10 Years Ago 1997

Edward Two grabs his flashlight from under his dash, throws open his car door and checks that his 9mm pistol is securely in his holster. The call is common: a domestic dispute. This time the dispute is between a mother and her daughter. Officer Mike Ingram is cautious as he approaches the woman in her early-30s standing outside her first-floor apartment door; smoke curling from the cigarette in her hand. As he begins to speak to her, backup, Officer Lutschg (Sam Two), arrives and slowly approaches. Seeing the situation, he stands back waiting. The Cedar Street apartment complex has several doors open at 11 p.m., some have figures standing in the doorways and others standing at open windows. As Ingram leaves the mother to go talk to the daughter, Lutschg keeps the mother company. Ingram passes a loud group of onlookers. He asks them to quiet down because of the tense situation. One woman starts to argue with him challenging his right to ask them to quiet down. After several minutes of arguing the woman final relents and storms into her apartment. Ingram shakes his head and moves toward the daughter. She is crying. More kid than adult, she complains about her mother kicking her fiance out of the house, and now her mother wont let the daughter go back. Once Ingram and Lutschg calm both parties, the daughter leaves, and mom promises to let her daughter gather her things later. Back in the car, officer Ingram reminds himself about the only police officer fatality in Marysville. In 1966, Officer Don Arndt died at a domestic dispute call with a family Arndt knew. One thing that Ingram wants is everybody to reach retirement age. Nothing is worth dying over, he said. We are not superheroes. We all want to go home and ear dinner, too. Safety is the unofficial slogan of the Marysville Police Department.
This Friday night, four officers are patrolling the city. The four are called a shift-team: Edward Two, Sam Two, Nora One (Officer Rick Sparr) and supervisor Lincoln One (Sergeant Steve Winters). Each shift-team follows a 12-hour schedule with two day shifts, a day off, followed by two night shifts and three days off. We asked for the 12-hour shifts so that more officers could be deployed, Ingram said. Suddenly the speaker booms. A calm dispatcher asks for backup for another officer. Nora One has stopped three men in an altercation that involves a weapon. Ingram turns on the strobes and fires out. From Getchel Hill to the 1300 block of State Avenue Ingram flies and arrives at the scene in only a couple of minutes. Officer Sparr (Nora One) has a shirtless man to one side in front of the video store swearing he doesnt know why the other two want to hurt him. Soon the sergeant arrives, leaving his spotlight shinning, and joins Ingram. They separate and question the two assailants. Each says they were chasing the man with no shirt because he sexually assaulted a friend of theirs. As the story becomes clearer an off-duty detective is called out to question the victim. The woman confirms the two mens story and they are released. The other male is taken to the station to await further investigation. Custody officer Russ Irvin is finding the night rather busy himself. Im embarrassed because I had to call my boss to come in to help we were so busy, Irwin says. Marysville isnt the small town everybody thinks anymore, Ingram said as he drives back into the streets. For the first eight months of this year, police calls have totaled just under 17,000. Last year, the calls for the whole year were 16,000. Although Ingram doesnt say it, it is obvious Marysville officers are feeling the crush. There are 29 officers, only three patrol officers are on duty at one time. That means one officer for every 6,000 people in Marysville.

25 Years Ago 1982

Following the trail of the sourdoughs down the Yukon River and watching bald eagles fishing in Glacier Bay now, thats the way Mary Ellen Cates likes to study. That beats studying history and biology from college textbooks, laughed the 1980 Marysville-Pilchuck High School graduate shortly after returning from a month-long field trip to the Yukon. Cates, a 19-year-old Marysville resident, is going into her junior year at Whitman College in Walla Walla. The biology major is the daughter of Dr. J.D. and Joan Cates of Marysville. Cates was one of 11 students from Whitman who took part in the northern field trip. As a follow-up to regional and environmental studies classes, the students traveled by canoe and kayak through Alaskas Glacier Bay, hiked over (who knows how many?) mountain passes and floated down 700 miles of the Yukon River from Lake Laberge to Dawson City. Then, from Dawson City, the troops observed post-glacial land formations, the wildlife habitat, and countless icebergs. One of the unexpected panoramic views offered the outdoor entourage were large numbers of bald eagles diving for fish near the canoes, noted Cates. Other wildlife sightings on the trip included seals, porpoises, puffins, terns, mountain goats and moose and bears, but hey left us pretty much alone, Cates remembers. The students visited historic sites such as Hoonah, a village originally settled by Indians fleeing the advancing ice in Glacier Bay; and fort Selkirk, a restored royal Canadian Mounted Police outpost in the northern stretches of Canada. In the footsteps of the gold stampeders of 1898, the troop hiked over Chilkat Pass, an area laden with history and romance. Along the trail are markers portraying the hardships of many a prospector the mournful memories coming to life again through ancient photographs and quotations. Some of the stories are a bit discouraging when youre hiking the same trail, Cates noted. The areas history remembered by the printed word of textbooks in the classroom came suddenly to life as the travelers encountered ghost towns, long-since abandoned claims, and weathered relics of the gold rush. No such trip would have been complete without venture into gold mining towns like the Klondike and Moosehead. Its an experience I wont soon forget, Cates said remembering the rugged terrain teeming with history of the rush for gold. Yea, I would like to go back again some day.


50 Years Ago 1957

Inboard Hydroplane races will be held Sept. 15 at Lake Goodwin, Leonards and Schuhs Resorts will be used as the pit areas. These races will inaugurate this big-time sport to this area and will allow fans to mingle with the owners, drivers and pit crews. The races are being sponsored by the Northwest Inboard Racing Association with the cooperation of Marysville and Lake Goodwin merchants. The efforts of the two groups will be coordinated by the Marysville Kiwanis Club under the direction of Lloyd Fowler. There will be eight class races with 16 heats being run. Over 65 boats are entered coming from California, Oregon, British Columbia, Idaho and Washington. Many of the racing boats are in the over-100-mile-per-hour class. Marysville merchants are putting up the trophies and all interested in helping out are urged to contact any of the committee members at once. The committee composed of Lloyd Fowler, Ernest Vigil, Clen Berglund, Conrad Olsen and Ray Treichel will meet Thursday noon with members of the racing committee to iron the problems relative to staging this tremendous event.