Embattled feed store to close after 40 years
Time has run out on Arnold's Hay & Grain. The owners plan to shut its doors at the end of the business day Sunday, after 40 years of operation in the north Lynnwood area.
The old-fashioned store's operators had been struggling to comply with Snohomish County zoning and building rules. They had hoped to relocate to a new site about two miles away on Ash Way, just west of Interstate 5.
The store, which sells goods for pets and livestock, has been in trouble with the county since 1999, when it moved from its original location on 164th Street Southwest to its current, illegal site in a residential neighborhood just around the corner on 35th Avenue West.
In December, a county Superior Court judge declined to extend the store's moving-day deadline. Since then, the store's owners, Corinne and Dick Balser, had tried unsuccessfully to obtain building permits for their Ash Way site, which has wetlands complications.
The store had collected more than 1,000 customer signatures on petitions to remain open.
Marysville
Treatment plant's upgrade completed
Marysville has finished work on a $42 million wastewater-plant upgrade, bringing the city into compliance with state and federal laws and allowing it to handle more sewage.
The new system is expected to be in full operation July 1.
Work on the upgrade began in 2003 in a cooperative venture with the city of Everett and Kimberly-Clark of Everett. The work involved developing a regional solution to move treated wastewater into a deep-water outfall a mile offshore in Port Gardner Bay.
The new outfall removes nearly all treated effluent, except during low river flows in summer, from Steamboat Slough in the Snohomish River estuary, Marysville officials said.
The work was required under rulings by the state Department of Ecology and by a federal permit.
Funding included $21 million in loans through the state Public Works Trust Fund Loan Program. Marysville put in about $21 million as its share of the project.
The expansion will allow the city to raise its treatment capacity from 6.1 million gallons a day to an eventual 20 million gallons a day.
Everett
Music, food, laughter celebrate new campus
Elected officials from all over Snohomish County turned out for a celebration of the county's new campus Friday.
Snohomish County employees and others who gathered on the county's new plaza heard local musical groups, munched on barbecue food and laughed as County Executive Aaron Reardon jokingly placed his BlackBerry wireless device into a time capsule the county is preparing.
The county has spent about 2 ½ years and $170 million on the campus, which includes a 1,200-stall underground parking garage, a jail, a plaza, a cafe, an administration building and improvements to the county courthouse.
Friday's open house drew former County Council members, former County Executive Bob Drewel and state Attorney General Rob McKenna.
Food vendors set up booths on the plaza for employees and visitors during the noon dedication. Reardon said the new administration building had freed up space to bring "our county family back home" from rented offices.
Reardon rescued his BlackBerry from the time capsule when the event ended, putting it back in his pocket.
Snohomish County
Drewel scholarship goes to WWU student
The Human Services Council of Snohomish County has awarded $1,500 to Sharon Todd of Marysville through the Bob Drewel Human Services Scholarship, named after a former Snohomish County executive.
Todd will use the award to continue her studies in human services at the Everett campus of Western Washington University.
Snohomish County
Agency to honor Father of the Year
Deaconess Children's Services is beginning a search for a Father of the Year in an effort to strengthen families.
"Fathers are becoming an endangered species," said Charlie Langdon, Deaconess' executive director. "Up to 70 percent of 15-year-olds at middle schools today do not live with their biological fathers."
The search for fathers is to begin at noon today in ceremonies with city, county and other officials at the northeast corner of Rockefeller Avenue and Wall Street, across from downtown Everett's new county-government complex.
The Father of the Year campaign will highlight and honor fathers who are making commitments to children in their lives. All nominated fathers will be honored at a Father of the Year awards ceremony Oct. 7 at the Everett Events Center. One father will be chosen then as the Father of the Year.
Deaconess is partnering with Everett Mall, the Everett AquaSox and the Everett Hawks to promote nominations, which can be submitted online at www.deaconesschildren.org through July 15.
Information: Mieko Moody, 425-259-0146.
Marysville Chamber honored for enterprise center
The Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce has been honored by the Association of Washington Business (AWB) as a 2005 Community Service Award winner.
The award was made in the category of "projects that mobilize people and communities into action."
The honor was for the chamber's new Entrepreneurial Business Development Center, which represents a partnership among federal, state and local organizations. The center includes volunteers, industry experts and banks specializing in small-business loans, said Caldie Rogers, the chamber president and chief executive officer.
The chamber was one of 19 companies and organizations honored by the AWB in ceremonies May 24 in Spokane.
Rogers noted that Marysville and the Tulalip Tribes had discussed such a center for years, but tight budgets restricted the ability of either to move forward. The chamber finally committed its resources and was able to establish the center, she said.
The chamber has been honored in the category twice before, in 2001 for a summit series that brought together eight North Snohomish County communities and in 2003 for its creation of a high-tech facility featuring a visitors-information center.
Mukilteo
Kaiser will run to keep City Council position
Lori Kaiser has announced she will run for election to her seat on the Mukilteo City Council.
Kaiser was appointed in September to fill the vacant Position 6 seat.
Kaiser has pledged to work to retain the quality of the city's services, improve Mukilteo's quality of life and keep city expenditures in check.
Kaiser was born in Washington and has lived in Mukilteo for eight years with her husband and daughter.
She has been a certified public accountant and held positions in financial management, sales, marketing and strategic planning. Most recently, she was the vice president of marketing and strategic planning and a corporate officer for Cray, a supercomputer company in Seattle. She also is a volunteer with the Mukilteo School District and the Mukilteo Chamber of Commerce.
Lynnwood
Diversity work again earns award for city
The Association of Washington Cities plans to present Lynnwood with a Diversity Champion Award at its June 22 annual convention.
This is the second year in a row Lynnwood has been selected for the award, which is given to cities and towns that reach out to new immigrants, conduct meaningful demographic studies, work to increase diversity within city hall, build leadership within diverse community groups and sponsor cultural celebrations.
This year's association convention will be in Kennewick.
Everett
Volunteers sought for tea, fashion show
Volunteers are needed by the Everett Senior Activity Center to help conduct a women's tea and vintage-fashion show.
The first meeting for volunteers will be at 9 a.m. today at the center, 3025 Lombard Ave. The show and fund-raiser is scheduled Sept. 18.
Information: 425-257-8780.
Everett
Port district gets clean audit report
The Port of Everett has received its eighth consecutive exemplary audit by the state Auditor's Office.
The audit examined financial records for 2004 and reviewed the Port's financial statements, accountability for public resources, internal controls, compliance with federal programs and other financial activities.
State Auditor Brian Sonntag congratulated the Port on "an exemplary record" in announcing the results May 31.
Compiled by the Seattle Times Snohomish County bureau.