Around Snohomish County

Edmonds: Apply to teach English

The Edmonds Sister City Commission is accepting applications for an assistant English teacher to work two years in Hekinan, Japan, starting in September. The position is renewable for a third year upon agreement of all parties.

The deadline for applications is March 15.

Applications can be found on the Sister City section of the city of Edmonds website, www.edmondswa.gov, or contact the mayor’s office at 425-771-0247 or carolyn.lafave@edmondswa.gov.

The city has had a 25-year relationship with Hekinan. One element of this relationship is the ongoing presence of an assistant English teacher, who is selected by the Edmonds Sister City Commission and hired by the Hekinan Board of Education. This position assists Japanese language teachers in the Hekinan middle schools and in many ways is Edmonds’ unofficial “ambassador” to Hekinan.

Lindsay Donahue is the current assistant English teacher in Hekinan. With six months left on her contract, she reflects on her stay: “Teaching English to energetic teenagers is a new adventure every day that begins with bows and polite greetings and ends with hugs, jokes and the antics of nefariously clever students who angle for extra credit points with the finest English prowess they can muster.”

You can read Donahue’s blog about teaching in Hekinan, “Lessons from Rural Japan,” at http://lindsayinhekinan.tumblr.com.

Everett: Councilman to seek full term

City Councilman Scott Murphy, who was appointed to his job in January, has announced he plans to run for a full four-year term.

A majority of the City Council picked Murphy to fill the year remaining on the term of retired Councilman Arlan Hatloe, who left at the end of 2012.

Murphy, 50, is the chief operating officer for Everett glass company Goldfinch Bros. He also serves on the Greater Everett Community Foundation Board.

Murphy’s experience includes services as a city planning commissioner as well as stints as president of North Everett Little League and the Everett Public Schools Foundation.

The official filing period for candidates is May 13-17. The primary election is Aug. 6.

Terrace: City switches to LED

New LED street light fixtures are currently being installed citywide and are expected to save the city $22,000 along with over 277,708 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. This amount is equal to the energy use of 26.5 average American homes in a year.

In August, the Public Works Department was awarded a state Department of Commerce grant for $79,500 for a project to retrofit approximately 250 existing streetlights to new LED fixtures. This grant combined with incentives from Snohomish PUD and Street Capital Improvement Funds established a total project budget of $240,000.

Fixture costs in addition to installation bids accepted in December were below estimates, which allowed for the scope of the project to be expanded within the budget to retrofit 349 LED fixtures rather than the 250 originally planned. Sail Electric, Inc. of Bellingham was awarded the installation contract.

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