10 Years Ago 1997

It may not result in police officers clearing the streets at the magic hour, but a proposed curfew for the city has upset teens. The City Council continues to study whether Marysville needs a curfew for its youth, with proponents calling it a tool to help parents keep children home. Over 20 teenagers attended Mondays Council meeting, with seven testifying against the recommended curfew. Opponents say a curfew would punish all youth for the actions for a few and would shift parental responsibilities to the government. By the government telling us when we should be home, that really undermines our parents authority, said Andrea Armstrong, a M-PHS student. Youth and parents alike told the Council it is the parents responsibility to decide when children should be home, not the City Council. The idea for a youth curfew for the city gained momentum when Council member John Meyers suggested the city study the idea in July 1996. In late 1996, a curfew/parental responsibility curfew committee was formed. Based on surveys and public input, the committee recommended the Council adopt a youth curfew prohibiting youth from being on city streets from 1 5 a.m. weekends, and 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. school nights. The curfew would allow exemptions for youths attending organized events. The committee will meet again March 13 for public input. The City Counsel will also hold a public hearing before a formal curfew ordinance is considered. The committee surveyed businesses and students at M-PHS, Cedarcrest, the Alternative High School and Marysville Junior High School. Of 75 businesses surveyed, 36 returned the survey. All 36 respondents were in favor of a youth curfew. The student surveys did not include the question, Do you think the city of Marysville needs a curfew for the youth? as did the business surveys. Additionally, of 200 surveys sent to M-PHS, only 16 were completed. Myers said a curfew is needed to protect youth from violence. Im more concerned about youth safety then I am vandalism, he said. He cited a police report that stated two 15-year-old youth were accosted by older men as they were walking home from a grocery store at 1 a.m. Myers also said a curfew is a tool parents can use as an incentive. Some parents have lost control of their kids. A youth curfew can work as a preventative measure to eliminate crime committed by youth, he said. In 1996, 17 percent of the over 1,000 juvenile incidents in the city occurred from 1 5 a.m. The majority of juvenile events occurred before 10 p.m. M-PHS teacher Jim Stone told the Council a curfew is discriminatory because it wouldnt be used to keep adults home at night. Additionally, he said, its unfair to punish an entire group for the misdeeds of a few. Mayor David Weiser said police would not use the curfew to arrest any and all youth on the road at night. Its not a tool to sweep the streets, he said. Marysville enacted a youth curfew in 1963. It was repealed in the 1970s when the state Supreme Court banned curfews as unconstitutional. Twenty-seven cities in Washington currently have curfew laws, including Everett. Everett established an 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew downtown in 1994 and expanded it citywide in 1995. The Bellingham curfew is under constitutional challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union.

25 Years Ago 1982

City Council Monday night approved the preliminary plat plan of Brookwood Heights, but remained somewhat concerned over a variation granted Agrarian Corporation, the developer. The proposed condominium development at 8124 47th Avenue NE was granted a variance which allows Agrarian to develop some of the lots at less then the minimum square footage permitted for the area. Council earlier had asked Agrarian to drop the number of units from 12 to 11. It was the sixth time Agrarian has had the proposal before the planning commission or the Council. Council is pondering solutions to a major drainage problem in the area, and has even mentioned the possibility of establishing a Utilities Local Improvement District to pay for installation of a storm sewer system. Chubb Homes, who is currently developing a mobile home park on 80th, about two blocks east of State Avenue, is well versed in the area drainage problems. The city had agreed it was a good idea to use growth management fees for installation of a storm sewer line from the mobile home property to State Avenue. But de-watering problems pushed the anticipated cost figure of $25,000 to more then $40,000. And 300 or more feet of pipe for the mobile home park frontage has yet to be installed. We thought it was a good idea, said city administrator Rick Deming. But the problem of de-watering is greater then we ever thought. All the funds were used up just getting the pipe to the edge of his property. He can put in the curb, gutter and sidewalk, but it eventually will have to be torn up to put in the rest of the pipe. Council passed a motion to pick up the cost of completing the pipeline to the east end of the Holmes property, located on the north side of 80th. This can get to be an expensive hobby, noted Deming, adding the city should work at adopting a storm drainage ordinance. Getting rid of the water thats there just to put in the pipe is a nightmare, said Holmes. Sometimes I wish Id never heard of 80th Street. Council also pointed out that Agrarian development to the east may be asked to hook into the drainage system as a condition of their development. Council is still faced with the mammoth task of tying together a citywide drainage system. At the outset of Monday nights meeting, Lee Cundiff, who ran second to Rita Matheny in last falls City Council race, was sworn in and will fill the vacant seat on Council. Jack Heslop, Councilman for the past two-and-a-half years, died Feb. 12. In other business, the Council voted to accept the operation portion of the new sewer lagoon, thereby permitting city personnel to conduct testing on the facility. Council also gave its approval to a Marysville Historical Society plan for acquisition of a log house on an old homestead in the Granite Falls area. The societys plan is to move the large structure to Marysville log by log and use it as a museum. The building was built in 1886. J. G. Pearson of Lake Stevens owns the building. City Parks superintendent Cliff Gray currently is looking for a site for the building. Council woman Matheny reminded that donations of the land for the project are tax deductible. Council also approved the purchase of a Chevy Camaro as a police patrol vehicle from Roy Robinson Chevrolet at a price of $8,583.99, not including sales tax.
John Steiner suddenly found he had time on his hands to think about his life; what he could do to put back the pieces lying in bed with two crushed discs. Carpentry, his life-long trade, was out following his on-the-job accident five years ago. The world seemed at an end. Steiner, 41, still dreamed of building houses, fashioning wood to meet his critical requirements, running his hand along the smooth edge of a board, feeling its grain. Having been a carpenter dedicated to his profession, it wasnt easy to lay his tools aside. I always had a fancy for wood, Steiner recalls. I knew I wanted to be working with it somehow. Steiner eventually would wander back into his childhood, where and when the dreams began to take form. Finally, the inactivity in recuperating from two back operations got to be too much. One day, he picked up a knife and a piece of wood and began whittling just like he had when he was a youngster wondering about the world. The medium of wood was workable more so than he had thought. He didnt need saw, hammer and nails. His dream was coming true. Although still drawing state industrial insurance, Steiner no longer could do the work he used to and he had to drop out of the union. Retirement funds? he asked himself. Ill get zip. I knew I had to do something. Steiner decided to pursue his newfound career of woodcarving just a little bit more seriously thereafter, going into business at a time when others were going out of business. In October of 1981, he opened a modest shop at 8007 State Avenue, calling it Geppettos and adorned it with a variety of carvings, from a nearly eight-foot bear to fine hand-held objects. Many are his own works, but he points out he takes consignment items, adding that four or five carvers outside of himself are represented. Im not making a lot of money, but Im doing better then I was. Steiner has progressed considerably from that day on the operating table five years ago. We were working at Western Washington University at Bellingham, he recalls. I was moving a large door when it slipped. My back took the burnt of the force. Doctors told me I could never lift more than 35 pounds. After doctors finally finished with their knives, it was Steiners turn to hew. Now he teaches classes in carving, and he and fellow Quil Ceda carver Ollie Shearer have gone so far as to get into the making of custom woodworking tools. You can carve with just about any type of wood, just as long as you have the tools, he explains. I like cedar cedar, Alaska cedar but I carve in pine, oak and maple, too. I even got myself some ebony. Thats about as dense a wood as youll find. Steiner, who was born December of 1914, in Cleveland, Tenn., moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1945. Son, so to speak, is a chip of the old block. Dad was born in 1903, and he was a carpenter. In fact, he still does some carpenter work.

50 Years Ago 1957

< Students in the Marysville School District went back to classrooms Wednesday after an unexpected four days of vacation brought about by restrictions placed on county roads during the thaw, which followed an extended freezing period. School buses were to operate with the following limitations no buses to travel on the Carlson, Otter, Ziebell, Colby, Norumtown, Cemetery, Robinson, Westover, Kellogg Marsh, Marshall or Quill Ceda Terrace roads, or on North Liberty Street. All other regular routs are being followed. Students are advised to walk out to the Arlington Highway, Shoultes Road or Highway 99 where they are to be picked up by buses. Supt. R.C Bates asked that parents cooperate as fully as possible during the emergency by providing transportation for children to school wherever possible and expressed appreciation for the cooperation. Bates also sated that all restrictions would probably be removed the first week, barring unusual weather conditions.
Joe Kendzier, formerly of the Tacoma Times and the Seattle Star, has joined the staff of The Marysville Globe. Kendzier, who was well and favorably known as a feature writer for many years in the Pacific Northwest, gave up his writing in 1942 and joined the Armed Forces, serving Uncle Sam until the end of the war. He then went into business for himself in the calendar and specialty advertising field. Kendzier and his wife have settled in this community and he will continue in his present vocation but will write feature articles for The Globe.