A year to remember

A year to remember or one we hope to forget? It all depends on how you want to look at it.

When the New Year began, it was with great hope of a economy that would continue to thrive and the knowledge that we would be electing a new President. But what else made 2008 a year that would make history?

Internationally, the Summer Olympic Games were held in Beijing, China, a historical event in and of itself. Of course, swimmer Michael Phelps made history taking home a record breaking eight gold medals.

In other sports, both the Huskies and the Seahawks had very unimpressive seasons, let’s face it, they sucked!

However, on Sunday, Dec. 21, Seahawks fans traipsed through heavy snow and ice to say their farewells to Seahawks Coach Mike Holmgren, after his 10th season with the Hawks.

When it came to politics, nothing can compare to the 2008 Presidential elections. A woman running against an African-American in the Democratic primaries was ground breaking for the United States. Add Sarah Palin, the Republican Party’s candidate for VP, to the mix and you have an election of unprecedented proportions.

Locally, the final vote count for the 44th District’s congressional seat wasn’t certified until Dec. 15 when Mike Hope beat out Liz Loomis by only 138 votes.

In other news, Granite Falls School District started the year with a brand new high school, opening its doors in January. While Lake Stevens School District re-opened the now renovated Hillcrest and Mt. Pilchuck Elementary schools.

Both Lake Stevens and Granite Falls had lottery winners. Dennis Adams won $250,000 and Robert Winn won $200,000.

Lake Stevens resident Justin Berg became a hero in March after hearing a woman screaming at the Shell gas station next to the Red Apple in Granite Falls where he worked.

The 30-year-old, father of three took off toward the screaming woman and was stabbed twice when he tried to grab one of the men robbing the gas station. Berg landed in the hospital for his efforts and later the suspects were arrested.

Before being intubated Berg asked his mother, Rosemary Smith, about the woman he tried to save.

“Woman okay?” he asked.
“I raised him to help other people,” Smith said.

Lake Stevens Police were able to close down several marijuana growing operations and apprehend two suspects in a cocaine bust, keeping Lake Stevens a safe and family-friendly community to live.

On a sad note, the community lost several prominent citizens in 2008 including Jay Kaintz, Les Ecklund, Marine Dustin Canham and Bill Clough.

2008 went out like a lion with stock markets nose-diving, the housing market getting worse by the day and record breaking snow falls covering the ground.

If we listen to the financial analysts, and not the doom and gloom media, there is hope for a better 2009. Many analysts have said that when the unemployment rate starts increasing as rapidly as it has in the last two months, that is usually a sign of the economy bottoming out and things should go up from there. Let’s hope they’re right.

Here’s to a happy and healthy 2009!