Starting Monday, the City of Federal Way will extend its hours for accepting passport applications at City Hall, 33325 Eighth Ave. S.

The new hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday at the second floor Permit Center Help Desk. The previous daily hours were 9 a.m. to noon.

The City of Federal Way is an approved passport acceptance facility, allowing staff members to assist with applications.

The actual decision to issue or deny a passport is made by a passport services agency.

For more information, call City Hall at 253-835-7000 or visit www.cityoffederalway.com/passport.

Two firefighters from South King Fire & Rescue will climb 69 flights of stairs in full bunker gear Sunday at Columbia Center in Seattle.

The annual stair climb is the largest individual firefighting competition in the world, with 1,500 participants from the United States and Canada. The event raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Firefighters Dan Borg and Kris Lindahl will climb the 1,311 stairs in full bunker gear, including a self-contained breathing apparatus, boots and helmet. The gear adds an extra 50 pounds.

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Federal Way City Council members agreed tonight they want to seek developers again for city-owned property downtown sooner rather than later, after a three-tower skyscraper project collapsed.

Council members voted 6-0 for a timeline that would result in a developer being selected by mid-August. The other option was a slower timeline ending with a developer chosen in mid-October.

Council member and deputy mayor Dini Duclos said she favored the faster-track schedule given there are likely to be delays in the process.

Two council members, Linda Kochmar and Roger Freeman, also said they favored including height limits in the parameters for potential developers, called a request for proposals.

But including height limits did not appear to have support from a majority of the council. Council member Jack Dovey was absent.

The City Council is scheduled to finalize developer guidelines and approve a request for proposals March 15.

Plans to develop four acres of city-owned property downtown fell through when Twin Development, a group of Seattle-Tacoma partners, failed to make a $100,000 payment to an escrow account by Jan. 31.

The developers planned to build three towers on the vacant land at 31600 20th Ave. S., two of 45 stories and a third of 35. The project was to include condominiums, hotel rooms, retail space and a 1-acre park.

The city purchased the property in 2006 for $4.1 million to spur downtown development.

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Federal Way Mayor Skip Priest wants the city to ask for developers’ proposals once again for a piece of city-owned downtown property after plans for a three skyscraper project collapsed.

Priest told the City Council Tuesday night he wants the council to consider requesting proposals “sooner rather than later.”

The mayor said the city can’t afford to miss a chance at potential development. He compared the city’s risk of inaction to a surfer waiting in water to “catch a wave.”

“If you’re not out there, you will never catch a wave,” Priest said.

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Plans to develop a three skyscraper project on city-owned land in downtown Federal Way appear to be dead.

Developers failed to make a $100,000 payment to an escrow account by Monday. The payment was required to purchase the property by March 31.

Twin Development partner Luke Hwang of Federal Way said an investor fell through at the last minute and Twin couldn’t make the $100,000 payment.

“That’s pretty surprising,” said Patrick Doherty, the city’s community and economic development director. “I’m disappointed for them and for the project.”

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Organizers of a sand sculpting championship in Federal Way that washed up in rain and red ink withdrew their request Tuesday night for $50,000 from the city to cover their losses.

“I am not here to request any more funds,” said Rudi Alcott, a board member for the organizing group, the Federal Way Community Council.

Instead, Alcott vowed to the City Council that his group will hold the World Championship of Sand Sculpting again in Federal Way next year, possibly starting in August to avoid rains last September that hurt attendance.

Alcott said during an interview he pulled the request at the last minute Tuesday night “because we believe we found other funding” to cover the losses. Alcott said he expects the money to come from the community in the Federal Way area but he declined to elaborate.

The City Council gave the community council $58,000 in “seed money” for the event in July. It also awarded the championship $23,000 last year in lodging tax money for promoting tourism.

The event from Sept. 8-Oct. 10 lost $48,474, according to a community council report. Some bills are still being received.

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Federal Way will add speed cameras at a third school zone – Panther Lake Elementary – starting Monday.

Warnings will be issued for the first month in the Panther Lake Elementary school zone in the 34500 block of First Avenue South. Ticketing will start Jan. 7, said Federal Way police spokeswoman Cathy Schrock.

Federal Way already has school zone speed cameras at Saghalie Middle School and Twin Lakes Elementary. The city also has red light cameras at three intersections.

Schrock said Panther Lake is being added because of high traffic volumes on four-lane First Avenue South and a high number of speeding infractions in the school zone. “It’s a very busy area,” Schrock said.

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About 300 churches – including some of the largest in the Tacoma area – are joining together to sponsor the Greg Laurie evangelistic outreach starting Friday at KeyArena in Seattle.

The three nights of meetings will feature Laurie, a Southern California pastor and evangelist, and some of the top names in contemporary Christian music, including MercyMe, Jars of Clay and The Katinas.

Evangelical churches from the South Sound supporting Greg Laurie: Seattle Harvest include Life Center and Champions Centre in Tacoma and Christian Faith Center in Federal Way. More than 30 churches from the South Sound are taking part. …

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