Let kids grow in your garden, too
D1
Our annual guide to area golf courses C7 THURSDAY, 04.30.2015
Limited options to oust auditor Troy Kelley refuses to resign, and a 6-month leave of absence is causing one critic to worry time will affect the effort to force him out.
●
EVERETT, WASHINGTON
●
WWW.HERALDNET.COM
●
9
75¢ (HIGHER IN OUTLYING AREAS)
Racial bias lawsuit denied A judge didn’t agree that three Everett police officers were denied promotions and subjected to hostile conditions. By Diana Hefley and Rikki King Herald Writers
EVERETT — A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit filed against Everett by three police officers who alleged they were
denied promotions based on their race and subjected to a hostile work environment when they complained. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Jones issued his decision earlier this month. The city argued that the officers failed to
provide enough evidence to support their claims and to move forward with a trial. “There is not a shred of evidence that the City of Everett has ever treated any of the plaintiffs differently because of their race. They weren’t. Instead, what is happening here is that the plaintiffs are disappointed that they did not receive promotions they sought,” the city’s attorney, James
Sanders, wrote in court papers. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Sgt. Manuel Garcia, former Sgt. Richard Wolfington and officer Sherman Mah. Garcia is the first Hispanic and bilingual officer in the city. He started in 1988 and became a sergeant in 2002. Mah is Chinese-American and has been See LAWSUIT, Page A8
Keeping track of trains
By Jerry Cornfield Herald writer
Your trusted source for local deals brings you...
Coal tops oil in second annual count By Noah Haglund Herald Writer
Smith scrolls through an app he and other volunteers use to enter train data.
o Up T
50% OFF
ucts, Prod ment ocal in On L, Enterta es! Food nd Servic a
Go to HeraldNetDailyDeal.com to see today’s deal.
VOL. 115, NO. 78 © 2015 THE DAILY HERALD CO.
INSIDE
Business . . . . . A7 Classified . . . . B3
Comics . . . . . . D4 Crossword . . . D4
Space TV station Who’s got the remote? Downtime aboard the International Space Station just got more enjoyable, thanks to a 65-inch projection screen that arrived a couple of weeks ago (Page A2). Last weekend, the crew used it to watch the Sandra Bullock-marooned-in-space Dear Abby . . . D5 Horoscope . . . B6
EVERETT — More coal, less oil. That’s what a group of volunteers saw last week when they kept a round-the-clock vigil on the railroad tracks running through Snohomish County. They counted 29 coal trains and 12 crude-oil trains. That compares to 24 coal trains and 16 crude-oil trains last year.
The new figures are in line with the number of oil-train shipments that BNSF Railway has reported to the state. This was the second straight year that Snohomish County Train Watch has conducted the census. “There’s definitely a role for citizen oversight, for citizens auditing,” said Dean Smith, an Everett retiree who founded the group.
thriller “Gravity.” The crew now must agree on how to accessorize their man cave in space. The Americans want a beer fridge, the Russians demand a freezer for vodka storage, and the one Italian aboard would really like a pizza oven.
Starbucks is selling $80-apound coffee beans at its new Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room in Seattle (Page A7). Instead of “race together,” baristas at this high-end Starbucks write “abolish the death tax” on customers’ cups.
Starbucks Platinum:
An error is charged: On
Lottery . . . . . . A2 Northwest . . . B1
Obituaries . . . A5 Opinion . . . . . A9
Short Takes . . D6 Sports . . . . . . C1
See TRAINS, Page A2
Wednesday, in noting the baseball game played before 47,000 empty seats at Camden Yards in Baltimore, The Buzz somehow misstated the Orioles’ opponent as the Toronto Blue Jays. The correct opponent was the Chicago White Sox — who, in losing 8-2, also were pretty much a no-show.
— Mark Carlson, Herald staff
Alternating 62/45, C8
DAILY
See AUDITOR, Page A8
PHOTOS BY IAN TERRY / THE HERALD
Everett resident Dean Smith looks out over train tracks near the intersection of Bond Street and Hewitt Avenue during a four-hour train watching shift April 21. Smith’s Snohomish County Train Watch program has enlisted 30 volunteers to count trains passing through Everett from April 19-25.
the buzz
OLYMPIA — With embattled state Auditor Troy Kelley preparing for an extended leave, a leading critic in the Legislature said Wednesday there may be no viable avenues to make Kelly resign instead. Kelley is to begin an unpaid leave of absence Monday to fight federal charges including tax evasion and lying to investigators probing his past private business practices. Kelley, a first-term Democrat, denies wrongdoing and vows to resume his duties in the future. He’s ignored repeated calls for him to resign from across the political spectrum, most often from Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee and Republican state Sen. Mark Miloscia, who lost to Kelley in the 2012 auditor’s election. Milsocia lamented that Kelley’s upcoming departure may suck the wind of efforts to force him from office. “I wish there was something else that we could do but I don’t see any major pressure points left,” Miloscia said. “He hasn’t been listening to anybody at all. He’s tone deaf.” But state Republican Party Chairwoman Susan Hutchison sought to ratchet up pressure on Inslee to force Kelley’s hand. In a statement she accused Kelley of “abandoning” his job and called for the governor to appoint a replacement. Hutchison also said in a statement that the Legislature should pass a bill from two Republican representatives that would deem an elected office to be vacant if the office-holder goes on leave for a reason other than health or military duty. Meanwhile Wednesday, the woman picked by Kelley to run the office in his absence said the “distraction” surrounding her boss isn’t impeding the work of employees.
6
42963 33333
9