MYEVERETTNEWS.com

Both Boeing and Everett Fire responded to the scene.

The truck went through a couple of fences before coming to a stop.

About 11:20 AM a truck making a delivery at the Boeing Softball Fields in southwest Everett crashed through multiple fences and struck several cars. No people were hit by the truck but one person was injured by some fencing material. That person’s injuries were not believed to be life threatening but they were taken to a local hospital by ambulance to be checked out.

Medical personnel from Boeing Fire and Everett Fire Department responded to the scene and began life-saving efforts on the driver of the truck. Ultimately those efforts were not successful. It is not known if the driver of the truck had a medical issue or what may have caused the crash. Everett Police were investigating at the scene. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner was called and will determine the cause and manner of death and release the identity of the truck driver.

Again no athletes participating in the games were injured and Jaymelina Esmela of Special Olympics Washington says the games are going on as planned. Events are being held at Everett Community College, Kasch Park, Boeing Fields-Everett and Battle Creek Golf Course. The athletes are competing in softball, golf and bocce. The events will run through Sunday afternoon. You can click here for a schedule and directions to the venues. There is no charge for the public to watch the events and cheer on the athletes.

Three areas under consideration.

The City of Everett and the Downtown Everett Association (DEA) are studying ways to make improvements to parking in the downtown area.

As part of the study, community input is being collected through an online survey.

The City and DEA are surveying downtown business owners and other employers in the central business district to get their assessment of the current situation and their ideas for effective future parking strategies and are also inviting the broader community to participate. The survey asks for feedback on how well the current parking system is working, and what steps are needed to reduce parking congestion in the downtown. Survey results will be presented at a public forum this fall.

“The City of Everett is looking to update and improve its parking management practices to benefit downtown businesses and their customers,” said Tim Miller, traffic engineer. “Our goal is to help ensure Everett is a good place for business.”

The City formed a Downtown Parking Task Force in 2018 at DEA’s request. The Task Force initiated the parking study, whose area of focus is within Parking Area A as identified in the Metro Everett Plan. The study is part of an update to the Everett Downtown Parking Management Plan

The survey is available online through Sept. 16. For more information about the parking management study, visit everettwa.gov/parkingstudy.

This in yesterday from the Port of Everett Commissioners.

Lisa Lefeber. Photo Credit: Port of Everett

On August 13, the Port of Everett Commission voted 3-0 to approve a contract naming the Port’s Deputy Executive Director Lisa Lefeber the next CEO, effective October 16, 2019. Lefeber is the first female to be selected for this top leadership role in the Port’s 100-year history.

Prior to her role as Deputy Executive Director, Lefeber served as the Port’s Chief of Policy and Communications, a position she held for more than 13 years. In this role, she managed the Port’s communication and government affairs program, which includes working closely with our community and congressional delegation to understand the issues affecting the Port such as maritime trade and logistics.

In 2016, she was selected to lead the Port’s seaport modernization efforts, which includes more than a $100 million in infrastructure investment to allow for larger ships and additional train volumes, which is critical to support the change in the shipping industry and strategic military cargo movements at the Port.

Choosing Lefeber for this important Port role was easy for the Port Commission.

“It’s an honor to welcome Lisa into this historic role,” Port Commissioner Glen Bachman said. “She is a strong leader dedicated to this Port District and our greater community. We are lucky to have her and the creative foresight she brings to this organization that helps grow our economy, create and protect jobs and enhance livability in our county.”

“I would like to congratulate Ms. Lefeber on her promotion to CEO,” Port Commissioner Bruce Fingarson said. “The Port, by focusing on its Strategic Initiatives and keeping consistency in its leadership, makes Lisa the obvious choice. I believe she will be an outstanding director as the Port continues to support significant commerce and economic growth for our community and the region.”

“Congratulations to Lisa on a well-earned promotion,” Port Commissioner Tom Stiger said. “With nearly 15 years in Port leadership under her belt, I can’t think of anyone better to lead the Port into its next century of service.”

Lefeber succeeds Port CEO Les Reardanz who announced in July he will be leaving the Port in October to move back to Bellingham to focus on his aging parents and expanded military responsibilities. Just last month, the President of the United States nominated, and the U.S. Senate confirmed, the promotion of Reardanz to the Reserve list for promotion to the permanent grade of Rear Admiral (Lower Half) in the Navy Reserve Judge Advocates General Corps (JAG). This promotion comes after Reardanz returned home from his fourth tour of duty overseas last year.

“While I’m saddened to leave the Port and our incredible team at such an exciting time, I have full confidence that Lisa is the right person for this job,” Port CEO Les Reardanz said. “She has all the skills and more than enough passion to push this economic enterprise to its fullest potential to the benefit of our community and region.”

The Commission directed staff to move forward with contract discussions to promote Lefeber to the director role following Reardanz’ July notice. Lefeber currently holds the second highest leadership position at the Port and served as Acting CEO in 2018 when Reardanz was deployed to Afghanistan.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead an organization in a community that has become home to me,” Lefeber said. “I have a strong passion for the Port of Everett and the surrounding community, and I look forward to continuing on in my predecessors’ footsteps of building a balanced waterfront that supports commerce, Navy operations, jobs, recreation and creates a destination on the beautiful Everett waterfront. I am also excited to grow and diversify the Port to help our surrounding communities with job growth.”

Lefeber, who started at the Port in 2005, is currently in the American Association of Port Authorities Professional Port Management Program. She has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Seattle University and an undergraduate degree in Journalism from Western Washington University. Prior to joining the Port, she worked as a news reporter.

Educating riders to not be on the sidewalk and to use helmets is the biggest challenge right now for the LIME scooter pilot project underway in Everett.

In the first three months of the program Hopkins reported 28,000 rides by more than 2700 riders. He also offered examples of educational efforts in other cities that included marking the sidewalks as no ride areas, adding identification numbers to the Lime scooters so violators could be more easily tracked or reported and shared an example of how one jurisdiction had police officers on scooters as a very visual reminder and demonstration of how scooters should be operated.

Julio Cortez from the City’s communications department reported on challenges the city still faced including how to address other companies who may want to also provide scooters in Everett, what changes may be needed in city codes and he also reported that so far there have been 4 collisions, 3 that resulted in injuries and 3 tickets had been issued.

Everett Police Chief Dan Templeman told the council that the police department was taking an educational approach to scooter violations and that the most common theme reported by officers who contacted scooter riders about violations was a “vast lack of knowledge” on the rules.

Templeman did confirm when asked by the council about the current law in Everett that yes, helmets are required for scooters. Multiple council members and the Mayor mentioned a need for more communication on the rules and their desire to see the pilot program continue.

After the pilot concludes around Labor Day the city thinks it should have a good idea of how to move forward on rules, education and adoption of scooters as another means of transportation in Everett.