Two tied for lead at U.S. Open
Man who died in jail of dehydration ‘treated with utter disregard,’ parents say
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SATURDAY, 06.20.2015
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Resuscitating a ghost town Budget hopes spark, crash
Cleanup is under way to rid historic Monte Cristo of pollutants
Despite initial optimism a deal could be reached, an agreement on tuition reduction and a vow of no new taxes were “mistruths.” By Jerry Cornfield Herald Writer
the 1990s when the U.S. Forest Service took over much of the land. It’s a popular hiking, bicycling and camping destination. A nice weekend usually draws up to 300 people on the old access road, now an easy-tonavigate route, Gibbens said. That’s not the case this year. The road is closed until further notice. Trails that branch off remain open. The cleanup is focused on five locations near the townsite and three mines farther out.
OLYMPIA — It didn’t take long Friday for a bubble of optimism about a budget deal to be burst, stoking concern about a possible partial government shutdown in 10 days. House Democrats had expressed a willingness to drop their demand for a capital gains tax, and gleeful Senate Republicans said that should make it easier to resolve a roughly $300 million difference between the two chambers’ budgets. And Gov. Jay Inslee, in a morning news conference, suggested closing tax exemptions as the best way to generate the “modest amount” of additional revenue needed for a compromise. “We need to get this done and we need to do it soon,” he said. “There is no reason, zero, why we can’t have a budget done in one week.” The Senate’s lead budget writer echoed that sentiment in a celebratory press release. “With new taxes off the table and a commitment to reducing tuition to make college affordable again, we should be able to work through the weekend to reach a final resolution,” said Sen. Andy Hill, R-Redmond.
See GHOST, Page A2
See BUDGET, Page A6
IAN TERRY / THE HERALD
Joseph Gibbens, an abandoned mine lands reclamation coordinator with the U.S Forest Service, looks out over an area near the former mining town of Monte Cristo in the Cascades on June 11. Starting in July, crews led by Gibbens will begin the process of removing hazardous lead and arsenic waste left over from the mines. The hazardous materials will be contained within a sealed repository about a mile away from the historic site to prevent further contamination of the area.
By Kari Bray Herald Writer
MONTE CRISTO — There’s a little bit of everything in the complicated cleanup of this ghost town. The area has endangered species, cultural and historical artifacts, sensitive river ecosystems, private properties and federally protected wilderness, on-site coordinator Joseph Gibbens said. Work started last month on a project that’s been pending for a dozen years to clean up
contaminated mine tailings around the old Monte Cristo townsite. A new access road and temporary bridges were built over the past three years and the cleanup itself now is under way, tentatively scheduled to be finished this summer. Monte Cristo, off the Mountain Loop Highway near Barlow Pass, was a bustling mining town from 1889 to 1907. Prospectors scaled mountains looking for the rustred streaks that marked valuable veins of gold and silver. They mined millions of dollars worth of metals, and in doing so left
behind tailings rife with toxins. “Arsenic and lead are really the bad actors,” Gibbens said. The elements occur naturally in the rock where miners toiled, and the mining exposed them. Monte Cristo has long lured people. It was a tourist destination after the mines closed. Two lodges once did booming business there, and Monte Cristo became one of the most popular destinations in the county. In December 1980, the road washed out. The lodges burned down a few years later. Monte Cristo got new life in
Property values increase in all areas of county Herald Writer
the buzz
EVERETT — Assessment notices that hit the mail Friday showed rising property values in all areas of Snohomish County compared to last year. The change was 7.5 percent countywide, with residential and commercial properties up 8.5 percent and
6.7 percent, respectively. “There was an increase in every area, some more than others,” assessor Cindy Portmann said. The total value of assessed property in the county reached $100 billion this year, $7 billion higher than last year. This is the third straight year of increases, following years of decline during the recession. The figures reflect values as of
Answer me, Philae I can’t hear you: Contact with the Philae space probe that landed on a comet remains spotty after it sent signals last week following seven months of silence. The European Space Agency is sending Rosetta, the mission’s mother ship, closer to see if that will improve communication (Page A8). Failing that, the mission’s
father ship will threaten to take away Philae’s TV privileges and maybe ground it for the summer. Now, that’s a sandtrap: U.S. Open play at the Chambers Bay golf course in University Place continued Friday with Australian golfer Jason Day collapsing near the end of his round. Day’s agent said he was being treated at the course for dizziness
Jan. 1, 2015. The county assessor and treasurer will use them to calculate and collect taxes in 2016. Property owners have 60 days to file an appeal with the Board of Equalization if they believe the value for their home, business or land is off the mark. “We always encourage people to contact us first,” Portmann said.
(Page C9). Day, visiting the lush, usually rainy Puget Sound region for the first time, reportedly became disoriented by Chambers Bay’s desolate, browning, treeless course, hallucinating that he was playing at home in Australia’s Outback. Explains why the bears ordered GPS receivers: Scientists are tracking a new
Property values in the Everett School District went up 7.4 percent. The corresponding change for other larger school districts was 6.2 percent in Arlington, 8.4 percent in Edmonds, 8.7 percent in Lake Stevens, 5.4 percent in Marysville, 8.3 percent in Monroe, 6.7 percent in Mukilteo, 7.6 percent in Snohomish and 5.8 percent in Stanwood. In the
species at Rocky Mountain and Yosemite national parks. The movements of human tourists are being tracked with GPS devices to better coordinate shuttle services and study park congestion (Page A8). The program is voluntary, researchers said, and the tourists are provided a comfy cot to use while the tranquilizer dart wears off.
—Jon Bauer, Herald staff
Northshore School District, which includes Bothell and areas to the east, the change was 8.4 percent. An increase in property value doesn’t automatically make taxes go up. Calculations for next year’s taxes won’t take place until fire districts, schools and other local governments have passed their See VALUES, Page A6
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