Under the volcano
Marysville High shot putter aims to beat his best, Page C1
Explosive experiments will help scientists peer deep into Mount St. Helens, A3
THURSDAY, 05.29.2014
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Kids Talk returns to tourism Sen. Murray, outdoor recreation companies and others lend support hack grade book OSO MUDSLIDE
Two Monroe High School students raised their grades and those of two others in order to pass a science class. By Eric Stevick Herald Writer
would match that amount. Plans changed. “The customers donated more than $80,000 in a matter of days,” Neville said. The company raised its own contribution to make it a neat $100,000, then presented it
MONROE — Four Monroe High School students are in hot water after a teacher’s online grade book was hacked into earlier this month. The students, all underclassmen, were failing a science class and bumped up their grades to passing marks, officials said. Two were directly involved in the grade-changing scheme, Monroe School District spokeswoman Rosemary O’Neil said. The others were aware their grades were being changed. “That’s the very sad part of the story,” O’Neil said. “They were just so frightened of failing.” One of the students inserted a keylogging device into the teacher’s computer. It allowed them to covertly record the sequence of key strokes the teacher used as the password to the electronic grade book. They weren’t shooting for the honor roll. They merely boosted their grades to pass and get academic credit. Keylogging devices have been around for decades and have changed with advances in technology. In the 1970s, they reportedly were used by Soviet spies on electric typewriters in the U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Moscow and St. Petersburg. These days they sometimes are used as surveillance tools by parents checking on their kids and employers making sure company computers aren’t being used inappropriately. At Monroe High School, staff investigated the grade-changing allegations after receiving a tip, O’Neil said. The school also brought the case to the attention of a Monroe police school resource officer. “We don’t expect a criminal charge,” Monroe police spokeswoman Debbie Willis said. “We are going to defer to the school
See BARTELL, Page A6
See HACK, Page A6
By Dan Catchpole Herald Writer
DARRINGTON — If you like hiking, mountain biking, rafting, trail riding or bluegrass, Sen. Patty Murray wants to tell you something about Darrington. “The road’s going to get fixed, and boy, if you come up here, you’re going to have a great experience,” Murray said here Wednesday. After the Oso mudslide buried Highway 530 — the town’s main link to the outside world — many here feared summer tourists would stay away. The small mountain town has depended on summer visitors ever since logging was
restricted on federal lands in the Northwest. Local businesses, outdoor recreation groups and public officials are scrambling to save the summer, with an eye on boosting local tourism for the long term, as well. Murray, D-Wash., has used her office and connections to bring together representatives from stakeholders. A meeting Wednesday afternoon at the Darrington Community Center was part of that effort. The state Department of Transportation is close to reopening a single lane of Highway 530. Like the unpaved bypass road in use now, Highway 530 will alternate between eastbound and westbound travel
until a second lane is opened. Two outdoor recreation companies based in Seattle and 10 advocacy groups are collaborating to publish and disseminate a map of outdoor activities around Darrington and amenities in town. The groups range from the Washington Trails Association to American Whitewater to The Mountaineers. REI Inc. is paying to print 20,000 copies, which will be available at no cost in some of its Washington stores. Outdoor Research, a company that makes outdoor gear, is promoting an online version of the map through social media. See TOURISM, Page A6
COMING FRIDAY Special section: When the mountain fell, the people of the Stillaguamish Valley never wavered.
Bartell Drugs customers give thousands $100,000, most of which was raised at checkout counters, went to The Salvation Army to help with recovery efforts. Herald Writer
EVERETT — The Salvation Army received a donation Wednesday of $100,000 to help
with ongoing recovery work following the Oso mudslide. The money came from Bartell Drugs, which raised most of it from customers in the form of checkout donations.
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“We typically don’t do fundraising that way,” said Helen Neville, Bartell’s senior vice president of marketing. “We felt and heard from our customers they wanted a way to support the community,” Neville said. The initial plan was to raise $10,000 and then the company
Chapter and worse Customers who didn’t buy this item also didn’t buy... Amazon says a dispute between it and the publisher of books by several wellknown authors could drag on for some time and means that some 5,000 titles won’t be available on its website (Page A9). Dear Abby. . . .D5 Horoscope . . . B6
It’s a shame that we don’t have something like a store where you could go and buy books by your favorite authors — I don’t know — call it a store for books or a bookstore. Take the wheel: Google is building a test fleet of 100 self-driving cars that could eventually roam public
Lottery . . . . . .A2 Northwest. . . . B1
Obituaries. . . .A7 Opinion. . . . .A11
roads. The cars would have no steering wheel or gas or brake pedals. Passengers would enter a destination and let the subcompact cars do the driving at a top speed of 25 mph (Page A9). And if you ask the attendant at Disneyland nicely, he’ll let you go around twice. Don’t know much about Sports . . . . . . . C1 TV . . . . . . . . . .D6
history: On this day in 1932, World War I vets arrived in Washington, D.C., to demand cash bonuses they weren’t scheduled to receive until 1945 (Today in History, Page A2). The good news is those same WWI veterans now have a Tuesday appointment to see a VA doctor.
—Jon Bauer, Herald staff
Fussy 64/48, C6
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GENNA MARTIN / THE HERALD
Sen. Patty Murray and Darrington Mayor Dan Rankin met with local community and business leaders to discuss plans for promoting the upcoming tourist season Wednesday at the Darrington Community Center.
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