South Sound briefs

The Olympian | • Published September 11, 2007

Lacey

North Thurston schools backs tax proposition

The North Thurston school board unanimously endorsed Thurston County Proposition 1, which would raise sales tax to support crime prevention programs for youths, at its meeting Monday night.

School board member Judy Wilson, who is treasurer of the proposition campaign, abstained from voting.

The proposition, which would raise the sales tax from 8.4 cents to 8.7 cents per $1 spent, would not necessarily affect school programs, but would be for grant-funded intervention programs and early childhood programs.

The tax is expected to raise $10 million annually. About two-thirds would be earmarked for crime-prevention programs. The other third would be distributed to the county and its seven cities for criminal-justice projects. The average cost for a Thurston County family would be $45 annually.

Proposition 1 was put on the Nov. 6 ballot by the Thurston County Board of Commissioners.

Lacey

Car hits pole, knocks power out to 1650

About 1,650 Puget Sound Energy customers lost power Sunday evening when a car hit a power pole in the 5900 Block of Yelm Highway in Lacey, police and company officials said.

The collision occurred at 6:41 p.m. when driver Steve Mattingly — a Lacey resident in his mid-20s — said that he hit the pole after he swerved to avoid hitting a vehicle that had crossed into his lane, Lacey Police Cmdr. John Suessman said.

The collision knocked the pole down and into the road, blocking several lanes.

By about 8:30 p.m., Puget Sound Energy crews had been able to clean it up, spokesman Dennis Smedsrud said. By 9 p.m., all but about 150 customers had power restored.

Those remaining customers got their power back about 5:50 a.m. Monday, Smedsrud said.

Olympia

Event: Control sprawl, transfer rights

Activists who are worried by suburban sprawl have planned a forum Wednesday to explore how to use transfers of development rights to manage growth.

The event starts at 5:30 p.m. at Capital Playhouse, 612 Fourth Ave. E. and features speakers including Seattle Councilman Peter Steinbrueck, Redmond Councilman Richard Cole and Jeff Adken of Cascade Land Conservancy.