State champs! Warriors arrive victorious C1
SUNDAY, 11.23.2014
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EVERETT, WASHINGTON
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$1.50 (HIGHER IN OUTLYING AREAS)
’16 vote: Light rail north to Everett Sound Transit plans a ballot measure that would raise billions to expand commuter train line. By Jerry Cornfield Herald Writer
See LIGHT RAIL, Page A8
Classified . . . . E2 Crossword . . .D4
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Dear Abby. . . .D5 Good Life . . . .D1
GENNA MARTIN / THE HERALD
Hoss Tehan (left) looks on as Grace Bretthauer, 4, plays with Tehan’s dog Sugar last week at Take The Next Step in Monroe. Take The Next Step is a drop-in community resource center for people in need.
Help without judgement At Monroe’s Take the Next Step, trust and support comes with the assistance By Andrew Gobin Herald Writer
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or those who face poverty and homelessness, assistance without support is no solution. At Take the Next Step in Monroe, people can find services they need as well as figure out their next move. “Our clients often don’t know where to turn, or what their next step in life is,” said Janos Kendall, program director. Run out of a small house owned by Monroe Covenant Church, Take the Next Step offers frontline, immediate assistance to people, while also helping them connect with services
offered through other organizations. Getting help at Take the Next Step is easy. “We are not an agency. We do not have criteria that have to be met to receive services,” Kendall said. “We get to know the people that come here, we build trust with them, and we try to help their specific needs.” This helps people feel more comfortable to come and seek assistance in a home environment. “When you come here, you are never judged,” said Matt Wright, a homeless veteran. “People have their demons, their vices. That is
Ways to Give Your time and donations make a difference. Find out how you can help this and other organizations in our community Pages A6-7
See NEXT STEP, Page A8
NATURAL WONDERS
COOPER’S ADVENTURES
DOME DREAM COMES TRUE
Reader photos from expansive vistas to a bugs-eye view. Outdoors, D6
Fun travel guides for kids by a local author. Good Life, D1
Marysville Pilchuck clinches a spot in the 3A state semifinals. Sports, C1
Great Outdoors. .D6 Horoscope. . . . . .D4
Lottery. . . . . . . . .A2 Moneywise. . . . . .E1
Obituaries. . . . B4 Viewpoints . . . B7
Sunless 49/42, C14
VOL. 111, NO. 286 © 2014 THE DAILY HERALD CO.
SUNDAY
OLYMPIA — Sound Transit leaders have set out on another journey to raise billions of dollars from taxpayers so they can bring light rail to Everett, Tacoma and Redmond. If all goes as planned, it will make the ballot in November 2016 and ask voters to approve a hike of the property or sales tax or car-license fee to generate up to $15 billion for system expansion. But first, Sound Transit must obtain the authority from the Legislature to raise these or other taxes. Last week the board of directors, a collection of elected officials from Snohomish, King and Pierce counties, voted unanimously to start talking with lawmakers in hopes of securing support during the 2015 session. There’s no guarantee. Lawmakers also are eyeing the pocketbooks of taxpayers to fund a statewide transportation package. “It is a heavy lift. There’s no question about it. It may not happen,” said Everett City Councilman Paul Roberts, the Sound Transit board’s vice chairman. He, Edmonds Mayor Dave Earling and County Executive John Lovick represent Snohomish County on the board. Sound Transit’s plans shouldn’t be viewed in competition with any state package, he said. Both are needed to maintain and improve a transportation system that in Puget Sound is increasingly defined by bottlenecks and gridlock, he said. “We understand the challenges facing the Legislature,” he said. “But if you want to have a viable, thriving economy, then you can’t choke it to death by not having the infrastructure necessary for that viability.” Sound Transit last went to the ballot in 2008 with a measure that increased the sales tax by a halfcent within district boundaries, which include Everett, Edmonds, Mukilteo and Lynnwood. Communities north of Everett and east of I-5 are outside the boundaries.
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