summary: The Kent School District placed a Scenic Hill Elementary School music teacher on leave, just two days after a public meeting where parents and teachers from the school called for his removal. “Mr. Kenney Polson, itinerant (travels to teach from school to school) music teacher, is currently on leave,” wrote Daman Hunter, school district associate superintendent in charge of human resources, in a Sept. 19 email to Scenic Hill families that was provided to the Kent Reporter. “In the meantime, the music classes will continue with a guest substitute.” Hunter declined in the email to discuss the reasons for putting Polson on leave.
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