Week in review
Published 9:00 pm Saturday, February 17, 2007
Here’s a selection of the week’s top news items from across Snohomish County as they appeared in The Herald. For the full stories, go to cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet.
Sunday, Feb. 11
Tides hold promise of electricity: The unbridled might of the Pacific Ocean flows unchecked for 100 miles through the Strait of Juan de Fuca before it slams into the west side of Whidbey Island.
Much of that power funnels into Deception Pass, a narrow gap between Whidbey and Fidalgo islands.
For eons tidal currents have ripped through passages such as this all over Puget Sound. Now Deception Pass and a handful of other passes are the focus in a race to develop a new kind of renewable energy: tidal power.
Lukas Velush
Monday, Feb. 12
City Hall open for business renters: Anthony Stetler can’t wait to move into his new corner office on the seventh floor of City Hall.
But Stetler is no government powerbroker.
Metropolitan Mortgage Group, a fast-growing brokerage business, is the first commercial tenant to lease space in the 10-story Wall Street Building at 2930 Wetmore Ave. since an exodus of Snohomish County workers left nearly half of the building empty.
David Chircop
Tuesday, Feb. 13
Boy faces list of charges: In Colton Harris-Moore’s mind it was war.
Hiding in the woods near his mother’s house in September, the 15-year-old Camano Island teenager watched as deputies searched a tent camp where he’d been hiding, according to court documents.
On Monday, Harris-Moore was behind bars and facing a dozen new charges that could keep him locked up for the rest of his teenage years.
Jackson Holtz and Kaitlin Manry
Wednesday, Feb. 14
Driver dies after SUV breaks past I-5 cables: A 64-year-old Everett man was killed and a woman was seriously injured in a fiery crossover crash Tuesday on I-5 along the same stretch of highway that’s been the focus of litigation over failures of the median’s cable barrier.
About 3 p.m., a southbound sport utility vehicle crossed all lanes of traffic, shot across the grassy median and plowed nearly head-on into a northbound charter bus about a quarter-mile south of the 88th Street NE overpass, according to Washington State Patrol trooper Kirk Rudeen.
Diana Hefley, Bill Sheets and Lukas Velush
Thursday, Feb. 15
Expect a shock when your property tax bill arrives: Snohomish County property tax bills are in the mail for nearly 267,000 property owners, and most everybody faces a higher bill than last year.
On average, county property tax bills will be $281 higher this year, a 10 percent increase. That’s more than three times the average countywide increase in 2006 – which was 3 percent, or $81.
Jeff Switzer
Friday, Feb. 16
Teen may be tried as adult: A Lake Stevens teenager shot and wounded Tuesday morning when police responded to a home break-in would be tried as an adult if prosecutors charge him with first-degree burglary.
Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies shot the teen Tuesday after he resisted arrest and then put his hand inside his coat as if he were grabbing something, court documents said.
Jim Haley
Saturday, Feb. 17
Monroe’s traffic fix: $43 million: City officials say they need $43 million to fix the city’s notorious traffic problems in the biggest transportation plan that the city has ever created.
The plan lists 43 projects, focusing on heavily used roads such as U.S. 2, 179th Avenue and Chain Lake Road.
Yoshiaka Nohara
