Week In Review
Published 9:58 am Sunday, July 1, 2007
Did you miss your news last week? 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, June 24
We’ll have the density of Seattle in 30 years: In the next few decades, a wave of growth will spell intense change for Snohomish County.
The population boom is expected to be most dramatic between Everett and Lynnwood, where a sea of apartments and condos is predicted, possibly bringing nearly 30,000 more people by 2040.
That could make the area near Lake Stickney the fastest growing area in the county, according to a Herald computer analysis.
Forecasters predict it will be the second-fastest-growing area in the four-county Puget Sound region.
Jeff Switzer and Scott North
Monday, June 25
Duty, honor, country and Islam: Faraz Bala wore the gold ring on the third finger of his left hand. Three words chiseled in the ring read: “Duty. Honor. Country.”
That’s the motto of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York. Bala, 22, of Snohomish earned the 2007 class ring with fewer than 1,000 graduates in May.
Bala, a Muslim, balanced his religion with the rigorous academic work at the Christian-dominated institution.
Yoshiaki Nohara
Tuesday, June 26
OxyContin fuels robberies: A man armed with a rifle barged into a north Everett pharmacy in the middle of the day Sunday and demanded prescription painkillers.
No one was hurt during the robbery.
More and more pharmacies are being targeted by crooks as prescription medication abuse hits new throughout the country.
At least two high-profile prescription drug rings recently have been uncovered in Snohomish County, including one that operated across four states and hit numerous Northwest pharmacies.
Diana Hefley
Wednesday, June 27
Marysville cable barriers don’t work, expert says: Cable barriers along a deadly stretch of freeway near Marysville must go, according to an out-of-state expert hired by Gov. Chris Gregoire.
Instead, the state should try to prevent head-on crossover accidents by turning 10 miles of the median along I-5 into a continuous concrete barrier, according to one of the nation’s top experts on freeway safety.
The project could cost up to $28 million, but at least one top transportation official in the state wants the work done immediately.
Lukas Velush and Jerry Cornfield
Thursday, June 28
America’s symbol is back: The bald eagle will be taken off the federal endangered-species list today, a major victory for the Endangered Species Act, say officials from the U.S. Department of Interior.
Lukas Velush
Friday, June 29
Tulalips’ Boom City is dynamite: Every June, the acrid scent of spent gunpowder drifts from a lot out behind the Tulalip Casino and out over the Tulalip Indian Reservation.
To some, the biting smell heralds sleepless nights filled with the booms, crackles and whistles of fireworks.
To others, it’s the perfume of days with family and nighttime shows of the best pyrotechnics amateurs can hope for.
Krista J. Kapralos
Saturday, June 30
Tug-of-war for new UW gets fiercer: Move over, Everett.
Step aside, Stanwood.
Make room for Lake Stevens and Snohomish in the competition for the University of Washington branch campus.
Mayors of the two cities want to plant the flag of the Purple and Gold between their borders on land served by highways 2 and 9.
The duo has formed the Snohomish County Coalition for Higher Education to pursue locating the college east of I-5.
Jerry Cornfield
