Everett Daily Herald, September 12, 2014

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Lawmakers in contempt But while the state Supreme Court cited them for failing to fund public schools, it agreed to delay sanctions. By Jerry Cornfield Herald Writer

OLYMPIA — Lawmakers have said they can figure out how to adequately fund public schools during their 2015 session, and the state Supreme Court decided

Thursday to let them prove it. In an unprecedented decision, a unanimous high court found the Legislature in contempt for violating an order to produce a detailed plan for funding Washington schools. But justices didn’t punish

lawmakers. They agreed to wait and see what happens next session and, if the Legislature fails to deliver, impose sanctions next year. “In the interest of comity and continuing dialogue between the branches of government, the court accepts the state’s assurances that it will be compliant by the end of the 2015 session,” Chief Justice Barbara Madsen

wrote in the five-page order issued Thursday morning. “If the contempt is not purged by adjournment of the 2015 Legislature, the court will reconvene and impose sanctions or other remedial measures,” she wrote. The ruling is the latest development in a lengthy legal fight to force the state to meet a See COURT, Page A6

OSO MUDSLIDE

Debris removal work ends More than 95% of material has been redistributed on the site

IAN TERRY / THE HERALD

Snohomish County solid waste director Matt Zybas looks out over the March 22 Oso mudslide site from the south side of Highway 530 on Thursday.

By Rikki King and Ian Terry Herald Writers

OSO — After a long, painstaking process, the work to clean up the site of the March 22 Oso mudslide is wrapping up. Friday is the last day of the debris removal efforts, said Matt Zybas, the Snohomish County solid waste director who’s been helping coordinate the project. Heavy machinery and construction trailers will be moved off the site, and crews reassigned. Roughly 200,000 cubic yards of material has been sifted and searched. Two-story piles

Business . . . .A11 Classified . . . . B1 Comics . . . . . .D4

Crossword . . .D4 Dear Abby. . . .D5 Horoscope . . . B8

of debris, created as rescuers worked in a grid, have been taken down. Trenches have been filled. A separate, state-run project to fix Highway 530 also is almost done. Machines have been used to plant grass and wildflower seeds throughout the site, Zybas said. The grass is meant to hold the soil together and provide stability, and to ward off erosion as the rainy season approaches. The gentle slope of the land also should help with drainage. At the site Thursday, the chalky green hydroseed coating gave the ground an otherworldly look. The flattened ground was soft to

Lottery . . . . . .A2 Obituaries. . . .A8 Opinion. . . . .A13

walk on, like a blanket had been draped over the land. At the base of the knoll, where the rush of mud split into two directions, was a tub grinder being loaded with piles of tree scraps to be ground into fine mulch. Only a few large trunks remain on the field. More than 95 percent of the dirt, rock, clay and sand from the slide has been redistributed elsewhere on the site, Zybas said. Hazardous materials and people’s personal belongings have been removed.

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For everyone who’s been involved in this project, it’s been an honor. — Matt Zybas, Snohomish County solid waste director

More help for mental health Planned treatment units would boost the number of in-patient psychiatric beds in the county from 23 to 212 over the next four years. By Sharon Salyer Herald Writer

The number of in-patient psychiatric beds in Snohomish County could increase nearly tenfold over the next four years, due in part to recent state approval of new psychiatric units in Monroe and Smokey Point. Meantime, there’s only one in-patient psychiatric unit in the county, with 23 beds, at Swedish/ Edmonds hospital. “Currently, a number of people needing inpatient mental health services are required to go out of our county” due to the lack of available beds, said Cammy Hart-Anderson, a manager in the county’s Human Services Department. But units planned or about to open will help relieve the shortage. Earlier this month, the state Department of Health approved proposals to add a new 34-bed psychiatric unit in Monroe and add 50 beds to previously planned 75 beds at a new psychiatric hospital at Smokey Point, for a total of 125. And a new 30-bed adult psychiatric unit is to open Sept. 29 at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. The additions mean that over the next four years, the number of psychiatric beds in the county is expected to grow from 23 to 212. And for the first time, the county will have an in-patient unit for children — 25 of those 125 beds at the planned Smokey Point psychiatric hospital. “We’re fully supportive of anything that translates to more psychiatric beds,” said Keith Binkley, president of National Alliance on Mental Illness Snohomish County. “The fact that Washington is ranked near the bottom in beds per capita is not acceptable.” The projected growth in the number of psychiatric beds in the county is “on par with what’s needed,” he said. “I think everybody in the organization would be thrilled to see that kind of capacity. It’s a good sign, a very good sign.” US HealthVest received state approval to add the 50 beds to

See DEBRIS, Page A6

The Buzz Fox has a new reality show. Unless it’s been canceled while we were typing these words. Page A2

See BEDS, Page A6

Bright 73/49, C8

DAILY

FRIDAY, 09.12.2014

Nation marks 9/11 with memories, silence, A10

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