Local News

 The Associated Press

A mudslide three miles south of Mukilteo this afternoon has caused cancellation of Sounder Northline commuter trains and Amtrak service through at least Friday morning.

The 6-foot-deep mass of mud stretched across 30 feet as it came down at about 3:30 p.m., according to BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas. At least 30 mudslides have reached the railroad tracks between Seattle and Everett since Thanksgiving, he said.

One of those derailed a 66-car freight train south of Everett Monday. A witness recorded video of the 75-foot-wide slide of silt knocking over seven cars filled with general merchandise items such as soap and disinfectant.

“This year has been a challenge, but we’ve seen worse years,” Melonas said. He said BNSF already invests millions every year in stabilizing the area and structures near 150 miles of track between Tacoma and Vancouver, B.C., but the company is looking at additional ideas to help minimize mudslides.

“The railway plays a key role in moving things everyone here depends on … so we’re going to continue to make those investments,” he said.

If there aren’t any more mudslides on the BNSF Railway tracks between now and Friday, Friday evening passenger service will start again.

Until then, here are the alternate commuter routes and schedules Sound Transit released Wednesday afternoon:

Morning bus service – Thursday, December 20 and Friday, December 21

Everett-Seattle: Board regularly scheduled ST Express Route 510 at Everett Station bay C1, departing approximately every 10 minutes.

Mukilteo-Seattle: Board regularly scheduled Community Transit Route 417 at the Ferry Terminal departing at 5:49 a.m., 6:21 a.m., 6:51 a.m., and 7:53 a.m.

Edmonds-Seattle: Board regularly scheduled Community Transit Route 416 at Edmonds Station departing at 6:15 a.m., 6:35 a.m., 6:55 a.m., and 7:47 a.m.  

Evening bus service – Thursday, December 20.

Seattle – Edmonds: Board regularly scheduled Community Transit Route 416 at the temporary stop on 5th, between James and Cherry at 4:27 p.m., 4:58 p.m., 5:31 p.m. and 5:57 p.m.

Seattle – Mukilteo: Board regularly scheduled Community Transit Route 417 at 4th Ave S and S Jackson St at 3:59 p.m., 4:22 p.m. 4:50 p.m., and 5:30 p.m.

Seattle – Everett: Board regularly scheduled ST Express Route 510 buses are also available at 4^th Ave. S and S. Jackson St. departing approximately every 10 minutes.

The  Associated Press

A Tuesday morning mudslide has shut down Sounder service to Mukilteo and Everett until at least Thursday morning.

Sound Transit said the blockage won’t affect travel between King Street Station and Edmonds.

Because recent rainstorms have increased landslide potential, Sound Transit has been advising its riders to regularly check for online updates about their route. Landslides have already disrupted Northline service several times since Thanksgiving week.

According to Sound Transit, Sounder riders from Mukilteo and Everett can use the following back-up bus services:

Morning bus service – Wednesday, Dec. 5

Everett-Seattle: Board regularly scheduled ST Express Route 510 at Everett Station bay C1, departing approximately every 10 minutes.

Mukilteo-Seattle: Board regularly scheduled Community Transit Route 417 at the Ferry Terminal departing at 5:49 a.m., 6:21 a.m., 6:51 a.m., and 7:53 a.m.

Please note: These times do not correspond with the regular Sounder schedule.

Issaquah has become the sixth Washington city to approve a ban on grocery-store carry-out plastic bags.

The Issaquah City Council voted 5-2 Monday night in favor of the ban after a lengthy hearing, said City Councilman Mark Mullet, who backed the ban.   It will take effect March 1 next year.

Other Washington cities that have voted to ban plastic bags are Seattle, Bellingham, Edmonds, Mukilteo and Bainbridge Island.

Seattle’s measure takes effect July 1.  It bans plastic carry-out grocery sacks, but does not prohibit plastic bags used for produce and bulk food.  It will also include a 5-cent charge on grocery-store paper sacks.

Robb Krehbiel of Environment Washington said several other cities are considering bans, and a statewide ban will be proposed to the Legislature.

Plastic bags can harm whales, seals and salmon, Krehbiel said.  In 2010, a beached grey whale in West Seattle was found with 20 plastic bags in its stomach.

A 45-year-old Woodinville woman was found dead Thursday morning inside the cab of a pickup truck submerged in the water near the Mukilteo ferry dock, according to the Mukilteo Police Department.

The captain of the state ferry Kittitas spoted the top of the truck Thursday at about 6:30 a.m., police said. Divers with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s office discovered the body.

A security video, recovered by the Washington State Patrol, showed that the vehicle, a 2000 Dodge Durango, speeded down the Mukilteo Speedway, drove past the ferry, maneuvered around a barrier crossing arm, and drove straight into the water.

The woman’s name will be released after her family has been notified, police said. The cause of death has not yet been released. The investigation is continuing.

Robbers targeted a Mukilteo home for a robbery Monday night because it housed a marijuana-grow operation, according to Mukilteo police.

The victim had a collective medical marijuana garden in the home, police said today.

Three of the men forced their way into the home near the 9800 block of Marine View Drive just before 9:30 p.m. The victim, a 44-year-old man, suffered some facial cuts from being struck by a pistol during the robbery.  The men left with marijuana, police said.

The three men fled in a vehicle that was being driven by the fourth suspect, firing a gunshot from the car as it pulled away. Police arrested all four after the men fled from their car and ran into nearby woods.

The four suspects — ages 24, 23, 19, and 18 and all from Kent — are being held in the Snohomish County Jail.

Police executed a search warrant on the suspects’ vehicle and recovered a handgun, police said.

Four men are in custody following a home-invasion robbery and police pursuit last night in Mukilteo.

Three of the men forced their way into the home of a Mukilteo man just before 9:30 p.m. near the 9800 block of Marine View Drive, according to a Mukilteo police news release. The homeowner’s daughters and several of her friends arrived home as the robbery was taking place, and witnesses reported hearing a gunshot inside the home. The homeowner, a 44-year-old man, suffered some facial cuts from being struck by a pistol during the robbery.

The three men fled in a vehicle that was being driven by the fourth suspect, firing a gunshot from the car as it pulled away. Police spotted the car near Harbour Pointe Boulevard and the Mukilteo Speedway, where the car struck two vehicles. The suspects’ car finally stopped near the 10500 block of the Mukilteo Speedway, where all four men ran into nearby woods.

They were located and arrested with help from a Lynnwood police dog, along with  Edmonds police and the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

The four suspects — ages 24, 23, 19, and 18 and all from Kent — will be booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of first-degree robbery, first-degree assault and drive-by shooting, police said.

(Updated with Eyman’s comments.)

The Washington State Supreme Court has ruled that a 2010 Mukilteo ballot initiative banning red-light cameras is invalid.

The long-awaited ruling means initiative efforts in other cities around the state, including Longview, Bellingham, Monroe, Redmond and Wenatchee, are also invalid.

It’s a big loss for initiative king Tim Eyman, who had adopted the cause of banning the cameras and helped people in cities across the state fight to have them banned.

In a statement, Eyman said the ruling  ”is just the height of arrogance, and it doesn’t even sound like we live in a free country when they say, ‘We’re going to decide what you’re allowed to vote on and what you’re not allowed to vote on. From that perspective it is an incredibly arrogant ruling.”

The Supreme Court ruling says the Legislature gave local governing bodies, but not voters, the ability to approve the cameras.

“”The legislature’s grant of authority does not extend to the electorate,” Justice Barbara Madsen wrote in the ruling.

Cities across the state have raked in millions of dollars in fines from drivers caught on camera rolling through a right-hand turn or crossing an intersection after the light had turned red. For-profit companies review the photos, then mail tickets to offenders. The fine: $124.

Proponents of the cameras say they improve public safety and free up police for more important tasks.

More than 70 percent of Mukilteo voters rejected the cameras in a 2010 vote, prompting a lawsuit by a citizens group that argued voters could not have the final say. The Mukilteo City Council took down the cameras in response to the vote, even though it hasn’t been clear whether the vote was valid.

(Updated with Eyman’s comments.)

The Washington State Supreme Court has ruled that a 2010 Mukilteo ballot initiative banning red-light cameras is invalid.

The long-awaited ruling means initiative efforts in other cities around the state, including Longview, Bellingham, Monroe, Redmond and Wenatchee, are also invalid.

It’s a big loss for initiative king Tim Eyman, who had adopted the cause of banning the cameras and helped people in cities across the state fight to have them banned.

In a statement, Eyman said the ruling  ”is just the height of arrogance, and it doesn’t even sound like we live in a free country when they say, ‘We’re going to decide what you’re allowed to vote on and what you’re not allowed to vote on. From that perspective it is an incredibly arrogant ruling.”

The Supreme Court ruling says the Legislature gave local governing bodies, but not voters, the ability to approve the cameras.

“”The legislature’s grant of authority does not extend to the electorate,” Justice Barbara Madsen wrote in the ruling.

Cities across the state have raked in millions of dollars in fines from drivers caught on camera rolling through a right-hand turn or crossing an intersection after the light had turned red. For-profit companies review the photos, then mail tickets to offenders. The fine: $124.

Proponents of the cameras say they improve public safety and free up police for more important tasks.

More than 70 percent of Mukilteo voters rejected the cameras in a 2010 vote, prompting a lawsuit by a citizens group that argued voters could not have the final say. The Mukilteo City Council took down the cameras in response to the vote, even though it hasn’t been clear whether the vote was valid.