Marijuana valued at $400,000 seized by police

LYNNWOOD – Police seized 183 pounds of marijuana valued at $400,000 on Thursday, ending an extensive investigation by local and federal authorities. Several people were arrested.

Investigators suspect the marijuana was imported from Canada, Lynnwood police Cmdr. Steve Ryder said. The bust is one of the county’s largest for processed pot.

The South Snohomish County Narcotics Task Force and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency participated in the investigation.

One man, 36, was booked into the Snohomish County Jail. Several other arrests also were made in connection with the investigation, Ryder said, but no further details were available.

Check-cashing scam targets teens at mall

Police are warning teenagers about a check-cashing scam hitting local malls.

Investigators suspect a group of young men are meeting teens at Alderwood mall and persuading them to cash checks that are stolen or counterfeit, Lynnwood detective Doug Teachworth said. At least five cases have been reported in Lynnwood involving $6,000 worth of checks.

“They’re telling kids such things as, ‘We’re from out of town and we don’t have an account,’” and offering them money to cash checks, he said.

The scammers drove with the teens to their banks, Teachworth said. The teens turned over the cash, and the banks later discovered that the checks were stolen or fake, he said. The same scam has been reported at malls in Bellevue.

Police are asking anyone who is approached and asked to cash a check to get a good description of the person and call police. Anyone with information about the scam is asked to call Lynnwood police at 425-775-1976.

Everett: Neighbors help apprehend suspect

Neighbors helped police chase down an Everett woman suspected of breaking into cars in the Riverside neighborhood on Friday.

Neighbors spotted the woman, 20, trying to break into a car at 8 a.m. Friday and chased her, Everett police Sgt. Boyd Bryant said. The woman broke into a pickup and hid in it, but neighbors chased her across Garfield Park about an hour later, Bryant said.

One of the neighbors grabbed the woman’s jacket as she approached Garfield Elementary School, 2215 Pine St. The woman got away, Bryant said. Inside her jacket was a pellet gun that appeared to be a revolver, which led to a half-hour lockdown at the school.

Officers searched and found the woman at about 11 a.m. She was arrested on suspicion of two counts of vehicle prowling and booked into the Snohomish County Jail.

Olympia: Wastewater facility gets funding

The state House Capital Budget Committee recently approved $14 million in funding for wastewater and drinking water projects.

The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Mike Sells, D-Everett, still must be approved by the full House and by the Senate. A companion bill is now before the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

The city is planning to start construction this year on a $25.8 expansion of its treatment plant on Smith Island. Currently, the city’s wastewater is treated in giant drainage ponds before going through a secondary, mechanical filtering process. After the improvements, much of the water will go through a mechanical filtering device before it enters the ponds.

The committee approved $10 million in state money for the project. The city also is planning to build a new reservoir for potable water in the Cascade foothills near its current reservoir. The committee approved $4 million in funding for that $10 million project.

Smokey Point: Man who died identified

A man killed in a two-vehicle crash on Highway 530 Thursday night has been identified as Dwight E. Lowrie, 61, of Sedro-Woolley.

Lowrie was driving west on Highway 530 at about 7:30 p.m. Thursday when he crossed the centerline and hit an oncoming minivan, the Washington State Patrol said.

The head-on crash also injured the other driver, 38, of Stanwood and a 14-year-old passenger. They were taken to Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington, where their conditions were unavailable Friday.

From Herald staff reports