GLOBE THE MARYSVILLE
SPORTS: M-P softball captures second at state. Page 10
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Pen pals, students learn from each other BY KIRK BOXLEITNER kboxleitner@marysvilleglobe.com
STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL: Your
complete guide to the Strawberry Festival inside.
Kirk Boxleitner/Staff Photo
Kellogg Marsh Elementary student Haroon Younis reads from “Where the Wild Things Are” with his pen pal, Laura Fletcher, in the Marysville School District Service Center on May 25.
SPORTS: Lakewood’s Andre Scott captures state long jump title. Page 10
INDEX CLASSIFIED ADS 15-18 LEGAL NOTICES 9,11 5 LETTERS 4 OPINION 9 PUZZLES 10, 13 SPORTS 14 WORSHIP
Vol. 119, No. 16
MARYSVILLE — This year marked Laura Fletcher’s third as a pen pal to an English Language Learner student, and she’s still learning as much as her student pen pals are from the experience. “He told me about Pakistani kite-flying, so I looked it up on the Internet, and their kites are very different from the ones we use,” said Fletcher, a member of the Friends of the Marysville Library, who corresponded with Kellogg Marsh Elementary student Haroon Younis this year. “So I download an image of a Pakistani kite and sent it to him in a card.” “I enjoyed writing to her,” Younis said on May 25, as Fletcher read to him from the book “Where the Wild
Things Are.” “It was really fun.” “What I like about Haroon’s writing is how I’ve been able to get a feel for his personality through his letters,” Fletcher said. “He’s really funny and I love how much that came through.” Fletcher and Younis were among the 33 adult mentors and 60 ELL students in the Marysville School District who converged on the MSD Service Center on May 25 for the fifth annual MSD ELL pen pal celebration. Staci Tuck, who’s coordinated the ELL pen pals since she started the program as the librarian at Liberty Elementary, recalled how it began with only seven students and 15 adults. “How’s that for growth?” Tuck asked the packed Board room, as she credited SEE PALS, PAGE 11
Local bank changes hands, another to merge BY KIRK BOXLEITNER kboxleitner@marysvilleglobe.com
SMOKEY POINT — One local bank branch changed hands over the Memorial Day weekend, while another bank with two branches in the area is on its way toward a merger, but representatives of both banks want their customers to remain assured that their service will remain the same. Columbia State Bank assumed all the deposits of First Heritage Bank, whose Arlington branch reopened on May 31 as a branch of Columbia State Bank. Also on May 31, the shareholders of Cascade Financial approved the merger of Cascade Bank, which has branches in Marysville and Smokey Point, with Opus Bank.
The Washington Department of Financial Institutions closed First Heritage Bank, noting that its capital has been depleted by large loan losses associated with land development and construction lending. According to Gloria McVey, acting director of DFI’s Division of Banks, the bank’s management was unable to raise sufficient capital to remain viable. “The closure of a Washington state chartered bank is never a welcome event,” DFI Director Scott Jarvis said. “However, a very positive signal is sent when Columbia, a financially strong state-chartered bank with an excellent reputation, steps up to acquire a failSEE BANKS, PAGE 2
Kirk Boxleitner/Staff Photo
Although its shareholders have approved the merger of Cascade Bank, which has a branch in Marysville, with Opus Bank, the merger is not yet complete.