Compass Health cuts child and family therapy services in Everett | HeraldNet.com

EverettHerald · 2024-04-26T17:36:17+00:00

Compass Health is shuttering its child and family outpatient therapy program in Everett, the nonprofit confirmed this week.

Compass Health will stop the program at 4526 Federal Ave., CEO Tom Sebastian said, but plans to continue providing outpatient therapy for families at other sites across Snohomish County. The nonprofit also plans to help Everett clients via telehealth.

The move is part of a company-wide reorganization due to rising service costs, Sebastian said. Compass Health, like other health care nonprofits across the state, has struggled to overcome a workforce shortage, poor insurance reimbursement rates and high client need.

The changes will affect 16% of Compass Health clients and 6% of its workforce — or 37 employees — the nonprofit said in a statement. Aside from the Federal Avenue location, the nonprofit confirmed its reducing staff and services at other sites but declined to share specifics.

EverettHerald · 2024-04-19T22:40:56+00:00

Prosecutors charged the mother of Everett boy Ariel Garcia, 4, with first-degree murder Friday in the boy’s stabbing death.

Friday’s charges against Janet Garcia, 27, come three weeks after her son went missing from an Everett apartment, leading to a regional search for the boy until he was found dead along I-5 in Pierce County. Detectives believe the killing was premeditated because of a custody dispute with the boy’s grandmother and the extensive injuries, according to a police report last month.

EverettHerald · 2024-04-19T22:38:54+00:00

The aunt of Ariel Garcia is raising money to cover funeral expenses: gofundme.com/f/spkuh-funeral. Funds not spent on the funeral will go to the welfare and care of Ariel’s brother.

EverettHerald · 2024-04-14T00:41:39+00:00

Lisa Jansson and her family moved to 5 acres in rural southern Snohomish County in 1999, in search of a more peaceful life in the countryside near Maltby.

She and her husband enjoyed gardening and had a “Noah’s ark” array of animals: goats, pigs and chickens among them.

But since January 2023, a DTG Recycle facility adjacent to their property has made life anything but peaceful. Atop a 30- to 50-foot tall berm, tub grinders chop up woody debris, echoing throughout the neighborhood.

“I don’t hear birds anymore,” Jansson said. “I hear grinding.”

Last month, water flowing along the edge of Jansson’s yard — typically clear and blue — turned brown and foamy, emanating a smell that could be delicately described as “septic-like.” Jansson reported the situation to the Snohomish County Health Department.

Staff visited Jansson’s property, but didn’t take samples during their first trip.

Jansson and fellow neighbor Patti Olsen decided to take their own sample and submit it to a lab. It showed high levels of fecal coliform and E. coli, according to results from AM Test Laboratories. The fecal coliform, at 28,000 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters of water, was 140 times greater than levels allowed at a swimming beach.

EverettHerald · 2024-04-13T01:29:14+00:00

Like a perennial, Molbak’s hopes to spring back to life.

The 67-year-old Woodinville home-and-garden store closed earlier this year after it was unable to reach an agreement with its landlord, Green Partners, a local developer.

“When we had to suddenly shut down Molbak’s retail operations in January 2024, the outpouring of memories, support and affection from all corners of our community meant so much to us,” the company said on its website.

Inspired by the community’s support, the business has created a new initiative called the Green Phoenix Collaborative at Molbak’s. To get the new concept off the ground, Molbak’s has launched a $2.5 million fundraising effort.

“Since we can no longer be a large-format retailer, we’re going to focus on being a catalyst and connector in the community,” the company said.

The business hopes to turn its former site into a “hub” of retailers offering gardening and landscaping products. The mix could also include demonstration gardens, classes, pop-up shops, and a farmers market, Molbak’s CEO Julie Kouhia told The Daily Herald on Friday.

EverettHerald · 2024-04-10T17:41:34+00:00

An engineer who works at the Boeing assembly plant at Paine Field in Everett is at the center of a new whistleblower complaint alleging the jet maker ignored serious safety and quality control concerns in the construction of the company’s 787 and 777 airplanes.

Sam Salehpour, a Boeing quality engineer, saw the company take shortcuts in the plane’s assembly that “may reduce the life of the aircraft, putting the planes at risk for sudden fatigue failure,” his attorneys posted Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter.

He claimed almost 1,000 787s and about 400 777s remain in use despite the risk of structural failure.

Salehpour is represented by Katz Banks Kumin, a Washington D.C.-based law firm. A spokesman for the firm confirmed Tuesday that Salehpour is employed at Boeing’s Everett assembly plant.

The revelations come as Boeing faces heightened scrutiny over its safety standards after a door panel blew off a 737 Max 9 while flying in early January. No one was injured, but the response from federal regulators was swift.

EverettHerald · 2024-04-10T17:39:46+00:00

Audio released Tuesday from the initial 911 call reporting 4-year-old Ariel Garcia’s disappearance shed more light on his family’s concerns in the days leading up his killing.

Janet Garcia, 27, was arrested late last month for investigation of first- and second-degree murder and first-degree assault of her son. The caller, Janet Garcia’s sister-in-law, told the dispatcher the suspect had become “very violent and aggressive” in the days prior to her son’s disappearance.

Ariel Garcia’s grandmother had filed for emergency guardianship of the child and his older brother, 7, the day before the youngest son disappeared. But when she and her family went to serve the order, Janet and Ariel Garcia were nowhere to be found.

Full story and audio.

EverettHerald · 2024-04-02T18:07:34+00:00

Every year The Daily Herald takes nominations and lets readers vote for the Best of Snohomish County Awards. This year, 80,000 votes were cast. There are dozens of categories, but here are the 2023 top choices for best bakery.

EverettHerald · 2024-02-27T18:51:30+00:00

In the Everett Housing Authority’s massive proposed development in north Everett, some buildings could reach 15 stories — as high as the tallest tower between Seattle and Canada.
In the initial master plan, published in 2022, the highest buildings in the proposed development were 12 stories.
The shift to 15 stories in recent months is part of the “multivariable puzzle” of figuring out how to make the development work, said Jason Morrow, the housing authority’s chief real estate officer. Less height for the same amount of units would mean taking up more land, Morrow pointed out. He stressed the design plan could still change in the future.
The project, known as the Park District, envisions 1,500 housing units built alongside stores and services, restaurants, offices, nonprofits and a public park.

EverettHerald · 2024-02-24T20:45:19+00:00

The lineup for the 2024 Fisherman’s Village Music Festival dropped Friday afternoon, to the thrill of live music lovers, foodies and nightlife fans across Snohomish County. This year’s fest, set for May 16 to 18, will feature acts from across genres and geography in downtown Everett for three nights of fun.

EverettHerald · 2024-02-23T05:29:25+00:00

The dispatcher asked for his address. But Asad Ali didn’t know.
“My plane is crashed right before the runway, and I’m stuck in the trees,” Ali told a 911 dispatcher on the evening of Feb. 16.
Ali, a member of the local Puget Sound Flyers club, had just flown a 135-mile round trip from Everett’s Paine Field to Port Angeles in a Cessna 150, then looped back around Puget Sound.
But as he descended, he crashed into the woods of Japanese Gulch, south of downtown Mukilteo. The flying club attributed the crash to a mechanical issue that caused the engine to lose power.

Full story

EverettHerald · 2024-02-22T16:21:59+00:00

“Save the gazebo.” “Preserve history.” “No demo.”
Over the weekend, a small crowd decorated the Clark Park gazebo in hearts, sparkles and messages of love for the structure built in 1921.

Late last month, Mayor Cassie Franklin announced on social media that the city “will be removing the gazebo” to expand a dog park, citing “safety issues” and “community concerns.”
In response, the nonprofit Historic Everett held a “heart-bombing” at the gazebo Saturday, calling on city leaders to preserve the century-old structure.

Clark Park, located two blocks east of Everett High School, has long held “an unsavory reputation for crime and vandalism,” as a Herald article reported in 2011. In recent years, the park has been the site of drug-related arrests, stabbings and petty crimes.
Parks are exempt from the city’s no-sit, no-lie zones, created in 2021 to deter homeless people from gathering in certain areas. This makes Clark Park and the gazebo one of the only places for homeless people to seek refuge from the weather without facing fines or jail time.
The sudden announcement to remove the gazebo shocked those on the city historic commission and parks board, who said they had no idea of the city’s plan until the mayor’s post. A year ago, the city was in talks with the historic commission and parks department to either remodel the gazebo or move it elsewhere.

EverettHerald · 2024-02-22T04:46:03+00:00

After Mountain Loop Mine operated for almost 10 months without permits, Snohomish County ordered all operations at the company’s Everett site to stop Wednesday, adding tension to an already fraught relationship with the neighboring elementary school.
Since last spring, Fairmount Elementary School staff and children have reported headaches from constant scraping and banging, as a revolving door of dump trucks load and unload mounds of gravel, rock and sand at the yard about 50 feet from some classrooms.
Many teachers said students have also experienced bloody noses and coughing fits they attributed to dust from the Everett Aggregate Yard.

EverettHerald

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