Snohomish County News
Ex-Panther player of the year
Doug Ramsay photo
On the basketball court at Snohomish High School, Daesha Henderson (right), a 2006 graduate and class valedictorian, was called a tenacious blonde bulldog for her energetic style of play. That style of play didn’t end at Snohomish, as Henderson, now a senior at Seattle Pacific University, was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s player of the year. The 5-foot-8 guard led the SPU Falcons to the GNAC title and a first seed berth at this year’s NCAA Division II West Regional tournament. Henderson, who leads the Falcons with a 13.3 point average, scored her 1,000th career point and moved into the GNAC’s all time top 20 in assists on March 6 in the Falcons’ 67-60 win at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She also led the GNAC with 2.5 steals this season and tied for seventh in the conference with 2.7 assists per game.
Group performs Scottish sword dance
Doug Ramsay photo
Rory Flinn, 8, of Lake Stevens dances a traditional Scottish sword dance along with other members of the Clan Heather Dancers at Imagine Children’s Museum March 13 in Everett. The dance troupe based out of Mount Vernon features young dancers from around Western Washington. The museum, which opened in October of 2004, also welcomed its one millionth visitor this week.
Does city need red-light cameras?
MUKILTEO - The number of Mukilteo drivers making illegal right turns at over 10 miles per hour is “surprisingly high,” according to a recently released report.
American Traffic Solutions, the leading red-light camera company in the country, released a study last week to give the City Council enough data to decide whether Mukilteo needs traffic cameras installed.
Of the almost 150 traffic violations traffic engineers witnessed at five major intersections over the course of a 16-hour business day, only three were not high-speed illegal right turns.
The busiest intersection for violations is southbound Mukilteo Speedway at Harbour Pointe Boulevard. The intersection had 56 violations, all of which were high-speed illegal right turns. Drivers going north on Mukilteo Speedway had eight high-speed illegal right turns at the same intersection.
Three other intersections with especially high numbers of violations were also located along Mukilteo Speedway:
• Northbound Mukilteo Speedway traffic at state Route 526 showed 23 traffic violations, 22 of which were high-speed illegal right turns. About 30 percent of violations happened during lunch, 22 percent during mid-afternoon and 22 percent during morning rush hour.
• Westbound traffic on state Route 526 at Mukilteo Speedway showed 32 violations, all of which were illegal high-speed right turns. Most of these violations occurred during morning rush-hour traffic.
• Westbound Beverly Park Road traffic at Mukilteo Speedway showed 28 violations, 26 of which were illegal high-speed right turns. Twenty-five percent of violations happened in mid-morning, and about 21 percent happened during evening rush-hour traffic.
The four intersections with the most violations show a “need” for a traffic camera, and the intersection of northbound Mukilteo Speedway at Harbour Pointe Boulevard “deserve(s) consideration,” according to the report.
The report also showed hundreds of illegal right turns at these intersections at low speeds, or under 10 miles per hour, over the course of 16 hours.
The City Council will discuss the results of the report at their meeting on April 19, but most council members have previously said what the report shows: There is a need for red-light cameras.
“I like the idea,” Councilman Tony Tinsley said in January when American Traffic Solutions pitched traffic cameras in Mukilteo. “Now, an amber light will mean slow down. I think it would have a beneficial effect in Mukilteo.”
Tickets for red-light violators would be treated like a parking ticket and cost the driver $120 for a first infraction.
If the city received a fine from two violators per day, the traffic camera program would pay for itself, according to American Traffic Solutions.
By LINDSAY TOLER
Published March 17, 2010