Everett Daily Herald, December 21, 2014

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The pressure is on MP’s talented Austin Joyner Sports B1

12.21.2014

Everett, Wash.

$1.50 (higher in outlying areas)

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Runoff is killing Puget Sound

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OSO MUDSLIDE

It may look healthy but the region’s iconic waterway and the marine life that depends on it are struggling despite cleanup efforts. By Sharon Salyer Herald Writer

EDMONDS — Taking in the view from the pier on the city’s waterfront, it’s hard to sense anything could be wrong with Puget Sound. The water is clear. It’s a popular place for people to cast their fishing lines or to toss metalmesh crab pots into the water. Seals occasionally bob up among the rows of boats in the nearby marina. In winter, rafts of goldeneye ducks float on the waves near the ferry dock. For all this, Puget Sound, with 2,500 miles of shoreline, isn’t nearly as healthy as it looks. And that’s one of the biggest challenges facing the Puget Sound Partnership, the state organization charged with improving the Sound’s health. “It’s hard to hold in your mind the magnificence of this region, this geographer’s delight, the Salish Sea, and understand it’s not supporting life like it needs to,” said Martha Kongsgaard, chairwoman of the partnership’s leadership council. “The rate at which we’re See PUGET SOUND, Page A7

Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E2 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . .D4 Dear Abby. . . . . . . . . . . . . .D5 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . .D4 Lottery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A2

GENNA MARTIN / THE HERALD

Jason Anderson (left) and Steve Skaglund of 3 Rivers Cutting work on a thinning job outside of Darrington on Wednesday. 3 Rivers was the primary contractor that worked to build the bypass road, which became a lifeline between the east and west sides of the Oso mudslide in March.

The real bottom line Accounting for the money spent on Oso can’t measure the generosity and sacrifice of rescuers and neighbors

By Eric Stevick, Rikki King and Scott North Herald Writers

OSO — Everything is tallied in tidy columns. The billings account for most of the $23.5 million Snohomish County spent after the March 22 Oso mudslide devoured a neighborhood and swallowed a mile of state highway. Behind each of the invoices — hundreds in all — is a story. Follow the money and it leads to conversations with loggers in black

suspenders over plates of enchiladas. It traces 26,000 pounds of dirty laundry. Receipts document the $17,200 donation made by Darrington-based Hi Line Helicopters. The company provided air support at the slide and chose not to charge for 86 hours its birds were on standby. The paper trail sheds light on the contributions made by many momand-pop companies from the upper Stillaguamish Valley to help the community recover. Scan the vendor list and find Spanky’s Trucking, Roggenbuck Timber and Mr. HaulKing

Recycling and Excavation. The county made the slide-spending information available in response to a public records request. What the invoices can’t provide is context: the financial risks taken by small companies with little wiggle room and an overwhelming desire to help. Also missing, for that matter, is evidence of the reluctance some of those people still have about being recognized for their work — or even being paid at all. See OSO, Page A6

Moneywise. . . . . . . . . . . . .E1 Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D5 Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . .B4 Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . .B7

BEYOND THE SKI SLOPE

MEMORY MILESTONES

CROSSROADS OF HISTORY

There are plenty more fun things to do in the snow. Outdoors, D6

Get pictures of your children on a regular basis. Good Life, D1

Corners that have become county landmarks. Muhlstein, B1

Drafty 51/48, C8

SUNDAY

VOL. 114, NO. 314 © 2014 THE DAILY HERALD CO.

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