Families and kids of all ages are invited to attend “You Me We,” a festival of free family fun scheduled for Friday, February 18 at the ShoWare Center.

The free event is a celebration of Kent’s being named, for the first time ever, one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People in America, by America’s Promise Alliance, the nation’s largest partnership organization dedicated to youth and children.

“We want to celebrate Kent’s kids with the community in a big way, so we’ve asked for ideas and more importantly, participation from a lot of different groups,” said Julie Stangle, the City’s Youth and Teen Program Manager. “The response has been terrific; families won’t want to miss You Me We! It’s a celebration with a street fair atmosphere.”

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. with stage entertainment by Master of Ceremonies Greg Bennick, nationally renowned juggler, comedian, speaker, and family fun guy, as well as local performers starting at 6:30 p.m. Other activities include:

* Interactive booths

* Hands-on art activities

* Sports competitions

* Face painting

* Bounce houses

* ShoWare Center tours

* Games, contests, raffles, and prizes including a Redline bicycle

* “Family friendly pricing” on concessions

The event is being organized by a collaboration of community groups, including the Kent School District, Kent Parks Department, youth groups, sports and scouting organizations, churches, local businesses, service clubs and the list is growing every day.

For more event details, visit www.YouMeWeKent.com. To register your group to provide entertainment or to host a free interactive booth, call 253-856-5030 or email jstangle@ci.kent.wa.us.

The 100 Best designation recognizes those communities that make youth a priority by implementing programs that help keep children in school and prepare them for college and the 21st century workforce. The entire 2010 list of 100 Best Communities for Young People and their accomplishments can be found at www.americaspromise.org/100Best.

Did you miss the Kent Cornucopia parade? Would you like to see what other neighborhoods did to celebrate National Night Out in August? Or maybe you’re a pet lover who wants to hear about the new dog park being built on Kent’s East Hill. You can see all of the above on Kent TV21 online.

Here are links to some of their latest programs.

National Night Out – For 27 years, neighborhoods throughout Kent have been celebrating National Night Out. This year 103 events were held.

Tails are Wagging for an Off-Leash Dog Park in Kent – If you are a dog lover, you’ll love this fun video talking about the new off-leash dog park on Kent’s East Hill.

Kent Cornucopia Grand Parade – View the 2010 Kent Cornucopia Days Grand Parade.

{Note:  You’ll need Windows Media Player to view the videos.}

The City of Kent is ramping up its campaign to license pets and is granting amnesty to dog and cat owners until September 30, 2010. After that, owners face stiff penalties and fines for not licensing Fido and Fluffy.

Officials at the city want the awareness campaign to have a lighter side though. They are hosting an event at Kent Station on September 25, 2010 to prove it. Dog Daze & Feline Fantasies will take place between 1 and 4 pm and will feature fun events including a pet show, pet parade, agility course and more. Owners are encouraged to bring their leashed pets and those that are licensed may participate in the events. King County Regional Animal Services will be on hand to license pets that day as well.

For more information on pet licensing, visit KentPetLicense.com.

Kent TV21, Kent’s Government Access television channel, took home a first place award in the 2010 Best of the Northwest Video Awards. The video, entitled “A Game of Life” won top honors in the “Empowerment” category.

“A Game of Life” documents the creation of a mural by a group of local high school students.  The students learned valuable workplace and life skills while creating an original piece of art for Kent’s Glenn Nelson Park.  “A Game of Life” follows the students as they plan and create the mural, growing as artists and people during the process.

The Best of the Northwest Video Awards honors outstanding programs broadcast on community television channels in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and the Canadian Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.

View the press release online here.

4-3-2010–Two women severely burned in the fire died following the accident.

Update from MSNBC.com.

4-2-2010–According to MSNBC.com, a refinery blast and fire in Anacortes (Washington) killed three and injured four early this morning. The four injured workers, two men and two women, are in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The incident occurred at Tesoro Refinery in Anacortes, a worksite that had been cited by the Department of Labor & Industries a year ago for numerous violations.

Read the full story at MSNBC.com.

Additional video from KING5.com.

Once the Panther Lake annexation of 24,000 residents is complete, the City of Kent will become the sixth largest city in the State of Washington. For more information about the annexation, visit the city’s online annexation resource.

Looking for local live comedy?  Look no further.  Pat’s Bar & Grill located at 114 Railroad Ave. N. will be adding live comedy starting February 3 at 7pm.  Gabriel Rutledge, the winner of The 2004 Seattle International Comedy Competition, will be headlining.  He has been seen on HBO and Comedy Central.  Two others will open for him. Pre-sale tickets are available at Pat’s for $7.00. Tickets will be $10.00 the day of the performance.  Come laugh at Pat’s.

The AMC Sensory Friendly Movie for February will be The Tooth Fairy.  The movie will be Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 10:00am. The Tooth Fairy is the story of Derek Thompson, a hard-charging hockey player whose nickname comes from his habit of separating opposing players from their bicuspids. When Derek discourages a youngster’s dreams, he’s sentenced to one week’s hard labor as a real tooth fairy, complete with the requisite wings and magic wand. At first, Derek “can’t handle the tooth” — bumbling and stumbling as he furtively tries to wing his way through strangers’ homes — doing what tooth fairies do. But, as Derek slowly adapts to his new position, he begins to rediscover his own forgotten dreams.

AMC and the Autism Society of America offers a monthly movie to families affected by autism.  The lights are brought up and sound is turned down, all to make the theater experience more enjoyable for both parents and children.  For tickets visit the Kent Station AMC Theatre the day of the event for tickets.