Panthers, Wildcats are state champs C1
SUNDAY, 05.31.2015
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EVERETT, WASHINGTON
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A choice, a chance
Election probe stalled Cutbacks and apparent lack of legislative support for state Public Disclosure Commission have caused some ethics investigations to languish. By Noah Haglund, Scott North and Jerry Cornfield Herald Writers
EVERETT — It’s been two years since Aaron Reardon walked away from his troubled tenure as Snohomish County executive. When Reardon shut the door on his political career, he left behind a stillunresolved mess for the community that had Aaron elected him three Reardon times to the coun2012 ty’s highest office. State election watchdogs continue to sift through gigabytes of evidence pointing to potential campaign violations during Reardon’s 2011 re-election bid. The Reardon case now is the oldest open investigation on the Public Disclosure Commission docket. It could remain there awhile longer. There is a fiveyear statute of limitations. State officials say they are working the Reardon case — and one they launched on his former aide, Kevin Hulten — but have been hampered by limited
IAN TERRY / THE HERALD
Mental health court liaison Cary Peterson (center) speaks with a participant in the Snohomish County Mental Health Court during a hearing on Thursday. Implemented in 2012, the court aims to connect people with mental health treatment and other services.
Mental health court offers a way out of the web of despair and legal limbo that can plague those with mental disorders and few resources By Diana Hefley
B
Herald Writer
rittany Cannon found her dreams again. For years, and what seemed like forever, they had been suffocating under the weight of severe depression and anxiety and the illegal drugs she’d been using to mask her illnesses.
See PROBE, Page A8
A run-in with the law last year landed Cannon in front of Everett District Court Judge Tam Bui and the rest of the county’s mental health court team. Cannon, who has been living with depression and anxiety since she was a kid, was given a choice and a chance. She was looking at a couple of misdemeanor charges and maybe a few days in jail, or she could spend the next year finding a path to recovery. The 32-year-old mother was warned that she would be required to engage in mental health
Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E3 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . .D6 Dear Abby. . . . . . . . . . . . . .D6 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . .D6 Lottery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A2 Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D8 Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . .B5
and chemical dependency treatment and be open about her progress and setbacks. She would have to regularly attend court hearings and check in weekly with the court liaison. She had to look for a job or enroll in school and volunteer in the community. She also was told that she wouldn’t have to do it alone. “I had felt hopeless. I didn’t think there was anywhere to go. I had been at such a low point.
MARK MULLIGAN / THE HERALD
Judge Tam Bui listens to a defendant in Everett district court Friday morning in Everett.
See COURT, Page A6
Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A9 Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . .B7
VACATION IN A BOOK
HIKING HORIZON
ELECTION COVERAGE
Must-read ideas from your neighborhood bibliophiles. Good Life, D1
New trail in the Stilly Valley should be worth the wait. Outdoors, E1
Are Stephanopoulos’ journalistic creds salvageable? Viewpoint, B7
Tropical 72/53, C10
SUNDAY
VOL. 115, NO. 109 © 2015 THE DAILY HERALD CO.
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