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Ethics probe involves PUD Complaints say that commerce officials helped the utility score a grant it then spent on no-bid contracts. By Dan Catchpole and Jerry Cornfield Herald Writers
OLYMPIA — A state ethics board is investigating several
current and former Department of Commerce officials based on complaints filed this summer. The complaints allege that they used their state positions to help the Snohomish County
Public Utility District get a $7.3 million clean energy grant from the state. The PUD then spent the grant money on no-bid contracts with 1Energy Systems, a company that now employs two of the former commerce department officials under investigation. The state Executive Ethics
Activist suggests election changes
Board has not disclosed who filed the complaints. The allegations came out of the PUD’s own ethics investigation earlier this year into its no-bid contracts with 1Energy Systems. The independent See PUD, back page, this section
Elephants’ swan song
Her plan calls for picking 5 of the 7 Everett City Council seats by district as a way to increase diversity and even out the “north-south” divide.
It’s their last circus performance in the Northwest before they retire
By Chris Winters Herald Writer
EVERETT — A longtime activist in Everett has brought forth a proposal to elect City Council members by district. Megan Dunn has been involved in a program that removed pesticides from Lowell Park and sat on the city’s Streets Initiative task force. Her plan, which she said was a collaborative effort, would have five of the seven City Council seats be elected by district, with two others being selected at-large to represent the whole city. She recommended that the council’s new general governance committee take up the issue. “Certainly for Washington there’s a trend of more cities moving toward districts,” Dunn said, citing the examples of Seattle and Yakima, which both have a district system that has yielded a more diverse group of council candidates. Dunn pointed out that north Everett receives a disproportionate amount of services, such as support for the library, sewer improvements, and the ongoing emphasis on public safety and reducing the effects of the city’s chronic problems with homelessness, street nuisances, petty crime and addiction. District elections would increase the geographic, racial and economic diversity of the council and give the south end more attention, a long-held perspective in the city reinforced by recent discussions about the “north-south” divide. Some members of the City Council said they were open to considering the issue, even if it would mean some of them would be put out of a job. Five out of the seven council members live north of 41st Street in Everett. Only Ron Gipson and Jeff Moore live in more southerly neighborhoods.
PHOTOS BY KEVIN CLARK / THE HERALD
Asia (above, left) and April perform during the first day of the Ringling Brothers’ “Built to Amaze!” show Thursday night at Xfinity Arena in Everett. Ashley Vargas (below) plays tug of war with attendees.
By Chris Winters Herald Writer
EVERETT — Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus’s “Built to Amaze!” traveling show is at Xfinity Arena for seven shows this week. The show features Asia and April, two of the circus’ iconic Asian elephants. This week will be the last chance anyone in the Pacific Northwest will get a chance to see the elephants before they are retired. Everett is the final stop on the circus’ tour, and no shows are booked for next year. “We don’t have any tours currently scheduled to return to the Pacific Northwest,” said Stephen Payne, the vice president of
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communications for Palmetto, Florida-based Feld Entertainment Inc., which owns Ringling Bros. “This might be the last time for a while,” Payne said. The touring company in Everett, referred to internally as the “gold” unit, is smaller than the other “red” and “blue” units, and travels by truck instead of by train. The gold unit, which has about 100 performers and crew, has been on the road for 42 weeks this year, Payne said. After this tour, it will be folded into the other units and the elephants will retire to the circus’ 200-acre Center for Elephant Conservation in central Florida.
See ELECTION, back page, this section
See CIRCUS, back page, this section
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The Buzz Some doubt the Seahawks will return to the Super Bowl. But denial is natural for 49er fans. Page A2
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