SNOHOMISH — Mary Anne Belt just wants to take a shower, have a hot meal, and maybe watch a little television.
The 71-year-old Snohomish woman was fed up Thursday afternoon without having power for 48 hours because of a freak windstorm Tuesday.
"We’re always one of the last ones to get the power back on, and it’s getting frustrating," Belt said.
She said her power was off for three days last winter when an ice storm hit Snohomish County.
She’s most angry with the Snohomish County PUD.
"We get this runaround from the PUD," she said. "I just think the PUD should be courteous enough to let us know what’s happening. At least tell us when they’re going to come out to our neighborhood."
Instead, whenever she calls the utility, she’s told that help will be on the way as soon as possible and that there’s no way she can be told exactly when that will happen.
The PUD was unavailable for comment.
Everett: Deputies quickly solve robbery
Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies Erin Schlegel and Jim Stein needed a stopwatch, they apparently solved a robbery so fast Wednesday night.
It only took two minutes, police said.
A 30-year-old Everett man allegedly robbed Henry’s Donuts and Deli in the 12700 block of Fourth Avenue W. at 9:48 p.m. The man reportedly demanded money from an employee, implied he had a gun and threatened the victim. The robber left after getting money from the worker.
The 911 dispatcher said the suspect was an adult black man, 6 feet 1 inch, skinny, wearing black jeans, a black jacket, a black and gray baseball cap, a black backpack and headphones.
The deputies spotted a man matching that description in front of a nearby restaurant and arrested him without incident, police said.
He was booked into jail on suspicion of first-degree robbery.
Dead Tacoma police officer raised in Everett
A Tacoma police officer killed in a traffic accident Tuesday was raised in Everett and served as a reserve Everett officer in the early 1980s, police said Thursday.
A memorial service for Jim Lewis, 45, of Lacey is scheduled for Wednesday in the Tacoma Dome, Everett Capt. Greg Lineberry said. A procession of law enforcement vehicles will leave Cheney Stadium at 9:30 that morning and drive to the Tacoma Dome for the service.
Lineberry on Thursday searched for documents establishing Lewis’ association with the Everett reserves and found his resignation letter dated Feb. 11, 1985. In it, Lewis said he resigned to take a post as an officer with Tacoma, but had learned a lot working as an Everett reserve.
Lineberry said he couldn’t find documentation of when Lewis started with the Everett force or any evidence of family members remaining in Snohomish County.
Lewis died when his motorcycle hit a car that turned in front of him in south Tacoma when he was rushing to back up a detective who asked for help in dealing with a suspected felon.
Jailed counselor’s
license is revoked
The state Health Department has suspended the license of Steven C. Harris, a counselor convicted of child molestation and now held in the Snohomish County Jail.
He is to be released by May 8, according to agency documents.
"Since he might be released soon, we felt like we needed to take immediate action to protect the public," said Deanna Whitman, a spokeswoman for the Health Department.
The license suspension means Harris cannot work with drug and alcohol patients or do general counseling. Harris has until May 13 to respond to the license suspension. His attorney, Robert Smith, could not be reached for comment.
His license was suspended because he allegedly failed to make required reports to the Health Department.
Harris was convicted of first-degree child molestation in Snohomish County Superior Court in December 2003 after repeated sexual contact with a child for more than two years, according to Health Department documents.
"We have no reason to believe that the victim was a client," Whitman said.
Whitman said that in February 2003, Harris told agency officials he had not worked as a counselor for two years.
Investors report losses
of $460,000 in fraud case
At least 27 investors lost about $460,000 when they gave money to Larry Dean Starchman, now of Woodinville, who ran a business called LDS Securities out of his home in Sultan several years ago, Snohomish County prosecutors said.
Starchman, 53, was charged this week with one count of fraudulent sale of securities and one count of selling securities without being registered with the state to do so.
The charges stem from a state Department of Financial Institutions investigation of LDS Securities, which operated between April 1997 and August 2000, deputy prosecutor Jim Townsend said.
Starchman used his company to solicit investments, primarily from members of his church, friends and their relatives, Townsend said,
He is accused of telling investors he would return all their money if losses reached a quarter of the money invested. Investors weren’t told that Starchman didn’t have any agreement with his brokerage firm to liquidate his standing account if losses reached the 25 percent mark, Townsend said.
Investors were told that none of the money would be withdrawn for Starchman’s personal use and that his company was doing well. In reality, the firm "was losing money and going broke," Townsend said.
Some returns were paid to investors, Townsend said, but "this was largely accomplished by using new investment money to pay off old investors and not from investment profits."
Investigators found that Starchman regularly used money from the trading account for personal expenses. He also did not have a proper state license during the time the company operated, Townsend said.
Lions Club campaigns for White Cane Days
The North Everett Lions Club is having White Cane Days from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Saturday at QFC, 2615 Broadway.
The club will be handing out white canes for the blind and accepting donations to be, as Helen Keller said, "knights of the blind."
All contributions to the White Cane Days campaign will benefit the sight programs of the Northwest Lions Foundations for Sight and Hearing.
The North Everett Lions Club will match all contributions received during the campaign, which hopes to help blind and deaf children and adults in the community to regain their independence.
Everett police seek bank robbery suspects
Another local bank has been robbed, and police have released a photograph of a suspect in an earlier bank robbery.
A lone man displayed a weapon to a teller then robbed the First Heritage Bank at Oakes and Everett avenues Wednesday around 3 p.m.
The man is said was described as white, in his mid-40s, 5 feet 9 inches tall, 190 pounds, stocky, with dark graying hair with a bandana. He was unshaven.
Meanwhile, Everett and Snohomish County detectives and the FBI seek assistance in identifying a suspect believed to be responsible for the Jan. 8 robbery of Cascade Bank’s Lake Stevens branch, and the Feb. 17 robbery of Pacific Northwest Bank at 8519 Evergreen Way.
From Herald staff reports
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