Town-hall meetings to discuss public safety

Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon and Sheriff John Lovick will hold a series of town-hall meetings on public safety. At each, they'll be joined by a county councilman.

Additional town-hall meetings on various topics will be held during the year.

The public-safety sessions include:

• Tuesday, noon-1:30 p.m., at the South County Senior Center, 220 Railroad Ave., Edmonds. Snohomish County Councilman Mike Cooper also will attend.

• Feb. 20, 6-8 p.m., at Mariner High School, 200 120th St. S.W., Everett. Snohomish County Councilman Brian Sullivan also will attend.

• Feb. 27, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Sultan High School, 13715 310th Ave. S.E., Sultan. Snohomish County Councilman Dave Somers also will attend.

Snohomish County

Count may show decline in homeless

Last week's annual Point in Time count shows a possible decline in Snohomish County's homeless population.

Totals are incomplete, with numbers still being tallied, said Christopher Schwarzen, spokesman for County Executive Aaron Reardon. But preliminary figures show 1,819 people lacked permanent housing, compared with 2,666 in 2007.

The numbers may be deceptive, he cautioned, because the count was conducted during a shorter window of time this year, and extremely cold weather could have affected the apparent numbers of homeless.

Totals are expected to increase slightly in the coming weeks, Schwartzen said, as agencies that helped collect numbers report their final results.

Previous counts have shown three years of consecutive gains, rising from 2,500 in 2005.

This year's numbers included 987 people in shelters and transitional housing, and 832 — including 87 children — with no place to stay.

A count at the Snohomish County Jail indicated about 436 inmates would have no place to go when released, an increase over last year's 350.

The Point in Time count, a state and federal requirement, helps Snohomish County shape its own policies.

Mountlake Terrace

Teacher to fill vacancy on council

The Mountlake Terrace City Council appointed Rick Ryan, an elementary-school teacher and longtime community volunteer, to fill a vacancy on the council.

Ryan was selected from among 10 candidates to replace Councilwoman Angela Amundson, who resigned in January because of family-health issues.

Ryan is a fourth-grade teacher in the Mukilteo School District and has lived in Mountlake Terrace for 23 years. He owns Rock-It Music in the Cedar Plaza Shopping Center and has served on the city's Recreation and Parks Commission.

The council chose to select from a pool of applicants who had interviewed with the city in early January to fill another vacant seat.

Snohomish County

New bus routes, times go into effect

Community Transit will increase its north-south bus service on Saturdays in the county and make time changes to other routes to ease transfers and accommodate Boeing shift starts, beginning Sunday.

Among the changes:

• Routes 201 and 202, between Smokey Point and the Lynnwood Transit Center, will add trips earlier and later on Saturdays.

• Route 247 will start its weekday morning trips earlier to meet start times at Boeing and provide a better connection with Island Transit.

• Route 441 commuter service to Redmond and the Overlake Park & Ride will add earlier starts to improve connections with other Community Transit routes at Canyon Park Park & Ride.

Bothell

Site of chamber meetings changes

The Greater Bothell Chamber of Commerce is changing the location of its monthly general meetings to the Northshore Senior Center, 10201 E. Riverside Drive.

Information about the chamber is available at www.bothellchamber.com or by calling 425-485-4353.

Bothell

Applicants sought for city-board slots

The city is seeking to fill 20 positions on eight boards and commissions by April. Applications will be accepted through Feb. 15, with the City Council to interview applicants March 4 and 11. The final selections are to be made by March 18, with appointments taking effect April 1.

Information on the openings is available online at www.ci.bothell.wa.us, from the city clerk at 425-486-3256, or at Bothell City Hall, 18305 101st Ave. N.E.

The openings are:

• Civil Service Commission: Two positions, with appointment by the city manager, for one six-year term and one partial term expiring in 2012.

• Landmark Preservation Board: Two positions for five-year terms.

• LEOFF-1 board, for the Law Enforcement Officers' and Fire Fighters Disability Retirement Board: One two-year term.

• Library Board: Two positions, five-year terms.

• Lodging Tax Advisory Committee: Five positions, three of them full two-year terms and two partial terms.

• Parks and Recreation Board: Four positions, three of them three-year terms and one a partial term expiring in 2010.

• Planning Commission: Three positions, two of them four-year terms and one a partial term.

• Shorelines Board: One five-year term.

Arlington

Stillaguamish Tribe makes donations

The Stillaguamish Tribe has donated $159,250 to nonprofits in the region.

Under the Washington tribal-gaming compact, tribes are required to give half of one percent of their net gambling revenues to charitable organizations. The tribes also make separate donations to offset the costs of government services related to their casinos.

The Stillaguamish contributions include $20,000 for the Stillaguamish Senior Center, $10,000 for Village Community Services, $10,000 for the East County Senior Center and $10,000 for the Arlington Boys & Girls Club.

Bothell

Senior center to buy minibus

The Northshore Senior Center in Bothell received $11,000 from the Northshore Rotary Club to buy a wheelchair-lift-equipped minibus. The money was raised at an annual charity auction and was matched by a grant from the Seattle-based Lucky Seven Foundation.

The minibus will carry up to 12 ambulatory riders or four wheelchair riders, said Lee Harper, center director.

In 2007, the center, at 10201 E. Riverside Drive, carried 2,982 riders on 32,301 trips, Harper said.

Monroe

Explosion's court gets McGough name

The Snohomish County Explosion's court at the Monroe Sports Arena has a new name: McGough Court.

McGough Construction and Entertainment last week signed a three-year naming-rights agreement with the professional spring team, part of the International Basketball League.

The Explosion season begins March 1. Single-game tickets may be purchased by calling 425-339-2255 or at www.ExplosionBasketball.net.

Everett

Running Start info session Monday

Everett Community College will host a Running Start information session at 6 p.m. Monday for high-school students and their parents.

College staff will discuss how to apply, options for full- and part-time enrollment and campus life. Prospective students also can learn about special programs such as business, engineering and the ORCA marine-biology program.

Running Start is a partnership between colleges and high schools. For more information, call EvCC Enrollment Services at 425-388-9211.

Snohomish County

5 new members join transit board

A majority of this year's Community Transit board of directors are new, as an indirect result of the November elections.

Five new representatives will join the nine-member board at its Thursday meeting: Edmonds City Councilwoman Deanna Dawson, Gold Bar Mayor Crystal Hill, Arlington Mayor Margaret Larson, Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine and Snohomish County Councilman Dave Somers.

The board is composed of two County Council members, two representatives of cities with populations greater than 30,000, three representatives of cities with populations of 10,000 to 30,000, and two representatives from smaller cities.

Edmonds

Roundtable today on May ballot levy

The Edmonds Schools Superintendent's Roundtable today will present information about renewal of the district's technology and capital-improvements levy that will be on the ballot in May.

The $31.5 million, four-year levy would allow replacement of outdated classroom computers and upgrades to the district's technology system, including online access to student information and grades.

Safety improvements would will include school-lockdown capability and intrusion-alarm systems. The capital levy also would will fund energy efficiency, roofing upgrades and carpet replacement.

The cost to property owners is 28 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. The current levy, which expires this year, costs 52 cents per $1,000 assessed value.

The brown-bag lunch session starts at noon at the district headquarters, 20420 68th Ave. W., Lynnwood.

Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon's spokesman is Christopher Schwarzen. His name was misspelled in a Feb. 6 brief about the Point in Time homeless count.