Tacoma pastor’s son charged, Seahawks sold, Swank drama among TNT’s stop stories

Four major stories caught the eye of The News Tribune’s readers Monday, from criminal charges against a pastor’s son to the record-breaking sale of the Seattle Seahawks. Here’s a rundown of the day’s top stories.

• Prosecutors charged John Marchant Stabbert, 51, with four counts of first-degree rape of a child on June 22, with alleged incidents dating from 1997 to 2001 involving victims younger than 12 at the Stabbert family home in Tacoma. Stabbert is the son of Bruce Stabbert, a long-time pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Tacoma, and allegedly responded “Yes, but I’ve changed” when confronted with the allegations during a Dec. 30, 2025, meeting with church leaders.
• Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank posted on X that a woman called 911 to have police arrest him and others over their views at a June 17 Charter Review Commission meeting, but 911 audio and dispatch logs show she actually called to report harassment in the parking lot after another person allegedly revved a truck at her. The June 17 meeting was contentious because commissioners advanced a proposal on a 12-9 vote to switch Pierce County to appointed sheriffs and end Swank’s four-year term on Jan. 1, 2027.
• East Pierce County school districts like Orting, Bethel and Sumner-Bonney Lake are seeing explosive enrollment growth while Tacoma, Franklin Pierce and Clover Park districts are shrinking, creating budget crises tied to Washington’s enrollment-based funding model. Franklin Pierce is cutting certified positions, district administrators and assistant principals for the third year in a row, while growing districts struggle to pass construction bonds — Puyallup’s $800 million bond failed twice in 2025 despite getting 63% approval, falling short of turnout requirements.
• The Estate of Paul G. Allen agreed to sell the Seattle Seahawks for $9.612 billion to a group led by Neeru Khosla, making it the richest NFL franchise sale in history, with NFL owners set to vote on approval Aug. 26. Neeru Khosla, wife of venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, will serve as controlling owner and is co-founder of the CK-12 Foundation, a nonprofit that uses AI to provide free educational materials; the family must divest its 3.1% stake in the San Francisco 49ers before the sale closes.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by senior editor Adam Lynn. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.