Summer’s your chance to make memories with your kids D1
SUNDAY, 07.26.2015
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EVERETT, WASHINGTON
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Council asks for budget answers Debate over new county courthouse renewed after council chairman sends memo to county executive seeking clarification on several finance issues. By Noah Haglund Herald Writer
EVERETT — A growing sense of unease about Snohomish County’s finances has some council members wondering whether it’s wise to proceed with construction of a new courthouse in downtown Everett, set to begin in just weeks. County Council Chairman Dave Somers sent Executive John Lovick a memo last week asking for answers on nine separate issues. Most are general budget questions, not specific to the courthouse. The concerns include escalating labor costs, the potential loss of about $5 million in sales tax revenue at Quil Ceda Village and expenses incurred as a result of the Oso mudslide. Additionally, Somers and some of his colleagues want a clearer picture of how rising interest rates could affect the $162 million budget for the courthouse project. The county already has sold bonds for roughly half that amount, but has waited on the rest. Lovick is “asking the council to make decisions on the courthouse and there are all of these loose ends in the budget,” Somers said. See COURTHOUSE, Page A7
Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E3 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . .D4 Dear Abby. . . . . . . . . . . . . .D4 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . .D4 Lottery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A2
Robert Lamb, a fisheries technician with the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians’ Natural Resources Department, peers between boulders in the North Fork Stillaguamish River looking for fish. Lamb and biologist Jason Griffith counted 75 Chinook, 77 bull trout and 15 steelhead during a survey of a four-mile stretch of the river July 16.
STILLY UNDER SIEGE
River, threatened fish species weather silt, slides and drought
O
SO — Jason Griffith and Robert Lamb pulled on their wetsuits and waded into the river. Griffith and Lamb both work for the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians’ Natural Resources Department. They were setting out on a four-mile snorkeling trip the morning of July 16 on the North Fork Stillaguamish River to count fish, especially Chinook salmon and other threatened species that were thought to be lurking in some of the river’s deeper pools prior to spawning season. Griffith, a biologist, and Lamb, a fisheries technician, strapped pieces of white vinyl to their wrists to take notes on and stuck golf pencils up their sleeves. Then they Lamb waded out to the center of the channel — where it was about three feet deep — dropped face-down into the water and floated downstream. The Stillaguamish is home to three species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act: Chinook salmon, steelhead trout and bull trout. In recent years, however, the river suffered two blows that have threatened the survival of those species. First came the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. In addition to killing 43 people and cutting off Darrington from the rest of the county, the slide dumped tons of sediment into the river,
Griffith writes his notes on white vinyl strapped to his arm underwater as he spots various fish species.
Story by Chris Winters Photos by Mark Mulligan
See STILLY, Page A6
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The Herald
Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . .B4 Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A9 Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . .B7
CAMPING BUCK CREEK
THE TRUMP CARD
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Suiattle River Road favorite is open again. Outdoors, E1
Debating how (or whether) to dump The Donald. Viewpoints, B7
Pro wrestling radio show has several million fans. Sports, C1
Grayish 66/44, C8
SUNDAY
VOL. 115, NO. 164 © 2015 THE DAILY HERALD CO.
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