The Oscar goes to...
This week’s watchwords
Academy Award winners
NET NEUTRALITY: The FCC
is set to vote this week on a proposal that would safeguard the Internet from providers throttling online speed and services
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STATE CHAMPS: Sports results from
basketball games over the weekend. See Sports this week for ongoing coverage
GO NATIVE: The annual plant sale is this weekend. Details in Home & Garden Thursday
MONDAY, 02.23.2015
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EVERETT, WASHINGTON
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New roads plan: $570M for county By Jerry Cornfield
on transportation that identified only two projects in the county for funding. County leaders had the opposite response to an alternative put forth in the Republican-controlled state Senate on Feb. 12, heaping praise on the proposal, which would raise the gas tax and carlicense fees to finance $15 billion in new statewide transportation
Herald Writer
OLYMPIA — The multibilliondollar transportation package proposed by Gov. Jay Inslee in December disappointed many civic and business leaders in Snohomish County. The governor drew up a plan to spend $12 billion in 12 years
spending through 2031. Under the Democratic governor’s plan, Snohomish County was to receive a mere $82.8 million in project funding. The GOP-endorsed plan would send $570 million the county’s way. “While we have needs that exceed this amount, we are grateful,” County Executive
John Lovick, a Democrat, said Wednesday at a Senate Transportation Committee hearing on the new package. The mayors of Everett, Marysville, Edmonds and Lake Stevens, and the president of Economic Alliance Snohomish County, also showed up to express gratitude. “You have made a significant down payment on the key
projects for our region,” said Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson. “That is noticed and appreciated.” Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring said he’s ready to help pass it. “We’re ready to take this out to our community and explain the value of this and gain their support,” he said. See ROADS, back page, this section
County homelessness seems up despite official tally State a
leader in highway spending From 2003-2013, total highway spending in Washington increased 183.6 percent, fueled by gas tax increases in 2003 and 2005. By Nicholas K. Geranios Associated Press
SPOKANE — Washington state saw the largest percentage increase of total highway spending in the nation in recent years, but lawmakers are still considering a $15 billion tax increase plan for road Aging road improvesystems are a m e n t common problem all projects. states are looking to Total solve, A5 highway spending in Washington rose 183.6 percent in the period from 2003-2013, up $4.2 billion. It was the sharpest increase among the states, and well above the national average of a 43.5 percent increase, according to figures reviewed by The Associated Press. In 2013, total highway spending in Washington was $6.5 billion. Only six states had a bigger total spending figure that year — including California ($16 billion) and Texas ($15 billion.) The big bump was thanks to the legislative passage of state gas tax increases totaling 14.5 cents in 2003 and 2005, said Robin Rettew, a transportation budget analyst for the state Office of Financial Management. “We were the envy of the rest of the country,” she said.
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Out of mind, but not out of sight Herald Writer
EVERETT — Drive by the Everett Gospel Mission’s shelter by night, and you’re likely to see 60 or more people sleeping outside, under the nearby overpass. So forgive the Mission’s CEO, Sylvia Anderson, for being perplexed by a recent survey suggesting that Snohomish County’s homeless population has dropped by 25 percent since last year. Despite some apparent
success with homeless veterans and families, Anderson has seen no decline on Everett’s streets. You probably haven’t either, if you live or work downtown. “It’s such complex issue, that a single stat that says a 25 percent decrease screams for an explanation,” Anderson said. “There are still a lot of people, more than I would want in my community, suffering.” Some of the homeless men under the freeway overpass on Saturday afternoon reacted with similar skepticism.
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“It’s gone way up,” said 38-year-old James Munger, with a laugh. “If they’re not out here, they’re in jail.” The tally in question came from last month’s Point in Time homeless count. It tries to gauge the number of people and families living on the streets in Snohomish County, whether in emergency shelters or some other precarious housing situation. This year’s count was 948 compared to 1,272 last year. There were 1,996 in 2013 and 2,387 in
Rolling along More likely, not: Snohomish County residents spend more time in our cars than anybody else in the state, according to a recent state survey (Street Smarts, Page A3). In fact, celebrity traffic on the red carpet before Sunday’s Academy Awards Dear Abby. . . . B3 Horoscope . . . B8
2012. The figures are coming out as Everett city leaders continue efforts to address homelessness, especially the problems visible on city streets. A task force called the Everett Community Streets Initiative convened last year and now is preparing to follow up on recommendations from their final report. Local nonprofits organized about 150 volunteers to perform this year’s Point in Time count on
(Page A2) moved a lot faster than typical weekday rushhour traffic on northbound I-5 through Everett. Hear my train a-comin’: The Associated Press has unearthed a previously unreported federal government report predicting that trains hauling crude oil will derail an average of 10 times
Lottery . . . . . .A2 Obituaries. . . .A4
Opinion. . . . . .A7 Short Takes . . . B4
See HOMELESS, back page, this section
a year over the next two decades (Page A5). The report comes amid increased oil trail travel through densely populated areas of Snohomish County. Suddenly, $4-a-gallon gas from Saudi oil doesn’t sound so bad. Don’t know much about history: On this day in Sports . . . . . . . C1 Your Photos . . B1
See ROADS, back page, this section
1903, President Theodore Roosevelt signed an agreement with Cuba to lease the area around Guantanamo Bay to the United States (Today in History, Page B4). OK, so that’s why the U.S. government can’t close the Gitmo detention camp — Cuba might not give us our damage deposit back.
— Mark Carlson, Herald staff
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MARK MULLIGAN / THE HERALD
Memory Meader (center), with Catholic Community Services, talks with Brian (left), and James Munger (right) near their camp east of I-5 on Jan. 22. Both men participated in the Point in Time survey, noting that they had both been homeless for more than 16 years.
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