Step away from the nog ... and rehab dinner with salad D1
Johnson makes Baseball Hall of Fame on first try C1
WEDNESDAY, 01.07.2015
The state identified errors that resulted from a lack of proper training, an issue attributed to the loss of accountants in the recession. By Amy Nile Herald Writer
MONROE — The city is considering hiring a second accountant after the state Auditor’s Office pointed out several problems with bookkeeping and permitting, Monroe Finance Director Dianne Nelson said. The auditors sent a Dec. 17 letter that summarized issues found during the city’s financial and accountability audits from Jan. 1, 2012, to Dec. 31, 2013. The problems did not result in so-called written findings, the state’s most serious level of concern. Instead, the auditors issued a “management letter,” which creates a public record of the issues. The state found that the city had not properly trained workers in the finance department to ensure they can prepare financial statements, schedules and notes according to state standards. The audit identified errors due to the inadequate training. Nelson said Monroe has trouble satisfying state requirements because she is the only certified public accountant on the city payroll. Before the recession, Monroe had three accountants. Now Nelson oversees five employees in the finance department, but because they are not accountants, they are not qualified to check some of her advanced work. Hiring another accountant would go a long way to fixing the problems the state found, Nelson said. But the city cannot immediately afford to do so. Nelson estimates that a second accountant would cost the city at least $90,000 a year in pay and benefits. The city hopes to hire someone, either full or part time, once it can determine what regular sales tax revenue it can expect with the addition of the new Walmart store. It opened in December on North Kelsey Street. That information should be available in February, when Nelson needs extra help as she prepares annual financial statements due to the state by May. Mayor Geoffrey Thomas said the city is exploring alternatives to hiring another accountant in case it doesn’t have enough money to cover the extra expense.
the buzz
See AUDIT, Page A2
EVERETT, WASHINGTON
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Record deliveries by Boeing In 2014, it churned out 737s and 787s, allowing it to deliver 723 commercial planes and book 1,432 net orders. By Dan Catchpole Herald Writer
The Boeing Co. delivered more commercial jetliners in 2014 than in any other year, the Chicago-based company said Tuesday.
In 2014, it delivered 723 commercial airplanes and booked 1,432 net orders, which takes into account orders canceled last year. Not counting the cancellations, Boeing logged 1,550 orders for jetliners.
“In the face of fierce competition, we had a strong year,” Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner said. The previous record year for deliveries was 2013, with 648 airplanes leaving factories. The previous record year for orders was 2007, when Boeing booked 1,423 gross orders and 1,413 net orders.
Boeing churned out 737s and 787s at record levels in 2014, helping push the company to the delivery record. The new record is important because a customer writes the biggest check to the airplane maker upon delivery. Keeping deliveries high will help Boeing See BOEING, back page, this section
Flooding river claims house Most waters recede, leaving mountains of soggy damage behind
GENNA MARTIN / THE HERALD
Laurie Fenner, of Gold Bar, looks out over the section of her property that has been eaten away by the Wallace River. Several structures on Fenner’s property fell into the river during the storm, as did her neighbor’s house, as water levels rose Monday.
By Rikki King and Noah Haglund Herald Writers
GOLD BAR — Their place on the Wallace River was peaceful, but they knew it wasn’t permanent. When they moved into the Gold Bar-area house, Laurie Fenner and Joe Abele were warned that the river was undercutting the bank. They lost most of the house a half-dozen years ago. They stayed on the property in a 37-foot travel trailer. Nobody came to inspect the house, so they still could use what was left: the laundry room and the bathroom. On Monday, that and the remainder of a concrete slab went into the drink. So did the
Big Unit’s big day Duck, Kruk! Here it comes! As expected, former Seattle Mariner Randy Johnson was a first-ballot choice for Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame, winning 97.3 percent of the vote. Johnson, however, is likely to enter the hall as an Arizona Diamondback, for whom he won four of his five Cy Young Awards and a World
video of the house being >> Aswallowed by the Wallace
River and a photo gallery of the flooding are with this story at www.heraldnet.com.
neighbor’s house. The neighbor, a man believed to be in his 70s, is out of town and doesn’t have a cellphone, Fenner said. On Tuesday she was dreading seeing his face when he gets home and sees his place gone. Their neighborhood along 150th Street SE borders Wallace Falls State Park. Nearly all of Snohomish County’s rivers flooded Monday but receded into their banks as night fell, leaving swaths of soggy damage. That’s except for the Snohomish River near Snohomish, which stayed above flood stage until
Series MVP (Page C1). As a nod to his fans in Seattle, however, Johnson said his 90-mph slider, Mr. Snappy, would go into the hall as a Mariner.
cans also bought Starbucks cards but forgot to wrap them and will dig them out of their purse or wallet later this week for a frappuccino and a slice of banana bread.
The gift that almost gave: Starbucks reports its best holiday season ever for its gift cards, with an estimated 1 in 7 Americans receiving a card as a gift (Page A9). The other 6 in 7 Ameri-
“Shine on Harvest Moon”? “American Idol” returns to Fox tonight for its 14th season of searching for another pop star. With its ratings down, the show has been cut back to an episode
Tuesday afternoon. Upstream, the Snoqualmie River still was flooding Tuesday evening. “That water will push down toward Duvall and into the Snoqualmie Valley, so we’ve basically got another day’s worth of high water, but the immediate danger is done,” said John Pennington, the county’s director of emergency management. The Snohomish could stay high for days, Pennington said. “We’re just going to see water for a while,” he said. “It gets up and it stays up.” More than a dozen area roads remained closed Tuesday because of flooding, including throughout the Tualco Valley. The most serious closure was Sultan Basin Road after Olney Creek washed out approximately 200 feet of asphalt, Pennington said.
a week (The Clicker, Page D6). You get the feeling that the hearts of the show’s producers just aren’t in it any longer. For musical accompaniment, the contestants are handed a comb and a piece of tissue paper and they are told to choose musical selections from sheet music in the bottom of a piano bench.
—Jon Bauer, Herald staff
The route provides access to Spada Lake, which provides drinking water to much of the county. The fix could take months, Pennington said. More damage reports are expected as the floodwaters retreat. People and businesses can report uninsured flood damage at www.snohomishcountywa.gov/dem. The heavy rain also kept a landslide warning in place in much of Western Washington, particularly along steep slopes and coastal bluffs. The flooding damaged homes along the Pilchuck River between Snohomish and Granite Falls. The Pilchuck on Tuesday still inundated front See FLOODS, back page, this section
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Finance audit faults Monroe
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