PUD electricity rates will go down under a proposal that will be considered by the Snohomish County PUD Board of Commissioners today. The proposed 1 percent rate reduction will be discussed in a public hearing at 9:30 a.m. and is scheduled to be acted upon by the Commission at its afternoon meeting. The rate reduction, to be effective April 1, 1997 would cut PUD customer bills by a total of $2.5 million. An average residential customer would see his or her rate drop by about $8 a year under the new rate. A large industrial customer might save nearly $8,000 a year, according to Andrew Muntz, PUD Customer and Media Relations. Kathy Vaughn, president of the PUD Commission, thanked the utilitys staff for its excellent performance over the past year. Its because of their hard work and the success PUD has had in securing lower cost power that the board, for the first time in over a decade, is able to lower electric rates for its customers, she said. The utility has been able to save money in power purchases because of the new competitive atmosphere in todays power market. We want to pass those savings on to our customers and are planning more rate reductions in the years ahead. The public hearing about the proposed rate reduction will be held at the PUD Headquarters Building.

25 Years Ago 1982

An inquiry into the possibility of opening an amusement game center on N. Olympic Avenue has prompted the overhauling of an old amusement game ordinance. A potential leaser of a vacant building at 300 N. Olympic Avenue, owned by John Butters of Marysville, asked the city officials if any ordinance prohibited the creation of a video game center on the avenue. A special Council committee, headed by Robert Kraski, investigated the issue. The committee discovered such a business use wasnt listed in the commercial business zone ordinance and recommended the Council deny the use of the building for the video game center. The recommendation was turned into a motion, but was withdrawn after other Council members pointed out that businesses along N. Olympic have existing video games. If we turn these people down we will have to stop others currently in use, said Councilman Jim Jones. You cant exclude it (video game business) because its not mentioned, said Councilman Tim Simmons. If omitted in all other zoning ordinances, they wouldnt be allowed in the whole town, he added. City supervisor David Crow told the Council they shouldnt regulate amusement games by zoning ordinances, its a licensing matter. Crow mentioned the citys old amusement game ordinance dealt mainly with pinball machines and called for a $400 license fee to operate them and an additional $2 a month fee for each machine. Existing amusement games are not taxed. Before answering the inquiry, the Council decided to update its amusement game ordinance. To aid the Council, proprietors with existing video games on the premises will be invited to the March 1 Council meeting to provide input.

50 Years Ago 1957

We have been advised of our opportunity to have a say on the future boundaries of the Glacier Peak Wilderness Area. It is important that we of the Arlington-Darrington community get busy and express our opinions also offer some suggestions. We are thankful that foresighted folks secured for us this area. So many sections of the country now regret that they hadnt done likewise. Through the years, many studies and changes or adjustment of the original boundaries have been made. Now the opportunity has come to establish final boundaries. In doing so the greatest good for the greatest number must be considered. One matter of concern to us is Kennedy Hot Springs, several miles within the present boundaries. If the boundaries here are retained, it will be very difficult at any time in the future to get a road to the springs. Let us consider that an increasing number of folks 60 years and older will not be able to take long hikes or do strenuous mountain rambling. Should they be deprived of the pleasure of a dip in the springs these springs are the biggest and most invigorating within hundreds of miles. The surroundings are very interesting and Kennedy is the take-off place for short or long trips to scenery of the finest. I am sure the future will demand a road to Kennedy, lets get busy and do some planning to make this possible. Let us also discuss the preservation of that fine timber stand on the North Fork Sauk above Sloan creek. There we have an example of the forest primeval with samples of all species of western conifers of all ages. Shall these be preserved for coming generations to enjoy? They are now within the boundaries. I suggest they remain so.
The Paul Due farm, showing a glimpse of its familiar strawberry fields, was identified by 63 entrants as being last weeks mystery farm. Robert L. Willet was the winner of Mondays drawing, and will collect his prize from Petersons Grocery. All correct entrants received last week were included in the drawing. The Due farm is located east of Midway, near the Shoultes Road. Mr. Paul Due has been raising strawberries in this area for some 40 years, long enough to have a few ideas of his own about this temperamental fruit. By trial and error, over the years, Mr. Due found that strawberries grow where they want to, and ripen when they take a notion (depending on the weather). He recalled varieties of strawberries that grow and produce wonderfully on the East Coast, which would hardly bloom when he tried them here, stubbornly refusing to produce in western soil. Likewise, the famous Marshall strawberry, which flourishes in the Northwest, spurns eastern soil as well as showing poorly in California, where the Shasta variety is grown, Mr. Due explained. Although California far out produces the Northwest in strawberries, their Shasta berry is much inferior in taste quality to the Northwests Marshall variety, Mr. Due said. However, the California production is defiantly influencing the local strawberry market, taking another slice of the local growers narrowing margin, according to Mr. Due. He remarked that although the profits are dwindling in virtually all fields of agriculture, the farmers are not inclined to switch to unfamiliar fields of farming, but generally stick to their own pattern, come good years or lean. Mr. Due is now experimenting with two newly developed varieties of strawberries, the Puget developed by Washington State College, and the Silex developed by Professor Waldo of Oregon State College. The Puget berry has shown such promise on the Due farm that he plans to plant 10 acres this year, on a trial basis. The enemies of the strawberry farmer, disease and sometimes rain, are a constant threat making the business a gamble from year to year. The use of smudge pots to counteract frost, as used in California, is not practiced here, Mr. Due said. One can only hope for the best in such cases. The Due farm operates its own buses during the picking season, transporting mainly school children-age children and elderly persons too and from the berry fields. The season normally lasts from three to four weeks. Mr. Due recalled one season when he began picking on May 8, and occasionally the season might be delayed into July. In later years, Mr. Due said, the weather cycle seems to have swung toward an earlier picking season, with less threat of spring frost. The development of the frozen food industry proved a boon to the berry industry, allowing a larger scale production of fruits in general, Due indicated.