Everett Daily Herald, June 25, 2015

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Garden tour delights small and great D1

Looming state budget shutdown could bag fishing seasons, too C2

THURSDAY, 06.25.2015

EVERETT, WASHINGTON

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Jail death under review Keaton Farris died of dehydration and malnutrition and a review found he hadn’t been checked on as needed. By Rikki King Herald Writer

COUPEVILLE — Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks is reviewing the April dehydration death of an inmate in the county jail to determine whether to file criminal charges.

Keaton Farris, 25, lived with bipolar disorder. He died of dehydration and malnutrition after the water was shut off to his cell. An internal investigation by the Island County Sheriff ’s Office determined that corrections deputies hadn’t been checking on Farris as needed.

Detectives also alleged that the deputies, who later resigned, falsified logs after Farris died to make it appear as if they’d been monitoring him. In a news release issued Wednesday, Banks asked the community for time so he can review the documents, ask additional questions and make a careful decision. “The purpose of my review is to determine whether any

crimes have been committed by any persons connected to his (Farris’) care,” he said. Banks said he has heard from many people calling for charges to be filed immediately. “To do so now would violate the principles of our criminal justice system, which require a careful and comprehensive See DEATH, back page, this section

OSO MUDSLIDE

Feds offer families $6.6M

747 production to be cut

Some property owners have been stuck paying off mortgages on unbuildable land where their homes stood before the disaster.

Boeing says it’s a sustainable pace; others question program’s future

By Noah Haglund

about slowing 747 output, he said. Demand for large cargo freighters will keep the line alive into the next decade, he said. Since entering service in 2011, the 747-8 has struggled as airlines have shifted toward more direct and frequent flights using smaller passenger planes which are easier to fill. The 747-8 freighter has been more popular, but the 2008 economic recession weakened the

EVERETT — Families whose homes and land were destroyed in the Oso mudslide got some encouraging news Wednesday with the announcement that federal authorities had awarded Snohomish County $6.6 million for buyouts. That’s not the full $9.4 million the county wanted, but it should help ease the financial burden for scores of property owners. Julie and Cory Kuntz own one of the 128 slide-damaged properties. They have been stuck paying a mortgage on unbuildable land where their house once stood. “We’re hugely grateful,” Julie Kuntz said. “This provides a lot of relief for us and allows us to move on.” The slide killed 43 people and leveled about 40 homes when it struck on March 22, 2014. The county applied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency last year for a $12.8 million buyout grant, then lowered the request this spring to reflect properties already acquired for Highway 530 reconstruction. Word that FEMA had accepted the grant came Tuesday night from Washington’s congressional delegation, said Heather Kelly, the county official overseeing long-term recovery efforts from the slide. The county intends to pay people the pre-slide assessed value of their property. Participation is voluntary. Also this week, FEMA announced it had approved $7.6 million to reimburse the state and the county for debrisremoval costs at the slide. Separately, the County Council on Wednesday extended by another six months building bans in the immediate slide area and upriver, where flood dangers on the North Fork Stillaguamish have increased.

See 747, back page, this section

See OSO, back page, this section

EVERETT — The Boeing Co. is cutting the number of 747s it rolls out of its Paine Field plant annually by one-third by next March. The company, which announced the production cut Wednesday, remains optimistic that it will still be making the jumbo airplane in the next decade. Industry analysts are divided on their outlook for the future of the iconic airplane, which first flew in 1969.

The new pace is sustainable, said Bruce Dickinson, a Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president and head of the 747 program. “We feel really good about this rate.” In September, the factory’s output will go from 1.5 a month to 1.3, before dropping to 1.0 a month in March. Work in the factory is already slowing down to the 1.3 rate and will start dropping to 1.0 a month this fall, he said. By the end, Boeing will have cut 747 output in half since 2013, when it reduced production rate

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from 24 a year to 21 and then to the current rate of 18. September’s stepdown will decrease output to 16 airplanes a year. That will drop to 12 a year in March. The upcoming rate reductions will mean fewer workers on the program, but they will be moved to other programs, he said. Boeing won’t “have to let anyone go from the company,” he said. Workers on the 747 program were told Wednesday morning about the rate cut. The Chicagobased company has already talked with some suppliers

Yee-haw Jumped the creek — and the shark: Warner Bros.’ consumer licensing division says it’s pulling the plug on toy cars modeled after the General Lee of “Dukes of Hazzard” fame because of the Confederate flag painted on its roof (Page A7). Perhaps the car will return Dear Abby. . . .D5 Horoscope . . . B4

someday, except with the flag gone and named for a less-controversial Southern military figure: Gomer Pyle, USMC. Whole paycheck — and then some: New York City’s consumer chief accused Whole Foods on Wednesday of routinely overcharging customers by overstating the

Lottery . . . . . .A2 Northwest. . . . B1

Obituaries. . . .A5 Opinion. . . . . .A9

weight of prepackaged meat, dairy and baked goods (Page A7). If the allegations are true, The Buzz trusts that the thumb on the scale was freerange, artisan-sourced and fair trade. Minninumke wåg raysjed: Ikea says it’s raising the minimum wage at its U.S. stores Short Takes . . .D6 Sports . . . . . . . C1

to $11.87 an hour (Page A7). Ikea executives say they used data from the MIT Living Wage Calculator to set the new pay scale. The calculator takes into account such factors as housing, food, child care, and which Ikea bookcase you can afford: the solid-pine Nornäs or the particleboard Billy.

— Mark Carlson, Herald staff

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MARK MULLIGAN / THE HERALD

A tour group moves through the 747 final assembly line inside Boeing’s Everett facility June 1.

By Dan Catchpole

Herald Writer

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