SNOHOMISH COUNTY- Surface Water Management Warns That Fireworks Can Affect Water Quality

The Snohomish County Surface Water Management Division (SWM) of Public Works has issued a press release warning all of us that fireworks can have a negative impact on water bodies such as ponds, rivers, streams, lakes and groundwater. The division points out that fireworks contain heavy metals and propellant chemicals that can pollute water if detonated or not disposed of properly.

SWM points out that the county code (SCC 7.53.065) prohibits discharging pollutants into a storm drainage system or natural water body.

The SWM recommends that citizens who shoot fireworks minimize the chance of polluting Snohomish County waters by:

• Request fireworks that contain low amounts of heavy metals and chemical propellants where you buy your fireworks.
• DO NOT shoot fireworks from or into public sidewalks and roadways where the debris can enter storm drainage systems.
• Practice “rigorous ‘housekeeping’ practices” by picking up shell debris and disposing it in accordance with applicable codes and manufacturers’ instructions.
• Contain water runoff when you use water to douse duds or misfires.

For more information call the Surface Water Management Hot Line at (425) 388-6481.

SWM fireworks press release:

http://www1.co.snohomish.wa.us/Departments/Public_Works/Divisions/SWM/WQ/WQ-FireworksAndWaterQuality

SNOHOMISH COUNTY- 4th of July Fireworks

The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, Snohomish County Fire Marshal and Snohomish County Fire District 1 have issued a reminder about safely and legally using fireworks on the 4^th of July:

http://sheriff.snoco.org/Our_Community/Fireworks.htm

They point out that 911 calls increase dramatically during July 4^th and the likelihood of personal injury and property damage also increase. One example of serious property damage that they point to is a 4’X 5’hole to a neighbor’s house that was made by a marine flare during last year’s July 4^th celebration:

As we soon celebrate the 4th of July, people often are confused about when they can legally discharge fireworks. In unincorporated Snohomish County, fireworks can only be discharged between 9am and 11:59pm on July 4. Many cities within Snohomish County set their own time regulations while others ban the use of fireworks. The following maps show where you can and cannot discharge fireworks in the county:

South Snohomish County-

http://sheriff.snoco.org/Our_Community/Resources/2012_South_County_Fireworks.pdf

North Snohomish County-

http://sheriff.snoco.org/Our_Community/Resources/2012_North_County_Fireworks.pdf

East Snohomish County-

http://sheriff.snoco.org/Our_Community/Resources/2012_East_County_Fireworks.pdf

The Fire Marshal's Office recommends that you take the following measures to ensure that you have a safe time if you use fireworks:

• In case of an emergency, dial 9-1-1.

• Have a bucket of water for emergencies and to douse used fireworks.

• Never build or experiment with homemade fireworks.

• Always use legal fireworks- http://www.co.snohomish.wa.us/documents/Departments/PDS/Fire_Marshall/IllegalExplosiveDevices.pdf.

• Never let children handle or light fireworks. Even sparklers can be dangerous if unsupervised.

• Never ignite fireworks while holding them. Light one at a time, and move away quickly.

• Make sure you give yourself enough room in a safe location – away from buildings, vehicles and flammable materials.

• Never light fireworks inside a structure.

• Watch what you wear. Loose clothing can catch fire and should not be worn while handling fireworks.

• Never try to re-ignite fireworks that have malfunctioned. Soak them in water, then throw them away.

• Never ignite fireworks when you are under the influence of alcohol, prescription drugs or mind-altering narcotics.

• Never aim fireworks at vehicles.

For more information on the safe use of fireworks go to:

http://www.fireworksafety.com/

The following brochure talks about some basic dos and don’ts.  Please pass it around to your neighbors:

http://sheriff.snoco.org/Our_Community/Resources/FIST_brochure4pages.pdf

SHERIFF’S OFFICE- CrimeMapping.com

You may have noticed over the last few months that crime information from the Sheriff’s Office has not been available on crimereports.com. Yesterday, Ann Gifford, the Sheriff’s Director of Community Partnerships, announced a new web site to find information about crime in Snohomish County. The web site is crimemapping.com (www.crimemapping.com). You can also access the site from the Sheriff’s Office web site (http://sheriff.snoco.org/) and look for the “Crime Mapping” link on the main page.

According to Ann, the new site is updated automatically every night, while the old site had to be updated by hand. This will ensure more complete and timely information for us to review.

I checked it out, and it is a very good site. As with crimereports.com, you can enter your address and easily zoom right in to see crimes around you. Moving the map around seems much smoother than crimereports.com. And the icons seem easier to read also. When you click on an icon, you can see the same kind of information like on crimereports.com, but if you click on “Snohomish County Sheriff’s Links” within the window, you see links to the Sheriff’s Office web site, the “Crime Prevention Tips” page and the “Sex Offender Search” page. Pretty handy to find information on the fly.

For a short demonstration go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XSurKJGpt0

TAMBARK TRAILS- Bad Guy Caught

This incident demonstrates the importance of how a timely call to 911 can help police capture a wanted criminal.

On Monday, June 11, Snohomish County deputies apprehended an assault and burglary suspect who was seen entering a home in 2500 block of 191^st St SE according to The Herald (http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20120611/NEWS01/706129936).

According to the local Neighborhood Watch Coordinator the following occurred:

At around 12:30pm, a man ran down the side yard of two houses then through another back yard.  He was spotted by a homeowner who was working in his back yard.  The homeowner yelled at the man to stop. The homeowner’s three dogs were in hot pursuit and the man jumped the fence and entered another neighbor’s backyard then entered the neighbor’s house through the back door.

The homeowner called 9-1-1.  A patrol car that was in the area was directed to the house where the police entered and, after quite a bit of time, took the guy into custody.

It turns out this person has been living in this area from time to time and has an arrest record for burglary and more.  It is unknown if this person has been involved in the most recent burglaries in the neighborhood. 

Citizen assistance like this helps police capture the crooks who prey on innocent citizens. While this is a more visible example of citizen assistance, the calls to 9-1-1 asking for contact to report suspicious activity, or even tips to the Sheriff’s Office’s tip line or online reporting all help the Sheriff’s Office to catch criminals.

GRADUATION SEASON- An Appeal from Sheriff Lovick and Chief Atwood to Parents

Snohomish County Sheriff John Lovick and Everett Police Chief Kathy Atwood have written an appeal to parents to talk to their teens about drinking and driving during this coming graduation season. Please read this editorial and talk to your teenagers.

The Herald:

http://heraldnet.com/article/20120608/OPINION02/706089945/-1/OPINION#Parents-keep-your-grads-alcohol-free

CHESTNUT HIGHLANDS- Package Stolen from Front Door

This has been a rough week for residents of Chestnut Highlands and apparently for surrounding neighborhoods also. This time a package was stolen from the front porch of a house in Chestnut Highlands. The homeowner placed it there just before 8 a.m. for pick up by UPS. UPS told the homeowner to place it there for pick up.

The homeowner found out later that the package was never picked up and the UPS driver who showed up said he was the only one assigned to the area and does not pick up packages until 4 pm in the afternoon.

Note: This is a new twist to an old problem. Normally, police warn about theft of delivered packages to residences. We normally do not hear of packages being stolen going the other direction. But, packages on front door steps apparently have an attraction for thieves whether they are delivered to a house or being picked up from a house. This may be a case that if you want UPS or FEDEX to deliver a package for you, you might want to take it to a facility that can accept your package for shipment.

The other issue is that around the holidays police usually warn about package theft. But this incident points out that package theft can happen any time of year.

FINANCIAL SCAMS- Social Networking Investment Scams

The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) has issued an alert concerning social networking scams.

In traditional social networks, con artists use the weekly or monthly meetings to establish strong bonds through face-to-face contact and sharing of personal interests and lifestyles.

The DFI points out that con artists can use online social networks to establish trust and credibility more quickly than traditional social networking techniques. Also, the con artist can have easier access to sensitive information of his/her targets.

For more information about social networking scams go to this DFI alert:

http://www.dfi.wa.gov/consumers/education/investments/social-networks.htm