Everett Daily Herald, April 27, 2015

Page 1

This week’s watchwords Earthquake

State budget

NFL Draft

The death toll mounts and U.S. climbers on Mount Everest try to get home as Nepal digs out. A5

Lawmakers have given themselves a special session, starting this week, to get a budget passed. A8

Thursday is the first round, but the Seahawks aren’t expected to pick until the second round Friday.

MONDAY, 04.27.2015

EVERETT, WASHINGTON

Once again the fate of the Earth rests with our heroes. “Avengers: Age of Ultron” opens this weekend.

WWW.HERALDNET.COM

75¢ (HIGHER IN OUTLYING AREAS)

HVAC scam heats up locally Con men who claim to be representing heating and air conditioning businesses are targeting senior homeowners. That troubles an area business owner. Herald Writer

EVERETT — The scam has been making its way around the

Pacific Northwest, including Snohomish County. People pretending to represent real heating and air conditioning businesses are bilking

In the Willamette Valley, at least 10 licensed contractors reported people fraudulently claiming to be affiliated with their businesses. In Snohomish County, local businesses are hearing from confused customers. They report that See SCAM, Page A2

WWII attack claimed nurse Margaret Billings is believed to be the only county woman killed in the war Herald Writer

EVERETT — Margaret Billings was the only one. At Everett’s Lowell Park, her name stands out on a granite war memorial. It is the only woman’s name on the monument, which honors nine U.S. military members from the Lowell community killed in service to their country. A member of the Army Nurse Corps, 2nd Lt. Margaret May Billings was the only woman from Snohomish County killed on duty in World War II. Rhododendrons are in bloom at the foot of the memorial, erected in 1992 by the Lowell Civic Association. On a peaceful spring day, it’s hard to imagine the hellish scene aboard the USS Comfort the night of April 28, 1945 — 70 years ago Tuesday. The Battle of Okinawa was raging when a Japanese kamikaze plane smashed into the hospital ship’s starboard side, even though lights were shining on the Comfort’s big red crosses. Earlier that day, the Comfort had left Okinawa with a load of wounded Americans. The ship was bound for a hospital on Guam when the suicide pilot’s plane, carrying a bomb, tore into three of its operating rooms. At least 28 people died in attack, including Billings and five other nurses. Forty-eight were wounded in the attack on the Comfort, a Navy ship with Army medical personnel. Everett Daily Herald readers learned on May 5, 1945, that the 35-year-old nurse had been killed. “Insofar as records here reveal, Lt. Billings was Snohomish County’s first woman casualty of the war,” the article said. A 1928 graduate of Everett High School, she was a Lowell native, the daughter of Lees and Luella

the buzz

Historic Everett Theatre

KEVIN CLARK / THE HERALD

Beth Buckley holds Margaret Billings’ casket flag from 1945 featuring only 48 stars. Billings was killed aboard the USS Comfort on April 28, 1945, by a Japanese kamikaze attack.

50% OFF

Go to HeraldNetDailyDeal.com to purchase today’s deal from

VOL. 115, NO. 75 © 2015 THE DAILY HERALD CO.

INSIDE

Business . . . . .A6 Classified . . . . B4

Buffalo Park, which opened Friday, is in the once-rural area of a small farm and woods that is now Mill Creek. By Amy Nile Herald Writer

By Julie Muhlstein

See NURSE, back page, this section

Roots of city in new park

Comics . . . . . . B2 Crossword . . . B2

Yeah baby Flash that Austin Powers smile: British Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday defended Prince William and his wife Kate’s choice of private medical care over the National Health Service for the upcoming birth of their second child (Page A2). Dear Abby. . . . B3 Horoscope . . . B5

The royal couple’s decision has drawn criticism from Britons, who say the National Health provides excellent medical care, and never mind Ricky Gervais’ teeth. Bumper to bumper: Fortythree percent of people who commute from the suburbs to jobs in downtown Seattle used mass transit in 2014,

Lottery . . . . . .A2 Obituaries. . . .A4

Opinion. . . . . .A7 Short Takes . . . B4

up from 28 percent in 2006, a survey says (Page A3). Less than 33 percent of commuters reported driving themselves to work, and most of them say they believe the King-Snohomish county line should be renamed the 10th Circle of Hell. Don’t know much about TV history: The TV special Sports . . . . . . . C1 Winners . . . . . B1

MILL CREEK — Many here remember when the city was not much more than woods and a small farm where buffaloes roamed. That was before suburban sprawl swallowed the countryside. Now a new park boasts a name that is reminiscent of Mill Creek’s rural roots. Buffalo Park opened Friday at 132nd Street SE and 44th Avenue SE. Buffalo Park was built on top of a stormwater retention tank for a housing project. It features a picnic area with a barbecue and Bocce ball, handball and foursquare courts. There are swings, a spinner, a climbing structure and play equipment that is wheelchair-accessible. And yes, it was named after actual buffaloes. “I remember these big, hairy beasts that looked somewhat like cows roaming around there,” said City Councilman Mike Todd. The city asked people to suggest names for the park last year. Buffalo Park was proposed a handful of times as people recalled the herd that lived on Lloyd and Mary Wibbelman’s farm along 132nd Street SE. Ruth Brandal, an Everett buffalo farmer, said she got meat from the Wibbelmans before she started raising her own herd in 1992. Brandal wanted to serve buffalo for Christmas dinner, to put an American spin on her family’s holiday tradition. “What’s more American than buffalo?” she said. Although Brandal didn’t learn much about the Wibbelman family, she did hear an interesting story about how See PARK, Page A2

“My Name is Barbra,” which introduced Americans to a 22-year-old singing sensation named Barbra Streisand, first aired 50 years ago Tuesday (Short Takes, Page B4). The show not only launched Streisand’s career but also a new industry: Barbra Streisand collectible plates.

— Mark Carlson, Herald staff

Refreshing 70/50, C6

DAILY

By Eric Stevick

homeowners and pressuring them into paying for shoddy work. In some cases, they are selling and installing equipment improperly, the Oregon Construction Contractors Board reported in January. They sometimes go door-to-door or call homeowners by phone. Their prime targets are people over 65.

Avengers

6

42963 33333

9


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.