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 www.heraldnet.com.

Sunday, February 19

A quicker call for assistance: Beginning Wednesday, if you need to know where the closest food bank or homeless shelter is, either to get help or to give help as a donor or volunteer, it will be as easy as dialing 211.

Sharon Salyer

Monday, February 20

State advises taking down 41st Street bridge: The state Department of Transportation says removing the 41st Street overpass would get the job done more quickly, six months as opposed to more than a year, but Everett city officials must agree.

If the city says yes, construction would start in spring and the new bridge would open by Thanksgiving, said Mike Cotten, the state’s I-5 widening project director. If the answer is no, the new overpass won’t open until summer 2008.

Lukas Velush and Krista Kapralos

Tuesday, February 21

Forest service could sell Sultan River land: President Bush wants the Forest Service to sell land to pay for rural schools and roads.

Bush proposes that the U.S. Forest Service sell eight miles of the upper Sultan River to generate money for schools and roads in counties with Forest Service land.

Bush wants to sell 300,000 acres of public land around the country to generate more than $1 billion.

Lukas Velush

Wednesday, February 22

Arlington native dies in Iraq: Army Sgt. Charles E. Matheny IV always thought of himself as someone people could count on in a pinch, said his father.

That’s why, as a single man, he often offered to take on convoy missions in the slums of Baghdad in place of his fellow soldiers who had wives and children, said Charles Matheny, III.

Matheny, 23, and an Arlington native, died Saturday in Baghdad when an explosive detonated near his vehicle, according to the Department of Defense.

“I think he decided he was in a stage in his life where he had to rise to the occasion and be the man,” his father said.

Scott Morris

Thursday, February 23

Middle school shuts door on open design: Peace and quiet is a novelty at Eisenhower, where, until Wednesday, teachers and students had learned in open classrooms.

The 35-year-old school’s classrooms were arranged in a circle, facing each other with no barrier to the noise that comes with educating nearly 800 adolescents.

A $17 million overhaul of the school marks the extinction of the open architectural style locally. Teachers and students, who returned from mid-winter vacation this week, said learning inside four walls with a door is a refreshing change.

Melissa Slager

Friday, February 24

State law would trump city offender rules: A bill allowing workers to order sex predators out of most children’s hangouts continued its march through the state Legislature on Thursday.

But the move by the Legislature didn’t get a very favorable reaction in Monroe. The proposed law would overturn Monroe’s three-month-old ordinance banning convicted sex offenders from living within 750 feet of public and private schools, licensed day care centers, parks, trails, athletic fields, playgrounds and other open spaces.

Jerry Cornfield

Saturday, February 25

Boeing hands out big bonuses: Some 45,000 Boeing Co. employees are $4,000 richer this weekend, on average.

The company paid out about $182 million in bonuses.

“It’s a good payout, which reflects the good performance of the company last year,” said Tim Neale, a spokesman at Boeing headquarters in Chicago.

Bryan Corliss