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, Dec. 26
Online lessons popular option. More and more community college students in Snohomish County and across the state are taking courses from instructors they seldom or never see. Enrollment in online courses is soaring as students young and old search for ways to sandwich classes between jobs and busy schedules. More than 47,000 students across Washington enrolled in at least one online class during the 2003-04 school year, tripling the enrollment of 15,638 five years before.
Eric Stevick
Monday, Dec. 27
Tsunami quake kills thousands. Legions of rescuers spread across Asia today after an earthquake of epic power struck deep beneath the Indian Ocean, unleashing 20-foot tsunamis that ravaged coasts across thousands of miles, killed more than 13,340 people (the disaster’s toll, as of Saturday, was expected to reach at least 150,000 deaths) and left millions homeless in the fourth-largest temblor in a century. At least three Americans were among the dead: two in Sri Lanka and one in Thailand, according to State Department spokesman Noel Clay. He said a number of other Americans were injured, but he had no details.
Associated Press
Tuesday, Dec. 28
Tsunami possible here but less likely. Could it happen here? Is Snohomish County, with its western edge made up of beaches and bluffs overlooking Puget Sound, at risk of one day being inundated by a massive tsunami similar to the one that killed tens of thousands people in Asia on Sunday? The answer is good news and bad news, said Lee Hazlewood, homeland security manager with the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management.
Scott North
Wednesday, Dec. 29
Locke says he’ll sanction county. Gov. Gary Locke on Tuesday ordered sanctions against Snohomish County because of the County Council’s efforts to put Island Crossing farmland into Arlington’s urban growth area for a car lot. Locke asked the state treasurer’s office to withhold the county’s portion of the gas tax starting March 1 – an amount expected to top $9.2 million in the next year. The county planned to use the money for road construction, repair and maintenance.
Brian Kelly
Thursday, Dec. 30
Rossi calls for new vote. A defiant Dino Rossi on Wednesday called for a new vote to settle his duel for governor with Christine Gregoire, insisting that her victory is tainted and her reign would be illegitimate. In his first public appearance since losing by 129 votes to Gregoire in the statewide hand recount, Rossi said the uncertainty in this electoral battle undermines trust in the election process.
Jerry Cornfield
Friday, Dec. 31
Gregoire celebrates. Democratic Attorney General Christine Gregoire celebrated Thursday as Washington’s governor-elect and pledged to unite residents divided by the prolonged and bitter election battle, though it may still not be over. “An election night without end has concluded,” she said four hours after her 129-vote victory was certified. “I’m ready to do the people’s work.”
Jerry Cornfield
Saturday, Jan. 1
Lake Stevens volunteer on his way. A week ago, Charlie Hargrove couldn’t find Sri Lanka on a map. Today, he flies there. Reading the news the morning after Christmas, the Lake Stevens man was startled by the scenes of devastation in South Asia and Africa wreaked by the Indian Ocean tsunamis. Hargrove doesn’t speak a foreign language. He doesn’t have formal medical or disaster training. He didn’t even have a passport. Mere details. By that evening, Hargrove was planning a relief trip to Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Jennifer Warnick
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