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 | | December 30, 2008 edition |
1: Snow storm challenges weak economy
Dec 23: Winter storms hit Stanwood and Camano Island, which averaged 20 inches of snow. The combination of the snow and subfreezing temperatures caused local businesses to close or close early during the busiest shopping days of the year.
Unlike past winter storms, neither Stanwood nor Camano Island experienced long power outages. However, some homes in Warm Beach, Kayak Point and parts of Camano Island did lose power.
Early in December, the federal government officially announced the U.S. economy had been in a recession for the last year.
Both Snohomish and Island counties started making deep cuts into their 2009 budgets as revenues decreased. Programs and services were cut from both the Snohomish Health District and the Island County Health Department.
Local business closed or faced closure, including the Port Susan Athletic clubs and Distractions gift store in downtown Stanwood.
Residents requesting assistance from the Stanwood Camano Foodbank and the Stanwood Camano Community Resource Center increased.
Real estate prices decreased, and Washington Mutual was sold to J.P. Morgan in September, a buyout that signaled the start of requests for federal bailouts from both the banking and auto manufacturing industries.
2: First woman elected to Island County Commissioners
Dec. 2 and Dec.16: Helen Price Johnson (D) was the first woman in 155 years to be sworn in as an Island County Commissioner Nov. 25. She replaced appointed commissioner Phil Bakke (R).
“It’s good to have reflective representation of the community on the board,” said Price Johnson. “My grandmother would be very proud. She was 21 when women earned the right to vote.”
In addition, after a hand recount, Angie Homola (D) replaced Republican William “Mac” MacDowell on the board. They were separated by only 62 votes.
For the first time in local memory, the board was dominated by all Democrats instead of Republicans. Commissioner John Dean (D), in his first term, became the senior member on the board.
3: Cama Beach opens
June 24: Cama Beach State Park on Camano Island officially opened June 21 after more than a decade of work. It was the first new state park to open in the state since 1997.
Gov. Christine Gregoire attended the opening and credited Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen (D) for her efforts in Olympia to move the state park forward.
Native American tribes blessed the park grounds, which are a known site of native remains. The park is sacred Kikialos territory, said Kikialos Chief Joe Campbell.
The park has 24 waterfront cabins and seven deluxe cabins for overnight rentals. The park also hosts the Center for Wooden Boats, which features boat rentals, workshops and exhibits of boats used at the former Cama Beach Resort.
The resort was owned and operated by Lee and Muriel Risk from 1934 to 1989, when it was no longer economically viable to stay open. At one time on Camano Island, 22 similar resorts existed.
Karen Hamalainen, of Bellingham, and Sandra Worthington, of Olympia, the heirs to the property, worked with the state to ensure Cama Beach kept its pastoral quality.
4: Harris-Moore escapes, remains elusive
May 6: Colton Harris-Moore, 17, escaped from Griffin Home, a Renton group home for non-violent juvenile offenders, and was once again on the run from police.
Harris-Moore had burglarized homes on Camano Island and evaded police for six months until he surrendered on Feb. 9, 2007.
Island County Sheriff Mark Brown said he was displeased the teen had been placed in a minimal security home with his history of stealth.
Harris-Moore was almost apprehended at an attempted traffic stop July 17. The vehicle was later reported stolen, Brown said. A man-tracking team from Marysville assisted in the search, but was unable to locate Harris-Moore.
Between the teen’s escape and July, Camano Island had 36 residential burglaries and five commercial break-ins.
Pam Kohler, Harris-Moore’s mother, said she had no knowledge of her son’s whereabouts. She claimed law enforcement hadn’t caught him because they wanted leverage for more funding.
That idea is completely false, said Kelly Mauck, Island County under sheriff.
By mid-August, Brown announced Harris-Moore had completely fallen under the radar. The trend in burglaries decreased, which could mean he left the island. However, Harris-Moore remains a wanted man.
5: Democrats sweep general election
Nov. 11: Local Democrats eagerly watched general election returns unfold as Barack Obama (D) made history as the first African-American man elected as president of the U.S.
Overall, Democrats swept general elections Nov. 4.
Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) was re-elected, as was U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D) and Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen (D). Peter Goldmark (D) won the state Commissioner of Public Lands post, unseating Republican incumbent Doug Sutherland.
However, in the 10th Legislative District, representative Barbara Bailey (R) was re-elected, and Rep. Norma Smith (R), who was appointed earlier in the year, won in a close race against Democrat Tim Knue.
6: Soundview development denied
Soundview remains on hold after various appeals. The $26 million residential addition to the Warm Beach Senior Community included a 36-unit apartment and 16 four-unit buildings when first proposed five years ago.
The Warm Beach Stewards, a grassroots organization, expressed concern about storm water mixed with waste and effluent from the community’s sanitary sewage lagoons draining into Port Susan Bay.
In 2005, Snohomish County Deputy Hearing Examiner Ed Good mandated an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that focused on water quality for the proposed development.
The EIS came back with no significant impacts, but the stewards appealed it.
Snohomish County Hearing Examiner Barbara Dykes upheld the Warm Beach Stewards’ appeal, stopping the development. The maximum density for Soundview would be 13 units, not 100, Dykes said in her report.
The Snohomish County Council upheld the hearing examiner’s denial. The decision will move on to the Shoreline Hearings Board Jan. 22 and 23.
Senior community executive director Larry Foss said he looks forward to moving on with the development and he hopes the issue will be solved through mediation.
The senior community considers itself a steward of the Warm Beach area, Foss said.
The Warm Beach Stewards are willing to continue to appeal the development until it is stopped, said Leon Sams, spokesman for the group.
“We’re prepared to go all the way to the Supreme Court, if we have to,” he said.
7: Mental health issue brought to forefront
Dec. 9: Snohomish County will start collecting the one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax for mental health and chemical dependency programs in April. A similar tax was passed in Island County, and is already being collected.
The passage of the sales tax was one of many suggested to reforms to the state’s mental health system, which, because of state funding and law, only intervenes with acute mental illness.
The state has a publicly funded mental illness system, not a mental health system, said Ken Stark, Snohomish County Human Services director. The state Department of Social and Human Services distributes state funding through regional care systems, such as the North Sound Mental Health Administration (NSMHA), which then contracts with the actual providers.
8: Landowners, CARE dissent over Camano Gateway development
Dec. 9: The Island County Board of Commissioners started considering changes to the rural village zoning of the Camano Gateway area.
An emergency interim ordinance limiting commercial development in the Camano Gateway, Terry’s Corner and Camano Marine areas was passed in July.
The proposed ordinance would limit the type of businesses, restrict height and require design standards. Convenience services, gas stations and drive-through food establishments would be prohibited, said Jeff Tate, Island County planning and community development director.
David Platter, co-owner of TR Camano, said the types of businesses the proposal prohibits are the ones most likely to succeed in the area. TR Camano owns the largest tracts of land in the island’s gateway and has been unable to develop them.
Landowner Pat Churchill said she felt prohibiting useful services in the area was foolish.
The proposal addressed all of Camano Action for a Rural Environment (CARE)’s major issues, said CARE spokeswoman Allison Warner. However, the group opposes the language in the ordinance that would permit a hotel.
9: Railroad asks for closure of Logen Rd Crossing
Nov. 4: Amtrak passenger trains stopping in Stanwood hinges on the closure of the Logen Road crossing.
In order for Amtrak trains to pass Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) freight trains, an existing siding rail needs to be extended. The closure of Logen Road and the removal of the crossing would permit it.
The road closure, while a proposal, had not been submitted to the Utilities and Transportation Commission, which decides whether or not to close a road based on safety and public convenience, said Kathy Hunter, the commission’s safety and compliance manager.
Still, an extended side rail is not needed, said Pat Logen, of Stanwood. Closing the crossing, which more than 125 vehicles use each day, would be more than a minor inconvenience, she said.
Early in May, 1.7 miles of aged rails from Main Street to Logen Road were replaced with stronger bars. The upgrades were needed before building the $5 million, 750-foot long platform and passenger shelter, said Terry Finn, BNSF director of governmental affairs.
Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen (D) secured $5 million from the 2005 state Legislature to begin a commuter rail service in Stanwood.
“We need to make more investment in rails,” Haugen said. “It’s the wave of the future.”
10: Grassroots effort brings Palestinian teen to ECC
Sept. 9: Local residents successfully helped a Palestinian exchange student return to the area.
Abdallah Khalifah, 18, of Bethlehem, attended Stanwood High School (SHS) as an exchange student for the 2005-2006 school year.
Robin Ringland, SHS chemistry teacher, Mike and Myra Milnes, his host family, and a group of adults organized through St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church on Camano Island banded together to fund Khalifah’s travel and school expenses. SHS students also held a concert in August to raise money for him.
Ringland involved U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen and his staff to make sure Khalifah’s student visa was processed.
Khalifah said he felt amazed and blessed to be able to return to the U.S. to continue his education. He plans to earn degrees in political science and international law, and recently finished his first quarter at Everett Community College.
Khalifah said he was thankful for everyone who made it possible for him to return.
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