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Student’s fake gun alarms Machias Elementary parents

On March 25, the boy came up to the bus stop, opened his backpack, and showed other students what he had. Ultimately, it was a blue gun with an orange tip, the sheriff’s office said. His parents identified to law enforcement that this was not a real gun, and witnesses felt it wasn’t, the sheriff’s office said. Parents say he also had a list of names, but the sheriff’s office said its office never saw a list. Fake or not, the incident horrified parents. Students have been staying home because of it, a Machias parent said earlier this month.

Everett Councilwoman Vogeli not defending seat up for re-election

City Councilwoman Liz Vogeli will step off council at the end of the year. “I’m not leaving the public eye, I’m just leaving council,” Vogeli said. “Now I might be louder.”

Transportation budget negotiations set plan

State gas tax to increase

OLYMPIA — The state Legislature Saturday approved a bipartisan, $15.5 billion transportation plan that in part increases the state gas tax for the first time since 2016. Regular gas will rise from $0.494 per gallon now to $0.554 on July 1. It codifies a 2% annual gas tax increase from summer 2026 onward. Diesel gas tax will rise by 3 cents per gallon July 1, and another 3 cents in summer 2027, then have 2% increases every year from 2028 onward.

Campaign finance data gives clues for who’ll be filing in local races

Pretty soon, the county will be in the thick of candidate filing week, which runs from May 5 to 9. State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) records reviewed April 17 give an indicative picture of the local races shaping up for Snohomish, Monroe, Everett and Lake Stevens.

Teen golf caddies get full-ride college scholarships

Two teen golf caddies have won full-ride college scholarships

Earth Day events around the community

SNOHOMISH — Snohomish’s Earth Day celebration is growing for its third year at the Carnegie Building. The takeaway is to learn something you can do yourself to, as the event theme says, “move the needle” for sustainability.

Downtown Monroe coffee shop SharinaBean's finds itself uprooted

MONROE — SharinaBean’s on Main is hunting for a new spot. The coffeehouse at 103 W. Main St. announced it will be closing Saturday, April 19 as its lease isn’t being renewed. It has been here 8½ years. The building was purchased. McCrain said she sensed from conversations early on that her shop wasn’t part of the plan for the building’s future.

Other driver in Snohomish SR-9 head-on March 9th not yet out of hospital

SNOHOMISH ­— ­­The causing driver of a March 9 head-on crash just north of the Snohomish River Bridge on state Route 9 had open containers of alcohol in her car and told state troopers she hadn’t installed her mandatory ignition interlock device yet. The woman she hit is still hospitalized five weeks later. No charges have been filed here. A follow up on a crash.

Whooping cough is rising in county

Outbreak has cases at multiple schools

Whooping cough is rising in Snohomish County

Food bank takes hit, pleads for community’s help

SNOHOMISH — A federal government cutback has food banks such as Snohomish’s hunting for help.

Snohomish weighing whether to widen First Street’s sidewalks, alter parking

SNOHOMISH — Prominent changes to First Street, displayed last week as concepts being evaluated, could see narrower road lanes to accommodate wider sidewalks and may see angled parking switched for parallel parking. These options are meant to make the street safer for crossing pedestrians and more attractive streetside. As the corridor is one of the city’s crown jewels, City Hall is taking as much feedback it can get.

Clearview community meets with concern of possible 2nd marijuana shop on Highway 9

CLEARVIEW — A second marijuana retailer wanting to open along Highway 9 aroused not just a formal complaint to county officials filed by a competitor but also a room-filling meeting about the topic last week.

Monroe yard floods when fiber crew hits water main

MONROE — Online pictures of a yard filled with water at a house in the Fryelands Neighborhood during Ziply Fiber’s underground installation work caught neighbors’ attention last week.

G.A.R. Cemetery clears gravesites of items, available to pick up

SNOHOMISH — Numerous people came to G.A.R. Cemetery over the weekend finding the objects and tokens that had been on their family members’ graves removed and placed in an assorted pile by the main office.

Discrimination case against Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue now is in federal Ninth Circuit appeals court

MONROE — The appeal case of the “Firefighter 8,” a religious discrimination case of eight Snohomish Fire and Rescue (SRFR) frontline personnel suing for back pay after they were put on months of unpaid leave for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, has its next step in federal appeals court this week. Oral arguments will be heard April 3 in Portland in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Snohomish PD’s plans for license plate cameras for crime prevention

SNOHOMISH — City administration last week reaffirmed plans to add Flock-brand license plate reading cameras, which can aid in crime prevention when a car is being sought.

Man who stabbed 13-year-old in mid-January on Broadway pleaded not guilty, trial is April

EVERETT — The man accused of stabbing a 13-year-old walking to school in mid-January, Andrew Freeman Jr., pleaded not guilty to charges last month.

Snohomish’s future city logo, signage unveiled

Snohomish’s future city logo, signage unveiled

Monroe’s Red Robin restaurant closes

Monroe’s Red Robin restaurant closes

Everett Transit re-calibrating its EV bus plans

9 electric buses by a bankrupt maker full of issues, but 10 other electrics OK

EVERETT — Everett Transit’s plan to dispense with nine of its electric buses isn’t part of a paradigm shift for the agency, its director said last week. It has 14 more electrics arriving over the next few months to keep half its fleet electric. The past few months, though, it has been ordering reconditioned diesels as part of its fleet turnover.

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