The year 2018 in review, May-June

We continue our look at the top My Edmonds News stories and photos from 2018.
Part 3, May-June
May
Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, far right, and county staff discuss the county’s efforts to apply the principles of emergency management to the opioid epidemic. (File photo by Larry Vogel)

At its May 1 meeting, the Edmonds City Council heard a presentation from Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers and two of his staff on their efforts to implement a strategic approach to confronting the growing opioid crisis. Somers pointed out how our traditional approach to the problem has been piecemeal, with different agencies working different aspects of the issue without a central coordination. “Opioid abuse has been with us for a long time,” Somers said, “but in the past few years it has become more acute and shows no signs of waning.”

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Jonalyn Woolf-Ivory

Jonalyn Woolf-Ivory, executive director of Sno-Isle Libraries, is preparing to retire from the library district in December 2018. She gave her retirement notice late last year to the Board of Trustees. A public announcement from Sno-Isle Libraries was released May 3. When her retirement day arrives, Woolf-Ivory will leave with more than 33 years of service with Sno-Isle Libraries.

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The Sno-Isle Libraries operations levy was officially approved May 4, after canvassing boards in Snohomish and Island counties each certified the April 24 election results. The measure passed with a combined 50.46 percent yes votes to 49.54 percent no votes. The measure failed in Snohomish County but passed in Island County, so passage was based on the combined total of the two counties.

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The exterior space designed for Main Street Commons is meant for relaxed dining and conversation. (Rendering courtesy Mike McMurray)

Change is coming to the corner of Sixth and Main, driven by the vision of long-time Edmonds resident Mike McMurray. The 1995 Edmonds-Woodway High School grad said in early May he is planning Main Street Commons for the building that formerly housed a Thriftway Store and most recently Ombu Salon and Next to Nature Pet Supplies.

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The Edmonds Diversity Commission issued a statement regarding a May 4 harassment incident a McDonald’s restaurant on Highway 99 in Edmonds, when a woman allegedly engaged in a tirade against members of a Hispanic family who were speaking Spanish at their table. Calling the incident “hurtful,” the commission encouraged Edmonds residents “to engage in reflection and/or dialogue with friends, family and neighbors about the incident, its potential causes and ramifications.”  During the incident, the woman reportedly said “get out of our country…if you don’t speak English, you shouldn’t be here.” She then went on to open the door of an unlocked car in the parking lot — thinking it belonged to the family — and spat in it.

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Highway 99 as it runs south to north through Edmonds, courtesy of Google Earth. Lake Ballinger is on the right.

Edmonds is best known for its quaint downtown with historic buildings and waterfront views, complete with stunning sunsets. But there’s another Edmonds on the horizon that includes taller buildings, affordable housing and transit-oriented development –a two-and-a-quarter mile stretch of Highway 99. On May 10, My Edmonds News begin running a multi-part series of articles on the city’s planned transformation of the highway and what it means for the city. Part 1, the introduction, is here.

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An Edmonds woman and her two children were displaced during a fire in the 22100 block of 92nd Avenue West May 10. According to South Snohomish Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Leslie Hynes, the fire was reported at 3:54 p.m. Wednesday. There were no injuries but the house was a total loss. “The woman was in the backyard at the time of the fire. She came in and found her kitchen in flames and called 911,” Hynes said.

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North Trunk Road (today’s Highway 99) at the county line looking north, circa 1920. (Photo courtesy Edmonds Historical Museum)

We continued May 11 with Part 2 of our “Transforming Highway 99” series, exploring the roadway’s roots as a major highway — and a hotbed of vice.

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Monk Geshe Tenzin Phentsok explains the significance of the mandala. (File photo by Larry Vogel)

It took a team of monks four days to build it, but it only took a few minutes May 12 to sweep up the multi-colored sand that they had so meticulously and precisely applied to create the sand mandala in the Edmonds Center for the Arts lobby. The centerpiece of this week’s Mystical Arts of Tibet event at ECA, the mandala represents underlying tenets of the Buddhist faith and teachings. In town for a week, the monks’ primary focus had been construction of the mandala in the ECA lobby.

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The City of Shoreline “bent over backwards” to assist businesses impacted by Aurora Corridor construction, City Manager Dan Eernissee says. (Photo by Steven H. Robinson/Shoreline Area News)

And on May 12 we published Part 3 of our “Transforming Highway 99” series, with a focus on work done on the three-mile Aurora Corridor project in neighboring Shoreline.

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Edith Farrar leads the parade. (File photo by Larry Vogel)

In what might be the last of a popular Edmonds tradition, the annual Fairy and Elf parade — a much-anticipated Edmonds day-before-Mother’s-Day event — got off to festive start May 12. The reason for uncertainty? The organizer, leader and self- admitted “head fairy” — long-time Children’s Librarian Edith Farrar — has announced her retirement effective the end of the month.

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Dorothy Gross

The Edmonds Kiwanis Club announced May 15 that long-time Edmonds resident and 31-year Log Cabin volunteer Dorothy Gross would be its 2018 Citizen of the Year. “This was a total surprise to me,” said Dorothy. “I keep a pretty low profile, and I honestly didn’t think people knew much of anything about me.” Gross will be honored during the Edmonds Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday, May 24. And as is tradition for all Citizen of the Year winners, she will also ride in the Edmonds Kind of Fourth of July parade.

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Firefighters respond to a two-car injury crash in the 22100 block of Highway 99 in April 2017. (Photo courtesy Edmonds police)

Part 4 of our Transforming Highway 99 series focused on how the project could address traffic safety and crime along the corridor. At the forefront of early design plans is traffic safety. One of the most problematic issues facing drivers is unrestricted left turns in the Highway 99 center lane, through Edmonds, which contribute to car crashes. We also published Part 5, on housing options likely on the highway, and Part 6, on what types of development the revitalized highway may attract.

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More than 75 citizens turned out May 21 to learn the details of the new plan to meet what the Edmonds Task Force is calling a “housing affordability crisis.” Appointed by Mayor Dave Earling in July 2017, the Housing Strategy Task Force is charged with developing strategies to effectively take on the issues of homelessness and housing tailored to the specifics of the community.

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An image from Councilmember Dave Teitzel’s presentation.

The Edmonds City Council unanimously approved a resolution May 22 that states the city will phase in over 18 months a ban on single-use plastic in the city, including straws, stirrers and cutlery. Councilmember Dave Teitzel had led the effort to institute a gradual ban on single-use plastic items, and the council vote followed a presentation by Teitzel and the city’s recycling coordinator, Steve Fisher. The presentation underscored the damage that plastics are causing to the marine environment, with bits of plastic being discovered in marine life and plastic straws being among the top beach polluters.

Olivia Olson delivers her final speech as a VFW essay contest winner.

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The May 28 Memorial Day ceremony at the Edmonds Cemetery was the last year that attendees would hear an inspiring student essay from Olivia Olson. For five straight years — since she was an 8th grader at Brier Terrace Middle School — Olson has been a fixture during Edmonds Memorial Day events. The Memorial Day event, which drew a crowd of several hundred, also included the re-dedication of the South Snohomish County veterans memorial monument. The 7-foot tall granite monument was recently moved to the cemetery from its former location in front of the Edmonds Historical Museum.

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June

Defendant David Hoar being escorted into the courtroom at the beginning of his trial.

David Hoar, 64, of Edmonds on June 1 was sentenced to 200 months in prison at the Monroe Correctional Complex, with an additional 36 months of community custody and over $6,000 in fines and restitution.  A jury May 7 found Hoar guilty of the second-degree murder of his roommate, Samantha Ellis based on testimony that Hoar assaulted Ellis on Dec. 16, 2016 following a dispute in the apartment they shared in the 8100 block of 236th Street Southwest. Snohomish County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Daniel Selove determined Ellis died due to injuries sustained in the assault one to three days later; Hoar continued to live in the apartment and didn’t call 9-1-1 to report the death until Dec. 19.

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Commercial air service at Paine Field in Everett may be delayed from its expected start in fall 2018 depending on an additional review of noise and ground traffic by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), our online news partner The Seattle Times reported. The FAA is requiring a new review because the flight operations now proposed by Alaska Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United will bring many more passengers than originally approved in a 2012 environmental impact assessment. Such supplemental reviews, which include a period for public comments, typically take six to 18 months, the FAA said.

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Madrona School under construction in early June 2018, courtesy Edmonds School District website.

Due to a disagreement between the Edmonds School District and the Olympic View Water & Sewer District regarding a stormwater system, students at the Edmonds-based Madrona K-8 school won’t be able to move into their new $49.25 million building at the start of the 2018-2019 school year as previously anticipated. The Edmonds School Board and Superintendent Kris McDuffy sent a letter to Madrona families June 5 letting them know that their students will be moved to the former Alderwood Middle School property in Lynnwood for at least the start of the new school year, until an agreement can be reached with the Olympic View Water & Sewer District.

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A proposal by two Edmonds-Woodway High School sophomores to establish a City of Edmonds Youth Commission received an enthusiastic reception from the Edmonds City Council June 5. Students Stephany Janssen and Kaleb Nichols were invited to speak after discussing their idea with Council President Mike Nelson. The students told the council that historically, teens have not had an opportunity to be a vocal part of the Edmonds community or to be taken seriously. “We want  teenagers to have a place not just in school but in Edmonds,” Janssen said.

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With much help from his friends, Mayor Earling wields the ceremonial scissors to officially open the playground. (File photo by Larry Vogel)

City officials gathered June 6 to formally open the new Frances Anderson Center playground. In place for several days, the shiny new equipment has already attracted hordes of young fans, who had to be momentarily shooed to the sidelines for the ceremony. But disappointment soon turned to gleeful joy when the youngsters learned they would be invited to help cut the ribbon with the mayor.

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Geoff Bennett in his office at Edmonds-Woodway High School. (File photo by Larry Vogel)

When Edmonds-Woodway High School graduates its 2018 class on June 16, it will also mark a milestone for Vice Principal Geoff Bennett. The 65-year-old Bennett, a 20-year administrator at Edmonds-Woodway who has been directing graduates to their seats during commencement exercises for many years, is retiring effective June 29.

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2018 Student Poster Artist Elyse MacRury.

Elyse MacRury, this year’s student poster artist for the Edmonds Arts Festival, created “Springy” with oil pastels and watercolor paint. Elyse is in kindergarten at Edmonds Elementary School and entered her painting via the “Open Class” process, where any student can enter artwork for the poster competition. Posters featuring Elyse’s art will be available for purchase at the Festival, June 15-16-17.

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Carolyn and Lindsey Echelbarger

Cascadia Art Museum founders Lindsey and Carolyn Echelbarger will serve as the 2018 Grand Marshals of the An Edmonds Kind of 4th Parade. The Echelbargers have been instrumental in reviving the former Antique Mall property near the Edmonds ferry terminal into the new Salish Crossing, which now includes restaurants, shops and the Cascadia Art Musuem — the only art museum dedicated to early Northwest art from 1860-1960 era.

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Edmonds residents expressed a range of diverse and often opposing views during an Edmonds Planning Board public hearing June 14 on the new proposed housing strategy developed by the Edmonds Housing Strategy Task Force and Berk Consultants. Kevin Ramsey, the lead Berk consultant, presented the findings during the Wednesday, June 13 planning board meeting, held before a packed house in the city council chambers. Citizens also had a chance to weigh in on the draft plan at a May 21 open house.

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Edmonds police said that a train stopped along the Edmonds waterfront June 16 was the result of an apparent suicide on the railroad tracks. Edmonds police spokesman Sgt. Shane Hawley said that witnesses reported seeing a woman put herself into the path of a freight train that was traveling along the tracks around 9:15 p.m. Saturday. The stopped train was blocking traffic at Main Street but vehicles and pedestrians were able to cross the tracks at Dayton Street, Hawley said.

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The crash scene. (My Edmonds News file photo)

An Edmonds family narrowly escaped injury June 18 when a tractor trailer truck rolled down a residential hillside and crashed into a home in the 1100 block of Olympic Avenue. Police said there were no injuries, but the vehicle barely missed hitting a bedroom where a small child was sleeping, and adults and small children playing in the yard were able to escape the path of the runaway vehicle.

 

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Officials from the Edmonds Historical Museum gather with Edmonds Mayor Dave Earling to celebrate the opening of the 25th season of the Edmonds Museum Farmer’s Market June 16.

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Janet Prichard, municipal manager of Republic Services, shared information with the Edmonds City Council June 26 about changes facing the U.S. recycling market, following China’s 2017 announcement regarding the types and contamination levels of the materials it would accept. Starting this summer, customers of Republic Services will be facing a recycling surcharge of about 50 to 60 cents per month and also will see their recycling rebate “dropping to pennies” — and it’s all because of stricter standards in China. Republic Services is the largest private waste hauler in Edmonds.

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The Statue of Liberty sheds a tear. (File photo by Larry Vogel)

A crowd of more than 600 gathered at  the Westgate intersection June 30 to protest the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy for immigration law enforcement, a policy that has separated thousands of families since it began in June of this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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