With the New Year upon us, here’s a look back at the Auburn Reporter’s top stories and photos of 2024.

JANUARY

• Muckleshoot Tribe celebrates new hotel and casino: The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe officially opened the Muckleshoot Casino Resort on Jan. 3 at the Muckleshoot Events Center. The grand opening celebration for the general public was held Jan. 26-28, with weekend festivities including performances by comedian David Spade and classic rock band Blue Oyster Cult.

• Auburn native Mateo Acuña named city’s Poet Laureate: At 20 years of age, Auburn’s new Poet Laureate, Mateo Acuña, is already a trailblazer. Not only is Acuña the youngest person ever named to the 3-year position, he is also its first gay, transgender, Peruvian-American poet, activist, visual artist and person of color to be thus honored. His focus as Auburn Poet Laureate will be on youth and giving them opportunities to hone their skills as creative writers.

FEBRUARY

• Emergency housing facility opens in north Auburn: A ribbon cutting was held for Don’s Place, which serves people experiencing homelessness. The repurposed Clarion Hotel at 916 St. NW houses 40 participants, but can support as many as 90 leaving chronic homelessness or who are at risk of falling into homelessness, with a special focus on veterans and seniors.

• Auburn School District levy is passing by thin margin: The tally for Proposition 1, Auburn School District’s maintenance and operations levy renewal, showed the combined yes votes in King and Pierce counties had overtaken the no votes. Funds from the levy are used for expenses the state of Washington does not fully cover, including all athletics and activities, special education, textbooks, supplies, counselors, nurses, grounds, building maintenance, honors and Advanced Placement education and transportation.

Photo by Robert Whale/Auburn Reporter A ribbon cutting was held March 20 to celebrate the new home of the Auburn Food Bank, 2804 Auburn Way N.

MARCH

• Auburn Food Bank officially opens new home: Auburn’s movers and shakers began talking about the move more than 20 years ago. But on March 20, a smiling Auburn Food Bank Director Debbie Christian took an outsized pair of scissors in hand in the parking lot of what had for years been the Sports Page Tavern at 2804 Auburn Way North and finally cut the ribbon on the agency’s new digs.

APRIL

• Auburn PD prepares for new pursuit policies: In late 2022 and early 2023, state lawmakers eased some of the restrictions for police pursuits, moving from “probable cause” to “reasonable suspicion.” As a result, the number of APD pursuits shot up. Initiative 2113 went into effect on June 6, once again allowing the chief or police administrators to make the determinations in their own jurisdictions, Police Cmdr. Todd Byers said: “That gives us a chance to live up to the expectations of the community, whereas before that was kind of taken out of the hands of the administrators of those respective departments.”

MAY

• City approves development agreement for GSA site: On May 20, the Auburn City Council unanimously approved a development agreement between the city and the owners of the 165-acre former U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) site on the southwest corner of 15th Street Southwest and C Street Southwest. What becomes of the site may not be known for months or years.

Photo courtesy of City of Auburn On June 17, a mural was dedicated at Auburn Municipal Airport to Auburn-area veterans including Lt. Col. Joe Jackson. The mural was painted by artist Myron Curry. The airport is located north of downtown Auburn at 2143 E. St. NE, Suite 1.

JUNE

• Mural at Auburn Municipal Airport honors hero: On June 17, the City of Auburn celebrated a local hero, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Col. Joe Jackson, with a mural at Auburn Municipal Airport. As the citation reads: “Lt. Col. Jackson distinguished himself as a pilot of a C-123 aircraft. Lt. Col. Jackson volunteered to attempt the rescue of a three-man USAF Combat Control Team from the Special Forces camp at Kham Duc.” Jackson, a former Auburn resident and also a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, died in 2019 in Orting at age 97.

• Auburn police officer Jeffrey Nelson guilty of murder: Auburn police officer Jeffrey Nelson was found guilty of one count of second-degree murder and one count of first degree assault related to the 2019 death of Jesse Saray. The verdict was announced June 27. Nelson is the first officer in Washington to be charged with murder following the passage of Initiative 940, which changed the standard for holding police criminally liable for excessive use of force. Nelson’s sentence hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 23, 2025. In May 2019, Nelson shot and killed Jesse Sarey after attempting to arrest Sarey for jaywalking. Nelson shot Sarey in the chest, then unjammed his gun and shot him in the head after Sarey had fallen backward in a grocery store parking lot in Auburn.

JULY

• Four injured in Metro bus shooting ambush: According to Auburn police investigators, the shooting “appeared to be a planned ambush and not a random attack.” Auburn police officers responded at around 6:40 a.m. July 28 to the 2900 block of M Street Southeast following report of a shooting. Footage released by the department showed four masked individuals emerging from the parking lot of the Cedar Pointe Apartments with handguns after a group of five people exited a King County Metro bus. The four suspects fired at the bus riders, with the five riders fleeing the scene as the suspects chased with guns raised. Three minors and one adult out of the five bus riders suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Photo courtesy of City of Auburn Demolition underway in October at the Auburn Avenue Theater site.

AUGUST

• Auburn Avenue Theater demolition process begins: The Auburn Avenue Theater is undergoing reconstruction, starting with demolition by Rivers Edge Environmental Services. The theater being rebuilt is part of a larger plan for the Downtown Infrastructure Improvements Project. Built in 1926, the building was originally used as a bus depot, and later a movie theater and then a dinner theater. In 2016, the city bought the theater outright. Receipts over the last 14 years show the theater was successful both in attracting people for entertainment in the downtown core and as a money maker. The venue hosted performances summing to about 80 each year with an average annual attendance of 14,000.

Photo by Ben Ray / Auburn Reporter Auburn High School’s football team wasted no time sending the Taylor Trophy back home for the 59th time in its rivalry game against Kent-Meridian. Pictured: Auburn senior RJ Conlan shakes off a Kent-Meridian defender Sept. 6.

SEPTEMBER

• Auburn approves new outdoor camping rules:Auburn City Councilmembers had previously discussed amending existing city rules against houseless camping on city-owned property, to “better protect its parks and facilities” and “promote equitable access for all citizens.” And on Sept. 16, the council passed the ordinance, which, among other things, removes certain sections from the city code. Critically, the amendments shift the rationale for the ordinance from “protecting public health and safety from homeless camping,” to “maintaining the intended use and integrity of the city’s public spaces,” ensuring they remain safe, clean and accessible for all residents, according to councilmembers.

OCTOBER

• Auburn to buy commercial property for $6.3 million: On Oct. 21, the City of Auburn authorized Mayor Nancy Backus to negotiate another purchase-and-sale agreement, this one for $6.3 million concerning a key piece of commercial property it has been leasing for five years at 2802-2826 Auburn Way North. The property is key because the Auburn Resource Center, the Auburn Food Bank, the Ray of Hope Day Shelter, the Sundown Night Shelter and the We Care Daily Clinic all operate there, thanks to the 5-year lease the city entered into with the owner, Feenix Parkside LLC, on Jan. 31, 2020.

NOVEMBER

• Boeing Machinists approve contract, ending 52-day strike: Boeing Machinists union approved the latest contract offer from the company Nov. 4, ending a 52-day strike and sending 33,000 members back to work. More than 59% of union members International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted to accept the latest offer and end the strike. The announcement, streamed live on Facebook, was greeted with a mixture of cheers and boos. “Now it’s our job to get back to work and start building the airplanes,” said union President Jon Holden during a press conference after the results were announced.

• ASD School construction bond failing: The Auburn School District’s $532,100,000 construction bond was garnering 52.4 percent of the combined votes of King and Pierce Counties. The state requires a 60-percent supermajority for passage. This is not the final word on a bond, which is likely to increase in cost with each future effort as the improvements are still needed.

DECEMBER

• Should Auburn restart its own municipal court?: In 2012, Auburn’s leaders fretted that the city’s then-municipal court judge, Patrick Burns, was holding people in jail for too long, denying defendants their constitutionally-mandated right to a speedy trial, and costing the city and its police department too much money. So, with cost savings in mind, on Nov. 1, 2012, the Auburn City Council chose to shelve its municipal court agreement and instead contract with King County District Court to process and adjudicate cases for the city, as the county does today for 11 other cities. So, 12 years in, how’s it working out? Getting an answer is complicated — with many moving parts — as the first timeline of the current 2022-2026 agreement approaches. The agreement directs that if Auburn decides to terminate the contract, it must provide King County written notice by Feb. 1, 2025, with the official termination on Dec. 31, 2026.

• Council appoints Cheryl Rakes as Auburn’s deputy mayor: The Auburn City Council appointed Councilmember Cheryl Rakes as deputy mayor for 2025 at its meeting Dec. 16. Rakes has led the Downtown Auburn Cooperative since 2019. She began serving on the city council in 2023, filling a vacancy left by former Councilmember Chris Stearns when he joined the state Legislature. She was elected to the council later that year.