Editorials

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   HAVE YOUR SAY Feel strongly about something? Share it with the community by writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) We reserve the right to edit letters, but if you keep yours to 250 words or less, we won’t ask you to shorten it. If your letter is published, please wait 30 days before submitting another. Send it to: E-mail: letters@heraldnet.com Mail: Letters section The Herald P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 Fax: 425-339-3458 Have a question about letters? Contact Carol MacPherson (cmacpherson@heraldnet.com or 425-339-3472).   Published: Friday, December 14, 2007 Governor's decisiveness should save ferry run Gov. Chris Gregoire's decisive action Thursday regarding the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry run was refreshing. We hope she, Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond and legislative leaders will take similar steps to pin down how this preventable crisis unfolded, with the goal of reforming a ferry system that clearly needs it. Gregoire and Hammond inherited a nightmare regarding the system's 80-year-old Steel Electric ferries, vessels that had been running under waivers from modern safety rules for years. Hammond made a gutsy and necessary call to pull the ferries from service late last month after close inspection showed they had deteriorated beyond any semblance of seaworthiness. Gregoire on Thursday addressed the massive inconvenience and economic harm that followed, announcing immediate and long-term plans to save the run between the Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island. Gregoire said the state will lease a replacement ferry from Pierce County, resuming auto service to the route in January. She proposed moving $100 million from other ferry projects to build three new ferries to serve the run, vessels small and nimble enough to navigate Whidbey's shallow, narrow Keystone Harbor. Bids would be taken early next year. And, in a welcome effort to salvage some of the Christmas shopping season for Port Townsend merchants, temporary passenger-only service from Seattle will start today. The downside: Some $36 million of the cost for new ferries would come from money earmarked for a new Mukilteo terminal, a project that's already been delayed. But perhaps a silver lining could emerge there, too. Why not explore moving the ferry landing to Everett, opening potentially grand new development opportunities on Mukilteo's downtown waterfront and easing the town's daily traffic headaches? We don't know how logistically, politically or financially feasible such an idea is, but it seems worth discussing. For now, we applaud the swiftness and soundness of the governor's initial actions. There's more to be done, though, to get to the bottom of why the safety of ferry passengers was allowed to be so compromised. Lessons clearly must be learned, and corrective action taken. Future governors should never be handed such a mess to clean up.

1. Good grief! 2. Swine flu lingers, making traditional flu season unpredictable 3. Two vie to serve as Snohomish County prosecutor 4. Last hurrah for Huskies’ Locker? 5. Koster for Congress? He’s still undecided 6. Here’s how home foreclosure sales really work 7. A store credit card can save you cash, but is it worth it? 8. New site sought for Snohomish pool project 9. Families get an early gift: free Christmas trees 10. Prep Roundup: Lake Stevens wins two wrestling meets 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• Wildcats fall to familar foe in semis • ‘Nutcracker' times three • Road warrior • Mavericks reloading • Holiday Lightings & Santa Sightings • Cities prepare for winter blast repeat • Wolfpack duo takes last shot at state tourney • This Weekend in Your Town • Tips for the stormy season • Boeing will build, flight test and deliver 787s in South Carolina to spe ... • Snohomish County EDC promoting job growth in key industry clusters • $4 million grant to advance brain tumor research has Everett links • Providence medical center construction tops off its 12-story steel frame ... • Tulalip affordable housing project to be financed by KeyBank, Raymond Ja ... • Arlington's Lak of Ink has a growing following for Luke Kooyman's creati ... • Bank of the Northwest formed • Cascade Bank earns $1.6 million