Everett Daily Herald, May 30, 2014

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THE RISING

FRIDAY, 05.30.2014

When the hillside fell, the people of the Stillaguamish Valley never doubted what they had to do. special section inside

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Good news for backcountry hikers

OSO MUDSLIDE

Hwy. 530 set to open A pilot vehicle will lead single-lane traffic in each direction when the highway reopens this weekend. By Jerry Cornfield Herald Writer

PHOTO COURTESY DEB FOX

Image Lake sits in a small depression far in front of Glacier Peak. The remote area will be easier to access for hikers once the Suiattle River Road is reopened. The popular U.S. Forest Service road near Darrington sustained considerable damage from a storm a decade ago. Work to fix the damage began May 19. See Page A3.

OSO — The damaged stretch of Highway 530 closed since the deadly March mudslide will reopen to traffic this weekend, state transportation officials said Thursday. Exactly when it will open is to be announced today by the state Department of Transportation, whose leaders had predicted it See 530, back page, this section

Convicted felon, officials wrangle over public records

Herald Writers

EVERETT — Jesse Harkcom calls himself a public records advocate.

Everett city officials, however, maintain the convicted felon is an extortionist set on perverting use of the state’s open records law in a scheme to con taxpayers out of money. City attorneys on May 22 won

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By Diana Hefley and Scott North

VOL. 114, NO. 116 © 2014 THE DAILY HERALD CO.

INSIDE

Business . . . .A11 Classified . . . . B1

Comics . . . . . .D4 Crossword . . .D4

a key round in their fight against him. They convinced Snohomish County Superior Court Judge George Appel to kill a couple of Harkcom’s records requests. One could have forced the city to turn over millions of pages of information. As part of the ruling, the judge also granted Everett permission to ignore any other records requests from Harkcom over the next 10 years.

Set your alarms Early birds, worms and all that: A University of Washington study of flexible work schedules found that bosses looked more favorably on workers who came in early in the morning, as opposed to those who worked later in the day (Page A12). In other words: If all that’s Dear Abby. . . .D5 Horoscope . . . E4

It is an unusual case brought under strange circumstances. Harkcom is an inmate at the Thurston County Jail, awaiting sentencing for a violent home invasion robbery. While killing time in 2013, he repeatedly put pen to paper, writing nearly 50 different area governments, from Bellingham to Longview to Spokane, and state agencies, including the Lottery Commission and Liquor Control Board.

left in the breakroom when you get to work is half of a glazed doughnut, don’t expect a raise. Grounded hog: A sheriff ’s deputy investigating theft and damage to 31 U.S. flags at a New York cemetery quickly caught the vandal: a groundhog. The deputy said he watched as the varmint

Lottery . . . . . .A2 Obituaries. . . .A9

Opinion. . . . .A13 Sports . . . . . . . C1

took a flag, broke the pole with its paws and dragged it into his den (Page A9). Ordered to come out, the groundhog poked his head out, saw the deputy’s shadow and will serve six more weeks of probation. Seat hog: Southwest Airlines has been fined for falsely advertising $59 flights from Stocks . . . . . .A12 TV . . . . . . . . . .D6

Harkcom’s records requests to Everett and the others were similar. He sought names, ranks, salaries, and driver’s license numbers for every employee on the payroll. He claimed to want the records “in order to study the drastic financial deficit which some state employees and their actions/ See RECORDS, back page, this section

Atlanta to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, but then not offering any seats for that price. The airline claimed the offer was a mistake in advertising copy (Page A11). The U.S. Department of Transportation poked its head out of its office, saw the airline’s lie and fined it $200,000. —Jon Bauer, Herald staff

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A judge halts Jesse Harkcom’s requests after Everett city officials say his efforts are really a scheme to con taxpayers out of money.

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