Everett Daily Herald, January 17, 2015

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Hawks talk and a Sherman poster SPORTS

TO DO

LIST

The Northwest Bridal Showcase is this weekend at Tulalip Resort Casino. See the rest of the To Do List on the new Venture page, A13 SATURDAY, 01.17.2015

EVERETT, WASHINGTON

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Police hope to spend drug money Snohomish’s chief wants to use funds seized over five years to remodel the station, which used to be a bank.

By Eric Stevick Herald Writer

SNOHOMISH — If all goes according to plan, the Snohomish Police Department will get a $100,000 remodel sometime this

year and it won’t cost taxpayers a cent. Instead, drug dealers will pick up the tab. Police Chief John Flood is proposing to the Snohomish City Council that money seized in drug

investigations be used to pay for the work. “I guess you could say we’re taxing the drug dealers,” he said. The money has been collected during the past five years. A few years ago, the department

Kangaroos keep couple busy

made a series of heroin-related arrests that included some dealers higher up the distribution chain. “When they were going to get See POLICE, Page A6

This guy leaves the lights on for you

There also are lemurs, donkeys and more at personal zoo in Arlington

Lakes Stevens’ Scott Whitsell is a fan of holiday displays, and now his home is decked out in blue and green bulbs for the Seahawks. By Kari Bray Herald Writer

GENNA MARTIN / THE HERALD

A wallaby warms itself under a heat lamp Wednesday at Outback Kangaroo Farm in Arlington. The farm owners are looking for Bella, a 6-year-old wallaby, who escaped from the farm last week.

Herald Writer

ARLINGTON — Two miles northeast of downtown, 42 kangaroos hop among evergreen trees, bask in the glow of heat lamps and wait for visitors who bring hunks of whole wheat bread, a coveted treat. The Outback Kangaroo Farm,

10030 Highway 530, is home to its namesake kangaroos along with a variety of other exotic animals. Wallabies and wallaroos — the two smallest types of kangaroo — bounce around their pen while lemurs climb and leap off walls, windows and each other in a nearby shelter. There are pygmy goats, mini donkeys and a hodgepodge of

exotic birds. The most recent addition is Kooky the kookaburra, with a long, crazy cry that rings through the log house that sits on the property. The occupants of the house and owners of the farm, Ray and Joey Strom, open their personal zoo from March 1 to Oct. 30. They offer four tours per day Wednesday through Sunday to

teach people about their lively menagerie. “We were just a little momand-pop attraction until Facebook came along,” Joey Strom, 71, said. People posted photos of themselves with the animals, and business took off. Ray Strom, See ZOO, Page A6

New look and location starts in today’s Herald

the buzz

The Good Life page that appears on Saturday changes location and identity today. As always, it will deliver ideas for making the most of your free time — something reflected in the new

name, Venture. This page will be home to our Things-to-Do listings, a Wandering Web tip tailored for online adventurers, as well as features like Tourist in Your Own Town.

Must be dreaming Didn’t realize OPEC controlled marijuana production, too: Washington state’s recreational marijuana shops opened last year with a dearth of cannabis to sell, but now a glut of Eastern Washingtongrown marijuana is flooding the market, forcing down prices (Page A3). Cheap pot and cheap gas?

Seal off the state borders; we’re about to get another influx of Californians. Hot enough for you? Both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA have calculated that 2014 was the hottest year on record in 135 years of record keeping and maybe its hottest in 5,000 years. “Any wisps of doubt that human activities are

You’ll find Venture on the second-to-last page of the A section, A13. (Comics and TV content that often appeared behind Good Life now follows Sports on Pages C8 and C9.) We also added a Saturday

at fault are now gone with the wind,” said a Rutgers University climate scientist (Page A2). “Nonsense,” said climate change deniers, who said they would wait for all doubt to be gone with the polar bears, the polar ice caps and most of Florida. Just thought we’d ask: Aircraft and crews from Naval Air Station Whidbey

feature to our Local page — Survey Says. Each week on Page A3, you can check out how visitors to our web site, Heraldnet.com, have responded to our weekly poll question.

Island will fly over CenturyLink Field in Seattle before Sunday’s game between the Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers. Among the aircraft will be a Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic warfare jet (Page A3). Not that it’s needed, but, no, the Navy won’t fly the Growler low and slow over the field when Green Bay’s on offense.

—Jon Bauer, Herald staff

See LIGHTS, Page A6

INSIDE Business . . . . .A9 Classified . . . . B1 Comics . . . . . . C8 Crossword . . . C8 Dear Abby. . . . C9 Horoscope . .C10 Downpour 48/41, C12 VOL. 114, NO. 341 © 2015 THE DAILY HERALD CO.

Lottery . . . . . .A2 Obituaries. . . .A7 Opinion. . . . .A12 Sports . . . . . . . C1 Survey Says. . .A3 Venture. . . . .A13

DAILY

By Kari Bray

LAKE STEVENS — It’s Seahawks season. Scott Whitsell, 55, has light displays for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween and Easter. But right now, it’s all blue and green bulbs. It’s clear which team Whitsell is rooting for as the Seahawks take on the Green Bay Packers in Sunday’s playoff game at CenturyLink Field. He’s been doing holiday displays since he moved to his house, across from Mt. Pilchuck Elementary School on 20th Street NE, in 1982. It’s grown from a hobby to a passion, requiring thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of work. It’s worth it, Whitsell said. “As a kid, my dad always decorated big time for Christmas, and it just kind of carried on,” he said. “I love it. As my girlfriend says, I’m crazy.” He works second shift at Boeing, inspecting airplanes for safety concerns, so he puts up lights in the morning, goes to work in the afternoon and see his handiwork when he comes home at night. Every year for the better part of a decade, he’s gotten an envelope from an anonymous donor. It contains $5 and a note explaining the donor is on a fixed income but wanted to give him something toward his electric bill so he can keep doing the lights. That kind of spirit is what makes the decorations important, Whitsell said. People sometimes ask if he’s seen the house with all the lights. It’s a

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